Kukës

Municipality

Kukës photomontage

Seal

Kukës

Coordinates: 42°04′36″N 20°25′18″E / 42.07667°N 20.42167°ECoordinates: 42°04′36″N 20°25′18″E / 42.07667°N 20.42167°E

Country

Albania

County

Kukës

Government

• Mayor

Bashkim Shehu (DP)

Area

• Municipality

933.86 km² (360.57 sq mi)

Elevation

349 m (1,145 ft)

Population (2011)

• Municipality

47,985

• Municipality density

51/km² (130/sq mi)

• Administrative Unit

16,719

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal Code

8501-8503

Area Code

(0)24

Vehicle registration

Website

Official Website

Kukës (Albanian: Kukës) is a town and municipality in northeastern Albania. It is the seat of Kukës County. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Arrën, Bicaj, Bushtricë, Grykë-Çajë, Kalis, Kolsh, Kukës, Malzi, Shishtavec, Shtiqën, Surroj, Tërthore, Topojan, Ujmisht and Zapod, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the town Kukës. The total population is 47,985 (2011 census), in a total area of 933.86 km². The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 16,719.

Kukës is applying for the 2018 European Green Leaf Awards. The winners will be announced in June 2017.

The old Kukës was located at the confluence of the White Drin and Black Drin. In 1976 the town was submerged beneath the Fierza Reservoir, which is held back by a Chinese-built dam. The new town (Kukësi i Ri - "New Kukës") was built in the 1970s in the plateau nearby which is 320m over the sea level. Kukësi i Ri is surrounded by the artificial lake of Fierza and it looks like a peninsula from the above. It is linked with the other parts of the country by three bridges. On the east it faces the snow-covered mountain of Gjallica, 2468 m above sea level. The district is impoverished, with poor road connections, and major problems with crime.

Illyrian tombs were found at Këneta and Kolsh nearby Kukës. It was a small Roman settlement, a stopping point on a branch road leading to the Via Egnatia, and a minor Ottoman market centre and trading post on the road to southern Kosovo. It was there (Qafa e Kolosjanit) where Albanian resistance stood up against retreating Serbian army in 1912.

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Wikipedia