Map - Vlorë (Bashkia e Vlorës)

Vlorë (, ; Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foothills of the Ceraunian Mountains along the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea Coasts. It experiences a Mediterranean climate, which is affected by the Ceraunian Mountains and the proximity to the Mediterranean Sea.

Vlorë was founded as Aulon as an Ancient Greek colony on the Illyrian coast and was conquered at different periods throughout history by Romans, Byzantines, Normans, Venetians and Ottomans. Between the 18th and 19th centuries, the Albanians gathered both spiritual and intellectual strength for national consciousness, which conclusively led to the Albanian Renaissance. Vlorë played an instrumental role in Albanian Independence as an epicenter for the founders of modern Albania, who signed the Declaration of Independence on 28 November 1912 at the Assembly of Vlorë.

Vlorë is one of the most significant cities of southern Albania and the region of Labëria which is traditionally noted for its culture, traditions and folklore. Vlorë is served by the Port of Vlorë, the SH8 highway, and the A2 motorway, collectively representing part of the Adriatic–Ionian Corridor and the Pan-European Corridor VIII.

Vlorë was founded as an Ancient Greek colony on the Illyrian coast. Its initial name was Aulṓn (Αυλών; also the name in modern Katharevousa), meaning "channel, glen" and possibly a translation of another indigenous name. The name of the city was first recorded in the 2nd century AD, by two Ancient Greek authors, Lucian and Ptolemy, the latter calling it "town and sea-port", which confirms that it was founded much earlier. However, Aulon has not been mentioned by more Ancient Greek and Roman authors, who on the other hand recorded the nearby town and seaport of Oricum. But in later sources Oricum is less encountered, while the toponym Aulon is more frequently mentioned.

Vlorë developed from the ancient Aulon-a through the evolution of the phonetic system of the Albanian language with the rhotacism Vlonë > Vlorë, which is a pre-Slavic phenomenon in Albanian. The intervocalic has regularly evolved to in Tosk Albanian, while the initial has evolved from unstressed after the disappearance of the initial unstressed. The evolution > should be relatively ancient, preventing the evolution of the following intervocalic to. In Geg Albanian the toponym is pronounced Vlonë, indicating that it has been in use among northern Albanians before the appearance of rhotacism in Tosk Albanian. Also the accent pattern of the name observes Albanian accent rules.

The medieval and modern Greek name is Avlónas (Αυλώνας Aulṓnas, accusative Αυλώνα Aulṓna ), and is the source of the Latin Aulona, the Italian Valona (also used in other languages) and of the obsolete English Avlona. During the Ottoman era the city of Vlorë was known in Turkish as Avlonya. In Medieval Latin sources and in Old Italian records it is mentioned with the forms Avalona, Avelona, Lavalona, Lavellona; and in Old Serbian sources as Avlona or Vavlona, the latter containing the Slavic preposition v "in". In Aromanian, the city is known as Avlona.