Dëllënjë is a village in

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 ...

, part of the former

Novoselë Novoselë ( sq-definite, Novosela) is a village and a former Municipalities of Albania, municipality in the Vlorë County, southwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Vlorë. The population ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, in the

Vlorë County Vlorë County (; ) is one of the 12 counties of Albania with the city of Vlorë being the county capital. The county spans and has a total population of 146,681 people as of 2023. It borders the counties of Fier and Gjirokastër, as well as th ...

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

Vlorë Vlorë ( ; ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, third most populous city of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surr ...

. It is located 31km away from Vlorë city (north direction) and 4km away 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 ...

seashore. It is the last village along the Vjosë river.

Name

The name Dëllënjë has Albanian origins and derived from ''Dëllinjë'' ("

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

"). Naming after the local flora is a common phenomenon amongst the Myzeqar Albanians. Before the village was founded the area was known as ''"The Juniper Forest"''.

Culture

The population of Dëllënjë is exclusively Orthodox Albanian. In Dëllënjë, like some of the villages in the

area, the marriages between people of the same village were allowed, mainly because it was a newly centralised village founded by the local Albanians part of the Lalë clans who were scattered along the Vjosë river with no family ties between them.{{Cite book , title=Etnografia shqiptare , publisher=Akademia e Shkencave e RPSH, Instituti i Historisë, Sektori i Etnografisë , year=1976 , pages=268 , language=Sq The village is also known as the village of Fishermen and Hunters.

Flora and Fauna

Dëllënjë has the typical

Mediterranean Climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

and being close to the Adriatic shoreline the geography mainly consist of saltwater marshes. Two of the local plants of the area are the "''Shëllire''" (Albanian for "Brine") and "''Fshesë Kripe''" (Albanian for "Salty Broom"). The nearby lagoon of ''Kallënga'' is a common fishing area for

eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order (biology), order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 Family (biology), families, 164 genus, genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the earl ...

and other types of fish. The most common birds found in the area are the Great white heron (''Ardea alba''),

Eurasian coot The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...

(''Fulica atra'') and the

ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

(''Anatidae'').

References

Populated places in Vlorë Villages in Vlorë County Albanian ethnographic regions