Lushnjë

Lushnjë
Municipality

Seal
Lushnjë
Coordinates: 40°56′N 19°42′E / 40.933°N 19.700°E / 40.933; 19.700Coordinates: 40°56′N 19°42′E / 40.933°N 19.700°E / 40.933; 19.700
Country Albania Albania
County Fier
Government
 • Mayor Fatos Tushe (SP)
Area
 • Municipality 372.72 km2 (143.91 sq mi)
Elevation 9 m (30 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Municipality 83,659
 • Municipality density 220/km2 (580/sq mi)
 • Administrative Unit 31,105
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal Code 9001
Area Code (0)35
Vehicle registration AL
Website Official Website

Lushnjë (Albanian pronunciation: [ˈluʃɲə]) (Lushnje (ˈluʃɲe) in Lushnjë's own dialect) is a town and a municipality in west-central Albania. It is located in the County of Fier.[1] The municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Allkaj, Ballagat, Bubullimë, Dushk, Fier-Shegan, Golem, Hysgjokaj, Karbunarë, Kolonjë, Krutje and Lushnjë, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the town Lushnjë.[2] The total population is 83,659 (2011 census), in a total area of 372.72 km2.[3] The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 31,105.[4]

History

Delegates of the Congress in January, 1920

In January 1920, Lushnjë was a provisional capital of Albania and the place of the Congress of Lushnjë. Chieftains of Albania assembled in the town and declared Tirana first a provisional and then the definitive capital of Albania.

3 km away from Lushnjë is the Savra Field. This field is on the Lushnjë-Fier road. Here the first battle between Principality of Zeta and Ottoman Empire occurred in 1385 (the Battle of Savra). In this battle Balsha II was killed. Along with Fier, Lushnjë was the main district of the concentration camps during the Communist Regime; some of the camps included the villages of Savër, Gradishtë, Bedat, Gjazë, Rrapëz, Plug, etc.


People

Like most southern Albanian regions, the people of Lushnjë speak a Tosk dialect. The population is mixed Orthodox and Muslim, typical of southern Albanian cities. Data from the 1918 census shows that the population of Lushnjë was split almost evenly between Muslims and Christians at the time of independence from the Ottoman Empire.[5] The Christians are mostly Orthodox, but there is a Catholic minority, while similarly the Muslims are mostly Sunni with a Bektashi minority. In modern days, like elsewhere in Albania, people in Lushnja tend not to be very religious if religious at all, regardless of whatever religion their ancestors professed.

Industry

The Lushnjë region is known as a main provider of agricultural products to the rest of the country. It is one of very few field districts of mountainous Albania. During the Communist Regime the town had a number of factories: among them food processing and building materials, which were closed down for one reason or another in the aftermath of the fall of Communism.

Notable landmarks

Notable people

Sport

KF Lushnja The club was originally formed in 1927 and the first football game held in the city of Lushnjë was played shortly after. This was a friendly game against FK Tomori Berat and the team consisted of young men from Lushnjë. The club was named Kongresi i Lushnjës following a proposal from a member of parliament and signatory of the Albanian Declaration of Independence Ferit Vokopola to name the club after the Congress of Lushnjë, which was where Vokopola himself was elected secretary. In 1927 a young man named Ali Fuga returned from his studies in Austria and joined the club as a player and the head coach. He returned to Albania from Austria with shirts that would be used by the club, and they had green vertical stripes which were used to symbolise the fields of Myzeqe. Although the club was formed on 21 January 1927 it was not "officially" formed until 27 July 1930 shortly after the formation of the Albanian Football Association a month earlier. It was known then as the Kongresi i Lushnjës literacy-artistic society. The club's first official jerseys were green, and the first sports chief of the club was Ali Fuga, who had been a key member of the club's pre formation years. In 1945 they changed their name to KS Traktori Lushnja followed by a further name change in 1950 to SK Lushnja. In 1951 it was changed to Puna Lushnja, before they returned to KS Traktori Lushnja in 1958. In 1991 the club was named KF Lushnja. The club's main supporters' group is called the Ultras Delegatët.

Twin towns - Sister cities

Mayors of Lushnjë

References

  1. ↑ Municipality of Lushnjë (2010). "Plani rregullues" (in Albanian). Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  2. ↑ Law nr. 115/2014
  3. ↑ Interactive map administrative territorial reform
  4. ↑ 2011 census results
  5. ↑ Siegfried Gruber. "Regional variation in marriage patterns in Albania at the beginning of the 20th century". www-gewi.uni-graz.at. Retrieved 2014-06-11., Seiner's 1918 data mapped here: http://www-gewi.uni-graz.at/seiner/density.html
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