Elbasan County
Elbasan County (Albanian: Qarku i Elbasanit) is one of the 12 counties of Albania. The population at the 2011 census was 295,827, in an area of 3199 km². Its capital is the city Elbasan.
Administrative divisions
Until 2000, Elbasan County was subdivided into four districts: Elbasan, Gramsh, Librazhd, and Peqin. Since the 2015 local government reform, the county consists of the following 7 municipalities: Belsh, Cërrik, Elbasan, Gramsh, Librazhd, Peqin and Prrenjas. Before 2015, it consisted of the following 50 municipalities:
The municipalities consist of about 385 towns and villages in total. See Villages of Elbasan County for a structured list.
Elbasan
Elbasan (Albanian: Elbasan or Elbasani) is a city and a municipality in Elbasan County, central Albania. One of the largest cities in Albania, it is located on the Shkumbin River in the District of Elbasan and the County of Elbasan. The present municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Bradashesh, Elbasan, Funarë, Gjergjan, Gjinar, Gracen, Labinot-Fushë, Labinot-Mal, Papër, Shirgjan, Shushicë, Tregan and Zavalinë, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the city Elbasan. The total population is 141,714 (2011 census), in a total area of 872.03 km2. The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 78,703.
It was called Neokastron (New Castle) in Greek, Novigrad (new city) in Slavic and Terra Nuova in Italian. The modern name may derive either from the IE root *alb (as Albania) or from the Turkish il-basan ("the fortress").
History
Ancient and early Byzantine periods
In August 2010 archaeologists discovered two Illyrian graves near the walls of the castle of Elbasan. In the second century BC, a trading post called Mansio Scampa near the site of modern Elbasan developed close to a junction of two branches of an important Roman road, the Via Egnatia, which connected the Adriatic Coast with Byzantium at the Hellespont. By the third or fourth century AD, this place had grown into a real city protected by a substantial Roman fortress with towers; the fort covered around 300 square meters. This city appears on late antique itineraries like the Tabula Peutingeriana or the Itinerarium Burdigalense as Scampis or Hiscampis.
Elbasan (Unicode block)
Elbasan is a Unicode block containing the historic Elbasan characters for writing the Albanian language.
References
Podcasts:
