In 1900, Vasil Kanchov gathered and compiled statistics on demographics in the area and reported that the village of Cerja (Церя) was inhabited by about 120 Bulgarian Christians.[5] In 1904, following the Ilinden Uprising, Cerje came under the Bulgarian Exarchate.
In 1911, the village was recorded by Georgi Trajčev as a Bulgarian village having six houses and 54 inhabitants.[6]
In 1939, on behalf of 15 Bulgarian houses in Cerje Fote Fotev signed a request by the local Bulgarians to the Bulgarian tsaritsaGiovanna requesting her intervention for the protection of the Bulgarian people in Albania - at that time an Italian protectorate.[7]
Demographics
According to a 2007 source, Cerje is the least populous village in Pustec Municipality, having only a small amount of elderly residents.[8]