The town was relocated as part of a hydroelectric scheme. The old Kukës was submerged beneath an artificial lake in 1976, the lake being held back by Chinese-built dams. The new town was built in the 1970s in the plateau nearby which is 320m over the sea level. Kukësi i Ri is surrounded by the artificial lake of Fierza and it looks like a peninsula from the above. It is linked with the other parts of the country by three bridges. On the East it faces the snow covered mountain of Gjallica, 2468m over the sea level. The district is impoverished, with poor road connections, and major problems with crime.
Illyrian tombs were found at Këneta nearby Kukës. It was a small Roman settlement, a stopping point on a branch road leading to the Via Egnatia, and a minor Ottoman market centre and trading post on the road to southern Kosovo. Just before the First World War it was there (Qafa e Kolosjanit) where Albanian resistance stopped Serbian invasion in 1912.
Kukës was briefly on the world stage during the Kosovo conflict when hundreds of thousands (450.000) Kosovo Albanian refugees crossed the frontier and were housed in camps in and around Kukës. Kukës is the only town to get nominated for a Nobel prize. There is a mosque and a closed alpine-style hotel, part of a failed attempt to establish a tourist industry there. OSCE maintained a villa there.
A popular spot is a place just off the main square called the Bar America where the specialty is Tavë Dheu. There is also a local historical museum and a carpet factory. The food industry is confined only to production of alcoholic drinks produced in a drink factory, and to some local small workshops producing drinks and dairy products.
The Highlanders in the region are well known for their developed agriculture. Kukës has a carpet factory whose products is for domestic and trade use. There is also a copper processing factory as the raw material, copper, is found in this place. Kukës is a good
