Šum (, ) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

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' ...

Struga Struga ( ; , sq-definite, Struga) is a town and popular tourist destination situated in the south-western region of North Macedonia, lying on the shore of Lake Ohrid. The town of Struga is the seat of Struga Municipality. Name The name Struga ...

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 ...

. The settlement is a newer village in the Struga area and has a mosque.

Name

Šum has in its history been attached administratively to the neighboring village of

Zagračani Zagračani (, ) is a village in the municipality of Struga, North Macedonia. Demographics The village of Zagračani is inhabited by Tosks, a subgroup of southern Albanians and speak the Tosk Albanian dialect. "Ladorishti, Frëngova, Zagraçani dhe ...

resulting in demographic and other data being counted along with that settlement. Past traces of the village name ''Šum'' are non-existent and the area only appears in an old map by Jaranov listing it as ''Dolno (Lower) Zagračani''. Due to the close geographical proximity with Zagračani, the village toponyms of Šum are shared with its neighbour. A river flows through the village. Local Albanian residents of Šum derive the origin of their village's name as stemming from the Albanian word ''shumë'' (meaning: a lot, much) from there being a lot of water due to the river. Šum is also located nearby

and in between there are remnants of a forest. In Macedonian the word for 'forest' is ''шума/šuma''. The Albanian expression pronounced as ''shumë'' is according to Pianka Włodzimierz borrowed in this instance possibly from a local field name from a time when Zagračani was a Macedonian village, becoming the name of the village. "Шум е ново село со 42 куќи и џамија... Населено е со Албанци, но бидејќи административно е сврзано со Заграчани во статистиките не фигурира. Теренските имиња од ова село се дадени кај Заграчани (поради заедничкиот атар). Името на селото никогаш не се бележи, на картата од Јаранов фигурира како Д. Заграчани... Низ селото тече истоимена река. Народната етимологија е ваква: алб. shumë ‘многу’ → ‘многу вода’ → ‘вода’ → ‘река’. Селото лежи во полето близу до Струга. Сепак има таму и остатоци од шума. Албанците зборот се изговарале како шумъ (спор. алб. zhabë 'жаба’) и тоа можеби од теренско име (од времето кога Заграчани било Македонско село) станал име на селото."

Demographics

The

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 ...

dialect of the

Albanian language Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...

is spoken in Šum. "Shum (ku flitet toskërishtja)". "Fshatrat e rrethinës së Strugës siç janë: Kalishti, Frengova, Ladorishti, Zagraçani dhe Shumi flasin në dialektin toskë, kurse në të gjithë fshatrat e tjerë flitet gegënishtja". As of the 2021 census, Šum had 411 residents with the following ethnic composition:Total resident population of the Republic of North Macedonia by ethnic affiliation, by settlement, Census 2021
/ref> *Albanians 342 *Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources 69 According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 837 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:Macedonian Census (2002)
''Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion''
The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 182. *

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, ...

823 * Macedonians 2 *Others 12

References

External links

Villages in Struga Municipality Albanian communities in North Macedonia {{Struga-geo-stub