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Albania

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Albania is a Mediterranean country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro in the north, Serbia (Kosovo) in the north-east, the 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. The country is an emerging democracy and is formally named the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë).

Republika e Shqipërise
Flag of Albania Emblem of Albania
(In detail) (In detail)
National motto: none
Official language Albanian, Greek
Capital

 - Population:
 - Coordinates: 		Tirana
(Tiranë)
353,400 (2003)
Template:Coor dm NE
Head of State Alfred Moisiu, President
Head of Government Fatos Nano, Prime Minister
Area
 - Total:
 - % water: 		Ranked 139th
28,748 km²
4.7%
Land borders
Coastline 		720 km
362 km
Population
 - Total:
 - Density: 		Ranked 126th
3,582,205 (2003)
125/km²
GDP
 - Total (2003)
 - GDP/capita
 - GDP/capita 		112th, 106th, 130th, 93rd
US$15.7 Billion (PPP)
$4,400 (PPP)
$2,230 (Nominal)
Independence
  		From the Ottoman Empire
November 28, 1912
National Day 28 November
Religions Muslim 70%
Greek Orthodox 20%
Roman Catholic 10%
Currency Lek (Lk) = 100 qindarka
Time zone UTC+2:00
National anthem Hymni i Flamurit (/Rreth Flamurit Të Për Bashkuar)
Albanian: Hymn to the Flag (/The Flag That United Us In The Struggle)
Internet TLD .al
Calling Code 355

Origin and history of the name

Main Article: Origin and history of the name Albania

One of the first written evidences of the use of the word " Albanoi " as the name of an Illyrian tribe in what is now north-central Albania goes back to the 130 A.D., in a work of Tolomeo. Albanopolis of the Albani, a place located on the map of Ptolemy (3.12.20) and also named on an ancient family epitaph at Scupi, which has been identified with the Zgërdhesh hill-fort near Kruja in northern Albania. Moreover, Arbanon is just likely to be the name of a district - the plain of the Mat has been suggested - rather than particular place. An indication of movement from higher altitudes in a much earlier period has been detected in the distribution of place-names ending in -esh that appears to derive from the latin -enisis or -esis, between the Shkumbin and the Mat, with a concentration between Elbasan and Kruja.

The term Albanoi may have been slowly spread to other Illyrian tribes until its usage became universal among all the Albanian people. According to the Albanian scholar Faïk bey Konitza, the term "Albania" did not displace "Illyria" completely until the end of the fourteenth century. The word "Alba" or "Arba" seems to be connected with the town Arba (modern Rab, Croatia), in prehistoric times inhabited by the Illyrian Liburnians, first mentioned in 360 BC. The root of the name comes from Illyrian Arb ("dark", "green", "wooded") and is simply transposed into antique names of Arba, Arva, Arbia which are mentioned by the cartographers of the time.

The derivation of the name Albania is of considerable antiquity, dating back perhaps to the pre-Celtic alb (hill), from whence Alps, or possibly from the Indo-European albh (white), from whence albino and Albion. Approximately a millennium after, some Byzantine writers use the words “Albanon” and “Arbanon” to indicate the region of Kruja. Under the Angiò, in the XIII century, the names “Albania “and “Albanenses” indicate the whole country and all the population, as it is demonstrated by the works of many ancient Albanian writers such as Budi, Blanco and Bogdano. We first learn of Albanians in their native land as the Arbanites of Arbanon in Anna Comnenas' account (Alexiad 4) of the troubles in that region caused in the reign of her father Alexius I Comneus (1081- 1118) by the Normans. In ‘History’ written in 1079-1080, Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates was first to refer to the Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople in 1043 and to the Arbanitai as subjects of the duke of Dyrrachium. The Italo-Albanians and the Albanian minorities (still present in Greece) have been called in different ways with the passing of the years: Arbënuer, Arbënor, Arbëneshë, Arbreshë. There seems to be no doubt that the root Alb- or Arb- is earlier than Shqip-, from which the modern name of the state (Shqipëria) derives, a name which appears only in the time of the Turkish invasions. The Albanian name of the country, Shqipëria, translates into English as "Land of the Eagles".

