Veles is a city in the central part of the Republic of North Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality.

Veles (Vilazora) was initially the Paeonian city Bylazora from the period of early Classical Antiquity. The city's name was Βελισσός Velissos in Ancient Greek.

Under Turkish rule it became a township (kaza) called Köprülü in the Üsküp sanjak (one of the administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire). From 1877 to 1912 the sandjak was part of the Kosovo vilayet. It played an important part in Ottoman history, as it was where six Grand Viziers hailed, and is still known as Köprülü in Turkish. From 1929 to 1941, Veles was part of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, the city was known as Titov Veles after Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito, but the 'Titov' was removed in 1996.

Through North Macedonia Veles is known as industrial center and recently, as a leader in the implementing of IT in the local administration in North Macedonia.

Veles is a place of poetry, culture, history and tradition, as well as a city with plentiful and precious cultural heritage and centuries old churches.

Veles is a municipality of 55,000 residents. The geographic location of the city of Veles makes it suitable for hiking and camping, especially at the west side of the city. One such location is the tranquil village Bogomila. Nearby there is the man made lake Mladost, which is known as the city's recreational centre.

Veles made international news in 2016 when it was revealed that a group of teenagers in the city were controlling over 100 websites producing fake news articles in support of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, which were heavily publicised on the social media site Facebook.

Jagodina is a city and the administrative center of the Pomoravlje District in Šumadija, an historically densely forested region of central Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Belica River. The city itself has a population of 43,311 inhabitants, while its administrative area comprises 76,712 inhabitants.

The town was first mentioned in 1399 as "Jagodna", derived from the Serbian word for 'strawberry' - Jagoda. From 1946 to 1992 the town was renamed Svetozarevo after the 19th-century Serbian socialist Svetozar Marković.

Jagodina built the largest artificial waterfall in the Balkans in 2014-2015. It is 8 meters high, and 12 meters wide, and at night the colors on the water change to different hues. The waterfall is in the city park where outdoor performances are held in the summer; it is part of a larger plan of reconstruction of the city. In the decade of 2005-2015, the city has progressed as a tourist destination. Plans have been made to reconstruct all of the parks in the city and the city center.

When the Aqua Park and Zoo opened, the tourism rate in Jagodina started to rise exponentially. More attractions were added in order to increase tourism. Jagodina attracted around 500,000 people in 2014 and 2015, and that number is expected to increase in the future. Besides those attractions, the city has a stadium and a sport centre, which provide space for sporting events.