Description
Pukë is a town and municipality in northern Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Gjegjan, Pukë, Qelëz, Qerret and Rrapë, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the town Pukë. The total population is 11,069 (2011 census), in a total area of 505.83 km2. The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 3,607. The local football club is called KS Tërbuni Pukë.
At 838 meters above sea level, the town is one of the highest in elevation in Albania and a well-known ski area. It is 150 km from Albania’s capital, Tirane.
In the 20th century, Pukë was expanded as a military base and a center of Catholic education. The distinguished Albanian poet Migjeni worked there from 1936 to 1937. The school where he worked as a teacher is a tourist attraction. The town is surrounded by a 400-hectare (1.5 sq mi) massif covered with pine trees. Since the end of the communist era, there has been a spread of disease in the pines caused by pine processionary moths, whose nests are conspicuous.
