the First World War, Himarë was under Greek administration (October 1914-September 1916) and then occupied by Italy. The Italians used Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war to build a road running through Himarë, which greatly reduced the region's isolation. Spiro Jorgo Koleka, a native of Vuno and a local leader of the Albanian national movement, opposed the annexation by foreign powers of Himarë area and the wider region around Vlora. To that effect Koleka was an organiser of the Vlora War, where other local Himariots participated. In 1921 the region came under the control of the Albanian state. The Himarë question in 1921, regarding the rights of "Himariotes" and their villages Dhërmi, Vuno, Himarë, Piluri, Kudhës and Qeparo, was supervised by Albanian government representative Spiro Jorgo Koleka. The government concluded that Albanian was obligatory in school, as the official language, while Greek was free to be taught as a second language, as desired by the people. The locals rose in revolt, in 1924, protesting against a series of measures aiming at Albanisation, and demanding the same privileges they enjoyed prior to incorporation to Albania. Other uprisings followed in 1927 and 1932, both suppressed by the government of king Zog of Albania. Later, Himarë was again occupied by the Italians as part of the Italian invasion in Albania. During the Greco-Italian War, the 3rd Infantry Division of the Greek Army entered Himarë, on 22 December 1940, after victorious fighting against the Fascist Italian forces deployed in the region. The town briefly re-joined Greece until the German invasion in 1941. In 2015 the government merged Himarë with the municipalities Horë-Vranisht and Lukovë. The seat of the municipality is the town Himarë. Demographics Himarë is composed of three former municipalities which now serve as administrative divisions of the post-2011 municipality: Himarë, Vranisht and Lukovë. In the 2011 census, the three - then independent municipalities - had a total combined population of ~7,800. Lukovë had 2,916 permanent inhabitants, Himarë 2,822 and Vranisht 2,080. Comparatively, the 2015 Albanian Civil Registry offices, which list all Albanian citizens including those who live abroad, put the population of the municipality at 27,049 people. The Himarë municipality has the second lowest population density in Albania after Dropull. The majority of the population has left to live in Greece or large cities in Albania. Himarë The population of the former Himarë municipality was 2,822 in the 2011 census. 60.38% were registered as