Albania Information & Entertainment
Albania Business Information

Albania
Republic of Albania
Republika e Shqipërisë

From the CIA: Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, but was conquered by Italy in 1939. Communist partisans took over the country in 1944. Albania allied itself first with the USSR (until 1960), and then with China (to 1978). In the early 1990s, Albania ended 46 years of xenophobic Communist rule and established a multiparty democracy. The transition has proven challenging as successive governments have tried to deal with high unemployment, widespread corruption, a dilapidated physical infrastructure, powerful organized crime networks, and combative political opponents. Albania has made progress in its democratic development since first holding multiparty elections in 1991, but deficiencies remain. International observers judged elections to be largely free and fair since the restoration of political stability following the collapse of pyramid schemes in 1997; however, there have been claims of electoral fraud in every one of Albania's post-communist elections. The 2009 general elections resulted in no single party gaining a majority of the 140 seats in Parliament, and the Movement for Socialist Integration (LSI) and the Democratic Party (DP) combined to form a coalition government, the first such in Albania's history. The Socialist Party (SP) has, in effect, boycotted Parliament since it convened in September 2009 and has called for investigations into alleged electoral fraud in the June 2009 elections. Albania joined NATO in April 2009 and is a potential candidate for EU accession. Although Albania's economy continues to grow, the country is still one of the poorest in Europe, hampered by a large informal economy and an inadequate energy and transportation infrastructure.

Located in south east Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea, between Greece in the south and Montenegro and Kosovo to the north. border countries: Greece 282 km, Macedonia 151 km, Montenegro 172 km, Kosovo 112 km. Area: total: 28,748 sq km country comparison to the world: 145th land: 27,398 sq km water: 1,350 sq km.

Flag Information: red with a black two-headed eagle in the center; the design is claimed to be that of 15th-century hero George Castriota SKANDERBEG, who led a successful uprising against the Turks that resulted in a short-lived independence for some Albanian regions (1443-1478); an unsubstantiated explanation for the eagle symbol is the tradition that Albanians see themselves as descendants of the eagle; they refer to themselves as "Shkypetars," which translates as "sons of the eagle"

Albania
Albania Republic
Republika e Shqipërisë

Calling Code 355

Albania from USA Sources

Albania Cities and Places

Durrës Albania
Bashkia Durres

Durrës is the second largest city in Albania, located on the central Albanian coast, about 33 kilometers or 21 miles west of the capital Tirana. The city became Albania's second national capital (after Vlora) on March 7, 1914 under the brief rule of Prince William of Wied. It remained Albania's capital until February 11, 1920 when the Congress of Lushnjë made Tirana the capital.

Elbasan Albania
Elbasan or Elbasani

Elbasan Albania

Shkoder Albania
Shkodra Albania

Shkoder is the fifth largest city in Albania, located on Lake Shkoder in north west Albania

Tirana Albania

Tirana

Tirana is Albania's capital and the country's largest and most populated municipality. Tirana has the only International Airport in Albania
Airport code TIA

Vlorë Albania

Vlorë is the third largest city in Albania

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