even officials continued to use the dialect
of their association. After the Communists, most of whose leaders had
come from southern Albania, acceded to power, the Tosk dialect became
the official language of the country. In 1952 the Albanian Writers'
Union, a Party-controlled organization, took action to make Tosk the
only dialect to be used in publications.

SETTLEMENT PATTERNS

Some two-thirds of the people live in rural areas in a widely dispersed
pattern of small villages. The urban population, according to 1969 data,
lived in forty cities with 1,000 to 10,000 inhabitants and twelve cities
with over 10,000 dwellers; of the latter group, six had 10,000 to 30,000
inhabitants; two had 30,000 to 50,000; three had 50,000 to 100,000; and
one, Tirana, was approaching 200,000.

The heaviest concentrations of settlement in the late 1960s were in the
districts of Tirana with a density of 528 persons per square mile,
Durres with 469, Fier with 323, and Lushnje with 298. The area
surrounding Korce and the area immediately around, and to the south of,
Shkoder were among the most thickly settled even though the
administrative districts of Korce and Shkoder were not heavily populated
when considered in their entirety (see ch. 3, Physical Environment).

Several factors contributed to the pattern of settlement. Large expanses
of mountains and generally rugged terrain made the building of land
transportation routes difficult. Poor soil and lack of water during part
of the year did not provide support to large concentrations of people.
Mineral and other resources were generally not readily accessible or
were difficult to exploit (see ch. 3, Physical Environment).

Coastal cities generally have a small hinterland, and their influence
does not extend beyond their borders. The port of Durres, with road and
rail links to Tirana, Elbasan, and Fier, is an exception. During the
1960s the area generally bounded by these cities experienced the
greatest growth of industry and population of any region. Vlore, a port
and naval center, increased almost fourfold between 1945 and 1967, but
it lacks links with inland areas.

Tirana, the capital and largest city, increased from about 60,000
inhabitants in 1945 to 170,000 in 1967, largely because of the expansion
of industry and a growing bureaucracy. It is located on the inner margin
of the coastal plain and is surrounded by an area of the better soils of
Albania. The streets in the central a