Kingdom of Albania

### Name(s)

Kingdom of Albania, Mbretëria Shqiptare (Albanian) Kraljevina Albanija (Serbian)

### Ruler(s)

King Zog I (1928-1948)King Zog II (1987-1994)King Zog III (1994-)

### GDP

38.09 billion USD

Albania, officially the Kingdom of Albania, is a nation located in the Balkan peninsula in Europe. The nation gained it's independence after the First Balkan War on the 28th of November, 1912.

History:

Albania was originally founded under a dictatorial provisional government on the 28th of November, 1912, headed by Albanian warlords. Albania was later reformed and became a principality on the 21st of February, 1914, after a German prince named Vilhelm, who became the prince of Albania in February 1914 and was the prince of Albania until he left in September of 1914, as the prince felt "bored" of the position.

Albania was later invaded by Austria-Hungary during the Great Serbian retreat through the Albanian mountains in June of 1916, so that the Austro-Hungarian army could attack the Serbian government-in-exile at the island of Corfu.

After the war, Albania became a kingdom later on when Ahmet Zogu declared himself king of Albania as King Zog I on the 1st of September, 1928. Zog established a royal dictatorship, setting himself up as prime minister of Albania as well in 1936. Zog was eventually ousted and went into exile when the Kingdom of Italy invaded Albania in early 1939.

Zog came back to the country in June of 1945 and became the king once again. However, on the 2nd of August, 1948, Albanian Communists staged a coup and took over the country, exiling Zog on the 25th of August, 1948 and setting up a Communist dictatorship shortly after with Communist revolutionary Enver Hoxha as the Premier and General Secretary of the nation.

The Communist regime stayed in the nation for a long time and caused Albania to be pulled into the Vardar War in 1968, which pitted it against the General governorate of Serbia and the Kingdom of Croatia. Albania and Greece both ended up losing the war with Albania being made to pay a large sum of money to the Federal government of Yugoslavia, which caused Albania to become economically bankrupt.

The bankrupt economy and the authoritarianism of the Communist elite is what caused the Albanian revolution later on in March of 1987, which ended Communist rule in Albania. Eventually, the exiled son of Zog was proposed the throne of Albania by the Albanian provisional government, which he accepted, becoming King Zog II of Albania in July of 1987.

Eventually, on the 27th of May, 1994, Zog II passed away and his 29 year old son Zog III succeeded him. On the 18th of June, 1996, Zog III established a royal dictatorship just like his grandfather with himself as the absolute monarch of Albania. When the Kosovo War broke out on the 12th of April, 1997, the Albanian government was initially hesitant to join.

Zog later persuaded the government of Albania to declare war on the Federal republic of Serbia, with the reasoning being that Serbia was "opressing" the Albanian population of Kosovo on the 13th of January, 1998. During the entirety of the war, NATO was sending supplies to Serbia, which made it more difficult for the poor and undersupplied Albanian kingdom.

Due to the strategy the Kosovar revolutionaries used, the war dragged out for many months, with NATO, eager to stop the war for European peace, eventually calling a peace conference in Milan. The conflict was settled by the 3rd of October, 1999, with Albania annexing the Albanian majority region of Metohija.

Demographics:

The Kingdom of Albania has a total of 4.02 million people, making it the 128th largest country in terms of population. The Kingdom of Albania is not a very diverse country, with most of the civilians being Albanians. There are a few other ethnic groups as well, including:

* Albanians (85.5%)
* Bosniaks (5.5%)
* Serbs (2.7%)
* Others (6.3%)

Largest cities in the nation:

1. Tirana (population: 557 422)
2. Prizren (population: 177 781)
3. Durrës (population: 175 110)
4. Elbasan (population: 141 714)
5. Shkodër (population: 135 612)
6. Vlorë (population: 130 827)
7. Ferizaj (population: 108 610)
8. Kamëz (population: 104 190)
9. Peja (population: 96 450)
10. Gjakova (population: 94 556)

Government:

Ever since the 18th of June, 1996, the Kingdom of Albania has been an absolute monarchy. The country is currently ruled by King Zog III, who has been ruling since 1994. The majority of the parliament is ruled by the Albanian Monarchist Party, a party created in 1926 which had been banned during the Communist regime and ever since the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Albania in July of 1987, the party has enjoyed a lot of popularity from the people of the nation.

The king has pretty much all power over the nation, with Zog not only being the king, but since 2000, also being the Prime Minister. The king has every single permission granted to him, except for trade and taxation laws, which are handled by his hand-picked cabinet of ministers. On the 7th of August, 2012, Zog promoted his own son, Crown prince Xhemal, to president of the Albanian parliament, giving the royal family even more power over Albania.

Geography:

The kingdom is mostly mountainous, with the largest mountains being able to be found in the east. The kingdom also has a large coastline on the Adriatic, which the kingdom uses to mostly trade with northern African countries and Italy. The kingdom is bordered by Serbia in the north and the east and the Kingdom of Greece in the south.

The highest peak in the kingdom is located in the eastern side of the kingdom in the eponymous mountain range and is shared with the Federal republic of Serbia. The mountain is named Mount Korab and has a height of 2 764 meters. The kingdom covers a total of 32 639 square kilometers, making it the 136th largest country in the world by area.

Religion:

The kingdom is predominantly Muslim, with around 62% of the population hearing to the Islamic religion. Another 17% hear to the Orthodox religion, which mostly has it's roots in the Orthodox population of northern Albania and Metohija. The Orthodox religion at once used to be the dominating religion in the kingdom, until over half of the Orthodox population migrated from Albania due to many conflicts taking place in the area in the early 18th century.

The kingdom also has a minority of Catholics in the north as well, with roughly around 9% of the population being of the Catholic faith. Another 12% hear to many different religions.

Administrative regions and divisions:

The kingdom is divided into 5 administrative divisions. These divisions are the following:

1. Tirana region (Albanian: Qarku i Tiranës)
2. Central Albania (Albanian: Shqipëria e Mesme)
3. Shkodër region (Albanian: Qarku Shkodër) (Serbian: Skadar oblast)
4. Epirus (Albanian: Epiri)
5. Metohija