Tepelenë (Albanian definite form: Tepelena) is a city and a municipality in Gjirokastër County, in the south of Albania.

The name of Tepelene has been interpreted in three variants; the first connects the origin of this name with the Turkish word "Tepeleden" which means "head-piercing".

The Young Turk revolutionaries met in Tepelenë in February 1909, in an attempt to persuade Albanian nationalists to join them.

On 7 April 1939, Italian forces landed in Albania and took control of the country and Tepelenë in the beginning of World War II.

[6] As a consequence, Colonel Pervizi as well as other officers and Albanian troops were transferred into the mountains of northern Albania and isolated there.

[9] In the 1997 unrest in Albania, Tepelenë became a focal point for the uprising against Sali Berisha's government.

A people's committee took charge of the town in March 1997 and released opposition politician Fatos Nano from the local prison.

Due to its location at the confluence of two valleys, Tepelena has always been an important traffic hub in southern Albania.