Fier

Fier is the seventh most populous city in Albania and the seat of Fier County and municipality in the country's southwest, on the Gjanica River in the Myzeqe Plain between the Seman and Vjose rivers near the Adriatic Sea. It was officially established in 1864 by Omer Pasha Vrioni II as an artisan and trade center, and as of 2023 its municipal unit had 52,926 residents with the broader municipality totaling 101,963. The city is an industrial hub for oil, bitumen, and chemical production, and is also known for olive oil, and it lies about seven kilometers from the ruins of ancient Apollonia, a Greek colonial settlement founded around 588 BCE. Fier has a Mediterranean climate and functions as a major transportation terminus in southwestern Albania.