Žužnje (, ) 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' ...

of Mavrovo and Rostuša,

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 ...

Culture

Žužnje, a village of Upper Reka became renown for its handicrafts and traditional women's costumes that used silver beads and

filigree Filigree (also less commonly spelled ''filagree'', and formerly written ''filigrann'' or ''filigrene'') is a form of intricate metalwork used in jewellery and other small forms of metalwork. In jewellery, it is usually of gold and silver, m ...

making them some of the most picturesque in the region.

Demographics

Žužnje (''Zhuzheli'') 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 village in the

ziamet Ziamet was a form of land tenure in the Ottoman Empire, consisting in grant of lands or revenues by the Ottoman Sultan to an individual in compensation for their services, especially military services. The ziamet system was introduced by Osman I, ...

Reka Reka may refer to: Places * Řeka, a village in the Czech Republic * Reka, Cerkno, a village near Cerkno, Slovenia * Reka, Laško, a village near Laško, Slovenia * Reka (Kladovo), a village near Kladovo, Serbia * Reka, Koprivnica, a village n ...

which was under the authority of Karagöz Bey. The village had a total of 5 households and the anthroponymy attested depicts an almost exclusively

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 ...

character, with only a single case of

Slavicisation Slavicisation or Slavicization, is the acculturation of something non-Slavic into a Slavic culture, cuisine, region, or nation. The process can either be voluntary or applied through varying degrees of pressure. The term can also refer to the ...

in the case of ''Gjon Gjergjeviqi''. In 1519, the village counted 14 Christian households. In the 1583 census, the village of Žužnje paid the

timarli Timariot (or ''tımar'' holder; ''tımarlı'' in Turkish) was the name given to a Sipahi cavalryman in the Ottoman army. In return for service, each timariot received a parcel of revenue called a timar, a fief, which were usually recently conqu ...

1000

akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (anglicized as ''akche'', ''akcheh'' or ''aqcha''; ; , , in Europe known as '' asper'') was a silver coin mainly known for being the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. It was also used in other states includi ...

and counts 20 Christian households and 7 bachelors and had 1 mill. The Christian anthroponyms recorded were Albanian and mixed Slavic-Albanian in character. Muslim athroponyms also appear: (e.g ''Ali Stojan, Ivan Barde (Bazde), Jançe Gjon, Nikolla Gjon, Kojo Jan, Konstantin Janak, Petro Nikolla, Hasan Meritor, Marko Çoço, Kojo Boshko, Jovan Boshko, Gjon Kojo, Gjin Kojo, Stepan Kojo, Jovan Pejo'' etc). In 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 Žužnje was inhabited by 150 Orthodox Albanians and 160 Muslim Albanians. As of the 2021 census, Žužnje had 6 residents with the following ethnic composition: *Albanians 6 According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 8 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. 135. *

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, ...

8 According to the 1942

census, Žužnje was inhabited by 116

Muslim Albanians Islam arrived in Albania mainly during the Ottoman period when the majority of Albanians over time converted to Islam under Ottoman rule. Following the Albanian National Awakening (Rilindja) tenets and the de-emphasis of religious traditi ...

References

Villages in Mavrovo and Rostuša Municipality Albanian communities in North Macedonia {{MavrovoRostuša-geo-stub