Finiq


Finiq is a predominantly Greek-inhabited settlement, considered town or village, and municipality in Vlorë County, in southern Albania located 8 km from the Ionian Sea and 20 km north of the Greek border. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Aliko, Dhivër, Finiq, Livadhja and Mesopotam, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the village Dermish. The total population is 10,529, in a total area of 444.28 km2.
The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 1,333, however according to the civil offices was 6,780.

Demographics

The 2015 Albanian civil registry recorded a much higher municipal population of 39,055. The municipal unit of Finiq comprises the villages Finiq, Buronjë, Çlirim, Vrion, Karahaxhë and Bregas. Finiq and all the villages of the municipality are solely inhabited by Greeks, except the village of Çlirim, which is mixed.

History

In antiquity, Phoenice was the political center of the Epirot Greek tribe of the Chaonians. Early Byzantine architecture is evident in the settlement in particular that of the three aisled basilica type.
According to the Chronicle of Gjirokaster the first years of Ottoman rule were peaceful but after the Fall of Constantinople Finiki was destroyed by the Muslims. At the end of the 16th century Finiki witnessed a drastic population increase and became one of the largest settlements in the area with 359 households.
At 1870 a secondary Greek language school was already operating in Finiq.