Country Albania Administrative Unit Gruemirë Municipality Malësi e Madhe | County Shkodër Time zone CET (UTC+1) Municipal unit Gruemirë | |
 | ||
Boriç i Madh is a settlement in the former Gruemirë municipality, Shkodër County, northern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Malësi e Madhe. The village is inhabited by a majority of Slavic Muslims (using the demonym "Podgoričani"), and minorities of Albanians and Montenegrins, and is part of the wider Vraka region inhabited by Serbs–Montenegrins. The village is called Veliki Borič ("Big Borič") and Novi Borič ("New Borič") in Serbo-Croatian.
Contents
Map of Bori%C3%A7 i Math, Bori%C3%A7, Albania
Demographics
The Podgoričani hail from Montenegro, and number 86 families, while the Catholic Albanians number 20 families and the Orthodox Montenegrins 6 families (surnamed Popaj and Suto). The village had a total of ca. 950 inhabitants, out of which 700 were Muslims, 200 were Albanians and 50 were Montenegrins. Prior to the 1960s, the village was inhabited only by the Slavic Muslims, however, the government organized and settled Catholics and Orthodox in the village. The most numerous of the Muslim families originate from known clans mostly hailing from Podgorica and its surroundings. These were muhajirs who left those areas after the Montenegrin liberation. The families were forced to change their surnames, thus, the Piranići are surnamed "Piranaj" and "Pirani", Pepić (Pepaj and Pepa), Lekić (Leka), Tuzović (Tuzi), Kerović (Keraj), Osmanagić (Osmani), Bibezić (Bibezi), Goković (Gokovi), Salagić (Salagaj), Ferizović (Ferizi), Beganović (Begani), etc.
History
During the Yugoslav Wars, there were incidents of violence against the Serb/Montenegrin minority in places like Boriç i Vogël and Boriç i Madh, where the Albanian government also tried to forcibly take land from them.