Konispol

Konispol ( sq-definite, Konispoli) is the southernmost town in Albania. It sits one kilometer away from the Albanian-Greek border. The settlement is inhabited by Muslim Cham Albanians. Konispol is the modern centre of the Cham Albanian community in Albania. The main economic interests of Konispol are agriculture and viticulture.

The town is the seat of the southernmost administrative unit in Albania, the Municipality of Konispol (). It was formed during the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities of Konispol, Markat and Xarrë.
The total population is 8,245 (2011 census), in a total area of 226.26 km². The population of the municipal unit as of the 2023 census is 1,758.

The former Konispol municipal unit (pre-2015) consisted of the town Konispol and the village Çiflik. The new larger municipality of Konispol contains settlements that are inhabited by Albanians who form the majority of the population, Aromanians, Greeks and Romani that live in the villages of Xarrë municipal unit.

History

Traces of human presence in Konispol can be found in the Kreçmoi Cave on the late period of the Middle Paleolithic era (40,000-30,000 years ago).

The area was part of the ancient region of Epirus and was inhabited by Chaonian Epirotes.

In 1943, Konispol is noted for being the battleground of a fierce conflict between German units, Cham collaborators from the Thesprotia province in Greece of the Nuri Dino battalion, and the communist Albanian resistance. On 8 October 8, 1943, a meeting of the Albanian and Greek communist resistance groups took place in the town. Apart from recognising that Albanian and Greek minorities existed on either side of the border, due to disagreements between the communist movements, a separate headquarters for the communist resistance units of the Greek minority in Albania was planned.

In 1992, seven caves were discovered just north of the town with findings that dated from the Upper Paleolithic age to the Iron Age.

Modern period

Konispol, due to its proximity to the Albanian-Greek borders, is part of the European Union's Greece – Albania Neighbourhood Programme for improving the standard of living of the local population by promoting sustainable local development in the cross-border area between the two countries.

Demographics

The municipal seat Konispol, along with the villages of Dishat, Vërvë, Shalës, Markat, Ninat and Janjar are populated by native Muslim Cham Albanians. The village of Xarrë is inhabited by an Orthodox Albanian majority, Muslim Albanian Chams (200) that arrived from northern Greece in the 1920s and 1940s, a combined population of Aromanians and Greeks (50) and some Romani. Mursi is inhabited by an Orthodox Albanian majority, alongside a few Muslim Albanians and Greeks. pp. 197-198. The first village, Xarrë, contains a mixed population in regard to confession and language. The village is about 15 km from the Albanian-Greek border crossing point (for pedestrians) of Qafë Bota and around 30 km from the district capital, Sarandë. The second community, Mursi, consists of a rather homogeneous population in terms of religious affiliation and language (Christian and Albanian speaking) and is located just 1 km away from Xarrë. The third village, Konispol, around 10 km distant from these villages, is a traditionally Muslim, Albanian speaking settlement and is situated close to the 'green line' with Greece."; p. 210. " In Xarrë the relevant groups were Albanian-speaking Christians, Çam people (or Chams - the Albanian speaking minority settled in northern Greece/Epirus in the 1920s and 1940s), Vlachs (cattle breeders, speaking a Latin-based language), Roma, and some members of the Greek minority." "The small hamlet of Çiflik lies below the hill of Aetos, and it is one hour's walk from there to Murzië, an Albanian speaking village of 700 people" Çiflik is inhabited by Orthodox Albanians, Aromanians, Muslim Albanians and a few Greeks. Shkallë is inhabited by an Aromanian majority, alongside a few Muslim Albanians and Greeks and also contains a few families of Muslim Romani originally from Filiates, Greece who were expelled in 1944–1945.Baltsiotis, Lambros (2015).
Balkan Roma immigrants in Greece: An initial approach to the traits of a migration flow
, ''International Journal of Language, Translation and Intercultural Communication''. 1. (1): 5. " In general terms, it seems that previous ties of any kind with Greece facilitate not only the migration but also a more permanent way of living in the country. This is the case with the Muslim Roma of Filiati in Thesprotia who, following the expulsion of the Muslim Albanian Chams from Greece in 1944-1945, were settled in the village of Shkallë, Sarandë in Albania. The majority of the families, more than fifteen, gradually settled in Greece. Vrinë is a new village established during the communist period and is populated by Muslim Albanians (400), Orthodox Albanians (318) and Greeks (300).Kallivretakis, Leonidas (1995).
Η ελληνική κοινότητα της Αλβανίας υπό το πρίσμα της ιστορικής γεωγραφίας και δημογραφίας [The Greek Community of Albania in terms of historical geography and demography
" In Nikolakopoulos, Ilias, Kouloubis Theodoros A. & Thanos M. Veremis (eds). ''Ο Ελληνισμός της Αλβανίας [The Greeks of Albania]''. University of Athens. p. 51. "Ε Έλληνες, ΑΧ Αλβανοί Ορθόδοξοι Χριστιανοί, AM Αλβανοί Μουσουλμάνοι, ΤΣ Τσάμηδες, Β Βλάχοι, Μ Μικτός πληθυσμός”; p.52. “KONISPOL ΚΟΝΙΣΠΟΛΗ 2380 ΤΣ; VERVE BEPBA 345 ΤΣ; DISHAT ΝΤΙΣΑΤΙ 317 ΤΣ; SHALES ΣΑλΕΣΙ 1168 ΤΣ; ΝΙΝΑΤ NINATI (ΝΙΝΑΤΕΣ) 547 ΤΣ; MARKAT MAPKATI 748 ΤΣ; JANJAR ΓΙΑΝΑΡΙ 595 ΤΣ; XARRE TZAPA 2085 AX + αμ (200) + ε/β (50); MURSI ΜΟΥΡΣΙ (ΜΟΥΡΤΣΙΑ) 1984 AX + αμ + ε; VRINE BPINA (νέο) 1018 M (400 AM+ 318 ΑΧ+ 300 E); SHKALLE ΣΚΑΛΛΑ 619 Β + αμ + ε; ÇIFLIK ΤΣΙΦΛΙΚΙ 525 Μ (ΑΧ + Β + AM + ε)"

Location

Konispol is:
*301 kilometres (118 miles) from Albania's capital city Tirana (geographically and by road)
*1 kilometre (0.6 miles) from the Albanian-Greek border (geographically)
*4 kilometres (3 miles) from Sagiada, Greece (geographically)

Notable people

* Teme Sejko (August 25, 1922 – May 31, 1961), Albanian rear admiral and commander of the Albanian navy and the naval base of Durrës
* Hasan Tahsini, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher; first rector of Istanbul University; prominent 19th century Ottoman scholar
* Osman Taka, folk music dancer
* Muhamet Kyçyku (Çami), Cham poet, also considered a poet of the Albanian National Renaissance
* Bilal Xhaferri (May 10 or November 2, 1935 – 1986), Albanian writer and political dissident against the Albanian communist regime

References

External links

* Tom J. Winnifrith
''SOUTHERN ALBANIA, NORTHERN EPIRUS: Survey of a Disputed Ethnological Boundary''

{{Authority control

Municipalities in Vlorë County
Albania–Greece border crossings
Administrative units of Konispol
Towns in Albania