Albania

The Republic of Albania is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro in the north, Serbia in the north-east, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the east, and Greece in the south, has a coast on the Adriatic Sea in the west, and a coast on the Ionian Sea in the southwest.

Republika e Shqiperise

Albania consists of mostly hilly and mountainous terrain, the highest mountain reaching up to 2,753 m. The country mostly has a land climate, with cold winters and hot summers.

Besides capital city Tirana, with 520,000 inhabitants, the principal cities are Durres[?], Elbasan[?], Shkoder[?], Vlore[?] and Korce.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Albania

Albania is Europe's poorest country, with half of the economically-active population still engaged in agriculture and a fifth said to be working abroad. The country has to deal with a high unemployment rate, corruption up to high government levels and organised crime.

Albania is aided financially from abroad, notably by Greece and Italy.

The country exports nearly nothing and imports a lot from Greece and Italy. The money for imports comes from the financial aid and from the money that refugees working abroad bring to Albania. This is a good status-quo business for both Greece and Italy. Also unofficially Greece government makes money by selling visas unofficially to Albanian citizens, who are not allowed to travel freely abroad. For this reason both countries have several visa consulates in major cities of Albania, and oppose indirectly every possibility of free movement from Albanian citizens in EU.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Albania

Most of the population (95%) is Albanian, but there is a sizeable Greek minority. Many ethnic Albanians also live in bordering Kosovo. The language is Albanian, although some Greek is also spoken.

Since the occupation by the Ottomans, the majority of the Albanians has been muslim, even though religion was prohibited during the communist era. The Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Church are the other main religions in Albania.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Albania

Holidays

Date	English Name	Local Name	Remarks
January 1-January 2	New Year's Day	Viti i Ri
February 11 (2003)	Small Bayram[?]	Bajrami i Vogël	date varies, al-Eid saghir in Islamic countries
March 7	Teacher's Day[?]	Dita e Mësuesve	non official
March 8	Mother's Day	Dita e Nënës	non official
March 22	Nevruz Day[?]	Nevruz
April 20	Catholic Easter	Pashkët Katolike
April 27	Orthodox Easter	Pashkët Ortodokse
May 1	May Day	Një Maji
November 25 (2003)	Big Bayram[?]	Bajrami Madh	date varies, Eid-ul-Adhain Islamic countries
November 28	Independence Day	Dita e Pavarësisë
November 29	Liberation Day[?]	Dita e Clirimit
December 25	Christmas Day	Krishtlindje

Miscellaneous topics

• Communications in Albania
• Transportation in Albania
• Military of Albania
• Foreign relations of Albania
• List of Albanians

Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

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