Kuçovë

Kuçovë is an Albanian city, capital of the Kuçovë District, with many parks and museums.

History

Kuçova has been an industrial city since the Italian influence in the early 30's. In the communist period the city was known as Stalin City and was a closed military district. The city was extensively developed in the 1950's and is of interest to students of communist architecture, although following the collapse of communism there has been much unauthorised building and modification to the original buildings. It's home of one of Albania's Military Aeronautical Base, although since 2005 the countries airforce has ceased flying the aged Mig fighters provided by the Soviet Union and China and has been reduced to rotary wing aircraft only

Economy

Kuçova is one of Albania's Cities known for its Oil Industry. Along with Patos and Ballsh. The Oil industry was originally developed by the Italians during the Zogist period, and much of the infrastructure is dated. Following the end of the communist period the town suffered a severe industrial decline, with the closure of many factories and the destruction of the towns power plan in the riots following the failure of the pyramid banks. Today there is some evidence of a recovery with a large number of micro-businesses operating from former state run factories, although unemployment remians high. There are also a number of foreign owned banks and a small number of ATMs. Like many towns in Albania many young people leave for Italy and Greece due to the lack of economic opportunties

Population

The small city has a population of around 30.000 citizens. It has 5 districts ("Lagje" in Albanian), Ll.Prifti, Ll.Shkurti, 11 Shkurti, T.Skendo, and 1 Maji. One of the largest parks in Kuçovë is called "Pishat". Like many other Albanian cities, Kuçova has a large amount of cafés and bars.

Education

There are only two high schools in the city, "Teknikum" and "Gjimnaz", and six 1st to 8th grade schools. Many high school graduates who want to pursue a higher education go to other Albanian cities or even outside the country.

Random Facts

The football club is KF Naftëtari Kuçovë.