Cerrca or Crnce ( sr-Cyrl, Црнце) is a village in

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 ...

, 2 km south of the town of

Istog Istog ( sq-definite, Istogu; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Исток, Istok) or Burim is a town and municipality located in the District of Peja of western Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the city of Istog has 5,115 inhabitants, while the municipality has ...

Geography

This village of approximately 300 households is located in north-west Kosovo on the border with

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Demographics

Except for a few exceptions, the whole population of Cerrcë are defined as

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

of Albanian ethnicity. The inhabitants of this village speak

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 ...

in the

Gheg Gheg or Geg (Gheg Albanian: ''gegnisht'', Standard ) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds its way through central Alba ...

dialect of the language.

Economy

Crnce has approximately 766 residents of working age. Of these, 231 people describe themselves as having some sort of regular cash income. Construction work and public-sector jobs are the two greatest sources of income. The commercial agriculture and industrial sectors in Crnce have largely collapsed. Family farms are presently producing almost exclusively for their own consumption, and only two Crnce farmers report owning more than ten cows. Part of the agricultural decline is believed to be an effect of the former socialist cooperatives no longer supporting farmers with the purchase of inputs or the marketing of produce. There was a construction boom in the first few years after the war in 1999 when 90 percent of the houses in Crnce were destroyed. The largest local construction company, employing 12 people, was launched in 2000. The remainder of the private sector consists of family-run shops, taxis, and other micro-enterprises.Cutting the lifeline. Migration, Families and the Future of Kosovo
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Notable natives

Ibrahim Rugova Ibrahim Rugova (; 2 December 1944 – 21 January 2006) was a Kosovo Albanians, Kosovo-Albanian politician, scholar, and writer, who served as the President of the partially recognised Republic of Kosova, serving from 1992 to 2000 and as President ...

, former

President of Kosovo The President of Kosovo (; ), officially the President of the Republic of Kosovo (; ), is the head of state of Kosovo. The president is elected indirectly by the parliament through a secret ballot, requiring a two-thirds majority of deputies in ...

. *

Naser Rugova Naser Rugova is a Deputy of the Kosovo Assembly. He was born in 1970 in Crnce, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He is a member of the Democratic League of Kosovo The Democratic League of Kosovo (, LDK) is the oldest and one of the la ...

, Kosovo member of parliament *

Selman Kadria Selman Kadri Hasanaj (1906–1938), known as Selman Kadria, was an ethnic Albanian Hero from the village of Cerrca in Istog, present-day Kosovo. He was linked with the Albanian independence movement in Kosovo. In 1938, he killed the Yugoslav ...

References

Villages in Istog {{Kosovo-geo-stub