The local map over the years! From districts to enlarged municipalities, here is the history of Albania’s administrative division

Albania’s administrative division has passed through several phases, from the districts of the centralised system, to the municipalities and communes of the 1990s, and then to their merger into larger territories.

The changes have affected not only the borders on the map, but also the way local government is organised and services are provided to citizens.

During the socialist period, the administrative organisation was based on districts and people’s councils. Local government was part of a centralised system, in which decisions on finances, investments and the development of the territory were controlled by the party-state.

Local units did not have the autonomy associated today with the concept of self-government. With the change of the political system, in the early 1990s, the reorganisation of local government also began. In 1992, Albania had 36 districts, while municipalities administered mainly the cities and communes the rural areas. Local councils and leaders were elected by vote.

That same year, 12 prefectures were also created, with prefects appointed as government representatives in the territory. Another important change came in 2000, with the approval of the new framework for the organisation and functioning of local governance. Two levels of self-government were defined: municipalities and communes at the first level, and the 12 counties at the second level. The counties took on a role in coordinating regional policies.

In the years that followed, the local map consisted of 65 municipalities and 308 communes, a total of 373 units. This organisation ensured a wide spread of local institutions, but the fragmentation of the territory became one of the main arguments for the next reform. Many small units had few inhabitants, limited financial resources and difficulties in maintaining their administration or carrying out investments. In 2014, Parliament approved the law on the current administrative-territorial division.

The number of first-level units was reduced from 373 to 61 municipalities, while the 12 counties were retained. Communes lost their status as separate self-government units and their territories were included in the new municipalities. The map was implemented with the 2015 local elections. Municipalities now administered territories that included both the city and the surrounding rural areas, while the former communes functioned as administrative units under them.

Now, at the 2027 local elections, the new administrative model will begin to be implemented, with 46 municipalities and 12 counties. From the model of districts, to municipalities and communes, and then to enlarged municipalities, each reorganisation has changed the relationship between the citizen and the administration, while it remains to be seen whether larger municipalities will be more productive.