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The Drin estuary in the Kunë-Vaine-Tale Nature Park in Albania
Pasztilla aka Attila Terbócs · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

River · Shkodër County

The Drin

Albania's longest river and the backbone of its electricity system, dammed three times in the north.

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Length
About 285 km
Dams
Fierza, Koman and Vau i Dejës
Role
The Drin cascade supplies a large share of Albanian generation

In plain language

The Drin is the longest river in Albania. Three big dams on it make most of the country's electricity, and the reservoirs behind them — Fierza, Koman and Vau i Dejës — look like long lakes in the mountains.

Simple explanation

The Drin is the longest river in Albania. Three big dams on it make most of the country's electricity, and the reservoirs behind them — Fierza, Koman and Vau i Dejës — look like long lakes in the mountains.

More images

Sunset at Black Drin, Diber, The Drin, Albania
Sunset at Black Drin, Diber Albert1339 · CC0

Connected subjects

Nearby

City · Shkodër

Shkodër

The cultural capital of the north: a lake, a fortress, a bicycle city and a Catholic heartland.

Energy site · Kukës

Fierza Hydropower Plant

The uppermost and largest of the Drin dams, creating a reservoir shared with Kosovo.

Town · Kukës

Kukës

A town rebuilt above a reservoir in the 1970s, and the northern end of the Nation's Road.

Lake · Shkodër

Lake Koman

A 34 km reservoir in a gorge so narrow the ferry crossing is treated as a scenic journey in its own right.

Related subjects

Industry

Energy in Albania

Electricity almost entirely from hydropower — which makes supply depend on rainfall.

Company · Tiranë

KESH

The state generator that runs the Drin cascade and supplies most Albanian electricity.

Energy site · Shkodër

Koman Hydropower Plant

The middle station of the Drin cascade, and the dam that created Lake Koman.

Ferry route · Shkodër

Koman – Fierzë Ferry

A working transport link through a gorge that has become one of Albania's best-known journeys.

Sources

  • Wikipedia. Drin — English Wikipedia · retrieved 13 Oct 2026
    Used to ground the deep-research section and as a discovery aid; not relied on alone for contested claims.
  • Wikidata. Wikidata item Q1792373 · retrieved 13 Oct 2026
    Source of the population, area and elevation figures shown in Quick facts, each with its own observation year.
  • Wikimedia Commons. Photographs · retrieved 13 Oct 2026
    Each photograph carries its own creator, licence and file link beneath it. Only public-domain, CC0, CC BY and CC BY-SA files are published.

Something wrong on this page? Corrections are welcome and are checked against the source record. Tell us what is wrong and, if you can, where the right figure comes from.