Albania is divided into twelve counties (Albanian: qarku, sing.qark (official term); but often prefektura, sing. prefekturë, sometimes translated as prefecture). Each county has been divided into two or more municipalities, which are the second-level division of Albania. In 2015, the government reduced the number of municipalities to 61 and abolished separate rural municipalities, or komuna.[1]
In 2000, counties replaced districts as the first-level administrative subdivision in Albania.