Gjirokastër County

Gjirokastër County (Albanian: Qarku i Gjirokastrës) is one of the 12 counties of Albania. The total population in 2021 was 58,031, in an area of 2884 km².[2] Its capital is the city Gjirokastër.

Gjirokastër County
Qarku i Gjirokastrës (Albanian)
County
Thermal Baths near Përmet
Thermal Baths near Përmet
Official logo of Gjirokastër County
Emblem
Coordinates: 40°10′N 20°10′E
Country Albania
SeatGjirokastër
Subdivisions7 municipalities, 268 towns and villages
Government
 • Council chairmanArmand Hilaj
Area
 • Total2,884 km2 (1,114 sq mi)
Population
 (2021[1])
 • Total58,031
 • Density20/km2 (52/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
NUTS CodeAL033

Administrative divisions

Until 2000, Gjirokastër County was subdivided into three districts: Gjirokastër, Përmet, and Tepelenë. Since the 2015 local government reform, the county consists of the following 7 municipalities: Dropull, Gjirokastër, Këlcyrë, Libohovë, Memaliaj, Përmet and Tepelenë.[3] Before 2015, it consisted of the following 32 municipalities:

The municipalities consist of about 270 towns and villages in total. See Villages of Gjirokastër County for a structured list.

Demographics

Its population includes a substantial Greek minority which in several places becomes a majority.[4][5][6] According to the last national census from 2011 this county has 72,176 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the county include Albanians, Greeks, Aromanians, Romani, & Balkan Egyptians.[7]

According to the results of the 2011 census, 38.54% of the total population (27,815 people) declared themselves Muslim. There are also some Bektashi Muslims with 8.48% (6,118 people), 7.15% percent consisting of believers without a denomination (22,186 people) and Christians forming 19.65% of the county's population (Orthodox (17.43%) (15,295 people), Evangelists (0.08% (59 people) (and Roman Catholics) (2.07%) (1,493 people), while 10,094 (15,16%) did not answer at all.

Demographics history of Permet district
  • 1904: According to German state archives, in 1904, the district of Premeti had 8,000 inhabitants, all Albanians, divided by 5,000 Muslims and 3,000 Christians.[8]
  • 1913: According to Mary Edith Durham, writing on 3 September 1913, the district of "Premeti" was "purely Albanian".[9]
  • 1918–19: According to Greece Before the Conference (1919), the kaza (Ottoman district) of Premeti had 15,138 Muslims, 10,823 Greeks, 888 Others; a total of 26,849.[10]
  • 1921: A 1921 document has the population divided by 12,780 Orthodox and 12,173 Muslims, a total of 25,043.[11] Greek was spoken as a first language in few parts of the district.[11] The northern part of the kaza was inhabited by Muslims.[12]

Notable people

References
  1. "Population on 1st January by prefecture and sex" (PDF). INSTAT. 7 May 2021. p. 6.
  2. Popullsia e Shqipërisë (Report). Institute of Statistics (Albania). 1 January 2021. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  3. "Law nr. 115/2014" (PDF) (in Albanian). p. 6371. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  4. http://mondediplo.com/maps/albanianmdv1999 The Albanians, a scattered people by Philippe Rekacewicz, Le Monde diplomatique, January 1999
  5. "Country Studies US: Greeks and Other Minorities". Retrieved September 6, 2006.
  6. "Second Report Submitted by Albania Pursuant to Article 25, Paragraph 1 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 19, 2009.
  7. "2011 census results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  8. Das Staatsarchiv. Vol. 68–70. Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H. 1904. p. 32.
  9. M. Edith Durham; Harry Hodgkinson; Bejtullah Destani (22 July 2005). Albania and the Albanians: Selected Articles and Letters, 1903-1944. I.B.Tauris. pp. 33–. ISBN 978-1-85043-939-4.
  10. Greece Before the Conference. Methuen & Company. 1919. p. 80.
  11. Basil Kondis (1994). The Greek Minority in Albania: A Documentary Record (1921-1993). Institute For Balkan Studies. pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-960-7387-02-8.
  12. Kondis 1994, p. 42

Further reading
  • Kallivretakis, Leonidas (1995). "Η ελληνική κοινότητα της Αλβανίας υπό το πρίσμα της ιστορικής γεωγραφίας και δημογραφίας [The Greek Community of Albania in terms of historical geography and demography]". In Veremis, Thanos (ed.). Ο Ελληνισμός της Αλβανίας [The Greeks of Albania]. University of Athens. pp. 25–58. ISBN 9600800545.
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