Map - Shkodër (Bashkia Shkodër)

Shkodër (, ; Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkodër and the foothills of the Albanian Alps on the banks of Buna, Drin and Kir. Due to its proximity to the Adriatic Sea, Shkodër is affected by a seasonal Mediterranean climate with continental influences.

One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the Balkans, Shkodër was founded under the name Scodra upon the traditional lands of the Illyrian tribes of the Ardiaei and Labeates in the 4th century BCE. It has historically developed on a 130 m hill strategically located in the outflow of Lake Shkodër into the Buna River. The Romans annexed the city after the third Illyrian War in 168 BCE, when Gentius was defeated by the Roman force of Anicius Gallus. In the 3rd century CE, Shkodër became the capital of Praevalitana, due to the administrative reform of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. With the spread of Christianity in the 4th century CE, the Archdiocese of Scodra was founded and was assumed in 535 by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.

Shkodër is regarded as the traditional capital of northern Albania, also referred to as Gegëria, and is noted for its arts, culture, religious diversity and turbulent history among the Albanians. The architecture of Shkodër is particularly dominated by mosques and churches reflecting the city's high degree of religious diversity and tolerance. Shkodër was home to many influential personalities, who among others, helped to shape the Albanian Renaissance.

The city was first attested in calassical sources as the capital of the Illyrian kingdom with the name Skodra (Ancient Greek: Σκόδρα; genitive Σκοδρινῶν "of the Skodrians", appearing on 2nd c. BC coins) and Scodra (Latin form).

Although the ultimate origin of the toponym Σκόδρα Scodra is uncertain, the name is certainly pre-Roman. A Paleo-Balkan origin has been suggested, relating it to the kodër (definite form: kodra) 'hill', and codru '(wooded) mountain, forest', with the same root as the ancient toponym Codrio/Kodrion.

The further development of the name has been a subject of discussion among linguists over the exact location of Albanian-speakers in classical antiquity. Linguists Eqrem Çabej and Shaban Demiraj treat the development from Illyrian Σκόδρα Skodra to Albanian Shkodra/Shkodër as evidence of regular development within the Albanian language. Other linguists have argued that Albanian Shkodra/Shkodër fails to display certain known phonological changes that would have to have happened if the name had been continually in use in Proto-Albanian since pre-Roman times, as in that case, it has been claimed that Illyrian Σκόδρα Skodra would have become **Hádër in Albanian, instead of Shkodër. Nevertheless, the evolution of Scodra into Shkodra/Shkodër certainly observes Albanian phonetic rules in the Roman period.

In modern times, the term was adapted to Italian as Scodra and Scutari ; in this form it was also in wide use in English until the 20th century. In Serbo-Croatian, Shkodër is known as Skadar (Скадар), and in Turkish as İşkodra.