Cerje ( sq-definite, Cerja, ) is a village at the southeastern end of Pustec Municipality which is officially recognised as a Macedonian minority zone located in the

Korçë County Korçë County (), officially the County of Korçë (), is a Counties of Albania, county in the Southern Albania, Southern Region of the Republic of Albania. It is the largest by area and the List of counties of Albania by population, fifth most p ...

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 ...

, near the border with

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The village is composed of

ethnic Macedonians Macedonians ( ) are a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia in Southeast Europe. They speak Macedonian, a South Slavic language. The large majority of Macedonians identify as Eastern Orthodox Christians, ...

, which form part of the larger Macedonian minority in Albania.

History

In 1900,

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 ...

gathered and compiled statistics on demographics in the area and reported that the village of Cerja (Церя) was inhabited by about 120 Bulgarian Christians. In 1904, following the

Ilinden Uprising Ilinden ( Bulgarian/ Macedonian: Илинден) or Ilindan ( Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning " Saint Elijah's Day", may refer to: Events * Republic Day (North Macedonia) Republic Day () or Ilinden () is a national holiday in North ...

, Cerje came under the

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate (; ) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953. The Exarchate (a de facto autocephaly) ...

. In 1911, the village was recorded by Georgi Trajčev as a Bulgarian village having six houses and 54 inhabitants. In 1939, on behalf of 15 Bulgarian houses in Cerje Fote Fotev signed a request by the local Bulgarians to the Bulgarian

tsaritsa Tsarina or tsaritsa (also spelled ''csarina'' or ''csaricsa'', ''tzarina'' or ''tzaritza'', or ''czarina'' or ''czaricza''; ; ; ) is the title of a female autocratic ruler (monarch) of Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia, or the title of a tsar's wife ...

Giovanna Giovanna is an Italian feminine first name. It is the feminine counterpart of the masculine Giovanni (name), Giovanni, which in turn is the Italian form of John (given name), John; it is thus the Italian equivalent of Joan (given name), Joan, etc. ...

requesting her intervention for the protection of the Bulgarian people in Albania - at that time an Italian protectorate.

Demographics

According to a 2007 source, Cerje is the least populous village in Pustec Municipality, having only a small amount of elderly residents.Бело, Раки. Селищни имена в Мала Преска - Албания, в: Македонски преглед, ХХХ, №3, стр.135.

References

Populated places in Pustec Municipality Villages in Korçë County Macedonian communities in Albania {{Korçë-geo-stub