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The 18th-century English historian Edward Gibbon described Albania as "a country within sight of Italy which
is less known than the interior of America." Now, more than two centuries later, the interior of America has been thoroughly
explored, settled, and voluminously described, but the small, impoverished Balkan country of 3.5 million people has only begun
to be known to outsiders.
For decades, Albania was a rigid Communist state. The disintegration of totalitarian control
in the early 1990s threw the country into confusion: anarchy and chaos swept over many regions, and old feuds were revived.
Thousands fled to Italy and Greece as economic refugees. A financial crisis in 1997 led to the fall of a right-of-center government.
During the eight-year tenure of a socialist government that followed, the country stabilized and its leaders began to discuss
European Union (EU) membership. Albania has been helpful in managing the ethnic conflict in the region. In 2005, the right-of-center
Democratic Party returned to power.
The Land
Albania is a narrow strip of land on
the west coast of the Balkan Peninsula. It is washed by the Adriatic Sea on the west, and wedged between Macedonia, Kosovo,
and Montenegro on the north and east and Greece on the southeast and south. About 40 mi. (64 km.) away, across the Strait
of Otranto, lies the heel of Italy's boot.
The country has three distinct landforms-coastal lowlands, hills, and
high mountains. The long lowland coast features stretches of sandy beaches as well as many shallow lagoons and extensive marshes.
The stagnant waters in the swampy areas hold the constant threat of malaria. Here and there along the coast can be seen the
beginnings of the hills that cover the central part of Albania. The slopes of the lower hills are terraced and carefully cultivated.
Some of the major cities and towns are located in this area.
The outstanding geographic feature of Albania, however,
is that nearly three-quarters of its surface area is mountainous and mostly inaccessible. The mountains rise to their greatest
height in the 9,066-ft. (2,763-m.) Mount Korab, in northeastern Albania. Throughout the centuries, the mountains have served
as a natural fortress and refuge for the people. In fact, the Albanians call themselves Shqyptarë ( "sons of the
eagle" ), and many still make their homes in the mountain valleys.
The mountainous nature of the country and its
poor soil make it very difficult to grow enough food to feed the population. Wheat and corn are the main crops. Olives, figs,
grapes, and citrus fruits are grown in the southern part of the country. Sugar beets, tobacco, and cotton are becoming more
important. Raising livestock, particularly sheep, is also important, but grazing land is often quite far from villages or
farms.
Climate.
Although Albania is small,
it has a surprising variety of climatic conditions. The coastal regions enjoy a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters
and very warm, dazzling summers. But these mild temperatures are sharply altered in the hilly inland areas by the harsher
climates of the central Balkan Peninsula. Some of the mountain areas are windswept and snow-covered in winter, with precipitation
of up to 100 in. (254 cm.) annually in the north. The summer months are cool and bright.
Lakes and Rivers.
Albania
shares its largest lake-Scutari-with Montenegro, and two other large lakes with Macedonia. Many relatively short rivers cross
the country, but they usually dry up in summer. Only one of Albania's rivers, the Buene, is navigable. The Shkumbî
River, which crosses the center of Albania, is thought of as the dividing line between the northern Albanians, who speak a
dialect called Gheg, and the southern Albanians, who speak Tosk.
The People
The Albanians are a homogeneous
people. They speak Albanian, an Indo-European language that is written with the Roman alphabet. Even though two dialects are
spoken, each group can understand the other. About 2 million Albanians live outside the country, in the neighboring Serbian
province of Kosovo and in the republic of Macedonia.
Traditionally, the Ghegs of the north have been thought of as
reserved and taciturn, and they have a reputation as good fighters. Many are tall, handsome, and blond, and all are credited
with great courage in defending their mountain homes. Tosks, on the other hand, are a more affable, outgoing people. Since
they lived in the path of Albania's many invaders, they met and mingled with other peoples.
A rich oral literature
made up of folk songs, poetry, and proverbs plays an important part in the cultural life of the country. The songs are often
accompanied by the one-string lute called the lahuta.
Religion.
Christianity came to
Albania in the 1st century A.D. When the Turks arrived in the 14th century, they brought the Muslim religion with them. Waves
of conversion followed each Turkish victory until Albania had the largest number of Muslims in Europe.
In 1967 the
Communist government closed the country's mosques and churches and claimed that Albania was the first atheist state in
the world. Religious buildings were then used as youth-group centers, cultural houses, and even as restaurants. Since 1990
religious life has revived, with Islam (70 percent of the population), Orthodox Christianity (20 percent), and Roman Catholicism
(10 percent) coexisting peacefully.
Education.
At the outbreak of
World War I, after more than 500 years of Ottoman rule, Albania was one of the least advanced countries in all of Europe.
After the nation gained independence at the end of the war, some schools were built, but it was only during the Communist
period that education became widely available. Albania's first university opened in 1957, offering studies in medicine,
law, and other fields.
In the mid-1990s, secondary education was completely reorganized to fit the needs of a democratic
society. Although there are eight universities and two other institutes of higher learning, relatively few students continue
their studies past the secondary level.
Cities
Tirana.
(Tiranë), the capital
of Albania, centers on a plaza that bears the name of Skënderbeg-Albania's national hero. A huge statue of him was
erected there in 1968, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of his death. For many years, the wide, tree-shaded main street
seemed even wider because so few cars were seen on it-a situation that is quite different today. The wooded hills beyond lend
a certain charm to Tirana, as do the delicate spires of old mosques. In the old section of the city, men can be seen wearing
the baggy trousers and sashes of the Turks of bygone days. In 2002, the country's first private university opened in Tirana.
