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Gjirokastër County Qarku i Gjirokastrës (Albanian)
County
Thermal Baths near Përmet
Emblem
Coordinates: 40°10′N 20°10′E / 40.167°N 20.167°E / 40.167; 20.167
Country	Albania
Seat	Gjirokastër
Subdivisions	7 municipalities, 268 towns and villages
Government
• Council chairman	Dino Selimi
Area
• Total	2,884 km (1,114 sq mi)
Population
• Total	60,013
• Density	21/km (54/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
HDI (2022)	0.789 high · 4th
NUTS Code	AL033

Gjirokastër County (Albanian: Qarku i Gjirokastrës) is one of the 12 counties of Albania. The total population in 2023 was 60,013, in an area of 2884 km. Its capital is the city Gjirokastër.

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. Before 2015, it consisted of the following 32 municipalities:

• Antigonë
• Ballaban
• Buz
• Çarshovë
• Cepo
• Dishnicë
• Dropull i Poshtëm
• Dropull i Sipërm
• Frashër
• Fshat Memaliaj
• Gjirokastër
• Këlcyrë
• Kordhocë
• Krahës
• Kurvelesh
• Lazarat
• Libohovë
• Lopës
• Luftinjë
• Lunxhëri
• Memaliaj
• Odrie
• Përmet
• Petran
• Picar
• Pogon
• Qendër Libohovë
• Qendër Piskovë
• Qendër Tepelenë
• Qesarat
• Sukë
• Tepelenë
• Zagori

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

Demographics

According to the last national census from 2023 this county has 60,013 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the county include Albanians, Greeks, Aromanians, Romani, & Balkan Egyptians.

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.

According to a 2014 report by the Albanian government submitted to the Council of Europe, there were 9,520 Greeks in the Dropull district, and 13,118 Greeks in the entire county.

The results of the 2011 census were affected by a boycott by minorities. The European Council's Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities stated that "the results of the census should be viewed with the utmost caution and calls on the authorities not to rely exclusively on the data on nationality collected during the census in determining its policy on the protection of national minorities".

Notable people

• Ali Pasha of Tepelenë
• Enver Hoxha
• Ismail Kadare
• Stath Melani
• Evangelos Zappas
• Agron Llakaj

References

1. "Konstituohet këshilli i ri i qarkut Gjirokastër, Dino Selimit i votëbesohet detyra e kryetarit". RTSH Gjirokastra (in Albanian). 2 August 2023.
2. "Main Results of the Population and Housing Census 2023" (PDF). INSTAT.
3. Cite error: The named reference pop232 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. "Law nr. 115/2014" (PDF) (in Albanian). p. 6371. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
5. "Division of Albania".
6. "Census of Population and Housing". Institute of Statistics Albania.
7. "2011 census results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
8. "Fourth Report submitted by Albania pursuant to Article 25, paragraph 2 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Albania. p. 98. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
9. Population and Housing Census Gjirokastër (PDF). Tirana: INSTAT. 2011. p. 39.
10. "Third Opinion on Albania adopted on 23 November 2011". Advisory Committee on the Framework for the Protection of National Minorities. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
11. Population and Housing Census Gjirokastër (PDF). Tirana: INSTAT. 2011. p. 40.

Further reading

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

External links

• Gjirokastra Region Travel Guide

v t e Subdivisions of Gjirokastër County
County seat: Gjirokastër
Municipality of Dropull	Dropull i Poshtëm Dropull i Sipërm Pogon
Municipality of Gjirokastër	Antigonë Cepo Gjirokastër Lazarat Lunxhëri Odrie Picar
Municipality of Këlcyrë	Ballaban Dishnicë Këlcyrë Sukë
Municipality of Libohovë	Libohovë Qendër Libohovë Zagori
Municipality of Memaliaj	Buz Krahës Luftinjë Memaliaj Memaliaj Fshat Qesarat
Municipality of Përmet	Çarçovë Frashër Përmet Petran Qendër Piskovë
Municipality of Tepelenë	Kurvelesh Lopës Qendër Tepelenë Tepelenë

• Gjirokastër County
• Counties of Albania