Braçanj is a small village located in the Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

n district of Devoll

Devoll District

The District of Devoll is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Korçë County and derives its name from the Devoll river flowing through the valley. It has a population of 33,785, and an area of 429 km². It is in the southeastern corner of the country, and its capital is Bilisht...

. It is part of the municipality Miras

Miras

Miras is a municipality in the Devoll District, Korçë County, southeastern Albania. The municipality consists of the villages Miras, Vidohovë, Arrëz, Çetë, Qytezë, Sinicë, Nikolicë, Menkulas, Ponçarë, Braçanj, Koshnicë, Dobranj, Fitore, Ziçisht, Gjyres and Sul....

.

Agriculture

The sole employment

Employment

Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...

 in the village is agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

. This agriculture is primarily subsistence farming with some cash crops being sold to private market traders from the Albanian capital Tirana

Tirana

Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...

. Specifically, the main subsistence crops are wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

, corn

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

 and other cereal

Cereal

Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...

s. Tomato

Tomato

The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...

es, okra

Okra

Okra is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It is valued for its edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of South Asian, Ethiopian and West African origins...

, garlic

Garlic

Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...

, bean

Bean

Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....

s, apple

Apple

The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...

s, pear

Pear

The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....

s, grape

Grape

A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...

s are also grown for the villages own consumption. However, onions, beans and potatoes are the three main cash crops. Each person in the village owns 1000 m² (10,764 sq ft) that was given to them at the end of Communism

Communism

Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

. Under the democracy reforms in 1991 the Communist cooperatives were broken-up and the land distributed to the people living in Braçanj and other Albanian villages. Both adults and children were given this land.

Population

It has a population of 600 people (120 families).
Since 1991, 30 families have become economic migrants and have moved to bigger cites in Albania (Tirana and Durrës

Durrës

Durrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...

) and abroad.

Geography

The closet places to Braçanj are the neighbouring villages of Dobranj, Ponçarë and Kurilë. Braçanj is 1.5 km (0.93205910497471 mi) from nearest the Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 border and the customs checkpoint

Civilian checkpoint

Civilian checkpoints or Security checkpoints are distinguishable from border or frontier checkpoints in that they are erected and enforced within contiguous areas under military or paramilitary control...

 of Krystallopigi

Krystallopigi

Krystallopigi is a former community in Florina regional unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Krystallopigi means "crystal source". Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Prespes, of which it is a municipal unit. The population is 383 . The main village is also called...

.
Braçanj is 2 km (1.2 mi) from the Albanian customs checkpoint of Kapshticë and 7 km (4 mi) from the Albanian town of Bilisht

Bilisht

Bilisht is a city of about 12,000 people. It is the local capital of Devoll District, south-eastern Albania. The city is 9 km from the border with Greece at Kapshticë. The closest Greek town across the border is Krystallopigi in the Florina Prefecture. Bilisht is at about 800–850 meters above...

.