Editing Local government (section)

===Albania===
{{Main article|Counties of Albania|Districts of Albania|Municipalities of Albania|Administrative Units of Albania|Villages of Albania}}
Since [[Albanian Declaration of Independence|its Declaration of Independence]] from the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1912, [[Albania]] has reformed [[administrative divisions of Albania|its internal divisions]] 21 times. Before the implementation of the [[Albanian Constitution|1998 Constitution]], the primary division was into about 36 [[districts of Albania|districts]] ({{langx|sq|rrethe}}), whose number, size, and importance varied over time. Following their abolishment in the year 2000, the [[counties of Albania|counties]] were divided into [[urban municipality (Albania)|urban]] ({{lang|sq|bashki}}) and [[rural municipality (Albania)|rural municipalities]] ({{lang|sq|komuna}})<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moi.gov.al/english/images/pdf/qeverisja_vendore.pdf |title=On the Organization and Functioning of the Local Government, Republic of Albania, 2000 |access-date=27 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100215175046/http://www.moi.gov.al/english/images/pdf/qeverisja_vendore.pdf |archive-date=15 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> until the [[2015 Albanian local elections|2015 elections]], when they were replaced by the current system.

Presently, Albania has 3{{ndash}}4 levels of local government :
* 12 [[counties of Albania|counties]] ({{lang|sq|qarqet}}), sometimes known as [[prefectures of Albania|prefectures]] ({{lang|sq|prefekturë}}) or administrative divisions
* 61 [[municipalities of Albania|municipalities]] ({{lang|sq|bashki}})
* 373 [[administrative units of Albania|administrative units]] ({{langx|sq|njësi administrative}}), sometimes known as [[communes of Albania|communes]] ({{lang|sq|komuna}}), which also oversee about 3,000 [[villages of Albania|villages]] ({{lang|sq|fshatra}})

The prefects who oversee each county are appointed by the [[Government of Albania|central government]], but the mayors of the municipalities and the local government councils are [[Elections in Albania|elected democratically]].<!--cites at various articles-->