The Shushicë or Vlora river is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in southern

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 ...

, tributary of the

Vjosë The Vjosa (; indefinite form: ) or Aoös ( el, Αώος) is a river in northwestern Greece and southwestern Albania. Its total length is about , of which the first are in Greece, and the remaining in Albania. Its drainage basin is and its ave ...

. Its source is in the Vlorë County, near the village Kuç, municipality Himarë. It flows generally northwest through

Brataj Brataj is a village and a former municipality in the Vlorë County, southwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Selenicë. The population at the 2011 census was 2,849. The municipal unit co ...

Kotë Kotë is a village and a former municipality in the Vlorë County, southwestern Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe ...

and Shushicë and flows into the Vjosë near Armen, northeast of

Vlorë Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foothi ...

. The agricultural use of the river valley is very intensive and begins at the headwaters. Along the river there are so far three bridges which are located on the lower reaches at ''Peshkëpi'' , ''Drashovicë'' and ''Kotë''. In December 1940, during the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...

of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the advancing Greek forces penetrated through Shushicë valley pushing back the Italian units in a successful operation that lead to the fall of Himara. In late 1943 the area was the battlefield of the battle of Drashovica. In antiquity the river was called ''Polyanthos'' ( el, Πολύανθος) and ''Chaonites'' ( el, Χαονίτης).

References

Rivers of Albania Geography of Vlorë County Braided rivers in Albania {{Albania-river-stub