Konispol

Konispol (definite Albanian form: Konispoli) is the southernmost town in Albania. It sits one kilometer away from the Albanian-Greek border. The settlement is inhabited by Muslim Cham Albanians.[1] Konispol is modern centre of the Cham Albanian community in Albania. The main economic interests of Konispol are agriculture and viticulture.

Konispol
Municipality
Emblem
Konispol
Coordinates: 39°40′N 20°11′E
Country Albania
CountyVlorë
Government
 • MayorShuaip Beqiri (PS)
Area
 • Municipality226.26 km2 (87.36 sq mi)
Elevation
389 m (1,276 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Municipality
8,245
 • Municipality density36/km2 (94/sq mi)
 • Municipal unit
2,123
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal Code
9705
Area Code(0)891
WebsiteOfficial Website

The town is the seat of the southernmost administrative unit in Albania, the Municipality of Konispol (Albanian: Bashkia Konispol). It was formed during the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities of Konispol, Markat and Xarrë. [2] The total population is 8,245 (2011 census),[3] in a total area of 226.26 km2.[4] The population of the former Konispol municipality at the 2011 census was 2,123.[3]

The former Konispol municipal unit (pre-2015) consisted of the town Konispol and the village Çiflik.[5] The new larger municipality of Konispol contains settlements that are inhabited by Albanians who form the majority of the population, Aromanians, Greeks and Romani that live in the villages of Xarrë municipal unit.[1][6][7]

Name

The name of the settlement Konispol is derived from kon'c (коньць) and polya (поля), Slavic words for end and field referring to the end of a field.[8]

History

The area was part of the ancient region of Epirus and was inhabited by Chaonian Greeks.[9]

In 1943, Konispol is noted for being the battleground of a fierce conflict between German units, Cham collaborators from the Thesprotia province in Greece of the Nuri Dino battalion, and the communist Albanian resistance.[10] On October 8, 1943, a meeting of the Albanian and Greek communist resistance groups took place in the town.[11] Apart from recognising that Albanian and Greek minorities existed on either side of the border, due to disagreements between the communist movements, a separate headquarters for the communist resistance units of the Greek minority in Albania was planned.[11]

In 1992, 7 caves were discovered just north of the town with findings that dated from the Upper Paleolithic age to the Iron Age.[12]

Modern period

Konispol, due to its proximity to the Albanian-Greek borders, is part of the European Union's Greece – Albania Neighbourhood Programme for improving the standard of living of the local population by promoting sustainable local development in the cross-border area between the two countries.

Municipality demographics

The municipal seat Konispol,[6] along with the villages of Dishat, Vërvë, Shalës, Markat, Ninat and Janjar are populated by native Muslim Cham Albanians.[1] The village of Xarrë is inhabited by an Orthodox Albanian majority, Muslim Albanian Chams (200) that arrived from northern Greece in the 1920s and 1940s, a combined population of Aromanians and Greeks (50) and some Romani.[1][6] Mursi is inhabited by an Orthodox Albanian majority, alongside a few Muslim Albanians and Greeks.[1][6][13] Çiflik is inhabited by Orthodox Albanians, Aromanians, Muslim Albanians and a few Greeks.[1] Shkallë is inhabited by an Aromanian majority, alongside a few Muslim Albanians and Greeks and also contains a few families of Muslim Romani originally from Filiates, Greece who were expelled in 1944-1945.[1][7] Vrinë is a new village established during the communist period and is populated by Muslim Albanians (400), Orthodox Albanians (318) and Greeks (300).[1]

Location

Konispol is:

  • 301 kilometres (118 miles) from Tirana (Geographically and by road).
  • 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) from the Albanian-Greek border (Geographically).
  • 4 kilometres (3 miles) from Sagiada, Greece (Geographically).

Notable people
  • Teme Sejko, admiral
  • Hasan Tahsini, famed astronomer, mathematician and philosopher; first rector of Istanbul University; prominent 19th century Ottoman scholar
  • Osman Taka, famous folk music dancer
  • Muhamet Kyçyku (Çami), a Cham poet who is also considered a poet of the Albanian National Renaissance.[14]

