Counties of Albania

Counties of Albania
Counties of Albania
Category	Unitary State
Location	Republic of Albania
Number	12
Populations	59,381 (Gjirokastër)–906,166 (Tiranë)
Areas	766 km2 (296 sq mi) (Durrës)–3,711 km2 (1,433 sq mi) (Korçë)
Government	County Government, National Government;
Subdivisions	Municipality;

Counties (Albanian: qarqe or qarqet), also sometimes known as prefectures (prefekturë), are the first-level administrative subdivisions of Albania, replacing the earlier districts. Since 2000, there have been 12 counties. Since 2015, they have been divided into 61 municipalities and 373 administrative units.

History

Since its Declaration of Independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, Albania has reorganized its internal administration 21 times. The primary division until the year 2000 was into districts (Albanian: rrethe), whose number, size, and importance varied over time.^[1] They were organized into groups comprising 12 counties beginning in 1991.^[1]

The current status of the counties^[2] is based on the 1998 constitution and was carried out on 31 July 2000.^[3] The former districts were abolished entirely and replaced with urban municipalities (bashki) and rural municipalities (komuna), which further oversaw villages (fshatra) in the countryside. This was revised in 2014, so that the 2015 local elections divided the counties into municipalities (bashki) at the regional level and administrative units (njësi administrative) for local government.

List

County	Seat	Municipalities	NUTS-2	Area	Population (2020)^[4]	Geographic coordinates
Berat	Berat	Berat, Kuçovë, Poliçan, Skrapar, Ura Vajgurore	Southern Region	1,798 km² (694 sq mi)	122,003	40°44′N 19°59′E / 40.733°N 19.983°E / 40.733; 19.983 (Berat County)
Dibër	Peshkopi	Bulqizë, Dibër, Klos, Mat	Northern Region	2,586 km² (998 sq mi)	115,857	41°42′N 20°22′E / 41.700°N 20.367°E / 41.700; 20.367 (Dibër County)
Durrës	Durrës	Durrës, Krujë, Shijak	Northern Region	766 km² (296 sq mi)	290,697	41°23′N 19°30′E / 41.383°N 19.500°E / 41.383; 19.500 (Durrës County)
Elbasan	Elbasan	Belsh, Cërrik, Elbasan, Gramsh, Librazhd, Peqin, Prrenjas	Central Region	3,199 km² (1,235 sq mi)	270,074	41°6′N 20°8′E / 41.100°N 20.133°E / 41.100; 20.133 (Elbasan County)
Fier	Fier	Divjakë, Fier, Lushnjë, Mallakastër, Patos, Roskovec	Southern Region	1,890 km² (730 sq mi)	289,889	44°46′N 19°37′E / 44.767°N 19.617°E / 44.767; 19.617 (Fier County)
Gjirokastër	Gjirokastër	Dropull, Gjirokastër, Këlcyrë, Libohovë, Memaliaj, Përmet, Tepelenë	Southern Region	2,884 km² (1,114 sq mi)	59,381	40°12′N 20°15′E / 40.200°N 20.250°E / 40.200; 20.250 (Gjirokastër County)
Korçë	Korçë	Devoll, Kolonjë, Korçë, Maliq, Pogradec, Pustec	Southern Region	3,711 km² (1,433 sq mi)	204,831	40°40′N 20°48′E / 40.667°N 20.800°E / 40.667; 20.800 (Korçë County)
Kukës	Kukës	Has, Kukës, Tropojë	Northern Region	2,374 km² (917 sq mi)	75,428	42°7′N 20°25′E / 42.117°N 20.417°E / 42.117; 20.417 (Kukës County)
Lezhë	Lezhë	Kurbin, Lezhë, Mirditë	Northern Region	1,620 km² (630 sq mi)	122,700	41°49′N 19°41′E / 41.817°N 19.683°E / 41.817; 19.683 (Lezhë County)
Shkodër	Shkodër	Fushë-Arrëz, Malësi e Madhe, Pukë, Shkodër, Vau i Dejës	Northern Region	3,562 km² (1,375 sq mi)	200,007	42°6′N 19°37′E / 42.100°N 19.617°E / 42.100; 19.617 (Shkodër County)
Tirana	Tirana	Kamëz, Kavajë, Rrogozhinë, Tirana, Vorë	Central Region	1,652 km² (638 sq mi)	906,166	41°6′N 20°8′E / 41.100°N 20.133°E / 41.100; 20.133 (Tirana County)
Vlorë	Vlorë	Delvinë, Finiq, Himarë, Konispol, Sarandë, Selenicë, Vlorë	Southern Region	2,706 km² (1,045 sq mi)	188,922	40°30′N 19°37′E / 40.500°N 19.617°E / 40.500; 19.617 (Vlorë County)

References

^ a b A Brief History of the Administrative-territorial Organization in Albania Archived 2017-06-09 at the Wayback Machine, Ministry of State for Local Issues
^ "Ligji për Vetëqeverisjen Vendore" (PDF). Retrieved 3 November 2020.
^ "A Brief History of the Administrative-territorial Organization in Albania". reformaterritoriale.al. Archived from the original on 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
^ "Popullsia në 1 Janar sipas qarqeve dhe gjinisë 2001 - 2020" (in Albanian). Instituti i Statistikës (INSTAT). Retrieved 22 July 2020.

[terref-1] A Brief History of the Administrative-territorial Organization in Albania Archived 2017-06-09 at the Wayback Machine, Ministry of State for Local Issues

[2] "Ligji për Vetëqeverisjen Vendore" (PDF). Retrieved 3 November 2020.

[3] "A Brief History of the Administrative-territorial Organization in Albania". reformaterritoriale.al. Archived from the original on 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2017-09-29.

[Population_INSTAT-4] "Popullsia në 1 Janar sipas qarqeve dhe gjinisë 2001 - 2020" (in Albanian). Instituti i Statistikës (INSTAT). Retrieved 22 July 2020.

v t e Counties of Albania
Northern Region	Dibër Durrës Kukës Lezhë Shkodër
Central Region	Elbasan Tirana
Southern Region	Berat Fier Gjirokastër Korçë Vlorë
Category Counties by: area population population density GDP HDI

v t e First-level administrative divisions in European countries
Sovereign states	Albania Andorra Armenia² Austria Azerbaijan¹ Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus² Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia¹ Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan¹ Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia¹ San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey¹ Ukraine United Kingdom
States with limited recognition	Abkhazia² Artsakh² Kosovo Northern Cyprus² South Ossetia² Transnistria
Table of administrative divisions by country ¹ Spans the conventional boundary between Europe and another continent. ² Considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons but is geographically in Western Asia.

Counties of Albania

History

List

See also

References