Pustec (municipality) explained

Type:	m
Pustec
Other Name:	Liqenas
Flag:	Flag of Pustec, Albania.png
Emblem:	Stema e Bashkisë Pustec.svg
County:	Korçë
Mayor:	Pali Kolefski
Party:	PS
Coordinates:	40.7869°N 20.9022°W
Area Munic:	243.60
Population As Of:	2011
Population Munic:	3290
Postal Code:	7020
Area Code:	(0)867

Pustec Municipality (Albanian: Bashkia Pustec; Macedonian: Општина Пустец, Opshtina Pustets), previously known as Liqenas Commune (Albanian: Komuna Liqenas) from 1973 to 2013, is a municipality in the Korçë County of Albania.^[1] The population at the 2011 census was 3,290,^[2] in a total area of 243.60 km².^[3] The municipality's flag features the Vergina Sun.^[4]

It consists of nine villages, comprising the areas along the Albanian, the southwestern shore of Lake Prespa. It is part of the so-called Mala Prespa area, which is home to a large part of the local ethnic Macedonian minority of Albania.^{[5] [6]} Albanian and Macedonian are official languages of the municipality.

History

The village of Cerje was first mentioned in documents from the 14th century. The names of other villages were found in more modern documents. According to a 1900 ethnographic survey, the number of inhabitants at the time was 1,830.^[7] The "La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne" survey by Dimitar Mishev (D. Brankov) from 1905 shows that the local Christian inhabitants were divided between Bulgarian Exarchate and Patriarchate of Constantinople.^[8] On 18 March 2013, the Albanian government changed the official name of the municipality, from the Albanian Liqenas to the Macedonian Pustec.^[9]

Villages in Pustec Municipality

The municipality contains nine villages.

• Cerje
• Dollna Goricë
• Glloboçen
• Gorna Goricë
• Leskë
• Pustec
• Shulin
• Tuminec
• Zërnovskë

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, 97% of the municipality's residents were ethnic Macedonians and 96% were Orthodox Christians.^{[10] [11]}

As per 2022, according to INSTAT, Pustec had only 8 births, second lowest only to Dropull. ^[12]

Education

Each of the nine villages in the municipality has an elementary school. Gorna Gorice has an 8-year school, while Pustec has both an 8-year school and a secondary school.^[13]

Twinned municipalities

• Novaci Municipality, North Macedonia

Notes and References

1. Web site: Law nr. 115/2014 . sq . 6372–6373. 25 February 2022 .
2. Web site: Population and housing census - Korçë 2011 . 2019-09-25 . .
3. Web site: Correspondence table LAU – NUTS 2016, EU-28 and EFTA / available Candidate Countries . 2019-09-25 . Eurostat. XLS .
4. Book: Gori . Maja . Ivanova . Maria . Balkan Dialogues: Negotiating Identity between Prehistory and the Present . 2017 . Taylor & Francis . 9781317377474 . 258.
5. http://miris.eurac.edu/mugs2/do/blob.pdf?type=pdf&serial=1003744282130 “ON THE STATUS OF THE MINORITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA”
6. http://www.ihf-hr.org/viewbinary/viewdocument.php?doc_id=1932 Minority Rights in Albania
7. http://www.promacedonia.org/vk/vk_2_36.htm Kanchov, Vasil. Macedonia — ethnography and statistics, Sofia 1900, p. 242 (in Bulgarian)
8. D.M.Brancoff. "La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne". Paris, 1905, p.170-171
9. http://www.dw.de/%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%86-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%9C%D0%B5-%D0%BD%D0%B5-%D0%B5-%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%9C%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81/a-16681710?maca=maz-rss-maz-pol_makedonija_timemk-4727-xml-mrss Pustec poveke ne e Liqenas
10. Web site: Ethnic Composition of Albania 2011. 7 August 2014.
11. Web site: Religious Composition of Albania 2011. 7 August 2014.
12. https://www.instat.gov.al/media/12904/numri-i-lindjeve-dhe-vdekjeve-sipas-bashkive-2018-2022-dt-21122023.xlsx
13. Web site: "ON THE STATUS OF THE MINORITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA". 10 March 2016.