Gora (region)

Gora (Cyrillic: Гора; Albanian: Gorë) is a geographical region in southern Kosovo and northeastern Albania, primarily inhabited by the Gorani people.[1][2] Due to geopolitical circumstances, some of the local Gorani people have over time also self declared themselves as Albanians, Macedonians, Bosniaks, Muslim Bulgarians, Serbs, Turks and Muslims (nationality).[3][4]

Gora
Geographical and historical region
Gora (green) and adjacent area in Polog (yellow) that is culturally and linguistically associated with the core region
Countries Albania
 Kosovo
 North Macedonia
Area
 • Estimate500 km2 (200 sq mi)
Population
 • Estimate 
(2011)
40,000
 • Density80/km2 (200/sq mi)
Former Gora municipality in Kosovo, marked in blue

Gorani inhabited settlements in Albania and Kosovo are synonymous with the geographical outline of Gora as a region.[1] Between 1992 and 1999, the Gora region in Kosovo was designated as a municipality, and its population was 17,574 people according to the 1991 census. Today in Kosovo, the region is part of Dragaš municipality that includes the Albanian inhabited Opoja region.[1][5] In Albania, the Gora region is located in Kukës County[1] and parts of it are subdivided in the Shishtavec and Zapod territorial units. Nearby, two Gorani settlements geographically located in the Polog region[6][7] of North Macedonia are ethnographically and linguistically associated with the Gora region.

Gora is bordered to the west and northwest by the region of Lumë, which is mostly within Albania and a small portion in Kosovo.[8] In the northeast it is bordered by the regions of Opoja, to the east by Polog and to the south by Upper Reka.

Geographical distribution

Albania

The region of Gora within Albania contains 9[1] Gorani inhabited villages: Zapod, Pakisht, Orçikël, Kosharisht, Cernalevë, Orgjost, Oreshkë, Borje and Shishtavec.[9][10]

According to the disputed 2011 census figures, just over two-thirds of the population in Shishtavec Municipality identified as Albanian, while 7.7% identified as Macedonian. In Zapod Municipality, 79% identified as Albanian and 11.7% identified as Macedonian.[11]

Kosovo

The region of Gora within Kosovo is made up of 18[1] Gorani inhabited villages: Baćka, Brod, Vranište, Globočice, Gornja Rapča, Gornji Krstac, Dikance, Donja Rapča, Donji Krstac, Zli Potok, Kruševo, Kukaljane, Lještane, Ljubošta, Mlike, Orčuša, Radeša, Restelicë and the town of Dragaš.[12][2] Following 1999, Dragaš has a mixed population of Gorani, whom live in the lower neighbourhood and Albanians in the upper neighbourhood that constitute the majority of inhabitants.[2]

According to 1991 census data, the population of the Gora municipality was composed of:

The Gora municipality and Opoja region remained separated during the Milošević period.[2] After the 1999 Kosovo war, the Gorani-majority Gora municipality was merged with the Albanian inhabited Opoja region to form the municipality of Dragaš by the United Nations Mission (UNMIK) and the new administrative unit has an Albanian majority.[2][1][5] The town of Dragash is the regional and municipal centre for both the Gora and Opoja regions of Dragash municipality.[2]

Kosovo's Gorani people have stated that they want the former Gora municipality with a Gorani majority that was merged with the Albanian-majority Opolje to form the Dragaš municipality which has an Albanian majority) to join the Community of Serb municipalities. On 3 November 2013, 70% voted in favour of establishing the Gora municipality as part of the Community of Serb municipalities, according to Gorani political leader Safet Kuši.[15]

North Macedonia

In the Republic of North Macedonia, there are two Gorani inhabited villages within Bogovinje Municipality: Jelovjane and Urvič located in the Polog region that neighbours the Gora region.[6][16][17][7] During the Macedonian census of 2001, the population of Jelovjane self declared as Turks (90%) while Urvič self declared as Turks (85%) and Albanians (15%).[18]

