Korçë County (), officially the County of Korçë (), 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 Southern Region of the Republic of Albania. It is the largest by area and the fifth most populous of the twelve counties, with more than 173,000 people within an area of . The county borders on

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

to the northeast and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

to the southeast, the counties of Elbasan to the northwest,

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and ea ...

to the west and

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in Southern Albania, southern Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë moun ...

to the southwest. It is divided into six

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' ...

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipal ...

, Devoll, Kolonjë, Maliq, Pogradec and Pustec, with all of whom incorporate thirty-seven administrative units.

Geography

Protected areas

The Ministry of Tourism and Environment manages numerous natural sites and protected areas in Korçë County. In conjunction with numerous national natural sites and areas, the National Agency of Protected Areas has the Fir of Drenovë National Park and Prespa National Park under its administration. The

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Ohrid-Prespa Transboundary Biosphere Reserve is also encompassed in the county.

Demographics

Most of the region's inhabitants are ethnic Albanians, but there are also important communities of Greeks (especially in the South), Macedonians (especially in the East), Aromanians (more concentrated in Western parts) and Roma. With regards to religion, the region is home to a large Muslim majority (many of whom are Bektashis) and a significant Orthodox Christian minority. According to the last national census from 2023, the county has 173,091 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the county include

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

, Macedonians,

Montenegrins Montenegrins (, or ) are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Montenegrins are mostly Orthodox Christians; however, the population also includes ...

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 ...

, Romani,

Egyptians Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to Geography of Egypt, geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretchi ...

Religion

Between the 2011 and 2023 censuses in Korçë, 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 59.0% to 49.0%, while Bektashism more than doubled, rising from 2.1% to 4.6%. The Catholic Christian population declined from 1.1% to 0.6%, and Orthodox Christians saw a slight decrease from 16.3% to 16.2%. Evangelical Christians tripled their share, rising from 0.3% to 0.9%. There was a substantial increase in the irreligious population: atheists nearly doubled their share, rising from 1.8% to 3.5%, and those identifying as believers without denomination grew significantly from 6.8% to 11.6%. Meanwhile, the "Not stated/other" category saw a slight increase, rising from 12.6% to 13.4%.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korce County

Geography

Protected areas

Demographics

Religion

See also

References