Tirana

Tirana was founded in 1614 by Ottoman Albanian nobleman Sylejman Pasha Bargjini, centered on the Old Mosque and türbe. The site of present-day Tirana has been continuously inhabited since the Iron Age and was likely the core of the Illyrian kingdom of the Taulantii, which in classical antiquity was centred in the hinterland of Epidamnus. Following the Illyrian Wars, it was annexed by the Roman Empire. With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fourth century, most of Albania came under the control of the Eastern Roman Empire. The city was fairly unimportant until the 20th century, when the Congress of Lushnjë proclaimed it as Albania's capital after the Albanian Declaration of Independence in 1912.

Classified as a gamma-world-city, Tirana is the most important economic, financial, political, and trade centre in Albania due to its significant location in the centre of the country. As the seat of power of the Government of Albania, it hosts the official residences of the President and Prime Minister of Albania and the Parliament of Albania.