References
  1. Bardhoshi 2016, p. 83.
  2. Schmidinger 2013, p. 65.
  3. "Albania's Gora Minority Takes Bulgarian Route to EU: Balkan Insight". www.balkaninsight.com. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  4. Bardhoshi, Nebi (2016). "Small Numbers, Big issues: The Border areas as Social Arena of Legal Systems". In Schüler, Sonja (ed.). Exchange, Dialogue, New Divisions?: Ethnic Groups and Political Cultures in Eastern Europe. LIT Verlag. p. 85. ISBN 9783643802095.
  5. Krasniqi, Elife (2016). "Social Change in Relation to Patriarchy after 1999 war in Opoja, Kosovo". In Roth, Klaus; Kartari, Asker (eds.). Culture of Crisis in Southeast Europe, Part I: Crises Related to Migration, Transformation, Politics, Religion, and Labour. LIT Verlag. p. 191. ISBN 9783643907639.
  6. Гласник Српског географског друштва (1947). Volumes 27-30. Srpsko geografsko društvo. p. 107. "Данашњи становници Урвича и Јеловјана на супротној, полошкој страни Шар-Планине, пореклом су Горани."
  7. Koleva, Krasimira (2012). "Balkanisms today: The dialect of Župa (Kosovo)". In Kahl, Thede; Metzeltin, Michael; Schaller, Helmut (eds.). Balkanismen heute – Balkanisms today – Балканизмы сегодня. LIT Verlag. p. 351. ISBN 9783643503886.
  8. Fejzulla Gjabri (Department of Culture of Albania), Information about the Heroic Epos in the Province of Luma
  9. Steinke, Klaus; Ylli, Xhelal (2010). Die slavischen Minderheiten in Albanien (SMA). 3. Gora. Munich: Verlag Otto Sagner. p. 11. ISBN 978-3-86688-112-9. "In den 17 Dörfern des Kosovo wird Našinski/Goranče gesprochen, und sie gehören zu einer Gemeinde mit dem Verwaltungszentrum in Dragaš. Die 19 Dörfer in Albanien sind hingegen auf drei Gemeinden des Bezirks Kukës aufgeteilt, und zwar auf Shishtavec, Zapod und Topojan. Slavophone findet man freilich nur in den ersten beiden Gemeinden. Zur Gemeinde Shishtavec gehören sieben Dörfer und in den folgenden vier wird Našinski/Goranče gesprochen: Shishtavec (Šištaec/Šišteec), Borja (Borje), Cërnaleva (Cărnolevo/Cărneleve) und Oreshka (Orešek). Zur Gemeinde Zapod gehören ebenfalls sieben Dörfer, und in den folgenden fünf wird Našinski/Goranče gesprochen: Orgjost (Orgosta), Kosharisht (Košarišta), Pakisht (Pakiša/Pakišča) Zapod (Zapod) und Orçikla (Orčikl’e/Očikl’e)’. In der Gemeinde Topojan gibt es inzwischen keine slavophone Bevölkerung mehr. Die Einwohner selbst bezeichnen sich gewöhnlich als Goranen ‘Einwohner von Gora oder Našinci Unsrige, und ihre Sprache wird von ihnen als Našinski und von den Albanern als Gorançe bezeichnet."
  10. Schmidinger, Thomas (2013). Gora: Slawischsprachige Muslime zwischen Kosovo, Albanien, Mazedonien und Diaspora. Wiener Verlag. pp. 98–99. ISBN 9783944690049.
  11. "Ethnic composition of Albania 2011". Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  12. Schmidinger, Thomas (2018). "Forced return to empty villages: A case study of the Gorani in Kosovo". In Hornstein Tomić, Caroline; Scholl-Schneider, Sarah; Pichler, Robert (eds.). Remigration to Post-Socialist Europe. Hopes and Realities of Return. Lit Verlag. p. 265. ISBN 9783643910257.
  13. OSCE
  14. "municipal profile of Dragaš" (PDF)., June 2006. Retrieved on 21 February 2008.
  15. "Goranci: Ne želimo u Dragaš već u Zajednicu srpskih opština" (in Serbian). Blic. 2013-11-08.
  16. Vidoeski, Božidar (1998). Dijalektite na makedonskiot jazik. Vol. 1. Makedonska akademija na naukite i umetnostite. ISBN 9789989649509. p. 309. "Во западна Македонија исламизирано македонско население живее во неколку географски региони на македонско-албанската пограничје:... во Полог (Јеловјане, Урвич)."; p. 315. "Автентичниот горански говор добро го чуваат и жителите во муслиманските оази Урвич и Јеловјане во Тетовско иако тие подолго време живеат во друго дијалектно окружување."
  17. Rexhepi, Besnik; Mustafa, Behxhet; Hajdari, Avni; Rushidi-Rexhepi, Jehona; Quave, Cassandra L.; Pieroni, Andrea (2014). "Cross-cultural ethnobotany of the Sharr Mountains (northwestern Macedonia)". In Pieroni, Andrea; Quave, Cassandra L. (eds.). Ethnobotany and Biocultural Diversities in the Balkans. Springer. p. 70. ISBN 9781493914920.
  18. Macedonian census, language and religion, pp. 110-111.

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