Maliq ( sq-definite, Maliqi), formerly known as Malik ( sq-definite, Maliki), is a town and a municipality in

Korçë County Korçë County (), officially the County of Korçë (), is a Counties of Albania, county in the Southern Albania, Southern Region of the Republic of Albania. It is the largest by area and the List of counties of Albania by population, fifth most p ...

of eastern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. It is the smaller of two cities in the district, the other being

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipal ...

, southeast of Maliq. The current enlarged municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former administrative units of

Gorë Gorë is a former municipality in the Korçë County, southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Maliq. The population at the 2011 census was 1,565. The municipal unit consists of the vil ...

Libonik Libonik is a village and a former municipality in Korçë County, southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Maliq Maliq ( sq-definite, Maliqi), formerly known as Malik ( sq-definite, Mali ...

, Maliq,

Moglicë Moglicë is a village and a former municipality in the Korçë County, southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Maliq Maliq ( sq-definite, Maliqi), formerly known as Malik ( sq-definite ...

, Pirg,

Pojan Pojan is a village and a former municipality in the Korçë County, southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Maliq. The population at the 2011 census was 10,864.

and Vreshtas. The seat of the municipality is the town Maliq. The total population is 41,757 (2011 census), in a total area of 656.89 km². The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 4,290. The municipal unit consists of the town Maliq and the villages Kolanec, Goce, Gjyras, Bickë, Fshat Maliq and Plovisht.

Name

The name of the town derives from a patronymic, which is either the proper noun ''Mal'' ("mountain" in Albanian), suffixed with the diminutive ''-iq'' or a variation of the definite form of the Muslim name ''Melik'' (Meliki).

History

The city of Maliq contains early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

archaeological sites, which offer evidence of cultural continuity of early Bronze Age peoples in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

. The archaeological site of Maliq IIIa shows signs of pottery ware designs influenced by pottery styles in

Bronze Age Greece Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea. There are three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete, the Cyclades an ...

. However, a stylistic break occurs in Maliq IIb site, where "cruder ceramic types, frequently including doubled handled vases and single handled cups, with no connection with earlier Eneolithic levels f archeological digs.

Economy

The city of Maliq flourished around a sugar beet factory built in 1951. The factory was built with help from

Soviet foreign aid The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by area ...

. When the factory started operating it had a capacity of 1,000 tons to 2,400 tons later on. Eventually the factory was closed in the 1990s leading to a significant unemployment in the city. The story of the transformation of the swampland into a sugar factory site is told and analyzed in the book Sugarland.

Sports

The

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team KF Maliqi is home to the city of Maliq. The team was founded in the late 1990s and its home ground in Jovan Asko Stadium, Maliq which has a capacity of 1,500 spectators. The owner of the team is the Municipality of Maliq and the president of the team is Gëzim Topçiu. The team is currently playing in the

Albanian Second Division Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

References

Neolithic Settlements in Albania
*Prendi, F. “La civilisation préhistorique de Maliq”, Studia Albanica 1, 1966 : 254–266.

External links

Maliq (Albania) map – Nona.net
Municipalities in Korçë County Administrative units of Maliq Towns in Albania {{Korçë-geo-stub