Albania by Caleb Hopkins

History

chop0349 — 2014-12-02 15:03:22 UTC

Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, but was conquered by Italy in 1939, and occupied by Germany in 1943. 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, dilapidated 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.

Capital

chop0349 — 2014-12-02 15:04:48 UTC

The capital is tarana and it is also a major city

Languages

chop0349 — 2014-12-02 15:07:05 UTC

Albanian 98.8% (official - derived from Tosk dialect), Greek 0.5%, other 0.6% (including Macedonian, Roma, Vlach, Turkish, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian), unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.)

Relegions

chop0349 — 2014-12-02 15:07:11 UTC

Muslim 56.7%, Roman Catholic 10%, Orthodox 6.8%, atheist 2.5%, Bektashi (a Sufi order) 2.1%, other 5.7%, unspecified 16.2%

Currency

chop0349 — 2014-12-02 15:07:15 UTC

leke (ALL) per US dollar -109.2 (2013 est.)108.19 (2012 est.)103.94 (2010 est.)94.98 (2009)79.546 (2008)

Flag

chop0349 — 2014-12-02 15:09:12 UTC

Major cities

chop0349 — 2014-12-02 15:09:18 UTC

Tirana is the major city in Albainia

Population

chop0349 — 2014-12-02 15:09:22 UTC

3,020,209 (July 2014 est.)

Climate

chop0349 — 2014-12-02 15:13:16 UTC

mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter