Counties ( sq, or ), also sometimes known as prefectures (), are the first-level

administrative subdivisions Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

of Albania, replacing the earlier

districts 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, subdivisions o ...

. Since 2000, there have been 12 counties. Since 2015, they have been divided into 61 municipalities and 373 administrative units.

History

Since its Declaration of Independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, Albania has reorganized its internal administration 21 times. The primary division until the year 2000 was into

( sq, rrethe), whose number, size, and importance varied over time.A Brief History of the Administrative-territorial Organization in Albania
, Ministry of State for Local Issues They were organized into groups comprising 12 counties beginning in 1991. The current status of the counties is based on the 1998 constitution and was carried out on 31 July 2000. The former districts were abolished entirely and replaced with urban municipalities () and rural municipalities (), which further oversaw villages () in the countryside. This was revised in 2014, so that the 2015 local elections divided the counties into municipalities () at the regional level and administrative units () for local government.

List

References

{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of European countries Counties, Albania Albania Subdivisions of Albania

History

List

See also

References