Alk is a small village in the former municipality of

Shënkoll Shënkoll (Albanian for St. Nicholas) is a village and a former municipality in the Lezhë County, northwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Lezhë. The population at the 2023 census was ...

in the

Lezhë County Lezhë County () is one of the 12 counties of Albania. The population as of 2021 was 120,678, in an area of 1,620 km².Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality

Lezhë Lezhë (, sq-definite, Lezha) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Lezhë County and Lezhë Municipality. It is one of Albania's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously i ...

. It has a population of about 100 inhabitants, not counting the population that resides outside the country.

History

Historically, the first people to inhabit the village was the Zef Nikaj family, who descended from Vukël (former Kelmendi municipality) about the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. Later the family of Gjon Bib Doda, said to be originally from Selca (also former Kelmendi municipality), and families from Trieshi (Municipality of Tuz, today Montenegro) came to the village. The Zef Nikaj family owned the entire land of village. The Gjon Bib Doda family were said to have worked for the Zef Nikaj's. The relationship between the families was always very good. With the "agrarian reform" of 1946, the communist regime expropriated (no compensation) the Zef Nikaj of their land and collectivized it. In the same year, Gjon Vati, of Zef Nikaj family, was executed by the communists without a trial. In 1991, under law 7501, the government divided the once Zef Nikaj's land equally among all the born inhabitants of the village. The understanding at the time was that this was a temporary situation and that the land will be returned to the legitimate owner (pre-agrarian reform of 1946) once the country transitioned the chaotic economic and political situation deriving from the regime change. As of 2023, the land ownership continues to remain the same as the one decided in 1991.

Religion

The population of Alk was 100% Catholic until the early 1990s when the family of Liman Lokja, originally from Kukës, settled in the village, after having bought the house of Pjeter Vati (brother of Gjon Vati). The Lokja family is Muslim (Sunni). The conviviality is exemplary.

Geography

It is located close to the Mat River. It is 3.5 km from the

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

, 16 km from Lezhë and 55.3 km from

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ov ...

. Nearby localities include

Tale Tale may refer to: * Narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fa ...

, Shënkoll, Grykë Lumi, Rrilë, Barbullojë, and Gajush.

Economy

The economy is predominantly agricultural and breeding of sheep, cattle and pigs.

References

{{Lezhë div Populated places in Lezhë Villages in Lezhë County