Albania
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- What is Albania?
- Where is Albania located on the map?
- What is the capital city of Albania?
- What language do people speak in Albania?
- What is the population of Albania?
- What are some major geographical features in Albania?
- What is the traditional Albanian cuisine like?
- What are some key historical events in Albania's history?
- How is the government of Albania structured?
- What role does Albania play in international organizations like the United Nations or NATO?
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Albania,country in southernEurope, located in the western part of theBalkan Peninsula on the Strait of Otranto, the southern entrance to theAdriatic Sea. The capital city isTirana (Tiranë).
Albanians refer to themselves asshqiptarë—often taken to mean “sons of eagles,” though it may well refer to “those associated with theshqip (i.e.,Albanian) language”—and to their country as Shqipëria. They generally consider themselves to bedescendants of the ancientIllyrians, who lived in central Europe and migrated southward to the territory of Albania at the beginning of theBronze Age, about 2000bce. They have lived in relative isolation and obscurity through most of their difficult history, in part because of the rugged terrain of their mountainous land but also because of a complex of historical, cultural, and social factors.
- Head Of Government:
- Prime Minister: Edi Rama
- Capital:
- Tirana (Tiranë)
- Population:
- (2025 est.) 2,684,000
- Head Of State:
- President: Bajram Begaj
- Form Of Government:
- unitary multiparty republic with one legislative house (Kuvendi, or Parliament [140])
- Official Language:
- Albanian
- Official Religion:
- none
- Official Name:
- Republika e Shqipërisë (Republic of Albania)
- Total Area (Sq Km):
- 28,748
- Total Area (Sq Mi):
- 11,100
- Monetary Unit:
- lek (L)
- Population Rank:
- (2025) 141
- Population Projection 2030:
- 2,780,000
- Density: Persons Per Sq Mi:
- (2025) 242.2
- Density: Persons Per Sq Km:
- (2025) 93.5
- Urban-Rural Population:
- Urban: (2024) 65.4%
- Rural: (2024) 34.6%
- Life Expectancy At Birth:
- Male: (2022) 77.3 years
- Female: (2022) 80.9 years
- Gni (U.S.$ ’000,000):
- (2023) 21,086
- Gni Per Capita (U.S.$):
- (2023) 7,680
- Literacy: Percentage Of Population Age 10 And Over Literate:
- Male: (2023) 98.2%
- Female: (2023) 97.3%
Because of its location on the Adriatic andIonian seas, Albania has long served as a bridgehead for various nations and empires seeking conquest abroad. In the 2nd centurybce the Illyrians were conquered by the Romans, and from the end of the 4th centuryce they were ruled by theByzantine Empire. After suffering centuries of invasion byVisigoths,Huns,Bulgars, andSlavs, the Albanians were finally conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century.Ottomanrule cut off Albania from Western civilization for more than four centuries, but in the late 19th century the country began to remove itself from Ottoman influence and to rediscover oldaffinities and common interests with the West.
Albania was declared independent in 1912, but the following year the demarcation of its boundaries by the great powers of Europe (Austria-Hungary,Britain,France, Germany,Italy, andRussia) assigned about half its territory and people to neighbouring states. Ruled as a monarchy between the World Wars, Albania emerged from the violence ofWorld War IIas acommunist state that fiercely protected itssovereignty and in which almost all aspects of life were controlled by the ruling party. But with the collapse of other communist regimes beginning in 1989, new social forces and democratic political parties emerged in Albania. That shift reflected the country’s continuing orientation toward the West, and it accorded with the Albanian people’s long-standing appreciation of Western technology and cultural achievements—even while retaining their own ethnic identity, cultural heritage, and individuality.