Beci is a village in the Dushkaja subregion in the

Gjakova Gjakova or Đakovica, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the sixth largest city of Kosovo and seat of the Gjakova Municipality and the District of Gjakova, Gjakova District. According to the 2024 census, the municipality of Gjakov ...

Municipality of

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. It is almost exclusively inhabited by ethnic

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, ...

, who form the near-absolute majority of the village's population.

Etymology

It is believed that the toponym is derived from the Albanian word ''Bec-i'', which means "little lamb" in Albanian.

Geography

Beci is bordered by Sapot to the west, Zhdrellë and Rashkoc to the northwest and north, Cërmjan to the northeast, Meqe east, Doblibare and Vraniq to the southeast and with Lugu e Bunarit to the south and southwest. It is located in the ethnographic Dushkaja region, and is situated around 7 km northeast of

History

Beci is divided into two sections - ''Beci i Epër'' (Upper Beci) and ''Beci i Poshtëm'' (Lower Beci). In the cadastral documents of the Sanjak of Shkodra in 1485, the village is mentioned with the name ''Beçi''. The inhabitants bore a mixture of Albanian,

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and Slavic names. In the Ottoman register of 1582 the inhabitants bore majority Albanian names, indicating the village was historically inhabited by an Albanian population.

Anthropology

Beci is inhabited by a near-absolute majority of ethnic Albanians, and most of the inhabitants traditionally belonged to a single Albanian tribal brotherhood around 300 years ago - the Mërturi- Berisha. The village was traditionally divided into 4 neighbourhoods - the neighbourhoods of the Biblekët, Ndreajt, Salcët and Tetajt. The Muslim and Catholic Albanians here belong to the same brotherhood. There is also a family that hails from the Krasniqi tribe and one that hails from the Thaçi tribe.

Notes

References

{{Reflist Villages in Gjakova