Southern Albania

Southern Albania (Albanian: Shqipëria jugore) is one of the three NUTS-2 Regions of Albania.^[3]

Southern Albania Shqipëria jugore
Region
Country	Albania
Area
• Total	12,989 km2 (5,015 sq mi)
Population  (2023)[1]
• Total	761,118
• Density	59/km2 (150/sq mi)
NUTS code	AL03
HDI (2017)	0.787[2] high · 2nd of 3

Southern Albania (green) in Albania

It consists of five counties: Berat, Fier, Gjirokastër, Korçë and Vlorë.^[4] Combined, they have a population of 700,000 as of the 2023 census.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1950	595,187	—
1960	760,962	+27.9%
1969	909,880	+19.6%
1979	1,105,409	+21.5%
1989	1,334,245	+20.7%
2001	1,146,559	−14.1%
2011	920,448	−19.7%
2023	761,118	−17.3%
Source: [5][6]

The southwestern part of the country is rich in petroleum, and natural gas. Natural asphalt is mined near Selenicë.^[7]

Four main ethnographic regions traditionally compose Southern Albania: Myzeqeja, Toskëria, Labëria, and part of Chamëria.^[8] In a broader context, Toskëria is sometimes used to describe the whole cultural and linguistic area of southern Albanians (also broadly referred to as Tosks), in duality with Gegëria, which on the other hand is used for that of northern Albanians (also broadly referred to as Ghegs).^[9][10]

See also

• Northern Albania (Ghegeria or Gegeria)
• Central Albania
• Southern Albanian Highlands