Albania, officially the Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeast Europe on the Adriatic and Ionian Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. It shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east, Greece to the south and a maritime border with Italy to the west.
Geographically, the country displays varied climatic, geological, hydrological and morphological conditions, defined in an area of 28,748 km2 (11,100 sq mi). It possesses remarkable diversity with the landscape ranging from the snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps as well as the Korab, Skanderbeg, Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains to the hot and sunny coasts of the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea along the Mediterranean.
HISTORY
Historically, the area of Albania was populated by various Illyrian, Thracian and Ancient Greek tribes as well as several Greek colonies established in the Illyrian coast. The area was annexed in the 3rd century by Romans and became an integral part of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia, Macedonia and Illyricum. The autonomous Principality of Arbër emerged in 1190, established by archon Progon in the Krujë, within the Byzantine Empire. In the late thirteenth century, Charles of Anjou conquered Albanian territories from the Byzantines and established the medieval Kingdom of Albania, which at its maximal extension was extending from Durrës along the coast to Butrint in the south. In the mid-fifteenth century, it was conquered by the Ottomans.
The modern nation state of Albania emerged in 1912 following the defeat of the Ottomans in the Balkan Wars. The modern Kingdom of Albania was invaded by Italy in 1939, which formed Greater Albania, before becoming a Nazi German protectorate in 1943. After the defeat of Nazi Germany, a Communist state titled the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania was founded under the leadership of Enver Hoxha and the Party of Labour. The country experienced widespread social and political transformations in the communist era, as well as isolation from much of the international community. In the aftermath of the Revolutions of 1991, the Socialist Republic was dissolved and the fourth Republic of Albania was established.
POLITICS
Politically, the country is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic and developing country with an upper-middle income economy dominated by the tertiary sector followed by the secondary and primary sector. It went through a process of transition, following the end of communism in 1990, from a centralized to a market-based economy. It also provides universal health care and free primary and secondary education to its citizens.
The country is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, UNESCO, NATO, WTO, COE, OSCE and OIC. It is also an official candidate for membership in the European Union. In addition it is one of the founding members of the Energy Community, including the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and Union for the Mediterranean.
Etymology. The term Albania is the medieval Latin name of the country. It may be derived from the Illyrian tribe of Albani.
GEOGRAPHY
Albania is defined in an area of 28,748 square kilometres (11,100 square miles) and located on the Balkan Peninsula in South and Southeast Europe. Its coastline faces the Adriatic Sea to the northwest and the Ionian Sea to the southwest within the Mediterranean Sea.
The highest point of the country is Mount Korab at 2,764 metres (9,068.24 ft) above the Adriatic. The distance from the east to west is only 148 kilometres (92 mi), while from the north to south about 340 kilometres (211 mi).
For a small country, much of Albania rises into mountains and hills that run in different directions across the length and breadth of the country. The most extensive mountain ranges are the Albanian Alps in the north, the Korab Mountains in the east, the Pindus Mountains in the southeast, the Ceraunian Mountains in the southwest and the Skanderbeg Mountains in the center.
One of the most remarkable features about the country is the presence of numerous important lakes. The Lake of Shkodër is the largest lake in Southern Europe and located in northwest. In the southeast rises the Lake of Ohrid that is one of the oldest continuously existing lakes in the world. Further south extend the Large and Small Lake of Prespa that are among the highest positioned lakes in the Balkans.
Rivers originate mostly in the east of Albania and discharge into the Adriatic Sea in the west. The longest river in the country, measured from its mouth to its source, is probably the Drin that starts at the confluence of its two headwaters, the Black and White Drin. Though of particular concern is the Vjosë that represents one of the last intact large river systems in Europe.
ECONOMY
The transition from a socialist planned economy to a capitalist mixed economy in Albania has been largely successful. The country has a developing mixed economy classified by the World Bank as an upper-middle income economy. In 2016, it had the 4th lowest unemployment rate in the Balkans with an estimated value of 14.7%. Its largest trading partners are Italy, Greece, China, Spain, Kosovo and the United States. The lek (ALL) is the country’s currency and is pegged at approximately 132,51 lek per euro.
The cities of Tirana and Durrës constitute the economic and financial heart of Albania due to their high population, modern infrastructure and strategic geographical location. The country’s most important infrastructure facilities take course through both of the cities, connecting the north to the south as well as the west to the east. Among the largest companies are the petroleum Taçi Oil, Albpetrol, ARMO and Kastrati, the mineral AlbChrome, the cement Antea, the investment BALFIN Group and the technology Albtelecom, Vodafone, Telekom Albania and others.
