MONTENEGRO

MONTENEGRO / ЦРНА ГОРА - CRNA GORA (Italian occupation).

Landscapes. Airmail.
Lake Skadar.
Fifth stamp in a set of 6, issued in 1943.
Face value: 10 Italian lire.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 40 x 30 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 66.
- Sassone No. A 30.
- Scott No. 2NC 22.
- StampWorld No. 97.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 74.
- Unificato No. A 30.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA 26.

Although the stamp indicates Граб Ријечки (Grab River), Italian catalogs identify the place as Lake Skadar (lago di Scutari), the largest lake in the Balkan Peninsula, shared by Montenegro and Albania (its name in Montenegrin language is Скадарско језеро, and in Albanian, Liqeni i Shkodrës). Its total surface fluctuates seasonally between 370 km² (140 sq mi) and 530 km² (200 sq mi), and the largest inflow of water that feeds it (62%) comes from the Morača river and some sublacustrine sources; the Drin river connects it with Lake Ohrid, and the Bojana river (in Albanian, Buna) connects it with the Adriatic Sea. In the waters of the lake there are some islands, such as Beška, with two churches, and Grmožur, an old fortress and prison. The Montenegrin part of the lake and its surroundings were declared a national park in 1983, and the Albanian part has been designated a Managed Nature Reserve. At its southeastern end is the Albanian city of Shköder.

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Thanks to Vairo Gregori for his contribution (https://ternifil.org/).