Tropoja municipality

Tropojë Tropoja ( Designation in an indefinite and definite form )
Coordinates: 42 ° 21 '  N , 20 ° 5'  E
Basic data
Qark :	Kukës
Municipality :	Tropoja
Area :	1,057.30 km²
Bashkia residents :	20,517 (2011)
Population density (Bashkia):	19 inhabitants / km²
Telephone code :	(+355) 0213
Postal code :	8702-8703
Politics and administration (as of 2019 )
Mayor :	Rexhe Byberi ( PS )
Website :	www.tropoje.gov.al
Location of the municipality of Tropoja

The municipality of Tropoja ( Albanian  Bashkia e Tropojës ) is one of the 61 municipalities in Albania . The area of ​​the municipality with an area of ​​1043 square kilometers in the Kukës Qark corresponds to the former Tropoja district . The municipality is located in northeastern Albania on the border with Kosovo and Montenegro . It has 20,517 inhabitants (2011).

Bajram Curr at the foot of the Maja e Hekurave massif ( 2559  m above sea level )

Valbona Gorge seen from the south end of the plain

Tropoja is a mountainous country on the eastern edge of the Albanian Alps . The second highest mountain in Albania, the Jezerca ( 2693  m above sea level ), is located on the western border of the municipality. More than a dozen other two thousand meter peaks are located in the municipality, including the Maja e Hekurave . In the center there is a small plain between the places Bajram Curr and Tropoja, which is dominated by Shkëlzen ( 2407  m above sea level ) in the north . The southern border is formed by the Drin , which is dammed in the eastern area to Lake Fierza (Liqeni i Fierzës) and in the west to Lake Koman (Liqeni i Komanit) . Most of the Tropoja municipality is drained by the Valbona River. Valbona is also the name of the valley that stretches from Bajram Curr to the northwest, as well as a place in this valley. An area of ​​8,000 hectares in the Valbonatal is protected as the Valbonatal National Park , large parts of the Gash Valley as a nature reserve.

The area of ​​the municipality of Tropoja is also called Malësi e Gjakovës , the mountainous region of Gjakova . Historically, Tropoja was always oriented towards Gjakova, a town in Kosovo that is about 25 kilometers from the village of Tropoja. When Albania's borders were determined at the London Ambassadorial Conference in 1913, Tropoja was separated from its main trading center and many residents were separated from their families. Only since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999 has the border at Qafa e Morinës , 568  m above sea level, been reached. A. high pass between Tropoja and Kosovo, reopened. Landmines still lie along the border as a ominous relic of the war .

The road to Gjakova has been paved since May 2006 and is expected to boost the region's economy. Tropoja is only connected to the rest of Albania by narrow mountain roads. To the west and north, high mountains seal off the area. The narrow and winding road to the southeast via Has to Kukës is now paved. Since the asphalt paving, it has been the most important connection route alongside the Morina Pass, as there is a connection to the Durrës - Kosovo motorway in Kukës . The drive across the road south through the mountains of Puka and Mirdita is very tedious. For a long time, the best way to get to Tropoja was by ferry across the Koman Reservoir, which ran once a day in each direction, but was now discontinued and now only runs in summer.

Like all of the northern Albanian mountains, Tropoja also suffered severe depopulation after communism collapsed in Albania. The mines that extracted chrome , bauxite and copper and most other employers had to close. Since the lands of the mountain farmers were mostly very small and the living comfort in the region is rather modest, many looked for work in Tirana and Shkodra , where entire slums with residents from the mountains have emerged. The government did nothing against the illegal settlements on the outskirts of Tirana in the 1990s - many believed that this was also due to the fact that Sali Berisha , who was president at the time , himself came from Tropoja.

Almost the majority of the residents work in agriculture . Of all the existing soil ores, only kaolin is currently to be mined. Almost three quarters of the population are Muslim ; the rest is mostly Catholic . The main town is Bajram Curr . The name of the municipality comes from the small town of Tropoja , the historic center of the region of the same name.

Former parishes

In summer 2015 the following municipalities were merged to form the municipality of Tropoja :

Surname	Residents	Community type
Bajram Curr	5,340	Bashkia
Bujan	2,550	Komuna
Bytyç	1,563	Komuna
Fierza	1,607	Komuna
Lekbibaj	1,207	Komuna
Llugaj	1,787	Komuna
Margegaj	2,346	Komuna
Tropoja	4.117	Komuna

Web links

Commons : Tropoja  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Bashkia Tropoja on the Qark Kukës website (Albanian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ines Nurja: Censusi i popullsisë dhe banesave / Population and Housing Census - Kukës 2011 . Results Kryesore / Main Results. Ed .: INSTAT . Pjesa / Part 1. Adel Print, Tirana 2013 ( document as PDF [accessed April 14, 2019]).