Ballsh ( sq-definite, Ballshi) is a town and a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

Fier County Fier County (; sq, Qarku Fier, italic=unset), officially the County of Fier ( sq, Qarku i Fierit, italic=unset), is a county in the Southern Region of the Republic of Albania. It is the eighth largest by area and the third most populous of the ...

, southern

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision and the seat of the municipality Mallakastër. It was the seat of the former

District of Mallakastër A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisi ...

. The population at the 2011 census was 7,657.2011 census results

Name

It was centre of Malkasra (Turkish of " Mallakastër") kaza in

Sanjak of Berat The Sanjak of Avlona ( tr, Avlonya Sancağı, al, Sanxhaku i Vlorës; sometimes referred to as the Sanjak of Berat because of its county town) was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire which county town was Berat in Albania. It was establis ...

in Yanya Vilayet during Ottoman rule between 1670 and 1912. Its name evolved from the name of the ancient town Byllis, located in proximity of Ballsh. Church sources report the variants ''Byllis'', ''Bellis'', ''Ballis'' and ''Vallis''.

History

Ballsh is close to the ancient city of Byllis, a city during the

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

era. The Slavic invasions of the 6th and 7th centuries caused the decline of Byllis while Ballsh was built with materials plundered from Byllis..

Economy

The city's surrounding fields are rich in crude

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

and are dotted by a series of

oil well An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas ma ...

s established during the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship a ...

. Only a fraction of these wells are operating today, but the city includes a working

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ar ...

, and outputs of

naphtha Naphtha ( or ) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture. Mixtures labelled ''naphtha'' have been produced from natural gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and the distillation of coal tar and peat. In different industries and regions ...

s are significant. The refinery was owned by

Taçi Oil Taçi Oil is an Albanian petroleum company and oil distributor in Albania headquartered in Tirana. The company's revenue for 2012 was €350 million. and had over 290 petrol stations through Albania and over 850 employees. In 2009 Taçi Oil ...

through ARMO (Anika Mercuria Refinery Associated Oil, owned by Anika Enterprises). In 2013 ARMO was sold to Heaney Assets Corporation, an Azerbaijan corporation.

Sports

The city's team KS Bylis Ballsh, plays at the Adush Muça Stadium.

References

Former municipalities in Fier County Administrative units of Mallakastër Towns in Albania {{Fier-geo-stub

Name

History

Economy

Sports

See also

References