Pogon, Albania

For other uses, see Pogon.

Pogon
Administrative Unit
Pogon
Coordinates:
Country	Albania
County	Gjirokastër
Municipality	Dropull
Area
• Total	177.6 km2 (68.6 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Administrative Unit	432
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Vehicle registration	GJ

Pogon (Greek: Κάτω Πωγώνι, Kato Pogoni) is a former municipality in the Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Dropull. The population at the 2011 census was 432. It consists of seven villages: Poliçan, Skore, Hllomo, Sopik, Mavrojer, Çatistë and Selckë, of which Poliçan is the administrative center.

Geography

Greek is widely spoken in the villages. Selckë, part of a wider region of Lunxhëria, is mainly inhabited by an Albanian population as well as later Aromanian migrants, while the rest of the towns belong to the Greek minority zone.

History

In 15th century Pogon came under Ottoman rule and became part of the Sanjak of Ioannina. It was a nahiya centre as "Pogun" at Pogun kaza (Its centre was Voştina) in Ergiri sanjak of Yanya Vilayet till 1912. As part of Albania, the municipality is part of the recognized Greek Minority Zone.

Historically each village of Pogon has its own variation of traditional costumes and dresses. The area is part of Pogoni, a region that also includes parts of nearby Pogoni on the Greek side of the border.

Culture

The villages of Pogon (except Selckë) are part of the wider Pogoni region, which is divided between Greece (40 villages) and Albania (7 villages). Polyphonic singing, although shared among several ethnic groups, tends to be mostly identified with the Pogoni area.

Notable people

• Sophianos (-1711), local Greek-Orthodox bishop and scholar.
• Pandeli Sotiri, Albanian patriot, main contributor to the modern Albanian alphabet

Further reading

• ΖΩΤΟΥ, ΜΕΝΕΛΑΟΥ; ΓΙΑΝΝΑΡΟΥ, ΧΡΙΣΤΟΦΟΡΟΥ. Η ΠΟΛΥΤΣΑΝΗ ΤΗΣ ΒΟΡΕΙΟΥ ΗΠΕΙΡΟΥ. ΕΚΔΟΣΕΙΣ, ΙΩΑΝΝΙΝΑ, 1989. (Greek)
• Politsanitika Nea Newspaper, Tel. +30 210 5238058 (Greek)

See also

• Mount Nemërçkë