connected to the river. These two forms are considered to be written forms of a local, Illyrian name Cinua. Albanian Cem and medieval Slavic Cenva and Cemva ultimately stem from this original name of the river. The phonological evolution of Cinua to the Albanian Cem presupposes the Slavic second palatalization. Montenegrin– and also Bosniak and Serbian – Cijevna is derived from Serbo-Croatian cijev (pipe), but other toponyms preserve the older name Ćemovsko polje (field of Cem). Geography The Cem originates in Kelmend, Malësi e Madhe, Albania and flows through the region of Malësia. The river has two tributaries: the Vukël Cem (Cemi i Vuklit) and the Selcë Cem (Cemi i Selcës), which join at the confluence of Tamarë. The Vukël Cem – the more important of the two in terms of water volume – rises at above sea level and flows for . It passes through a narrow canyon, a terrain which widens only near Kozhnja, where deposition has formed a small limestone valley. A creek called the Nikç Cem (Cem i Nikçit) contributes to its volume in the rainy period. A small hydropower project has been built where the Cem i Nikçit passes through Kozhnja. The Selcë Cem rises at on Mount Bordolec near Lëpushë and flows for mostly through narrow limestone terrain until it reaches the valley of Tamarë. In its course it passes through the Gropat e Selcës karstic caves, the canyon of Gerrlla, long and deep, and the waterfall of Sllapi before reaching Dobrinjë. The Cem then flows to the southwest for before crossing into Montenegro, near the village of Grabom. The Albania-Montenegro border crossing is located ca. west of Grabom. In Montenegro, the river flows through the villages of Tuzi for before it flows into the Morača, just south of Podgorica. The terrain through which the river flows in Montenegro is divided into two parts. Firstly, it forms a steep canyon and then slowly crosses into the Zeta plain, of which a part is called Ćemovsko polje after the river. On the plain, Špiro Mugoša Airport has been built between the Cem and the Ribnica to the east of Podgorica Airport. The land here has become more urbanized and industrialized. The Cem canyon (Kanjon Cijevne/Kanioni i Cemit) is long and has a depth of . It is the natural habitat of many animal, insect and plant species. The canyon starts at the Albania-Montenegro border and