Shkodër is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodra has been continuously inhabited since the Early Bronze Age, and it has roughly 2,200 years of recorded history. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Skadar 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.

The Illyrian Kingdom was an Illyrian political entity that existed on the western part of the Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. Regardless of the number of the alternately ruling dynasties, of their tribal affiliation, and of the actual extension of their kingdom, it represented an alliance of Illyrian tribes that united under the rulership of a single leader, expressly referred to as "King of the Illyrians" in ancient historical records.