A railroad line connects Tirana with its port city of Durazzo (Durrës), which is approximately 20 mi. (32 km.)
away on the Adriatic Sea. Durazzo is the chief port of the country. Its beach was once the mecca of Eastern European vacationers
seeking the sun, but is now becoming increasingly popular with Western Europeans.
Other important Albanian cities are
Scutari (Shkodër) and Valona (Vlorë), which are about the same size as Durazzo.
Economy
Albania has always been an agricultural
country. Primitive farming methods were used up to the time of World War II, and families toiled together to share the hard
work of the farms.
In the 1950s, the government had to start from scratch in a land devastated by war. With Soviet
money, aid, and technicians, new factories were built, including a textile mill, sugar refinery, tobacco factory, and cotton-processing,
plywood, and hydroelectric plants. In addition, drilling for oil and mining for copper, coal, and chromium were initiated.
In the early 1960s, after breaking with the Soviet Union over policy differences, Albania turned to China for help.
After the Chinese aid terminated in 1978, Albania slowly began to establish economic ties with other countries, particularly
its Balkan neighbors.
The collapse of Communist rule during 1991 and 1992 caused an almost total economic disintegration.
About one-third of all factories closed, and unemployment rose to about 70 percent.
In 1993, things began to improve.
The streets of Albania's capital became crowded with kiosks selling all kinds of items. Cars, once driven only by Communist
bosses, were suddenly available, and Coca-Cola-forbidden for years as a symbol of capitalism-became a popular beverage. The
financial crisis of 1997 was overcome thanks to foreign aid, and since then the economy has been growing steadily, especially
in recent years. Still, due to weak infrastructure, a widespread black market, and a huge "gray economy" , the country
remains one of the poorest in Europe.
History
The first people in recorded history
to inhabit the area that is today Albania were the Illyrians, who set up a kingdom in the 3rd century B.C. The Illyrians were
a sturdy people-peasants, warriors, and pirates. The Romans, irritated by the Illyrian pirate ships that harassed their trade,
decided to remove the source of trouble, and conquered Illyria in 167 B.C. They never penetrated the inaccessible mountain
regions, however. After the Romans, other conquering peoples and races continued to invade the country.
The Long Years of Turkish
Rule
The people who had the greatest and most enduring influence in Albania, mainly because their rule was of such
long duration, were the Ottoman Turks. The first Turkish invasion of Albanian territory took place in 1385 at the invitation
of a petty ruler who had quarreled with one of his neighbors. The newcomers gradually extended their rule over most of the
country, after overcoming a good deal of resistance. The most spectacular opposition to Turkish domination was led by the
greatest Albanian hero, Gjergj Kastrioti, or Skënderbeg, as he is known.
Skënderbeg, the son of an Albanian
nobleman, was sent as a hostage to the sultan's court. There he became a Muslim and joined the Turkish army, in which
he had a distinguished career. However, he knew that his people had not fully submitted to Turkish occupation, and he decided
to return to Krujë, his family home. He reconverted to Christianity, and the Albanians soon recognized him as their leader.
For a quarter of a century, Skënderbeg fought a number of highly successful defensive battles against large Turkish armies.
His death in 1468 marked the end of large-scale resistance, although it took the Turks many more years to conquer the entire
country. Skënderbeg is a symbol of freedom to the Albanians, and the mainspring of the modern national independence movement.
Independence
Albania declared itself
an independent state in 1912, one of the last countries to break away from the dying Turkish Empire. In 1914, Germany's
Prince Wilhelm zu Wied was made ruler of Albania. When World War I broke out, Wilhelm left the country. During this war, Albania
was occupied at one time or another by the armies of several countries.
A leading figure in the postwar years was Ahmet
Zogu, who seized power in 1925 and then proclaimed himself King Zog in 1928. He ruled the country as a dictator, but his years
in office were marked by a number of real achievements. The strong centralized government encouraged education and in some
ways strengthened the national economy. In 1939, five months before the outbreak of World War II, the Italians occupied Albania
and forced Zog into exile. The Germans took over Albania after Italy's defeat in 1943.
A resistance movement, divided
into Communist and nationalist branches, grew up during the war years. These two groups struggled for power, and in the civil
war that followed, the Communist forces won. Known as the National Liberation Movement, they set up their own government in
Tirana with Enver Hoxha as the leader.
In the next few years, the Communists rebuilt their administration and removed
all centers of opposition to their rule. The close ties to what was then Yugoslavia ended when Yugoslav President Josip Tito
quarreled with Stalin in 1948. Albania turned to the Soviet Union for protection, but when the latter renewed its friendship
with the former Yugoslavia in the mid-1950s, Soviet-Albanian relations soured and were soon completely broken off. Albania
then found an ally in the People's Republic of China, but that relationship ended in 1977. The Albanian Communist regime
was one of the harshest in Europe. Between 1954 and 1990, some 400,000 people were put in prison and about 6,000 were executed.
In late 1990, Albania began to wake up from its totalitarian period. Strikes and protests brought down one-party rule,
but in the first free elections, in early 1991, the renamed Communists (now calling themselves Socialists) won two-thirds
of the vote.
The March 1992 elections brought victory to the Democratic Party, and Sali Berisha, a cardiologist, became
Albania's first post-Communist president. He won international respect for his restraint in international affairs, especially
for not fomenting the nationalist yearnings of Albanians in Kosovo, but his reputation suffered after voting irregularities
and a financial scandal in 1997. That year, the Socialists won the national elections and Berisha resigned. In 1999, Albania
became the key operational area for international relief agencies during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, when 450,000 refugees
from Kosovo flooded the country. Albania has troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a very strong supporter of the United States.
Government
Albania is a democratic republic
with a strong presidency and a unicameral People's Assembly of 140 members. Sali Berisha's Democrats prevailed in
the July 2005 elections. In July 2007 the Democrat Bamir Topi was elected president
