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Vlore

Vlorë
Municipality
Vlora cover.jpg
Stema e Bashkisë Vlorë.svg
Seal
Vlorë is located in Albania
Vlorë
Vlorë
Coordinates: 40°27.9′N 19°29.1′E / 40.4650°N 19.4850°E / 40.4650; 19.4850Coordinates: 40°27.9′N 19°29.1′E / 40.4650°N 19.4850°E / 40.4650; 19.4850
Country Albania Albania
County Vlorë
Government
 • Mayor Dritan Leli (SP)
Area
 • Municipality 616.85 km2 (238.17 sq mi)
Population (2015)
 • Municipality 130,827
 • Municipality density 210/km2 (550/sq mi)
 • Administrative Unit 194,147
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal Code 9401-9405
Area Code (0)33
Vehicle registration AL
Website Official Website

Vlorë (historically also known as Aulona) is the third largest city and a municipality in Albania. It is also the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës. Geographically, it has a coastline on the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic and Ionian Sea, which forms the Bay of Vlorë.

Vlorë was founded as an ancient Greek colony in the 6th century BC by the name of Aulon and continuously inhabited for about 26 centuries. In modern times, the city was briefly the capital of Albania. It is where the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on November 28 in 1912. It is also one of the most cultural and economically significant cities of southwestern Albania. Vlorës is home to Albania's second largest port, the Port of Vlorë.

The modern name for the city is the Albanian form Vlorë or Vlora, both pronounced [ˈvlɔɾə], while in the Gheg dialect it is known as Vlonë, Vlona. Vlorë was created in antiquity as a Greek colony in the territory of Illyria. Its first name was Aulón (Greek: Αυλών, also the name in modern Katharevousa), meaning "channel" or "glen" and possibly a translation of another indigenous name.

In Latin the name is known as Aulona, a Latinization of the Ancient Greek name. The medieval and modern Greek name is Αυλώνας /av'lonas/, accusative Αυλώνα /av'lona/, and is the source of the Italian name Valona (also used in other languages) and of the obsolete English Avlona. During the Ottoman era, the Turkish Avlonya was also used.


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