passes into modern Montenegro in Grabom, the settlements of right-bank Cem were part of Triepshi. The villages of left-bank Cem were part of Hoti and beyond that point, the area belonged to Gruda. Historical accounts of the Cem increased in the second half of the 19th century as the political rivalry of the Great Powers affected the region and the Principality of Montenegro expanded into Ottoman territory. The Congress of Berlin in 1878 awarded Triepshi to Montenegro but this decision was met with resistance there, as was the ultimately annulled annexation of Tuzi by Montenegro, so the border area remained undefined until the Balkan Wars. For the next 30 years the Cem basin was fought over by the Ottomans, the Montenegrin Principality and the Albanian national movement, with ever-changing tactical alliances between those forces due to the involvement of Great Powers, Austria and Russia. Of the many campaigns, battles and skirmishes of that period, the battle on the hill of Deçiq in the Albanian revolt of 1911 against the Ottomans is marked as one of the better known and important events. It is possibly the first time during which the Albanian flag was hoisted in battle since the 15th century. It was hoisted by Ded Gjo Luli of Hoti. The London Peace Conference of 1912-1913 set the Albanian-Montenegrin border which remains to this day the boundary that divides the Cem. Part of the population from the villages around the Cem that became part of Montenegro, moved to Albania in the years that followed the demarcation and founded villages like Hot i Ri (New Hoti) in 1932 and Gruda e Re (New Gruda) in 1930 across the border near Shkodër, in the area which is now known as Rrethinat. In 1941, the Montenegrin part of the Cem basin was placed under Albanian control by Fascist Italy as part of its campaign to gain local support for its protectorate over Albania. After the war, the 1912-1913 demarcation line was re-established as the border between the two countries. Settlements The Cem traverses the Kelmend and Tuzi municipalities in Albania and Montenegro respectively as well as some settlements in Podgorica municipality (Mitrovići, Mojanovići, Mahala, and Ljajkovići). Kelmend has a population of about 3,000, Tuzi 12,000 and the total population of the settlements near Podgorica is about 4,700. Kelmend is Albanian and Catholic. In Tuzi, two thirds of the population are Catholic Albanians and some