In 2012, Albania’s GDP per capita stood at 30% of the European Union average, while GDP (PPP) per capita was 35%. Albania was one of three countries in Europe to record an economic growth in the first quarter of 2010 after the global financial crisis. The International Monetary Fund predicted 2.6% growth for Albania in 2010 and 3.2% in 2011. According to the Forbes as of December 2016, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was growing at 2.8%. The country had a trade balance of −9.7% and unemployment rate of 14.7%. The Foreign direct investment has increased significantly in recent years as the government has embarked on an ambitious program to improve the business climate through fiscal and legislative reforms. The economy is expected to expand in the near term, driven by a recovery in consumption and robust investments. Growth is projected to be 3.2% in 2016, 3.5% in 2017, and 3.8% in 2018.
DEMOGRAPHICS
The population of Albania, as defined by Institute of Statistics, was estimated in 2016 to be approximately 2,886,026. The country’s total fertility rate of 1.51 children born per woman is one of the lowest in the world. Its population density stands at 259 inhabitants per square kilometre. The overall life expectancy at birth is 78.5 years; 75.8 years for males and 81.4 years for females. The country is the 8th most populous country in the Balkans and ranks as the 137th most populous country in the world. The population of the country rose steadily from 2,5 million in 1979 until 1989, when it peaked at 3.1 million. It is forecasted that the population should not reach its peak number of 1989 until 2031, depending on the actual birth rate and the level of net migration. The explanation for the recent population decrease is the fall of communism in Albania. It was marked by large economic mass emigration from Albania to Greece, Italy and the United States. 40 years of isolation from the world, combined with its disastrous economic, social and political situation, had caused this exodus. The external migration was prohibited outright during the communist era, while internal migration was quite limited, hence this was a new phenomenon. At least, 900,000 people left Albania during this period, about 600,000 of them settling in Greece. The migration affected the country’s internal population distribution. It decreased particularly in the north and south, while it increased in the center within the cities of Tirana and Durrës. According to the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) as of 1 January 2015, the population of Albania is 2,893,005. About 53.4% of the country’s population is living in cities.
The three largest counties by population account for half of the total population. Almost 30% of the total population is found in Tirana County followed by Fier County with 11% and Durrës County with 10%. Over 1 million people are concentrated in Tirana and Durrës, making it the largest urban area in Albania. Tirana is one of largest cities in the Balkan Peninsula and ranks 7th with a population about 800,000. The second largest city in the country by population is Durrës, with a population of 201,110, followed by Vlorë with a population of 141,513.
Minorities. Issues of ethnicity are a delicate topic and subject to debate. Contrary to official statistics that show an over 97 per cent Albanian majority in the country, minority groups (such as Greeks, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Roma and Aromanians) have frequently disputed the official numbers, asserting a higher percentage of the country’s population. According to the disputed 2011 census, ethnic affiliation was as follows: Albanians 2,312,356 (82.6% of the total), Greeks 24,243 (0.9%), Macedonians 5,512 (0.2%), Montenegrins 366 (0.01%), Aromanians 8,266 (0.30%), Romani 8,301 (0.3%), Balkan Egyptians 3,368 (0.1%), other ethnicities 2,644 (0.1%), no declared ethnicity 390,938 (14.0%), and not relevant 44,144 (1.6%).
Other Albanian minorities are Gorani, Aromanians and Jews. Regarding the Greeks, “it is difficult to know how many Greeks there are in Albania”. The estimates vary between 60,000 and 300,000 ethnic Greeks in Albania. According to Ian Jeffries, most of Western sources put the number at around 200,000.
Languages. Albanian is the official language of the Republic of Albania. Its standard spoken and written form is revised and merged from the two main dialects, Gheg and Tosk, though it is notably based more on the Tosk dialect. The Shkumbin river is the rough dividing line between the two dialects. Also a dialect of Greek that preserves features now lost in standard modern Greek is spoken in areas inhabited by the Greek minority. Other languages spoken by ethnic minorities in Albania include Aromanian, Serbian, Macedonian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Gorani, and Roma. Macedonian is official in the Pustec Municipality in East Albania. According to the 2011 population census, 2,765,610 or 98.767% of the population declared Albanian as their mother tongue.
Greek is the second most-spoken language in the country, with 0.5 to 3% of the population speaking it as first language, and with two-thirds of mainly Albanian families having at least one member that speaks Greek, most having learned it in the post communist era (1992–present) due to private schools or migration to Greece. Outside of the small designated “minority area” in the south the teaching of Greek was banned during the communist era. As of 2003 Greek is offered at over 100 private tutoring centers all over Albania and at a private school in Tirana, the first of its kind outside Greece.
