Beci, Kosovo

Beci Beci (Albanian) Бец/Bec (Serbian)
Village
Beci
Coordinates: 42°26′35″N 20°26′58″E / 42.44306°N 20.44944°E / 42.44306; 20.44944
Country	Kosovo
District	Gjakova
Municipality	Gjakova
Elevation	350 m (1,150 ft)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	1,223
Time zone	UTC+1 (Central European Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

Beci is a village in the Dushkaja subregion in the Gjakova Municipality of Kosovo. It is almost exclusively inhabited by ethnic Albanians, who form the near-absolute majority of the village's population.

It is believed that the toponym is derived from the Albanian word Bec-i, which means "little lamb" in Albanian.^[2]

Beci is bordered by Sapot to the west, Zhdrellë and Rashkoc to the northwest and north, Cërmjan to the northeast, Meqe east , Doblibare and Vraniq to the southeast and with Lugu e Bunarit to the south and southwest. It is located in the ethnographic Dushkaja region, and is situated around 7km northeast of Gjakova.

Beci is divided into two sections - Beci i Epër (Upper Beci) and Beci i Poshtëm (Lower Beci). In the cadastral documents of the Sanjak of Shkodra in 1485, the village is mentioned with the name Beçi.^[3] The inhabitants bore a mixture of Albanian, Christian and Slavic names.^[4]

In the Ottoman register of 1582 the inhabitants bore majority Albanian names, indicating the village was historically inhabited by an Albanian population.^[5][6]

Beci is inhabited by a near-absolute majority of ethnic Albanians, and most of the inhabitants traditionally belonged to a single Albanian tribal brotherhood around 300 years ago - the Mërturi-Berisha. The village was traditionally divided into 4 neighbourhoods - the neighbourhoods of the Biblekët, Ndreajt, Salcët and Tetajt. The Muslim and Catholic Albanians here belong to the same brotherhood.^[7] There is also a family that hails from the Krasniqi tribe and one that hails from the Thaçi tribe.^[8]