Klenjë () is a village in the former Trebisht Municipality in Dibër County in northeastern

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

Bulqizë Bulqizë (; sq-definite, Bulqiza) is a municipality in Dibër County, northeastern Albania. The municipality consists of the administrative units of Fushë-Bulqizë, Gjoricë, Martanesh, Ostren, Shupenzë, Trebisht, Zerqan with Bulqizë ...

. It is situated with in the

Gollobordë Gollobordë ( sq-definite, Golloborda or Kalabardha; ; ) refers to a geographical area of traditionally 24 villages of which 18 are situated primarily in eastern Albania, with a small portion consisting of six villages lying within North Macedoni ...

region, near the border with

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

History

During the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

, one man from the village joined the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps in

Bulgarian Army The Bulgarian Army (), also called Bulgarian Armed Forces, is the military of Bulgaria. The commander-in-chief is the president of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for political leadership, while overall military command is in ...

Demographic history

Klenjë (''Kilani'') is recorded in the Ottoman ''

defter A ''defter'' was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire. Etymology The term is derived from Greek , literally 'processed animal skin, leather, fur', meaning a book, having pages of goat parchment used along with papyrus ...

'' of 1467 as a settlement in the

timar A timar was a land grant by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with an annual tax revenue of less than 20,000 akçes. The revenues produced from the land acted as compensation for military service. A ...

of Hacı Hamza in the

vilayet A vilayet (, "province"), also known by #Names, various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated b ...

of Dulgoberda. The village had a total of three households represented by ''Dimitri Susjabi'' (possibly, ''Sycjapi''); ''Gjurçe'', the grandson or brother-in-law of ''Dimitri''; and ''Miho Tishani''. The surname ''Susjabi'' is likely a compound of Albanian ''sy'' ("eye") + ''cjap'' ("billy goat"). A Bulgarian demographic survey of the population of the village, done in 1873, recorded the village as having 100 households with 196 male Bulgarian Christian residents and 120 male Muslim ( Pomak) residents. According to statistics gathered by

Vasil Kanchov Vasil Kanchov (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) was a geographer, ethnographer and teacher who served as Minister of Education of Bulgaria. Early life and education Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school i ...

in 1900, the village of Klenjë was inhabited by 1240 Christian

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

and 230 Muslim Bulgarians. However, Kanchov noted that the inhabitants of the village preferred to be called

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

and that they spoke

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

. The inhabitants of Klenjë are speakers of an Eastern South Slavic language "Heute umfaßt das Gebiet von Golloborda in Albanien 22 Dörfer, die verwaltungstechnisch auf drei verschiedene Gemeinden aufgeteilt sind: 1. Die Gemeinde Ostren besteht aus dreizehn Dörfern, und Südslavisch wird in den folgenden neun Dörfern gesprochen: Ostreni i Madh (Golemo Ostreni/Ostreni Golemo), Kojavec (Kojovci), Lejçan (Lešničani), Lladomerica (Ladomerica/Ladimerica/Vlademerica), Ostreni i Vogël (Malo Ostreni/Malastreni/Ostreni Malo), Orzhanova (Oržanova), Radovesh (Radoveš/Radoeš/Radoešt), Tuçep (Tučepi) und Pasinka (Pasinki). 2. Die Gemeinde von Trebisht umfaßt die vier Dörfer Trebisht (Trebišta), Gjinovec (G'inovec/G'inec), Klenja (Klen'e) und Vërnica (Vărnica), und in allen wird Südslavisch gesprochen. 3. Die übrigen Dörfer von Golloborda gehören zur Gemeinde Stebleva, und zwar Stebleva, Zabzun, Borova, Sebisht, Llanga. Südslavisch wird in Stebleva (Steblo) sowie von drei Familien in Sebisht (Sebišta) gesprochen. Wie aus den bisherigen Ausführungen und den Erhebungen vor Ort hervorgeht, gibt es nur noch in fünfzehn der insgesamt Dörfer, die heute zu Golloborda gehören, slavophone Einwohner. Die Zahl der Dörfer in Golloborda wird manchmal auch mit 24 angegeben. Dann zählt man die Viertel des Dorfes Trebisht, und zwar Trebisht-Bala, Trebisht-Çelebia und Trebisht-Muçina separat." and the village has traditionally contained a Torbeš p. 309. "Во западна Македонија исламизирано македонско население живее во неколку географски региони на македонско-албанската пограничје: во областа Река по долината на Радика (Жировница, Видуше, Болетин, Требиште, Велебрдо, Ростуша, Аџиевци, Јанче, Присојница, Скудриње, Горно и Долно Косоврасти, Могорче, Баланци, Мелничани), во Дебарско - во Жупа (Броштица, Бајрамовци, Горенци, Житинени, Кочишта, Мал и Голем Папрадник, Рковци) и Голо Брдо (Врмница, Владимирци, Гиновци, Клење, Лешничани, Љуболези, Големо и Мало Острени, Окштун, Отишани," population. According to a 2007 estimate, Klenjë's population was 207.

People from Klenjë

* Cvetan Zafir Mazniku, author in Macedonian-Albanian folklore topics * Sterjo Budin Budini, master builder and member of National Assembly for three consecutive legislatures (1962-1974).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klenje Populated places in Bulqizë Villages in Dibër County Torbeši settlements