Shkodra is founded in the fourth century B.C by the Illyrian tribe of Labeates. Located in a wide area at the north-western Albania, the city of Shkoder is the most important urban centre of Northern Albania, renowned in the entire country for its rich cultural traditions.  The university, libraries, churches, mosques, and museums of Shkoder offer a diverse facet of today’s Albania, fostering both progress and a strong connection to local traditions. Shkodra has a very favourable geographic position and can be considered as an entry port both to the grandiose Albanian Alps on one hand, and to the sandy beach of Velipoja on the Adriatic, on the other. Within a 30-km radius, there is a whole range of natural awe-inspiring sights, ranging from the marshlands of the largest lake in the Balkans to the rocky hill of “Rozafa” castle. Through its diverse ecosystem (Shkodra Lake and Buna (Bojana), Drin and Kir rivers) near the Adriatic Sea and the nearest transit point to the north of the Balkan Peninsula and the European Union (land and rail) market, the Municipality of Shkoder manifests all the prerequisites of an important trade and transit area as well as an important economic and industrial centre of Albania.