Plav Плав Plavë | |
|---|---|
Town andmunicipality | |
 Panorama of Plav | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Plav Location within Montenegro | |
| Coordinates:42°36′N19°56′E / 42.6°N 19.94°E /42.6; 19.94 | |
| Country | Montenegro |
| Region | Northern |
| Municipality | Plav |
| Settlements | 14 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor-Assembly |
| • Mayor | Nihad Canović (SD) |
| Area | |
• Town andmunicipality | 328 km2 (127 sq mi) |
| Population (2011 census) | |
| • Density | 28/km2 (73/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 3,717 |
| • Rural | 5,364 |
| • Municipality | 9,081 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 84325 |
| Area code | +382 51 |
| ISO 3166-2 code | ME-13 |
| Car plates | PL |
| Climate | Cfb |
Plav (Montenegrin Cyrillic:Плав,Albanian:Plavë) is a town located in theNorthern Region ofMontenegro, situated along theLim River, which originates from nearbyLake Plav, a glacial lake at the foot of theProkletije mountains. It has a population of 3,717 (2011 census). Plav is the centre ofPlav Municipality with a population of 9,050.
The namePlav (Плав) is derived from Slavicplav, "a flooded place" (poplava, "flood").[1][2]
Plav is located at the foot of theAccursed Mountains range, adjacent to the springs of the riverLim.[3]
The area contains many lakes and the most known isLake Plav, one of the largest in this region.[3] The lakes Hrid andVisitor are mountain lakes, and Visitor is noted for itsfloating island.
Plav is also renowned for itskarst wells, among which areAli Pasha of Gucia Springs and Oko Skakavica. Villages in the municipality include Gusinje.
The toponymHotina Gora (mountains of Hoti) in the Plav and Gusinje regions on theLim river basin in 1330 is the first mention of the Hoti name in historical records in the chrysobulls of Dečani. Šufflay considers this region as the original area of settlement of theHoti tribe from which they moved southwards.[4][5]
The Ottoman census organised in 1582-83 registered the Plavnahiyah within theSanjak of Scutari with 18 villages; according to historianMilan Vasić all inhabitants had personal names with a Slavic character, and no Muslim name was present.[6][need quotation to verify]
According to a 16th-century travel record byAntonio Bruni, the inhabitants of the Plav region are partly Albanian and partly Serbian, with a large proportion belonging to historical Albanian and Montenegrin tribes such as thePiperi,Kuči,Kelmendi, andBjelopavlići.[7]
After the Venetian noblemanMariano Bolizza in Cattaro (Kotor), who wrote the Relazione e descrizione del sangiacato di Scutari ("Relations and Description of the Sanjak of Scutari") in 1614 Plav was mostly inhabited by Albanians under the command of Sem Zaus (Cem Çaushi) of Podgorica.[8]
The two strongest feudal families in thePlav-Gusinje region (~90 km to the northeast of Gruemirë) trace their origin toGruemiri. The Rexhepagaj of Plav, Montenegro (now, Redžepagić-Rexhepagiqi) moved to Plav in the beginning of the 1650s where their ancestor took the Muslim nameVeli when he converted.Rexhep Aga who gave the name to the family was a great-great-grandson of Veli. The Shabanagaj (now also known as Šabanagić) were related via marriage with theBushati family ofShkodra. Shaban Aga, their eponymous ancestor was the son-in-law ofSulejman Pasha Bushati,sanjakbey of Shkodra. He was sent in Gusinje as the commander of the fortress around 1690.[9] The Shabanagaj family owned large estates inBerane.Ali Pasha of Gusinje, commander of theLeague of Prizren was a Shabanagaj andJashar Rexhepagiq, pedagogue in Kosovo, was a Rexhepagaj. Many other families in Plav also trace their origin to different historical tribes who migrated to the area. The Ferri (Ferović), Kërcaj (Krcić), Kuçi (Kuč), Medunaj (Medunanjin), Shabaj (Šabović), Toskaj (Toskić) descend fromKuči/Kuçi; the Canaj (Canović), Musajt (Musić), Rekaj (Reković), Mekuli (Mekulović) and Rugova (Rugovac) descend fromKelmendi; the Shahmanaj (Šahmanović) fromTriesh; the Begani (Beganović), Kasumi (Kasumović), Shalunaj (Šaljunović) fromShala; Basha (Bašić) and Hoxhaj (Hodžić) fromBerisha; the Kastrat and Hot families fromKastrati andHoti respectively.[10]
