Bulqizë

41.49166666666720.221944444444740Koordinaten: 41 ° 30 'N, 20 ° 13' O

Bulqiza ( Albanian: Bulqizë ) is a small town in Eastern Albania. In addition, also the valley in which the town is situated, designated as such. Some villages in the surrounding area have Bulqiza as a suffix. Bulqiza has 8177 inhabitants ( 2011). The local authorities, however, indicate a number of 13,250 inhabitants ( 2011). The town is the capital of the circle Bulqiza.

Population and Society

In recent years, the Einwohnzerzahl has declined significantly, as in many other rural areas of Albania. The population is mainly Muslim, the majority considers itself to be the Bektashi.

Geography

The village lies on the SH6, which leads from the coastal plain in Milot on Burrel after Peshkopi, and at around 740 meters above sea level at the end of a deep valley, whose bottom is wide and flat. This allows the creation of a raised bog and several small lakes. A few kilometers west of Bulqiza the valley ends at the 842 m high pass Qafa e Buallit. Above the town the south to the mountain Maja e Dhoksit collected ( 2,020 m).

The residential areas of the city are limited to various quarters on both sides of the valley, which are separated by the wetlands in the central valley. The old district on the south side is the center of the town. The new district on the north side was built as a dormitory town, because after the mining activities houses threatened to collapse.

History

The name Bulqiza was first mentioned in 1467.

1948 was discovered in Bulqiza chrome. Just two years later they began with Soviet help with the removal. Only this was from a small village, a city in which a factory for crushing the ore was built.

Economy

The mine of Bulqiza is the biggest in Albania. Nevertheless, the production has slumped after the end of the communist regime in 1991 and a majority of the employees had to be laid off. End of August 2007, the main mine was temporarily closed by the authorities, within two months after four workers had lost their lives at work.

Today is reduced by Bulqiza in many small mines with often the simplest means chrome, and it always comes back to accidents and fatalities. Since 2007, the Austrian mining company DCM is the operator of the main mine and employs around 700 people, but strike again and again because of poor working conditions and low wages. In addition, in and around Bulqiza is still a Canadian mining companies operate. In Dibra district around 1100 people work as miners, mostly in Bulqiza and environment.