VALONA (Albanian, Vliona), a seaport of Albania. Pop. (1930) about 9,100, of whom 65% are Muslims, 3o% Orthodox, and 5% Roman Catholics. Valona occupies an eminence near the gulf of Valona and is almost surrounded by mountains. The port is the best on the Albanian coast, with good anchorage and shel ter, being protected by the island of Saseno (the ancient Saso). It is a port of call for steamers, and the cable and telegraph line to Otranto, in Italy, has an important station here. The town is about I2 m. from the sea, and has a pleasant appearance with its minarets and its palace, surrounded by gardens and olive groves, but there are malarial marshes along the coast.
Valonia, a material largely used by tanners, is the pericarp of an acorn obtained in the neighbouring oak woods, and derives its name from Valona. The surrounding district is mainly agricul tural and pastoral, producing oats, maize, cotton, a little rice, olives, cattle, sheep, hides, skins and butter, all of which are ex ported, together with bitumen from the mine at Selenitsa. At
Smoktina there are steam saw mills, while in the town itself there are motor repairing works, and an oil refinery.
Valona played an important part in the wars between the Nor mans and the Byzantines during the nth and 12th centuries. In 1464 it was taken by the Turks, captured by the Venetians in 1690 but restored to Turkey in 1691. In 1851 it suffered severely from an earthquake. During the Balkan Wars (1912-13) Valona was bombarded by the Greek fleet in 1912, and in the same year Ismail Bey and 83 Albanian notables met at Valona, and hoist ing the old flag of Skanderbeg (q.v.), proclaimed the independence of Albania. In the following year the International Commission of Control sat at Valona, and appointed Prince William of Wied king of Albania. After his flight, a few months later, Valona was seized by the insurgents. At the outbreak of the World War in 1914 the Italians seized Saseno, which had been ceded to Albania, and occupied the town itself, which they held until 1920.