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, 373 communes, and 2,972 villages.
| 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 |
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| Subdivisions | |
History
editSince its Declaration of Independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, Albania has reorganized its domestic administrative divisions 21 times. The primary division until mid-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 implemented 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
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See also
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References
edit- ^ 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). Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2020.