Official Name: | Northern Albania |
Native Name: | Shqipëria Veriore |
Settlement Type: | Region |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Area Total Km2: | 10,829 |
Population As Of: | 2023 |
Population Total: | 837,453 |
Population Footnotes: | [1] |
Population Density Km2: | auto |
Blank Name Sec1: | NUTS code |
Blank Info Sec1: | AL01 |
Blank Name Sec2: | HDI (2017) |
Blank Info Sec2: | 0.771[2] · 3rd of 3 |
Northern Albania (sq|Shqipëria Veriore) is one of the three NUTS-2 Regions of Albania.[3] This ethnographical territory is sometimes referred to as Ghegeria (sq|Gegëria) which also includes parts of the Albanian-inhabited territories of Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.[4]
It consists of the counties of Dibër, Durrës, Kukës, Lezhë and Shkodër.[5] Their combined population is 991,093 as of the 2023 census.
The northeastern mountain regions have substantial reserves of metallic mineral deposits, including chromium, copper, and iron-nickel. In the 1980s Albania was a world leader in chromium production, but output fell precipitously in the early 1990s during the political transition from communism.[6]
The term usually denotes to the northern half of the country inhabited by the Ghegs, who predominantly live in the mountainous north of the Shkumbin river.