The Albanian flag does not -in fact- originate from the name of the land. It is the other way around. George Kastrioti (Gjergj Kastrioti), the last notable leader of the albanian resistance against the Ottomans, was the son of aa Albanian prince John (Gjon) Kastrioti. He carried the Imperial Byzantine Thyreos i.e. a double-headed imperial eagle on a deep red (scarlet) field (please refer to fotw.net for further reading on this). Soon, through the fierce resistance put up by Kastrioti and his albanian army, the flag became a sign of terror for the Turks, who came to call the region "Land of the Eagles" in the sense that the banner with the two-headed byzantine eagle still flew there.

History

Main article: History of Albania

In the area that is today Albania, human activity has been present since the beggining of human history. The earlier inhabitants were probably part of the pre-indoeuropean populace that occupied the coastline of most parts of the Mediterranean. Their physical remains are scarce though, and concetrated on the coastal region. Soon, these first inhabitants were overun by the proto-hellenic tribes that gradually occupied modern day Greece,southern FYROM and the southern part of present day Albania. This process was completed over the second millenium BC and did not really affect northern or central Albania, an area that at the time presented the image of a political vacuum(in essence a historical paradox).

Illyrians were relative latecomers to the balkan arena. Though there presence can be traced back to 900 BC, their political structure was formulated in the seventh and sixth centuries BC. Excellent metal craftsmen and fierce warriors, the Illyrians formed warlord based kingdoms that fought among them for most of their history.Only during the 6th century, did the Illyrians venture significant raids against their immediate neighbours, the greek kindom of the Mollosoi in northern Epirus(present southern Albania),the greek kingdom of Macedonia and the semi-barbaric kingdom of Paiones (in northern FYROM). Probably their most important success, was the slaughter of Perdikkas, king of Macedonia. Unfortunately for the Illyrians, Perdikkas was succeeded by Philippos II, father of Alexander the Great who effectively terminated the illyrian aggresion.

In reality though, the Illyrians were mostly peaceful traders of agricultural products and metal works.The Illyrian culture was influenced by the Greek-Macedonian culture (mainly the south Illyrian tribes). Albania is also the site of several ancient Greek colonies.

After being conquered by a number of nations, mainly the roman and Byzantine Empires, Illyria lost most of its original population and finally became a part of the Ottoman Empire in 1478 after years of resistance under the leadership of Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeg, the Albanian National Hero. The populace of the country was quite mixed at the time. The great mass was not of illyrian identity anymore but rather albanian, a mix of the remaining illyrians with the Albanian element that came later to the area by means of controlled emigration implemented by a series of Byzantine emperors in order to peacefuly absorb raiding hordes in the imperial structure. It is not by accident that Romans(and Byzantines ofcourse), also referred to an area in southern Caucasus as Albania(in modern day Azerbaidjan).It could be indicative of the origin of the alabian element.

After the First Balkan War, Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912. The country was ruled by King Zog I until 1938 when it became a puppet of Italy.

During W.W. II, albanian fascists energeticaly assisted the Italians in their invasion of Greece(October 1940) and even participated (luckily in negligent numbers) in the moslim formations that assisted the Waffen SS in repressing the Yugoslavian and Albanian resistance.

The communists took over after World War II, in November 1944, under the leader of the resistance, Enver Hoxha. From 1945 until 1990 Albania had one of the most repressive governments in Europe. The communist party was created in 1941 with the direction of Bolshevik Communist Parties. All those who opposed it were eliminated. Enver Hoxha became the leader of this party. For many decades of his domination, Hoxha created and destroyed relationships with Belgrade, Moscow, and China, always in his personal interests. For 46 years he denied Albanians their human, religious and political rights, while on the same time he tried to destroy the identity of the solid greek minority in northern Epirus(southern Albania) that still survives there since antiquity. The country was isolated, first from the West (Western Europe, Canada, USA) and later even from the communist East. The government ordered the abolishment of all previous classes of society. The rich farmers and merchants were called the "exploiting class" and were liquidated in "the name of people". The people, the laboring peasants, did not get anything good out of that. All mosques and churches were destroyed, changed into museums or used for other non-religious purposes and any kind of religious ritual or ideology was declared illegal. People's personal possessions were eliminated and cooperatives were created. The number of political prisoners steadily grew. The day eventually came when Hoxha's closest friends were imprisoned for life.

