Gjirokastra County

Circle :	Gjirokastra
Main place:	Gjirokastra
Qark :	Gjirokastra Qark
Surface:	1137 km²
Residents:	35,843   as of 2011
Population density:	31.52 inhabitants / km²
ISO-3166-2 code:	AL-GJ
License plate :	GJ

The mountains and the Drino valley southeast of Gjirokastra as seen from the city

The district of Gjirokastra ( Albanian  Rrethi i Gjirokastrës ) was one of the 36 administrative districts of Albania that were abolished in the summer of 2015 after an administrative reform. The area in the south of the country with an area of ​​1137 square kilometers is part of Gjirokastra Qark . The district had 35,843 inhabitants in 2011. The district was named after the capital Gjirokastra .

Geography and population

The region is very mountainous. Only the long valley of the Drino , which runs from south to north through the area of ​​the district, offers large flat areas at around 200  m above sea level. A. The valley is encircled in the west by the long mountain range of Mali i Gjerë ( 1800  m above sea level ) and in the east by the Lunxhëria- Buretoja mountain range ( 2156  m above sea level ), which becomes a gorge in the north narrow through which the Drino leaves the area. The Lunxhëria mountain and the Buretoja have a hill foreland, so that the plain in the Drino valley extends less here. The localities have only sporadically expanded into the plain in the last few decades. Traditionally, they are on the edge of the valley, on a slope or in the hills. The Drino Valley is rich in cultural history, with particular mentioning of the ancient cities of Antigonea and Adrianapol .

Behind the Lunxhëria-Buretoja mountain range are the remote high valleys of Zagoria and Pogon, which are difficult to reach. They are bounded to the east by the steep Dhëmbel - Nemërçka mountain range ( 2485  m above sea level ), which formed the border with the Përmet district . In the south and east, the district border also formed the national border with Greece .

Bilingual road sign south of Gjirokastra

Gjirokastra County has a large Greek minority who live in 33 villages south of Gjirokastra. They are concentrated in the Dropull , the southern Drino Valley, and the Pogon Valley. Even more than the rest of the district's population, the Greeks emigrated from Albania in the 1990s. The rights of the Greeks have repeatedly led to disputes between Albania and Greece . In Greece there was also repeated demand that Northern Epirus , which also includes the Gjirokastra district, should be incorporated into the Greek state.

The proportion of people who count themselves among the Orthodox Christians is exactly 50 percent . The proportion of Muslims is 40 percent, of which almost half are Bektashi . Important centers of the Bektaschi are the Tekken of Melan  and Zall .

history

The region has a long history that is still telling of numerous cultural assets. From the Illyrian times, numerous remains of the wall of the Antigoneia settlement have been preserved. At Sofratike, the ruins of the Adrianople Theater testify to an important Greco-Roman city. This is the only settlement that was built on the Drino plain. The Marienkirche in Labova e Kryqit dates from the 10th century. Numerous castles, bridges and, in particular, the old town of Gjirokastra, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site , are reminiscent of the Turkish period .

economy

Dawn over the Drino Valley near Jergucat - view to the southeast to the Kakavija border crossing

Outside of Gjirokastra, the economy is primarily characterized by agriculture. Here the state, with its authorities and educational institutions, is an important employer. Due to the good road connection to Greece, various trading establishments and import companies have been set up in the district - especially in the villages of the Greek minority along the road from Gjirokastra to the border. In the village of Glina near the border there is a large mineral spring and an important table water producer .

Tourism is gradually gaining in importance, but is mainly concentrated in the main town.

The Guardia di Finanza was one in 2013 in the village of Lazarat south of Gjirokastra 500 cannabis - plantations , included the 319 hectares of land. The cultivation has been followed by the police since 2014.

traffic

The district of Gjirokastra is crossed by the national road SH 4 , which leads from central Albania to the border crossing at Kakavia. This road has been expanded into an expressway in recent years.

Communities

The area of ​​the district has been divided into the parishes ( bashkia ) Gjirokastra , Libohova and Dropull since 2015 .

Former parishes in the district

Surname	Population (2011)	Community type	Belongs to Bashkia today
Gjirokastra	19,836	Bashkia	Gjirokastra
Libohova	1,992	Bashkia	Libohova
Antigone	998	Komuna	Gjirokastra
Cepo	1,727	Komuna	Gjirokastra
Dropull i poshtëm	2,100	Komuna	Dropull
Dropull i sipërm	971	Komuna	Dropull
Lazarat	2,801	Komuna	Gjirokastra
Lunxhëri	1.941	Komuna	Gjirokastra
Odria	433	Komuna	Gjirokastra
Picar	937	Komuna	Gjirokastra
Pogon	432	Komuna	Dropull
Qendër Libohova	1,264	Komuna	Libohova
Zagoria	411	Komuna	Libohova

literature

• Christoph Baumann: The Albanian "Transformation Region" Gjirokastra - Structural Change in the 20th Century, Spatial Trends and Patterns of Action in Rural Space (= Institute for Geography at the University of Bamberg [Hrsg.]: Bamberger Geographische Schriften . Issue 23). 2008, ISSN  0344-6557 (dissertation 2006).

Web links

• Profile of Gjirokastra Region

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ines Nurja: Censusi i popullsisë dhe banesave / Population and Housing Census - Gjirokastër 2011 . Results Kryesore / Main Results. Ed .: INSTAT . Pjesa / Part 1. Adel Print, Tirana 2013 ( instat.gov.al [PDF; accessed April 14, 2019]).
2. ^ On the Status of Minorities in the Republic of Albania. (PDF) Report on the Completion of the Project. In: Minority Rights Information System. Albanian Helsinki Committee, accessed December 5, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Data published in Arqile Bërxholi, Dhimitër Doka, Hartmut Asche (ed.): Population geographic atlas of Albania . Ilar, Tirana 2003, ISBN 978-99927-907-6-2 ( information on the book project ( memento of March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) [accessed on December 5, 2015]). Population geographic atlas of Albania ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ Italian authorities publish Lazarat images. In: Top Channel . August 7, 2013, accessed April 29, 2019 .