es
through the North Albanian Alps where there is little movement of the
people. There is no natural topographic dividing line from the
highlands, through Lake Scutari, to the Adriatic, but the lake and a
portion of the Buene River south of it were used. From the lake district
south and southwest to the Ionian Sea, the boundary runs perpendicular
to the terrain trend lines and crosses a number of ridges instead of
following them.

LOCAL ADMINISTRATIVE AREAS

The twenty-six districts that are the primary administrative
subdivisions of the country have evolved from divisions that have
existed for many years or have developed over a period of time (see fig.
3). In the northern third of the country, district lines were based on
the territory occupied by tribal groups. In the part of the country
south from about Tirana, they were based on the large landholdings
controlled by those who in earlier years had governed the areas for the
Ottomans.

Upon independence most of the old local boundaries, long understood if
not always precisely defined, were retained, and the areas became
prefectures. Before World War II there were ten prefectures, which in
turn were divided into about forty subprefectures. The Communist regime
did not abandon the prefectures immediately but eventually replaced them
with districts that were, generally, based on the old subprefectures. In
a series of changes, the latest of which were made in December 1967, the
districts were consolidated into the twenty-six that existed in 1970.
The districts are much the same size. Sixteen of them have areas ranging
between 300 and 600 square miles. The largest, Shkoder, has about 980
square miles; the smallest, Lezhe, has about 180.

Changes in the areas and boundaries of the districts made during the
1960s were based chiefly on economic considerations, although political
and security considerations also played a part. A major factor has been
the collectivization of agriculture. In 1968 and 1969, for example, when
the government decided to enlarge the collective farms, district lines
were shifted in order to keep all of the land in a collective within the
same district (see ch. 6, Government Structure and Political System).

[Illustration: Source: Adapted from _Vjetari Statistikor i R. P. Sh.,
1967-1968_, Tirana, 1968, frontispiece.

_Figure 3. Administrative Districts in Albania_]

Although there are natural barriers to almost all movement in the
country, t