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1.8. Population: Shifting Numbers
Upon the Albanian INSTAT population registration 2004, the village of Dhërmi/Drimades
has 1791 residents among whom 717 officially reside in the central hamlet and
Gjilek/Gjilekates, and 1074 in the hamlet of Kondraça. In the population registration of
Himarë/Himara area there is a discrepancy between the number of residents who are
registered and the number of inhabitants who actually live in the village. According to the
local people’s and municipality’s estimations there are about 300 people who live in the
central hamlet and the hamlet of Gjilek/Gjilekates and about 600 people who live in the
hamlet of Kondraça.
There are several reasons for difference between those who inhabit Dhërmi/Drimades and
those who are registered there. One of them refers to the local returnees who originate from
Dhërmi/Drimades and are not registered in the village. During the communism they moved to
some other place in Albania and after its fall the migrated to Greece. When they retired they
returned to their natal village Dhërmi/Drimades. Although they nowadays live here they
continue to be registered in the place where they moved to during the communism. 43 Another
reason for discrepancy between inhabitants and residents is that many of those residents who
during the communism lived in the village and worked in the village cooperative, moved to
Greece after the fall of the communism. Although they are registered in Dhërmi/Drimades
they have never returned to the village since then. Additional reason is administrative as many
of those who are already dead are still registered as if being alive. Their death was never
reported and recorded. Yet another reason for the discrepancy between the number of
residents and the number of inhabitants’ lies in those who live in the village only seasonally
and are not registered in the census. Some of them are locals who spend their winters in
Greece while in summer they settle in the village where they run local bars and restaurants or
rent out rooms and small apartments on the coast. The other seasonal inhabitants are the
people originating from other areas of Albania who work in the villages of Himarë/Himara
area as constructors or physical workers.
43 According to the population census I conducted in Dhërmi/Drimades among 89 couples (usually a couple that
is more than 50 years old) 75 couples applied for relocation in the period of communism and migrated to Greece
after its collapse (see Appendix).
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