Gorna Gorica

Gorna Gorica (Albanian: Gorna Goricë; Macedonian/Bulgarian: Горна Горица), previously officially known as Goricë e Madhe, is a village in the Pustec Municipality which is officially recognised as a Macedonian minority zone[1] located in the Korçë County in Albania.[2] It is situated west of Lake Prespa and the village of Tuminec, and northwest of the village of Dolna Gorica. The village is composed of ethnic Macedonians,[3] which form part of the larger Macedonian minority in Albania.[4] According to Bulgarian sources, including research by a Bulgarian scientist from Albania, the local inhabitants are Bulgarians.[5][6]

Gorna Gorica Gorna Goricë Goricë e Madhe Горна Горица
Village
Gorna Gorica
Coordinates: 40°53′39″N 20°54′10″E
Country	Albania
County	Korçë
Municipality	Pustec
Municipal unit	Pustec
Population  (2000)
• Total	515
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

History

Gorna Gorica is the location[7] of a fortified town called Pellion[8] of the ancient Greek[9] tribe of the Dexaroi. The site later became an ancient Macedonian fortress.[10]

In the late 19th century, the village came under the Bulgarian Exarchate. According to the exarchate, the village had 33 houses and 404 Orthodox Christian residents at that time.[11] The "La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne" survey by Dimitar Mishev (D. Brankov) concluded that village had 360 Bulgarian Exarchists residents in 1905.[12]

In 2013, the village's official name was changed from "Goricë e Madhe" to "Gorna Gorica".[13]

Demographics

Year	Population
1900	285
1926	511 (with Dolna Gorica)
1945	201
1960	329
1969	369
1979	406
1989	489
2000	515

References

1. https://minorityrights.org/minorities/macedonians/
2. Law nr. 115/2014
3. Xhaxho, Manjola (2007). Minority Rights and the Republic of Albania: Missing the Implementation (Thesis). Faculty of Law, Lund University.
4. "Census 2011 Data: Resident population by ethnic and cultural affiliation". The Institute of Statistics of Republic of Albania. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
5. Бело Раки (Belo, Raki). Селищни имена в Мала Преспа - Албания, в: Македонски преглед, ХХХ, № 3, с. 134.
6. Българите в района на Корча и Мала Преспа (Албания) - съвременна картина, Балканистичен Форум, 2005, №1-3, с. 113-129 (Pashova, Anastasija. Bulgarians in the region of Korcha and Mala Prespa (Albania) nowadays, Balcanistic forum, 2005, issue No: 1-3, pp. 113-129.)
7. Barrington atlas of the Greek and Roman world by Richard J. A. Talbert, 2000, ISBN 0-691-04945-9, page 755
8. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 326
9. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 6: The Fourth Century BC by D. M. Lewis (Editor), John Boardman (Editor), Simon Hornblower (Editor), M. Ostwald (Editor), 1994, ISBN 0-521-23348-8, page 423: "These Dassareti not to be confused with the Greek speaking Dexari or Dessaretae lay between the Dardani and the coastal people of the Ardiaei,"
10. The campaigns of Alexander by Arrian, Aubrey De Sélincourt, ISBN 0-14-044253-7, 1971, page 50: "Pelium was a Macedonian border fortress"
11. Българите в Албания I част Archived 2009-07-09 at the Wayback Machine
12. D.M.Brancoff. "La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne". Paris, 1905, pp. 168-169. (in French)
13. "Pas Pustecit, edhe 7 fshatra të Korçës me emertime maqedonase" (in Albanian). Info Arkiv. 17 April 2013. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.