The Erzen ( sq-definite, Erzeni) is a river in central

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

. The length of Erzen is , while the catchment area is including the southern

Tirana District Tirana District () was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 newly created counties. It had a population of 523,150 in 2001, and an area of . Its territory is now part of Tirana County: the muni ...

and eastern

Durrës District Durrës District () was one of the was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 counties. It had a population of 182,988 in 2001, and an area of . The district seat was the city of Durrës. Its ter ...

Name

The ancient Illyrian name of the river was ''Ardaxanos'', which is a derivative of ''*daksa'' "water", "sea", also found in the name of the island '' Daxa'', of the Illyrian tribe '' Dassareti'' and of the Chaonian tribe ''

Dexari The Dexaroi ( grc, Δεξάροι) were an ancient Chaonian tribe living under Mount Amyron. In ancient literature the Dexari are mentioned only by the ancient Greek writer Hecataeus of Miletus (6th century BC), cited by Stephanus of Byzantium (6 ...

''. It is mentioned for the first time by

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

in the 2nd century BC. The contemporary Albanian name ''Erzen'' (definite form: ''Erzeni'') evolved from the ancient ''Ardaxanos'' through Albanian sound changes.

Overview

The river has its origin in the ''Mali me Gropa'' elevation

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

and is some east of

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

near

Shëngjergj Shëngjergj (Albanian for Saint George) is a village and a former municipality in the Tirana County, central Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Tirana. The population at the 2011 census was 2,18 ...

, flowing northwest through

Petrelë Petrelë is a village and a former municipality 15 km south of Tirana, in central Albania. It is part of Tirana County. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Tirana. The population at the 2011 census w ...

and

Sukth Sukth is a village and a former municipality in the Durrës County, western Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Durrës. The population at the 2011 census was 15,966.

to the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to th ...

north of

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...

. Significant tributaries of Erzen include Lake Farkë, Korrë,

Lanë The Lanë ( sq-definite, Lana) is the main stream that crosses through Tirana, the capital of Albania. Its source is in the mountains east of Tirana. Although once clean, it now carries sewage. During the 1990s, many illegal kiosks and buildings ...

, Murdhar, Shtërmen and Zhëllimë. The river passes through the city of Tirana, only a few kilometers from its southern end. Only a small range of hills separates the valley of the Erzen river with the Lana, Tirana, Zeza and Tërkuza rivers that form the Ishem river. On the southwestern outskirts at Yzberisht the transition from the plane to the Erzen valley is barely perceptible. The mouth is between Durres and the headland of Cape of Rodon at Lalzi bay. The average discharge rate at the mouth is 18.1 m³ / s, the highest discharge rate for the year exceeds minimum to the eleven-time. Its drainage area which includes all

and a part of Durres area is about 700 square km. Apparently, all twenty-two victims of the 1951 massacre were dumped into the river on

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanians, Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was Secretary (title)#First secretary, First Secretary of t ...

's orders, only to later be found wrapped tightly in

barbed tape Barbed tape or razor wire is a mesh of metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans. The term "razor wire", through long usage, has generally been used to describe barbed tape products. Razor wire is much sharper th ...

References

{{Portal bar, Geography Rivers of Albania Geography of Tirana County Drainage basins of the Adriatic Sea Dajti National Park Braided rivers in Albania

Name

Overview

See also

References