Dollna Goricë (, Macedonian : Долна Горица), formerly Goricë e Vogël, is a village on the western shore of Lake Prespa in the Pustec Municipality which is officially recognised as a Macedonian minority zone located in the Korçë County in Albania.
History A survey in the late 19th century found Dolna Gorica to consist of 75 houses and 67 male Bulgarian Exarchist residents.Българите в Албания I част In 1900, Vasil Kanchov gathered and compiled statistics on demographics in the area and reported that the village of Dolna Goritsa was inhabited by about 42 Bulgarian Christians.Васил Кънчов. „Македония. Етнография и статистика“. София, 1900, стр. 242. (Macedonia: Ethnography and Statistics, p. 242. Accessed 13 May 2018 (in Bulgarian)
In February 1996, the village hosted a conference attended by officials from the Republic of Macedonia on the subject of the ethnic Macedonian minority in Albania. In 2013, the village's official name was changed from "Goricë e Vogël" to "Dolna Gorica".
Demographics A 2007 estimate put the village's population at 550.Бело Раки (Belo, Raki). Селищни имена в Мала Преспа - Албания, в: Македонски преглед, ХХХ, №3, стр. 135. According to Bulgarian sources, including research by a Bulgarian scientist from Albania, the local inhabitants are Bulgarians.Бело Раки (Belo, Raki). Селищни имена в Мала Преспа - Албания, в: Македонски преглед, ХХХ, № 3, с. 134.Пашова, Анастасия. 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.)
+DemographicsYearPopulation 1900 42 1926 511 (with Gorna Gorica) 1945 149 1960 108 1969 210 1979 271 1989 253 2000 364
Culture In 2002, a library opened in the village consisting of primarily Macedonian-language books.
A monument commemorating the ethnic Macedonian refugees of the Greek Civil War was unveiled in the village in May, 2013.
Dolna Gorica is home to the annual "Day of Wine" event, occurring each December.
References