Malësia e Madhe municipality

Malësi e Madhe Malësia e Madhe ( Designation in an indefinite and definite form )
Coordinates: 42 ° 13 '  N , 19 ° 26'  E
Basic data
Qark :	Shkodra
Municipality :	Malësia e Madhe
Area :	951.01 km²
Bashkia residents :	30,823 (2011)
Population density (Bashkia):	32 inhabitants / km²
Telephone code :	(+355) 0211
Postal code :	4301
Politics and administration (as of 2019 )
Mayor :	Tonin Marinaj ( PS )
Website :	www.bashkimalesiemadhe.gov.al
Culture and history
Local place name :	Malsi e Madhe / Malsia e Madhe
Location of the municipality of Malësia e Madhe

The municipality of Malësia e Madhe ( Albanian  Bashkia e Malësisë së Madhe ) is one of the 61 municipalities in Albania . The area of ​​the municipality with an area of ​​897 square kilometers in Shkodra Qark corresponds to the former Malësia e Madhe district . It forms the northernmost tip of the Albanian state. The municipality has 30,823 inhabitants (2011 census). The local authorities, however, gave a number of 54,522 inhabitants. The main town is Koplik , a small town with around 3700 inhabitants located 20 kilometers north of Shkodra .

geography

Northern Albanian Alps seen from the Koplik region on Lake Shkodra

Bjeshkët e Namuna at Lepusha

The municipality of Malësia e Madhe is the northernmost municipality in Albania. Apart from the Mbishkodra plain (Above Shkodra) with Koplik on the shores of Lake Shkodra , it lies entirely in the high mountains of the Albanian Alps . In the west across the lake and in the north the municipality borders on Montenegro .

The municipal area is not identical to the name for the Malësia e Madhe region , but only includes its center. It starts at the foot of the mountains on the eastern edge of Lake Shkodra . From the a few kilometers wide Mbishkodra plain , the municipality extends over the mountains of the Albanian Alps to the east to the center. The around twelve kilometers long inaccessible karst block Bjeshkët e Nemuna with five peaks that are higher than 2500  m above sea level. A. is located on the eastern edge. The valley of the Shala east of it with the place Theth and the Jezerca , with 2693  m above sea level. A. the highest peak in the Albanian Alps, no longer belong to the municipality of Malësia e Madhe. The highest point within the municipality is the Radohima at 2568  m above sea level. A.

The northernmost village of the municipality and Albania is Vermosh, which lies in the valley of the Lumi i Vermoshit , the headwaters of the Lim . This is the only valley in Albania that is drained into the Black Sea . The pass Qafa e Bordolecit connects it with the valley of the Cem and the rest of Albania. In winter it can often only be reached from nearby Plav in Montenegro.

South of Vermosh , along the north-western border, the Cem ( Serbian : Cijevna / Цијевна) , a tributary of the Morača , runs in a deeply cut valley . The region called Kelmend can only be reached from Koplik via Han i Hotit and a pass that leads into the deep gorge of the river. The places Tamara and Selca in the valley floor are among the largest villages in the Albanian Alps.

South of the Cem, the valley of the Përroi i Thatë (dry stream) , which usually has no water and flows into Lake Shkodra at Koplik, runs roughly parallel to the Cem , with the village of Boga at around 1000  m above sea level. A.

traffic

Scattered settlement on the upper reaches of the Cem near Selca

At Han i Hotit there is a border crossing to Montenegro for cars and trains . For a long time this was the only connection to Montenegro and during the communist rule it was the most important border crossing in Albania. During the Yugoslav Wars , however, the border was closed; At that time, many in the region lived from fuel smuggling . After that, the new border crossing west of Shkodra towards Ulcinj gained importance.

Most of the railway line along Lake Shkodra was idle in the 1990s. Some of the rails were illegally dismantled and sold as scrap iron. Eighteen years after the line opened in 1985, it was reopened for the second time in 2003. The introduction of passenger trains between Montenegro and Albania was also intended at the time, but was not implemented.

The SH1 road from Shkodra along the lake through the municipality to Han i Hotit is also being developed. The most important connections in the mountain valleys are also gradually being paved.

Former parishes

In the summer of 2015, the following municipalities were merged to form Malësia e Madhe :

Surname	Population (2011)	Community type
Koplik	3,734	Bashkia
Gruemira	8,890	Komuna
Castrato	6,883	Komuna
Kelmend	3,056	Komuna
Qendër Koplik	4,740	Komuna
Shkrel	3,520	Komuna

Web links

• Bashkia Malësi e Madhe (Albanian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ines Nurja: Censusi i popullsisë dhe banesave / Population and Housing Census - Shkodër 2011 . Results Kryesore / Main Results. Ed .: INSTAT . Pjesa / Part 1. Adel Print, Tirana 2013 ( instat.gov.al [PDF; accessed April 14, 2019]). Document as PDF ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ qarkushkoder.org. Retrieved January 13, 2009 .