Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) transporting Azerbaijani gas to Europe runs through Bilisht. Demographics Ottoman geographer Hadji Khalfa (1609-1657) wrote that during the mid seventeenth century the nahiya (sub-district) of Bilisht was populated by a mixed Albanian and Bulgarian population and the Christian element was declining due to local disturbances and inhabitants converting to Islam. In the early nineteenth century, the ethnic border between Albanians and the neighbouring Slavic (Bulgarian) population ran close and to the east of Bilisht. Between 1805 and 1807, the British traveller William Martin Leake passed through the area, referred to the ethnic border and stated that the people of Bilisht spoke Albanian. During the 1980s, the population was 5600. In post-communist Albania, Bilisht contains a mixed population of Muslims and Orthodox Christians. In 1995, it had 8000 inhabitants and 7000 in 2001. Apart from the village of Vërnik, all other settlements of the Devoll region including Bilisht are populated by an Albanian speaking population. A Romani community also exists in the town that settled in Bilisht during the 17th century. In the late 2010s, the majority population of Bilisht is Muslim of the Bektashi Order. Education An Ottoman Secondary school (rüştiye) was opened in Bilisht during 1881-1882. Twelve years later it closed down due to a decrease of students and poor quality teaching from its lone educator. It was transformed into a primary school by the early 1890s. In the mid 1890s it had reverted to a secondary school and was the smallest in the region. By the 1900s, it had two teachers and around 20 students. A Greek language school was already operating in Bilisht in 1888, while Greek education was still present during the 1912-1914 period. Located outside of Albania's official Greek minority zone, post communist Bilisht has a Greek language and cultural tutoring centre. In modern Bilisht, there are two Albanian primary schools, "Myteza Sala" with 15 teachers and "Dritëro Agolli" with 10 teachers. Bilisht has an Albanian elementary school "Fuat Babani" and it caters for up to 800 students. It was completely reconstructed and modernised through a €600,000 investment by the TAP pipeline in 2018. Governance The municipal council for Devoll composed of 17 members is located in Bilisht. In local Albanian elections of the early 2000s, a member of the Romani community was elected to the municipal council as a councilor. At the 2011 Albanian local elections, the Macedonian minority succeeded in