Zapod

Zapod is a village and a former municipality in Kukës County, northeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Kukës.^[1] The population at the 2023 census was 1,434.^[2]

Zapod
Municipal unit
The lawns of Zapod
Zapod
Coordinates: 42°3′N 20°33′E
Country	Albania
County	Kukës
Municipality	Kukës
Population  (2023)
• Municipal unit	1,434
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal Code	8515

The administrative unit of Zapod contains the villages of Orgjost, Kosharisht, Pakisht, Zapod and Orçikël which are populated by Slavic Muslims, called Gorani, who speak Torlakian (Gora dialect),^[3] while the villages of Bele and Lojmë are inhabited by Albanians.

According to the 2023 Albanian census, the first one where a Bulgarian minority was officially recognised by the Albanian government, a total of 2,174 people self-identified as Bulgarians in the Kukës County.^[4] At the same time, the population of the two Gorani-inhabited administrative units of Zapod and Shishtavec stood at 3,671 in 9 Gorani and 5 Albanian villages.^[4] Only 5 residents of the entire Kukës County self-identified as Macedonians.

See also

Gorani people
Bulgarians in Albania