Durrës County (), officially the County of Durrës (), is a county in the Northern Region of the Republic of Albania. It is the smallest by area and the second most populous of the twelve counties, with 292,029 people within an area of . The county lies between latitudes 41° and 23° N and longitudes 19° and 30° E.
Because of its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, several rivers, large and small, flow throughout the county. The Ishëm is the longest river in the county originating at the Skanderbeg Mountains in Tirana County and flowing through the county until it reaches the Adriatic Sea at the Cape of Rodon along the Gulf of Drin.Durrës County is the second most populous and densely populated county of the Republic of Albania, with an increasing number of population. The Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) estimated the county's population in January 2021 at 292,029.
Ethnically, Durrës County is predominantly Albanian but small minorities of Bosniaks (near Shijak), Aromanians (in Fllakë), Romani & Balkan Egyptians are present in the ethnic composition as well. By language, 99.5% spoke Albanian as a first language. Other spoken languages were Romani (0.12%), Greek (0.05%), Macedonian (0.05%), Italian (0.02%), Turkish (0.02%) and Aromanian (0.02%). The majority of its population is predominantly concentrated in the county's capital city of Durrës. As of the 2011 Census, the population of the administrative unit Durrës stands at 113,249 with the adjacent eponymous municipality having a population of 175,110.
thumb|upright=0.5|Durrës
thumb|upright=0.75|Krujë
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;width: 57%"
|+
Population of Durrës according to religious group (2011–2023)
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! rowspan="2" | Religion group
! colspan="2" | Census 2011
! colspan="2" | Census 2023 (Revised Source)
! colspan="2" | Difference (2023−2011)
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! Number
! Percentage
! Number
! Percentage
! Number
! Percentage
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Sunni Muslim
| 177,274
| 67.5%
| 123,890
| 54.6%
| -53,384
| -12.9%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Bektashi Muslim
| 4,215
| 1.6%
| 12,070
| 5.3%
| +7,855
| +3.7%
|-
! style="text-align:left;"| Total Muslim
! 181,489
! 69.1%
! 135,960
! 59.9%
! -45,529
! -9.2%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Catholic Christian
| 19,322
| 7.4%
| 13,637
| 6.0%
| -5,685
| -1.4%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Orthodox Christian
| 8,675
| 3.3%
| 6,713
| 3.0%
| -1,962
| -0.3%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Evangelical
| 325
| 0.1%
| 779
| 0.3%
| +454
| +0.2%
|-
! style="text-align:left;"| Total Christian*
! 28,489
! 10.8%
! 21,369
! 9.4%
! -7,120
! -1.4%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Atheists
| 2,901
| 1.1%
| 3,682
| 1.6%
| +781
| +0.5%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Believers without denomination
| 9,131
| 3.5%
| 30,210
| 13.3%
| +21,079
| +9.8%
|-
! style="text-align:left;"| Total Non-religious
! 12,032
! 4.6%
! 33,892
! 14.9%
! +21,860
! +10.3%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Not stated / other**
| 40,775
| 15.5%
| 35,642
| 15.7%
| -5,133
| +0.2%
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! style="text-align:left;"| TOTAL
! 262,785
! 100%
! 226,863
! 100%
! -35,922
! –
|}
See also
- Geography of Albania
- Politics of Albania
- Divisions of Albania