At 117, Qamile Marra is not particularly concerned with proving she may be the world's oldest woman – or even persuading Albanian pension officials that she is not dead.

For a woman born under Ottoman rule, who turned 36 a fortnight before the end of World War II and outlived Albania's communist era, her focus remains firmly on enjoying life.

"Life is beautiful, like Mount Tomorr in bloom," she says with a smile, referring to one of Albania's loftiest peaks as she sits outside her home in Ferras, about 100 kilometers south of the capital.

Surrounded by fruit trees, Marra has spent almost her entire life in the village, growing her own food and tending livestock.

"You live as long as God has decreed," she says, her deeply wrinkled face framed by a traditional white headscarf.

According to her birthdate as listed on several official documents – August 19, 1909 – Marra would be two days older than Britain's Ethel Caterham, recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living woman.

She was also born before humans reached the South Pole, before the first crossword puzzle was published, and before the Titanic disaster. 

Definitively proving the age of "supercentenarians" can be difficult.

Many of the people famous for living the longest are from places where shoddy recordkeeping and suspected pension fraud are rampant, according to a study that won the 2024 Ig Nobel prize, which awards offbeat scientific research.

But Marra has extensive records that appear to confirm her age.

Her relatives have contacted Guinness and hold a birth certificate issued in 1945, a passport issued in 1978 and a recent identity card, all showing the same date of birth.

Her age even surprised local authorities, who stopped her pension when she turned 100, according to her 80-year-old son Hysen.

"They didn't believe my mother was still alive," he says, recalling how he had to show proof, including witness statements, to resume the meager payments. 

Earlier this month, the government issued her a special state pension to mark her age.

What's the secret?

Perhaps the answer lies in Marra's habits and lifestyle.

She rises early to sweep the yard, water her flowers and feed the chickens before settling down with her favourite coffee.

She still enjoys regular walks through her carefully tended orchard with her son, who lives with her, stopping to pick ripe pomegranates along the way.

She also slips basil leaves in her pockets to "enjoy the aroma".

Whatever the secret, her son says she has never even visited a doctor: "She is in good health and has never taken any medication."

Five generations

Marra's husband died 36 years ago, but she still smiles when talking about their decades together – an arranged marriage, but a loving one.

"Otherwise, how could I have had seven children with him?" she smiles.

She has now seen five generations of her family grow up around her. Tears well up as she remembers the family and friends she had lost. But her face brightens when a niece calls to chat.

"I've watched them get engaged, marry and build their own homes and lives," she said. "When I see people coming and going in the house, I am so happy."

From her own youth, she has kept a single photograph: a near-century-old picture.

"I was 18!" she says.

In the pictures, she's a young woman wearing a white scarf just like the one she has on now. Some things change, but some things last.