Lukovë is a village and a former municipality in the Vlorë County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Himarë. The population at the 2011 census was 2,916.
Name
The Albanian toponym Lukovë stems from Slavic from either the wordsLuk, Laka, Luka meaning water flowing nearby, meadowland, river meadow, wet meadow along a river or from luk, luka, place of onions; alongside the suffix ov/a. The village is known in Greek as "Λούκοβο".
History
During the Ottoman period Lukovë together with nearby Piqeras and Nivicë was part of the Himara area and enjoyed special semi-autonomous status inside this community. In 1570-1571 a short lived rebellion broke out under Emmanuel Mormoris in Himara region. After a prolonged siege the rebels managed to capture the castle of Nivicë. In 1798 Lukovë together with adjacent villages in the region south of Himara were attacked and plundered by the local Ottoman lord Ali Pasha of Ioannina. In the villages of Nivice and Shën Vasil massacres of Orthodox inhabitants were committed in Easter of 1798. As such cases of massive islamization among the local population were followed in the region.
Demographics
The municipal unit consists of the following settlements: According to 1991 estimates, Lukovë, the municipal seat is inhabited by a majority Orthodox Albanian population alongside minorities of Muslim Albanians and Greeks. Borsh, Fterrë and Sasaj are exclusively populated by Muslim Albanians. Piqeras is inhabited by an Orthodox Albanian majority with a minority of 100 Muslim Albanians and 50 Greeks. Çorraj is a mixed village inhabited by an Orthodox Albanian population and Albanian Muslims. Shën Vasil is inhabited by a majority Orthodox Albanian population and with a minority of Muslim Albanians and Greeks. Nivicë is inhabited by an Orthodox Albanian majority and a minority of Greeks. Qazim Pali is a new village established during the communist period and is populated by Muslim Albanians alongside minorities of Orthodox Albanians and Greeks. In a demographic investigation by Leonidas Kallivretakis in the late 20th century, the population of Lukovë commune and all its villages, 54% were Albanian Christians, 40% were Albanian Muslims and 6% were Greek Christians. Seaside settlements of the Lukovë area were among Greek minority areas that underwent a substantial decrease in population after the restoration of democracy in Albania in the early 1990s.