In 1675Evliya Çelebi who visited Plav during this time, described it as a "lively Albanian town".[11]
In 1878, following theTreaty of Berlin, the city of Plav was ceded to Montenegro by the Ottoman Empire which inflicted tensions in the region due to the presence of Albanians. Soon after however, armed resistance by the forces of theLeague of Prizren and their victory against Montenegrin troops at theBattle of Novšiće (1879) prevented the implementation. The Ottomans had to cedeUlcinj to Montenegro after pressure from theGreat Powers in 1881. Plav only became part of Montenegro after theFirst Balkan War in 1912.[12]
The entry of the Montenegrin army in 1912-13 and the Yugoslav army after 1919 in Plav-Gusinje was accompanied by repressive policies against the local population. The Montenegrin army captured the region and entered Plav on 19 and 20 October. Its entry was followed by aperiod of harsh military administration which until March 1913 had caused up to more than 1,800 killings of mostly local Muslim Albanians and 12,000 forced conversions to Christian Orthodoxy.[13]
In 1919, an Albanian revolt, which later came to be known as thePlav rebellion rose up in the Plav, Gusinje and Rožaje districts, fighting against the inclusion ofSandžak in theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.[14][15][16] As a result, during the Serbian army's second capture of Plav, which took place in 1919, Serb forces attacked Albanian populations in Plav and Gusinje, which had appealed to the British government for protection. About 450 local civilians were killed after the uprising was quelled.[17] These events resulted in a large influx of Albanians migrating toAlbania.[18][19]
Plav is almost entirely Muslim and either Slavic-speaking or Albanian-speaking. The Slavic dialect of Gusinje and Plav shows very high structural influence from Albanian. Its uniqueness in terms of language contact between Albanian and Slavic is explained by the fact that most Slavic-speakers in today's Plav are of Albanian origin, representing a case of an Albanian-speaking population shifting to a Slavic-speaking one. The dialect of Albanian that Plav speaks is northwestern Gheg at the west of Plav, and northeastern Gheg at the east of Plav.[20][21]
In the area of the Plav municipality there are 13 sports clubs and societies that are actively engaged in sports and competitions. Some are in the First Montenegrin league and some in the Second Montenegrin league.
Sport clubs:
Plav is administrative centre ofPlav Municipality, which in 2023 had a population of 9,050. The town of Plav itself has 3,717 citizens.
Town
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 3,348 | — |
| 1991 | 4,073 | +21.7% |
| 2003 | 3,165 | −22.3% |
| 2011 | 3,717 | +17.4% |
The ethnic composition of the municipality in the 2023 census was as follows: 65.64%Bosniaks, 17.08%Serbs, 9.43%Albanians, 4.11%Montenegrins, and 2.61%ethnic Muslims. A total of 1.13% of the population are part of other ethnic groups.[22]
Islam is the predominant religion, particularly among the Bosniak and Albanian communities, while Orthodox Christianity is also practiced, mainly by ethnic Montenegrins and Serbs.
Plav istwinned with:
Kundruar historikisht që në krye të herës, sipas kapërcejve historikë, Hoti i Kujit si vendbanim i moçëm thjesht me burim shqiptar dokumentohet, përkatësisht daton që moti, në Krisobulën e Deçanit, që nga viti 1330, ku përmenden hotjanët në malet në jug të fushës së Plavës ("Hutina Gora"), sot Malet e Hotit, të cilat sipas mendimit të M. Shuflajt duhet të kenë qenë djepi i fisit Hot.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)On the other hand, there are some areas, particularly in Montenegro, where Albanian-speaking populations have shifted to Slavic-speaking ones, such as the tribes of Piperi and Kuči, the Slavic Muslim populations in Plav/Plavë and Gusinje/Gucia, and perhaps with the Mrković.
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