Himarë (; , Chimara or Χειμάρρα, Cheimarra) is a municipality and region in Vlorë County, southern Albania. The municipality has a total area of and consists of the administrative units of Himarë, Horë-Vranisht and Lukovë. It lies between the Ceraunian Mountains and the Albanian Ionian Sea Coast and is part of the Albanian Riviera. The traditionally perceived borders of the Himarë region gradually shrank during the Ottoman period, being reduced to the town of Himarë and the villages of the coastline (Bregdet in Albanian), generally including only Palase, Dhermi, Pilur, Kudhes, Vuno, Ilias and Qeparo. The municipal unit of Himarë is predominantly populated by an ethnic Greek community. The local population is bilingual in Greek and Albanian. In particular the town of Himarë and the villages of Dermi and Palasa, which together account for the bulk of the population of the municipal unit of Himarë, are mainly populated by a Greek population. The villages of Iljas, Lukovë, Kudhës, Pilur and Vuno are inhabited by an Albanian population, while Qeparo is inhabited by both Albanians and Greeks. In the 2011 census, in the former municipality of Horë-Vranisht 83% declared themselves as Albanians and the rest didn't provide a reply. In the former Lukovë municipality the population is mostly Albanian with a Greek minority. Geography The Himarë region is a strip approximately 20 km long by 5 km wide, covering a total of 132.13 km2, and bounded by the 2000-metre-high Llogara mountains to the northeast (known in antiquity and in the local Greek dialect as the Ceraunian mountains (, Keravnia ori, "Thunder Mountains") and the Ionian Sea to the southwest. There are long white sandy beaches and the few hills close to the sea are terraced and planted with olive and citrus trees. The villages of Himarë are perched up high on the spurs of the Ceraunian range in positions which offered natural defences against the nearby Lab Albanians during the Ottoman era. The traditionally perceived borders of the Himarë region gradually shrank during the Ottoman period, being reduced only to the town of Himarë and the villages on the coastline (Bregdet in Albanian). History Antiquity In antiquity the region was inhabited by the Greek tribe of the Chaonians. The Chaonians were one of the three principal Greek-speaking tribes of Epirus, along with the Thesprotians and the Molossians. The town of Himarë is believed to have been founded as Chimaira (Χίμαιρα) by