Burrel is a city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 in northern Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

, 91 km from Tirana

Tirana

Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...

. It is the centre of the District of Mat.

The city's population is 15,539 (2003; 21st rank in Albania). Burrel is one of the largest districts in Albania. It is also known among Albanians as the "Land of Kings", as Gjon Kastrioti

Gjon Kastrioti

Gjon Kastrioti , member of Kastrioti family, son of Pal Kastrioti, was an Albanian lord and the father of Scanderbeg. He was called also Hamza Kastrioti.- Name :...

, the father of George Kastrioti, better known as Skanderbeg

Skanderbeg

George Kastrioti Skanderbeg or Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu , widely known as Skanderbeg , was a 15th-century Albanian lord. He was appointed as the governor of the Sanjak of Dibra by the Ottomans in 1440...

, was born there. He was a hereditary prince of a large district of Epirus

Epirus

The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...

 that included Mat

Mat District

The District of Mat is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Dibër County. It is named after the Mat River, that flows through the district. It has a population of 48,803 , and an area of 1,029 km². Its capital is Burrel...

. Another famous native of Burrel was Ahmet Zogu, first King of the Albanians (born Ahmet Zogolli, later changed to Ahmet Zogu; October 8, 1895 – April 9, 1961), who reigned as King Zog I from 1928 to 1939. He had previously been a Prime Minister of Albania between 1922 and 1924 and President of Albania between 1925 and 1928.

Burrel used to be a miners' town during Communist Albania, but the mines are currently closed now, with the exception of a ferrochrome

Ferrochrome

Ferrochrome is an alloy of chromium and iron containing between 50% and 70% chromium.The ferrochrome is produced by electric arc melting of chromite, an iron magnesium chromium oxide and the most important chromium ore. Most of the world's ferrochrome is produced in South Africa, Kazakhstan and...

 plant is still working near Burrel.

During the Kosovo conflict there was a refugee camp near Burrel for 2000 people.

Prison of Burrel

The city used to be the site of one of the most terrible prisons of the communist regime, where both ordinary criminals and political prisoners such as Bashkim Shehu

Bashkim Shehu

-Family background:He is the son of Mehmet Shehu, former Prime Minister of Socialist People's Republic of Albania. Hoxha's communist regime interned the family, following the accusation that Mehmet Shehu had served as a Yugoslavian agent.-References:*...

 and Fatos Lubonja

Fatos Lubonja

Fatos Lubonja is an Albanian writer and dissident.- Life :Fatos is the son of Todi Lubonja, who was a close associate of Enver Hoxha and head of Albanian national television until the early 1970s. In the course of Hoxha's split with the USSR in 1960, Todi Lubonja was arrested for voicing opposition...

 or the Catholic priest Dom Simon Jubani were held. Another famous inmate was Pjetër Arbnori

Pjetër Arbnori

Pjetër Filip Arbnori was an Albanian gulag survivor. He was dubbed "the Mandela of the Balkans" by Albanian statesmen because of the length of his 28 year internment. He was born in Durrës, on the Adriatic coast...

, later to become a member of the free Albanian Parliament. Arbnori was known as "the Mandela of the Balkans" because of the length of his internment, which lasted for over 28 years. It was one of the Communist Albania concentration camps. The political prisoners used to be condemned for attempts at overthrowing the state or anti-communist propaganda and agitation, for terms of at least 20 years. Often they were re-condemned while in prison. After the fall of the communist regime, the government of the Democratic Party of Albania

Democratic Party of Albania

The Democratic Party of Albania is a center-right, Conservative, political party in Albania and the leading party in the governing coalition since the 2005 parliamentary elections...

 closed the prison and made it a museum. However in 1997, Sali Berisha

Sali Berisha

Sali Ram Berisha is an Albanian politician and cardiologist, currently the Prime Minister of Albania and the leader of Democratic Party of Albania ....

 re-opened it as an active prison. And at the moment the Prison that was most feared in Enver Hoxhas time it's now on a very bad state.
This is a link to the Facebook burrel

Sports

Klubi Sportiv Burreli (KS Burreli

KS Burreli

Klubi Sportiv Burreli is an Albanian football club based in Burrel, Mat District. The club has had very little success since its creation in 1952...

) is an Albanian football (soccer) club based in Burrel. Its home arena is Burreli Stadium, containing 2,500 seats. Founded in 1952 under the name "KS 31 Korriku Burrel", the club first participated in the Albanian First Division in 1982. As of the 2006-2007 season, KS Burreli is playing in the Albanian First Division.