Country Albania Time zone CET (UTC+1) Area 177.6 km² Municipality Dropull | County Gjirokastër Vehicle registration GJ Local time Wednesday 3:50 PM | |
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Weather 20°C, Wind NW at 6 km/h, 38% Humidity | ||
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.
Contents
Map of Pogon, Albania
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.