southwest of Lezhë, forming the Mouth of Drin, ). The other empties into the Bojana River near the Rozafa Castle. Measured from the source of White Drin, the rivers length is , making it the longest river in Albania. The Black Drin flows out from the Lake Ohrid near Struga and flow through eastern Albania and western North Macedonia. The White Drin originates from the Zhleb mountain, north of the town of Peja in the Dukagjin region of Kosovo, and flows from there through to Albania. The basin encompasses the transboundary subbasins of Lake Shkodër (largest lake in Southern Europe), Lake Ohrid (one of the most ancient lakes in the World), Lake Prespa and Small Prespa Lake and also the tributaries, namely Black Drin, White Drin and Buna River. All these subbasins and tributaries are home to numerous species of mammals, vascular plants, insects, amphibians, fish and birds. The Drin is extremely important for the Albanian economy, especially for its electrical production. Four hydropower facilities produce most of Albania's electricity (over 1200MW capacity). The artificial Lake Fierza (Albanian: Liqeni i Fierzës) created by the dam at Fierzë is the largest artificial lake in Albania with its surface of 73 km². The second largest artificial lake is also built on this river. Vau i Dejës lake () has an area of 25 km². Construction of the Fierza power station caused some controversy in the 1980s. Without reaching any agreement, the Albanian government ordered the reservoir to be filled with water, which flooded some border areas of Kosovo, then part of Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav government protested, but no solution was agreed on. Thus, today, Lake Fierza is shared by Albania and Kosovo. Human history The ancient name of the river was Drilon. The valley of the river was inhabited by several Illyrian peoples. It was probably dominated at some point and to some extent by the Enchele. The tribal territory of the Taulantii and of the Labeatae was most likely located near the river. See also Gulf of Drin Geography of Albania Central Mountain Range Rivers of Albania Notes Bibliography Further reading Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija, Third edition (1985); Prosveta; Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije; Svjetlost-Sarajevo; References Rivers of Albania Rivers of Kosovo Rivers of North Macedonia Important Bird Areas of Albania Braided rivers in Albania International rivers of Europe Geography of Peja District