In recent years, the shrinking number of pupils in schools dedicated to the Greek minority has caused problems for teachers. The Greek language is spoken by an important percentage in the southern part of the country, due to cultural and economic links with adjacent Greece. In a 2017 study, 39.9% of the 25–64 years old is able to use at least one foreign language, with English first at 40.0%, followed by Italian with 27.8% and Greek with 22.9%. Among young people aged 25 or less, English, German and Turkish have seen a rising interest after 2000. Italian and French have had a stable interest, while Greek has lost most of the interest. The trends are linked with cultural and economic factors.
Religion. Albania is a secular state without an official religion, with the freedom of religion being a constitutional right. The 2011 census, for the first time since 1930, included an optional open-ended question on religion; the census recorded a majority of Muslims (58.79%), which include Sunni (56.70%) and Bektashi Muslims (2.09%). Christians, making up 16.92% of the population, including Roman Catholics(10.03%), Orthodox (6.75%) and evangelical Protestants(.14%). Atheists accounted for 2.5% of the population and 5.49% were non-affiliated believers, while 13.79% preferred not to answer.
The preliminary results of the 2011 census seemed to give widely different results, with 70% of respondents refusing to declare belief in any of the listed faiths. The Albanian Orthodox Church officially refused to recognize the results, claiming that 24% of the total population adhered to its faith. Some Muslim Community officials expressed unhappiness with the data claiming that many Muslims were not counted and that the number of adherents numbered some 70% of the Albanian population. The Albanian Catholic Bishops Conference also cast doubts on the census, complaining that many of its believers were not contacted. The Muslim Albanians are spread throughout the country. Orthodox and Bektashis are mostly found in the south, whereas Catholics mainly live in the north. In 2008, there were 694 Catholic churches and 425 orthodox churches, 568 mosques and 70 bektashi tekkes in the country.
The Resurrection Cathedral of Tirana is the third largest Orthodox church in Europe. Eastern orthodoxy was first introduced during the Roman period.
Religious tolerance is one of the most important values of the tradition of the Albanians. It is widely accepted that Albanians generally value a peaceful coexistence among the believers of different religious communities in the country. During an official visit in Tirana, Pope Francis hailed Albania as model of religious harmony, due to the long tradition of religious coexistence and tolerance. The country is ranked among the least religious countries in the world. Furthermore, religion plays an important role in the lives of only 39% of the country’s population. In the WIN/Gallup International Report of 2016, 56% of the Albanian people considered themselves religious, 30% considered themselves non-religious, while 9% defined themselves as convinced atheists; 80% believed in God and 40% believed in life after death. However, 40% believed in hell, while 42% believed in heaven.
During classical times, there are thought to have been about seventy Christian families in Durrës, as early as the time of the Apostles. The Archbishopric of Durrës was purportedly founded by Paul the Apostle, while preaching in Illyria and Epirus. Meanwhile, in medieval times, the Albanian people first appeared within historical records from the Byzantines. At this point, they were mostly Christianized. Islam arrived for the first time in the late 9th century to the region, when Arabs raided parts of the eastern banks of the Adriatic Sea. It later emerged as the majority religion, during the centuries of Ottoman Period, though a significant Christian minority remained.
During modern times, the Albanian republican, monarchic and later communist regimes followed a systematic policy of separating religion from official functions and cultural life. The country has never had an official religion either as a republic or as a kingdom.
In the 20th century, the clergy of all faiths was weakened under the monarchy and ultimately eradicated during the 1950s and 1960s, under the state policy of obliterating all organized religion from the territories of Albania. The communist regime persecuted and suppressed religious observance and institutions and entirely banned religion. The country was then officially declared to be the world’s first atheist state. Although, the country’s religious freedom has returned, since the end of communism.
Islam survived communist era persecution and reemerged in the modern era as a practiced religion in Albania. Some smaller Christian sects in Albania include Evangelicals and several Protestant communities including Seventh-day Adventist Church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Jehovah’s Witnesses. The first recorded Protestant of Albania was Said Toptani, who traveled around Europe and returned to Tirana in 1853, where he preached Protestantism. Due to that, he was arrested and imprisoned by the Ottoman authorities in 1864. First evangelical Protestants appeared in the 19th century and the Evangelical Alliance was founded in 1892. Nowadays, it has 160 member congregations from different Protestant denominations.
Albania was the only country in Europe where the Jewish population increased significantly during the Holocaust. Following the mass emigration to Israel, since the fall of communism, only 200 Albanian Jews are left in the country.