Tropojë

Tropojë
—  Municipality  —
Tropojë
Coordinates:
Country  Albania
County Kukës County
District Tropojë District
Time zone Central European Time (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Car Plates BC
Website http://www.komuna-tropoje.com

Tropojë (Definite Albanian form: Tropoja) is a municipality in the Tropojë District, Kukës County, northern Albania; near the border with Kosovo. It is home to the non-navigable Valbonë River.

Contents

Etymology

Tropojë e Vjetër (Old Tropojë), sitting 240 metres (790 ft) above the sea level, is the name of the town at the foot of Shkëlzen Mountain (2,807 metres (9,209 ft)) from which the region of Tropojë takes its name. The people are identified as tropojans (tro-poi-yanz). Another theory of the name's origin is from "maja e trojanit."

History

Tropojë e Vjetër was principally founded by the clan of Berisha (from which the Prime Minister Sali Berisha descends) and was the center of the commercial trade from the east (Kosovo) to the west (Shkodër) in order to get imported products from the Adriatic Sea. One of the principal trades was salt which was interchanged with the agricultural products. Having this geographical importance, Tropojë e Vjetër was the principal place of the actual region or the former highlands of the famous and old city of Đakovica. Tropojë e Vjetër is also the name of pass which goes through the mountains, where the people from all over this region go during the summer to relax and to have access in the green fields with their animals. Now these highlands are very required by the tourists, especially from Europe and Israel.

Population

The population of the commune is officially listed at 5,606 inhabitants, however this figure includes many inhabitants who have emigrated from the area, but still keep their original registration.

A large number of Tropojans have moved to Tirana, and are employed by state institutions, while still retaining their registration in Tropoje. The city of Kamëz is a popular location for many emigrants from the commune.

Tropoje is located within the Gheg regions of Albania. Gheg Albanians are known to be physically large (Gheg meaning "giant" in ancient dialects of Greek).

Agriculture

Tropojë has many agricultural products and is famous for its chestnuts, apples, nuts, grapes and especially blueberries.

Land Registration

According to official statistics from the commune of Tropoja, only 23% of the communes 266km2 have been registered.

Mineral Exploration

Large reserves of platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, palladium, iridium and Osmium have being discovered in Tropoje, Albania. Albanian, Italian and Chinese engineers, working for Albanian Minerals and Bytyci ShPK in Tropoje, suggest the area may have more than 500 million tons of chrome ore and more than 2 billion tons of olivine in which platinum is 5 - 7 grams present per ton. This gigantic of body of ore is one of the largest in the world.

In popular culture

Tropojë is also famous for being mentioned in the 2008 film Taken, starring Liam Neeson, in which members of the Albanian Mafia come from the town.

International Perception

Within Albania, the Tropoje district has had a long reputation as one of the wildest and most conservative regions in Albania, virtually out of control of every government in Tirana, whether royalist, communist, or republican.

The Government of Canada currently advises against non-essential travel to the district of Tropojë and the city of Bajram Curri, where police assistance and protection is limited.[1]

The Government of Australia advises travelers to reconsider travel to the north-east region including the cities of Bajram Curri and Tropoje because of the risk of criminal violence and unexploded ordnance along the Albania-Kosovo border.[2]

The UK government has issued a similar warning to travelers advising against all travel to the north east border areas (the districts of Kukes, Has and Tropoje) between Albania and Kosovo because of the risk of unexploded ordnance placed during the 1999 Kosovo crisis and the poor condition of the roads.

The British newspaper The Guardian reported in 1999 that in Bajram Curri, the family arsenal often takes up a whole room and typically includes anti-tank mines, hand grenades and rocket launchers.[3]

In 1999, chaos and lawlessness led every foreign aid team except the OSCE to pull out of Tropoje in November.[4]

Notable people

References

External links