Elbasan, also Elbasani, city in central Albania, capital of Elbasan District, on the Shkumbin River, near Tirana. The city is the terminus of a railroad from Durrës and a market center for the area, where tobacco, olives, fruit, grapes, cotton, grains, and vegetables are grown. Industries include production of olive oil, wine, cigarettes, leather, textiles, flour, and handicrafts. A 15th-century fortress in Elbasan contains a museum of antiquities. The present city was built by the Turks in 1466 on the site of ancient Scampa, on the Via Egnatia. Population (1990 estimate) 83,300.
