Durrës County (), officially the County of Durrës (), is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the Northern Region of the

Republic of Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. It is the smallest by area and the second most populous of the twelve counties, with 292,029 people within an area of . The county borders on the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

to the west, the counties of

Lezhë Lezhë (, sq-definite, Lezha) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Lezhë County and Lezhë Municipality. It is one of Albania's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously i ...

to the north, Dibër to the east and

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

to the south. It is divided into three

municipalities 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' ...

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

Krujë Krujë ( sq-definite, Kruja; see also the etymology section) is a town and a municipality in north-central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is 20 km north of the capital of Albania, Tirana. Krujë was ...

and

Shijak Shijak ( sq-definite, Shijaku) is a town and a municipality in Durrës County, west-central Albania. The municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Gjepalaj, Maminas, Shijak and Xhafz ...

, with all of whom incorporate sixteen

administrative units Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

. The county has geographically a coastline on the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast and extends in the Western Lowlands on a flat

alluvial Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

and

coastal plain A coastal plain (also coastal plains, coastal lowland, coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area. Formation Coastal plains can f ...

. The east is characterised by the Skanderbeg Mountains which splits the Western Lowlands from the

Central Mountain Range The Central Mountain Range is the principal mountain range on the island of Taiwan. It runs from the north of the island to the south. It acts as a barrier between the east and west coasts, hindering travel. The tallest peak of the range is ...

. Its

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

is profoundly determined by its proximity to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

and its considerable change in terrain. The central city

is one of largest cities on the Adriatic Sea and ranks 5th with a population of 175,110 and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Durrës is home to Albania's main port, the Port of Durrës. The

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

is also the 10th largest cargo port on the

that handle more than 3.4 million tonnes of cargo per year. The historical city of

is the second largest city in Durrës County.

Geography

Durrës County is defined within an area of and is located in the Northern Region of the

bordering the

to the west, the counties of

to the north, Dibër to the east and

to the south. The county lies between

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

s 41° and 23° N and

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

s 19° and 30° E. Because of its proximity to the

, several rivers, large and small, flow throughout the county. The Ishëm is the longest river in the county originating at the Skanderbeg Mountains in

Tirana County Tirana County (), officially the County of Tirana (), is a county in the Central Region of Albania. It is the tenth largest by area and the most populous of the twelve counties, with more than 912,000 people within an area of . The county border ...

and flowing through the county until it reaches the Adriatic Sea at the

Cape of Rodon The Cape of Rodon or Cape of Skanderbeg ( or ''Kepi i Skenderbeut'') is a rocky cape on the Adriatic Sea north of Durrës, Albania. On the cape is the Rodoni Castle, built by Skanderbeg in 1463, and Saint Anthony Church. Further south in the ba ...

along the Gulf of Drin. The

Erzen The Erzen ( sq-definite, Erzeni) is a river in central Albania. The long Erzen has a catchment area, including the southern Tirana District and eastern Durrës District. Name The ancient Illyrian name of the river was ''Ardaxanos'', which ...

, the second longest river in the county, begins nearby the village of

Shëngjergj Shëngjergj ( Albanian for Saint George) is a village and a former municipality in Tirana County, central Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality of Tirana. The population at the 2011 census was 2,1 ...

, flows into northwest and empties into the sea at the Gjiri i Lalzit. The city of Krujë is found at an altitude of 600 m (1,969 ft) on the foot of Mount Krujë () of the Krujë Gorge, while south and west of the town is found the plain of the Ishëm River. The town is located in the northern part of the outer Albanides tectonic unit, which consists of anticlines of Mesozoic carbonate platforms.

Climate

The climate is generally Mediterranean but varies by local topography. There are diverse microclimates in the county. Summers are dry while heavy rains are experienced during the winter.

Demography

Durrës County is the second most populous and

densely populated Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

county of the

, with an increasing number of population. The Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) estimated the county's population in January 2021 at 292,029. At the 2011 census, there were 263,711 people living in the county with a population density of 343 people per square kilometres. Ethnically, Durrës County is predominantly Albanian but small minorities of

Bosniaks The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

(near

Aromanians The Aromanians () are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgari ...

(in Fllakë), Romani & Balkan Egyptians are present in the ethnic composition as well. By language, 99.5% spoke

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

as a first language. Other spoken languages were Romani (0.12%),

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

(0.05%), Macedonian (0.05%),

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

(0.02%), Turkish (0.02%) and Aromanian (0.02%).

Settlements

There are three

(''bashkia'') and 16

(''njësi administrative'') incorporated in Durrës County. The majority of its population is predominantly concentrated in the county's capital city of

. As of the 2011 Census, the population of the administrative unit Durrës stands at 113,249 with the adjacent eponymous municipality having a population of 175,110. Other units with a population over 10,000 include

Fushë-Krujë Fushë-Krujë is a city in Durrës County, Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Krujë. The population as of the 2023 census is 17,877. The city has gained wider fame due to President George ...

, Katund i Ri, Kodër-Thumanë,

, Rrashbull,

Sukth Sukth is a village(Communes of Albania, commune) and a former municipality in the Durrës County, western Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Durrës. The population at the 2011 census was 15,96 ...

and Xhafzotaj.

Religion

According to the 2023 census, Durrës was mainly home to Muslims, followed by Catholics and other Christian groups, alongside a notable non-religious population. Overall, 69.3% of residents identified with a religion. Between the 2011 and 2023 censuses in Durrës, there were notable shifts in religious affiliation. The

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

population decreased significantly from 67.5% to 54.6%, while

Bektashism Bektashism (, ) is a Sufi order of Islam that evolved in 13th-century western Anatolia and became widespread in the Ottoman Empire. It is named after the ''walī'' "saint" Haji Bektash Veli, with adherents called Bektashis. The Bektashi co ...

saw a notable increase, rising from 1.6% to 5.3%. The Catholic Christian population declined from 7.4% to 6.0%, and Orthodox Christians decreased slightly from 3.3% to 3.0%.

Evangelical Christians Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

saw a modest rise from 0.1% to 0.3%. There was a very substantial increase in the

irreligious Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, rationa ...

population:

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

rose from 1.1% to 1.6%, and those identifying as believers without denomination grew dramatically from 3.5% to 13.3%. Meanwhile, the "Not stated/other" category remained relatively stable, slightly increasing from 15.5% to 15.7%. Amphitheatre of durres albania 2016

References