In 1985, Enver Hoxha died and Ramiz Alia took his place. Initially, Alia tried to follow in Hoxha's footsteps, but in Eastern Europe the changes had already started — Gorbachev had appeared in the Soviet Union with a different point of view. The totalitarian regime was pressured by the US and Europe and the hate of its own people. After Nicolai Chauchescu (the communist leader of Romania) was assassinated, Ramiz Alia knew his regime would be next if changes were not made. He signed the Helsinki Agreement (which was signed by other countries in 1975) that respected some human rights. He also allowed pluralism, and even though his party won the election of 1991 it was clear that the change would not be stopped. Thousands of Albanians entered the embassies of western countries impatient of prosperity. Started by students, the riots spread all over the country and lead to the collapse of the dictator's monument in the centre of Tirana. In 1992 the general elections were won by the Democratic Party with 62% of the votes.

The change from dictatorship to democracy had many challenges. The Democratic party had to implement the reforms it had promised, but they were either too slow or didn't solve the problems, so the people were disappointed from their hopes for fast prosperity. The local elections were lost by the Democratic party in 1992. The process of free trade competition and privatization made people more doubtful on what they really wanted.

In the general elections of June 1996 the Democratic Party tried to win an absolute majority and manipulated the results. In 1997 the fraud of the pyramidal schemes shocked the entire government and riots started. Many cities were now controlled by militia and armed citizens. This anarchy and rebellion caused the socialist party to win the early elections of 1997. Since then Albania has been oriented towards the West, was accepted in the Council of Europe and has requested membership in NATO. The working force of Albania has continued to emmigrate to Greece, Italy, Europe and North America. Corruption in the government is becoming more and more obvious. The politics has not fulfilled the people's hope for a short and not too painful transition.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Albania

Head of state is the president, who is elected by the Kuvendi, or the Assembly of Republic of Albania. The main part of the Assembly's 140 members is elected every 4 years. 100 of the parliament members are chosen by the people with a direct vote, while the other 40 members are chosen using a proportional system. The president is assisted by a council of ministers, which is appointed by the president.

Administrative divisions

Main articles: Districts of Albania and Counties of Albania

Albania is divided into 36 rrethe (districts). Several districts are then grouped a qark (county or prefecture), of which there are 12. The capital city, Tiranë, has a special status. The districts are:-

Districts of Albania
Districts of Albania

See also: List of cities in Albania (Note: some cities have the same name as the district they are in).

Geography

Main article: Geography of Albania

Map of Albania

Albania consists of mostly hilly and mountainous terrain, the highest mountain, Korab in the district of Dibra 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 Durrës, Elbasan, Shkodër, Gjirokastër, Vlorë and Korçë.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Albania

Albania is one of Europe's poorest countries, 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.

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. The Greek government also makes money by unofficially selling visas 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 of Albanian citizens in the EU.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Albania

Most of the population is Albanian (95% CIA World Factbook Feb 2005),there is a Greek minority (3% of the population). Many ethnic Albanians also live in bordering Kosovo (around 1.8 million), Macedonia (around 800,000), Montenegro (around 47,000), Serbia (over 150,000, mainly in southern Serbia).Over 600,000 Albanian immigrants have migrated in Greece after the year 1990.

The language is Albanian, although some Greek is also spoken in some small villages of south bordering Greece. In the area of Gorë in the Kukës district is spoken a Slavic language called Gorani. This is the only area in the world where this language is spoken. The village of Shishtavec is the main centre of Gorani language.

Since the occupation by the Ottomans, the majority of Albanians have been Muslim (70%), even though religion was prohibited during the communist era. The Eastern Orthodox (20%) and Catholic Church (10%)(Note: Percentages are estimates, no available statistics) are the other main religions in Albania, though in Albania religious fanaticism has never been a serious problem with people from different religions living in peace and even getting married without any problem. The majority of the south of Albania is Alevi-Bektashi, people who follow a faith originating in the Turkish migrations into Turkey, and came to Albania through the Ottoman Janissaries. It has outwardly Shi'ite Islamic elements, but is really a Shamanic-Pantheistic faith. The main prophet of Alevism is Haxhi Bektash Veliu, and it is currently headed by Baba Flamur Shkalla, the successor of Baba Rexhep, based in Madison, USA.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Albania

Miscellaneous topics

Official government websites

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