Korçë District
The circle Korçë (Albanian: Rrethi i Korçës ) is one of the 36 administrative districts of Albania. The circle with an area of 1752 km ² is the largest county in the country. He belongs to the same Qark and has about 121 041 inhabitants ( 2011). It was named after the main town of Korca district.
Geography
The district is located in the southeast of the country in a mountainous region. Even the plain of Korçë, located at about 850 m asl The mountains reach the west and north west of the district heights of up to nearly 2,400 m above sea level, in the north- east almost 2,300 m above sea level, in the South, after all, more than 2,000 m above sea level
Only in the narrow valley of the Devoll west of Maliq the soil drops below 800 m asl The river crosses the county from east to west in almost its whole extent. After Maliq level it crosses the mountains towards the Adriatic Sea in a narrow valley. It drains the whole circle with the exception of some valleys in the extreme southwest of the circle and the endorheic basin of the Prespa in the Northeast, which can be reached through the more than 1100 m high Zvezda Pass.
The Prespa lakes and a mountainous area in the south ( Bredhi i Drenovës ) are protected as national parks. Together, they comprise more than 290 km ².
The plain of Korçë ( Pellgu i Korçës ) is 35 km long and up to 15 km wide. Previously the area was not only strong marshy around Maliq, there was even a real lake. The fed by Devoll Maliksee but was drained as the marshes after the Second World War. Besides, numerous prehistoric finds from the Neolithic and Bronze Age were made. In the plain of Korçë especially sugar beets were grown in sequence.
The high altitude of the area also brings correspondingly harsh winter with lots of snow with it. The average January temperature is in Korca at 1 ° C and in July 18 ° C can be achieved on average.
At various points, especially in the north of the circle brown coal was mined.
Population
In Korca district almost 25% of the population belong to minorities. In addition to some Greeks live mainly in mountainous areas and Aromanians in Liqenas Macedonians. Especially in Korçë there are also many Roma. About two-thirds of the inhabitants profess Sunni Islam or the Bektashi. Especially in Korca, there are also many Orthodox.
Traffic
A newly constructed via Bilisht leading expressway connects Korçë to the near Greece. Another important road goes north to Pogradec and from there to central Albania and the Macedonian Ohrid.