The Shkumbin (; ), also known as Shkembi, is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

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 ...

. It is long and its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

is . Its average discharge is .

Etymology

It derives from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Scampinus'' (recorded alternatively as ), which replaced the Illyrian name of the river: ''Genusus'' (recorded in , also , and in ). A Slavic intermediation has been rejected. Its inclusion in Latin loanwords into

Proto-Albanian Proto-Albanian is the ancestral reconstructed language of Albanian, before the Gheg– Tosk dialectal diversification (before ). Albanoid and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrat ...

and phonetic evolution coincides with the historical existence of a large Roman town (near present-day

Elbasan Elbasan ( , ; sq-definite, Elbasani, ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in centr ...

), which gave the river its new name.

Overview

The river originates in the eastern Valamara Mountains between ''Maja e Valamarës'' () and ''Gur i Topit'' () in Southeastern Albania. After descending from the Valamaras, it flows northwards through Proptisht and Qukës with many deep gorges and canyons and passes the Gora Mountains. A significant inflow comes from ''Gur i Kamjës'' () southwest of

Pogradec Pogradec (,) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eleventh most populous city in Albania and the capital of the eponymous municipality. It is located on a List of settlements on the Lake Ohrid coastline, narrow plain between two mountain ch ...

. Over the course, it flows inside a

syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimposed ...

between the Mokra and Shebenik Mountains in the east and the Polis Mountains in the west. Close to Librazhd the river turns some westwards of its origin and joins the ''Rapun'' stream. At the end, the river crosses the

Myzeqe The Myzeqe (; sq-definite, Myzeqeja; ) is a plain in the Western Lowlands of Albania. The Myzeqe is the largest and widest plain, measured by area, in the Lowlands. Location The Myzeqe plain is a large alluvial plain traversed by three main riv ...

Plain and forms a small delta in Karavasta Lagoon, the direct proximity of the

Adriatic Sea 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 ...

Human history

The ancient name of the river was ''Genusus'' and was located in central southern

Illyria In classical and late antiquity, Illyria (; , ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; , ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyrians. The Ancient Gree ...

. At the same time, it was referred as ''Scampini'', as it was identified by the town of Scampa. In classical antiquity, the valley of the Shkumbin was inhabited by several Illyrian peoples. The

Parthini The Parthini, Partini or Partheenatai were an Illyrians, Illyrian List of ancient Illyrian peoples and tribes, tribe that lived in southern Illyria (modern Albania). They likely were located in the Shkumbin valley controlling the important route b ...

lived in the middle valley of the river. They neighbored to the west the

Taulantii Taulantii or Taulantians ('swallow-men'; Ancient Greek: , or , ; ) were an Illyrians, Illyrian people that lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania). They dominated at various times much of the plain between the rivers Dri ...

who lived in the coastal area including the lower valley of the river, and to the east the Dassaretii who lived in the region of

Lake Ohrid Lake Ohrid is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more th ...

, including the upper valley of the river. The ancient

Via Egnatia The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thracia, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey as a contin ...

followed the river, giving it the role of a strategically important corridor between

orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

and occident. The Via Egnatia started with two branches, the northern one from Epidamnos-Dyrrhachion, and the southern one from Apollonia. The two branches converged at Ad Quintum, near modern

, continuing eastwards through the valley of the Shkumbin. In Roman Imperial times, the line of division between the administrative provinces of Illyricum and

Epirus Nova Epirus () is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë and the Acroceraunian Mountains i ...

ran from the west somewhere between Scodra and Dyrrachium, to the east somewhere between the north side of the Shkumbin and

. During this period, the valley of Shkumbin constituted roughly the border between the

and the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

-speaking area. The river is roughly the geographical dividing line between

Tosk Tosk ( sq-definite, toskërishtja) is the southern group of dialects of the Albanian language, spoken by the ethnographic group known as Tosks. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg (the northern variety) is the Shkumbin River. Tosk is ...

and

Gheg Albanian Gheg or Geg (Gheg Albanian: ''gegnisht'', Standard ) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds its way through central Alba ...

dialects, with Gheg spoken north of the Shkumbin and Tosk south of it. The dialectal split occurred after

Christianisation Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

of the region (4th century AD), with the river as the historic dialectal boundary which straddled the Jireček line.Orel, Vladimir; Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Brill, 1998 See also Hamp 1963.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Portal bar, Geography Rivers of Albania Geography of Korçë County Geography of Elbasan County Geography of Tirana County Drainage basins of the Adriatic Sea Braided rivers in Albania