References
  1. Kallivretakis, Leonidas (1995). "Η ελληνική κοινότητα της Αλβανίας υπό το πρίσμα της ιστορικής γεωγραφίας και δημογραφίας [The Greek Community of Albania in terms of historical geography and demography." In Nikolakopoulos, Ilias, Kouloubis Theodoros A. & Thanos M. Veremis (eds). Ο Ελληνισμός της Αλβανίας [The Greeks of Albania]. University of Athens. p. 51. "Ε Έλληνες, ΑΧ Αλβανοί Ορθόδοξοι Χριστιανοί, AM Αλβανοί Μουσουλμάνοι, ΤΣ Τσάμηδες, Β Βλάχοι, Μ Μικτός πληθυσμός”; p.52. “KONISPOL ΚΟΝΙΣΠΟΛΗ 2380 ΤΣ; VERVE BEPBA 345 ΤΣ; DISHAT ΝΤΙΣΑΤΙ 317 ΤΣ; SHALES ΣΑλΕΣΙ 1168 ΤΣ; ΝΙΝΑΤ NINATI (ΝΙΝΑΤΕΣ) 547 ΤΣ; MARKAT MAPKATI 748 ΤΣ; JANJAR ΓΙΑΝΑΡΙ 595 ΤΣ; XARRE TZAPA 2085 AX + αμ (200) + ε/β (50); MURSI ΜΟΥΡΣΙ (ΜΟΥΡΤΣΙΑ) 1984 AX + αμ + ε; VRINE BPINA (νέο) 1018 M (400 AM+ 318 ΑΧ+ 300 E); SHKALLE ΣΚΑΛΛΑ 619 Β + αμ + ε; ÇIFLIK ΤΣΙΦΛΙΚΙ 525 Μ (ΑΧ + Β + AM + ε)"
  2. Law nr. 115/2014 Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Population and housing census - Vlorë 2011" (PDF). INSTAT. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  4. "Correspondence table LAU – NUTS 2016, EU-28 and EFTA / available Candidate Countries" (XLS). Eurostat. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  5. Greece – Albania Neighbourhood Programme Archived March 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Kretsi, Georgia (2005). "The uses of origin: Migration, Power-struggle and Memory in southern Albania". In King, Russell; Mai, Nicola; Schwandner-Sievers, Stephanie (eds.). The New Albanian Migration. Brighton-Portland: Sussex Academic. ISBN 9781903900789. pp. 197-198. The first village, Xarrë, contains a mixed population in regard to confession and language.[3] The village is about 15 km from the Albanian-Greek border crossing point (for pedestrians) of Qafë Bota and around 30 km from the district capital, Sarandë. The second community, Mursi, consists of a rather homogeneous population in terms of religious affiliation and language (Christian and Albanian speaking) and is located just 1 km away from Xarrë. The third village, Konispol, around 10 km distant from these villages, is a traditionally Muslim, Albanian speaking settlement and is situated close to the 'green line' with Greece."; p. 210. "[3]. In Xarrë the relevant groups were Albanian-speaking Christians, Çam people (or Chams - the Albanian speaking minority settled in northern Greece/Epirus in the 1920s and 1940s), Vlachs (cattle breeders, speaking a Latin-based language), Roma, and some members of the Greek minority."
  7. Baltsiotis, Lambros (2015). "Balkan Roma immigrants in Greece: An initial approach to the traits of a migration flow", International Journal of Language, Translation and Intercultural Communication. 1. (1): 5. " In general terms, it seems that previous ties of any kind with Greece facilitate not only the migration but also a more permanent way of living in the country. This is the case with the Muslim Roma of Filiati in Thesprotia who, following the expulsion of the Muslim Albanian Chams from Greece in 1944-1945, were settled in the village of Shkallë, Sarandë in Albania. The majority of the families, more than fifteen, gradually settled in Greece.
  8. Ylli, Xhelal (2000). Das slavische Lehngut im Albanischen. 2 [Slavic settlement in Albania. Verlag Otto Sagner. p. 127. "KONISPÓL,-I 1431 Konisboli, Vayonetya; 1856 Κονίσπολις) A. VA 37 Κονίσπολις. B. Im türk. Register als Dorf bezeichnet. VA bezieht sich mit Vorbehalt auf die Erklärung von Hilferding 287: zu *коньць поля ,Feldende‘. In diesem Fall hätte man es mit einer alten Form zu tun, die den Reflex ь> I widerspiegelt, vgl. Dibrri usw. C. EI SO 2 96 Kuhschnappel Koniecpol (pol.), Konecpol’ (russ.), HE HSK Końčnopole. [KONISPÓL,-I 1431 Konisboli, Vayonetya; 1856 Κονίσπολις) A. VA 37 Κονίσπολις. B. In Turk. In the Register called as a village. VA refers conditionally to the statement of Hilferding 287: to *коньць поля, Field's End'. In this case you would have to do with an old form that ь the reflex reflecting> I see. Dibrri etc. C. EI SO 2 96 Kuhschnappel Koniecpol (pol.), Konecpol’ (russ.), HE HSK Końčnopole.]"
  9. Hammond, N.G.L. (1997). "Hammond The Tribal Systems of Epirus and Neighbouring Areas down to 400 B.C.". Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization: 55. Chaonian power thus ran from the northern end of the Gulf of Aulon (adjacent to Apollonia) to the southern end of the plain by Konispolis
  10. Meyer, Hermann Frank (2008). Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg [Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII] (in German). Ch. Links Verlag. ISBN 978-3-86153-447-1.
  11. Kretsi, Georgia (2002). "The 'Secret' Past of the Greek-Albanian Borderlands". Ethnologia Balkanica (6): 181. In 1943 the first rapprochements had taken place between the Albanian and Greek communist resistance movements, and although no concrete statuses were defined, the minorities on both sides were recognized mutually for the first time.[35].; [35]Serious disagreements emerged, however, due to the convention of Konispol (8/10/1943) a separate headquarters for the Greek minority was planned
  12. Schuldenrein, Joseph (1998-06-01). "Konispol Cave, southern Albania, and correlations with other Aegean caves occupied in the Late Quaternary". Geoarchaeology. 13 (5): 501–526. doi:10.1002/(sici)1520-6548(199806)13:5<501::aid-gea3>3.0.co;2-4. ISSN 1520-6548.
  13. Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière (1967). Epirus: the Geography, the Ancient Remains, the History and Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 95. ISBN 9780198142539. "The small hamlet of Çiflik lies below the hill of Aetos, and it is one hour's walk from there to Murzië, an Albanian speaking village of 700 people"
  14. Elsie, Robert (1992). "Albanian Literature in the Moslem Tradition: Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Albanian Writing in Arabic Script". Oriens. 33: 287–306. doi:10.2307/1580608. JSTOR 1580608.
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