Cem (river)
river in Montenegro and Albania
The Cem (Albanian: Cem, or in its definite form Cemi), also known as the Cijevna (Cyrillic: Цијевна), is a river that rises in Kelmend, Albania and after nearly half of its length crosses into Montenegro, where it flows into the River Morača near the capital Podgorica.
The Cem is fully formed at the confluence of its two tributaries the Vukël Cem and the Selcë Cem. It passes mostly through limestone terrain with many karstic formations. These features of the Cem's basin have their origin in the tectonic activity of the Alpine orogeny, which formed the Dinaric Alps. The terrain through which it flows in its 58.8-kilometre (36.5 mi) course, is at an elevation of more than 1,200 m (3,900 ft) and can reach as low as 50 m (160 ft). It passes through narrow valleys and steep canyons, where waterfalls are formed before it reaches the Zeta plain. As it approaches the Morača, the Cem area shifts from a continental climate to a Mediterranean one. The drainage basin of the Cem encompasses 368 square kilometres (142 sq mi) and is part of the Adriatic river basin.
The first cultural indicators of human settlement in the Cem river basin are from the late Copper Age and early Bronze Age (3500-2300 BC). Illyrian tribes such as the Labeatae lived in the area in classical antiquity.
The public source identifies “Cem (river)” as river in Montenegro and Albania. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around river, Montenegro and Albania.
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Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q185615. Authority coordinates are 42.351, 19.206. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cem (river)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.