Albania

Albania ( ; ), officially called the Republic of Albania is an independent country located in Southeast Europe, more specifically it is located in the Balkans. The capital is Tirana, and other important cities are Durrës, Elbasan and Vlora. Over 3 million people live in the area of  that Albanians call their home. The majority of Albanians are Muslim with 55%, 23% Eastern Orthodox and 15% Roman Catholics.

Albania is next to Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Greece. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea in the west, and a coast on the Ionian Sea in the southwest. The official language is Albanian(Gjuha Shqipe). The national anthem is Hymni i Flamurit.

History

Albania was the southern part of Illyria during the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages the Albanians were ruled by many foreign countries, including the Byzantine and Venetian Empires and during the 16th century resistance to the Ottoman Empire's rule was led by the Albanian national hero Skanderberg but his real name was Gjergj Kastrioti. After four centuries of Turkish domination, finally in the 20th century an independent Albania was created. In 1939 Albania was conquered by fascist Italy and was part of the Kingdom of Italy until 1943. After World War II Albania became independent again, under communist rule. It was ruled by Enver Hoxha, who died in 1985. Ramiz Alia took over and also later became president when, in 1992, Albania ended communism, and it now has friendly relations with the European Union, which it has applied to join.

Divisions
Albania is divided into 12 counties. These counties include 36 districts and 373 municipalities

  County Capital Districts Municipalities Cities Villages 1  Berat Berat BeratKuçovëSkrapar 1028 212 12218105 2  Dibër Peshkopi BulqizëDibërMat 71410 112 6314176 3  Durrës Durrës DurrësKrujë 64 42 6244 4  Elbasan Elbasan ElbasanGramshLibrazhdPeqin 20995 3121 177957549 5  Fier Fier FierLushnjëMallakastër 14148 321 11712140 6  Gjirokastër Gjirokastër GjirokastërPërmetTepelenë 1178 222 969877 7  Korçë Korçë DevollKolonjëKorçëPogradec 46147 1221 447615372 8  Kukës Kukës HasKukësTropojë 3147 111 308968 9  Lezhë Lezhë KurbinLezhëMirditë 295 212 266280 10  Shkodër Shkodër Malësi e MadhePukëShkodër 5815 122 5675141 11  Tirana Tirana KavajëTirana 816 23 66167 12  Vlorë Vlorë DelvinëSarandëVlorë 379 124 386299

Cities 

This is a list of the largest cities in Albania.

RankCity2001 CensusAlbania: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population  World Gazetteer.2009-12-012011 census1Tirana352,581421,2862Durrës113,465115,5503Vlorë85,18079,9484Elbasan95,55479,8105Shkodër85,79874,8766Fier56,29757,1987Korçë58,91151,6838Berat45,57236,4679Lushnjë38,33631,42410Kavajë28,14920,312

Armed forces
The Albanian Armed Forces were first formed after independence in 1912. Albania reduced the number of active troops from 65,000 in 1988 to 14,500 in 2009. In 2010 forced conscription was abolished.

Geography
Albania has a total area of 28,748 square kilometers. Albania's coastline length is . It goes along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. On the coast there are mild, wet winters and warm, sunny, and rather dry summers.

70% of the country is mountains. The highest mountain is Korab.

Albania is bordered by Greece, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo. A short stretch of sea separates Albania from the far southeast of Italy.

Flora and fauna

Although a small country, Albania has a lot of variety in plants and animals. The total number of plants is over 3250 species. There are over 350 bird species, 330 freshwater and marine fish and 80 mammal species. The Double-headed eagle is the national symbol of Albania.

Related pages
 Albania at the Olympics
 Albania national football team
 List of rivers of Albania

References

 Other websites 

 National Tourism Organization Albania's official website for travel & tourism information.


Category:European Union candidate states
Category:Members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation