Rrajcë is a village and a former municipality in
Elbasan County
Elbasan County () is one of the 12 counties of Albania. The population is 266,245 (2021), in an area of 3199 km². Its capital is the city Elbasan.
Administrative divisions
Until 2000, Elbasan County was subdivided into four districts: Elbas ...
, in eastern
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 shares ...
. As of the 2015 local government reform, it became a subdivision of the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Prrenjas
Prrenjas (also written ''Përrenjas'', sq-definite, Përrenjasi) is a town and a municipality in Elbasan County, eastern Albania. The municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Prrenjas, ...
. The population at the 2019 census was 12,121.
[2011 census results]
The subdivision consists of seven villages: Rrajcë Fushë, Sutaj, Skenderbe, Skenderbe Bardhaj, Urakë, Katjel, and Kotodesh. The village of Rrajcë is found within the boundaries of
Shebenik-Jabllanicë National Park
The Shebenik-Jabllanicë National Park ( sq, Parku Kombëtar Shebenik-Jabllanicë) is a national park in eastern Albania adjacent to the border with North Macedonia. It encompasses and is specifically marked by a mountainous landscape supplied w ...
. The nearby forest was declared part of
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
's
transnational natural site, The
.
Demographics
In statistics gathered by
Vasil Kanchov
Vasil Kanchov ( bg, Васил Кънчов, Vasil Kanchov) (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) was a Bulgarian geographer, ethnographer and politician.
Biography
Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school in Lom, ...
in 1900, the village of Rrajcë was inhabited by 840
Bulgarian Muslims
The Bulgarian Muslims or Muslim Bulgarians ( bg, Българи-мохамедани, ''Bǎlgari-mohamedani'', as of recently also Българи-мюсюлмани, ''Bǎlgari-mjusjulmani'', locally called ''Pomak'', ''ahryan'', ''poganets'', '' ...
.
[Vasil Kanchov (1900). ]
Macedonia: Ethnography and Statistics
'. Sofia. p. 254. Other villages in the modern day municipality were not included in those demographic statistics.
During the 2000s,
linguists
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
Klaus Steinke and Xhelal Ylli, seeking to corroborate villages cited in past literature as being
Slavic speaking, carried out fieldwork.
Rrajcë was noted as being fully
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
and
Albanian speaking while the linguists found no contemporary speakers of Slavic languages in the village, with local elderly people stating they spoke only Albanian.
[ "Die Suche nach weiteren Ortschaften mit slavischsprachiger Bevölkerung verlief ergebnislos. Vor allem die für den Raum Korça, Bilisht, Pogradec und Librazhd in der Literatur häufiger genannten Dörfer wie Miras (Božigrad), Bulgarec, Tren, Buzëliqen (Zagradec), Buçimas (Starova), Proptisht und Rajca haben, wie die Überprüfung vor Ort zeigte, keine slavischprachige Bevölkerung mehr.... Überall spricht man aber ausschließlich Albanisch, und bereits die ältere Generation hat angeblich nur diese Sprache benutzt.... Buçimas und die Nachbardörfer wie Zagorçan usw. (Informant: Shaban Hoxha) sowie Rajca (Informant: Spase Tanasov) haben eine rein moslemische Bevölkerung, und man spricht dort nur Albanisch."]
References
Former municipalities in Elbasan County
Administrative units of Prrenjas
Villages in Elbasan County
{{Elbasan-geo-stub