Elbasan County

Elbasan County
Qarku i Elbasanit (Albanian)
County
View of Krraba Pass
Flag
Emblem
Coordinates: 41°0′N 20°10′E / 41.000°N 20.167°E / 41.000; 20.167
Country Albania
SeatElbasan
Subdivisions7 municipalities, 385 towns and villages
Government
 • Council chairmanErmira Urupi[1]
Area
 • Total
3,199 km2 (1,235 sq mi)
Population
 (2023[2])
 • Total
232,580
 • Density73/km2 (190/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
HDI (2022)0.779
high · 7th
NUTS CodeAL021
WebsiteOfficial Website

Elbasan County (Albanian: Qarku i Elbasanit) is one of the 12 counties of Albania. The population is 232,580 (as of 2023), in an area of 3199 km2.[2] 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.[3] 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.

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1950130,000—    
1960160,849+23.7%
1969206,842+28.6%
1979281,769+36.2%
1989357,497+26.9%
2001362,736+1.5%
2011295,827−18.4%
2023232,580−21.4%
Source: [4][5]

Elbasan County has 232,580 inhabitants as of 2023. The county is 89.9% Albanian, 1.86% Roma and Balkan Egyptian, 0.23% of a South Slavic ethnicity (mainly Bulgarian, but lesser numbers of Serbs, Macedonians, and Bosniaks), 0.06% Aromanians, 0.06% Greeks, and the rest unidentified or of mixed ethnicities.

Religion

Between the 2011 and 2023 censuses in Elbasan, there were notable shifts in religious affiliation. The Muslim population decreased significantly from 64.4% to 52.9%, while Bektashism rose from 0.5% to 1.4%. The Catholic Christian population slightly declined from 1.0% to 0.7%, and Orthodox Christians remained stable at 5.2%. Evangelical Christians experienced a modest rise, from 0.1% to 0.3%.

There was a substantial increase in the irreligious population: atheists rose from 3.3% to 4.4%, and those identifying as believers without denomination grew significantly from 10.2% to 17.5%. Meanwhile, the "Not stated/other" category also saw an increase, rising from 15.3% to 17.5%.[6]

Population of Elbasan according to religious group (2011–2023)
Religion group Census 2011 Census 2023 (Revised Source) Difference (2023−2011)
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
Muslim 190,550 64.4% 123,133 52.9% -67,417 -11.5%
Bektashi 1,515 0.5% 3,186 1.4% +1,671 +0.9%
Total Muslim 192,065 64.9% 126,319 54.3% -65,746 -10.6%
Catholic Christian 3,054 1.0% 1,617 0.7% -1,437 -0.3%
Orthodox Christian 15,295 5.2% 12,140 5.2% -3,155 +0.0%
Evangelical 147 0.1% 679 0.3% +532 +0.2%
Total Christian* 18,591 6.3% 14,624 6.3% -3,967 +0.0%
Atheists 9,679 3.3% 10,167 4.4% +488 +1.1%
Believers without denomination 30,161 10.2% 40,747 17.5% +10,586 +7.3%
Total Non-religious 39,840 13.5% 50,914 21.9% +11,074 +8.4%
Not stated / other** 45,331 15.3% 40,723 17.5% -4,608 +2.2%
TOTAL 295,827 100% 232,580 100% -63,247 –

References

  1. ^ "Konstituohet Këshilli i Qarkut Elbasan, Ermira Urupi zgjidhet Kryetare!". 25 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Main Results of the Population and Housing Census 2023" (PDF). INSTAT.
  3. ^ "Law nr. 115/2014" (PDF) (in Albanian). pp. 6368–6369. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Division of Albania".
  5. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Institute of Statistics Albania.
  6. ^ "Population statistics of Eastern Europe & former USSR". pop-stat.mashke.org. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
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