Librazhd district

Circle :	Librazhd
Main place:	Librazhd
Qark :	Elbasan Qark
Surface:	1102 km²
Residents:	56798   Status: 2011
Population density:	51.54 inhabitants / km²
ISO-3166-2 code:	AL-LB
License plate :	LB

Shkumbin Valley between Librazhd and Elbasan

The district of Librazhd ( Albanian : Rrethi i Librazhdit ) was one of the 36 administrative districts of Albania that were abolished in the summer of 2015 after an administrative reform. It was named after the capital Librazhd . The district in Elbasan Qark had 56,798 inhabitants (2011 census) and an area of ​​1102 square kilometers.

Today the area of ​​the district includes the two parishes ( bashkia ) Librazhd and Përrenjas .

Librazhd County was in the east of the country on the border with North Macedonia . The area includes the upper reaches of the Shkumbin River with its side valleys, but without its headwaters . The narrow Shkumbin valley is surrounded by high mountains: In the west the Polis Mountains ( Mali i Polisit ), at the northern end of which the Shkumbin exits through a narrow gorge into the coastal plain. In the east, the mountain ranges of Jablanica and Shebenik reach heights of over 2200 meters. Large parts of this remote mountain range have been protected as the Shebenik-Jablanica National Park since 2008 . The Qafë Thana pass ( 937  m above sea level ) is at the same time the most easterly point of the district, transition to the Ohrid Lake basin and border station to North Macedonia.

The area north of Librazhd, characterized by high mountains, is called Çermenika . It is drained by the Rapun River, which flows into the Shkumbin at Librazhd . The remote Çermenika is known for its vast forests. The heavily furrowed high plateau is difficult to access. The road leading through this area to Dibra rises between Fushë-Studna and Stëbleva to over 1200  m above sea level. A. at.

Train near Qukës in the south of the district

The Shkumbin Valley has always been an important transportation route. The Via Egnatia used to run through the valley, today it is the tracks of the Albanian railway and the road of the Pan-European Transport Corridor VIII . At the village of Qukës the traffic routes leave the Shkumbin valley and ascend to the Domosdova plain , where Skanderbeg's troops won the first battle against the Ottomans in 1444 . The largest town on the plain is Përrenjas. On the eastern edge of the Domosdova plain , the road to the Qafë Thana rises - the railroad passes under it in a tunnel. The train service has since been discontinued from Librazhd.

The Shkumbin is also border between the two dialects of Albanian language - south of the river live the Tosks , in northern Albania and Kosovo , the counter - and a religious and cultural divide: Sun is in the traditional Albanian folk north of this line monophonic (unanimity) cultivated, while polyphonic (polyphonic) chants are common in the south . The Librazhd area is a transition zone where both types of singing can be found.

During the communist era, several mines were built in the district , but they have ceased operations today. The most important deposits are near Përrenjas .

Communities

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Surname	Population (2011)	Community type	Heard today
Librazhd	6,937	Bashkia	Librazhd
Përrenjas	5,847	Bashkia	Përrenjas
Hotolisht	5,706	Komuna	Librazhd
Lunik	2,621	Komuna	Librazhd
Orenja	3,883	Komuna	Librazhd
Polis	3,385	Komuna	Librazhd
Qendër-Librazhd	8,551	Komuna	Librazhd
Qukës	8.211	Komuna	Përrenjas
Rrajca	8,421	Komuna	Përrenjas
Stëbleva	809	Komuna	Librazhd
Stravaj	2,427	Komuna	Përrenjas

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ines Nurja: Censusi i popullsisë dhe banesave / Population and Housing Census - Elbasan 2011 . Results Kryesore / Main Results. Ed .: INSTAT . Pjesa / Part 1. Adel Print, Tirana 2013 ( document as PDF [accessed on April 28, 2019]).