Country Profiles: Albania

Albania is located in Europe. Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, but was conquered by Italy in 1939. With an area of 28,748 sq km, it is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Maryland.

Albania shares a border with Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo. It mostly has mountains and hills, but also has small plains along the coast.



People who live in Albania are called Albanians, which is also the adjective used to describe something from this country. As of July 2011, there are almost three million people in Albania. The ethnic groups that reside in Albania are Albanian (95%) and Greek (3%). The official language of Albania is Albanian, though Greek, Vlach and Romani are also spoken. Muslims make up 70% of the population, with Albanian Orthodox making up 20% and Roman Catholics the final 10%.

The country's official name is Republic of Albania. The capital is Tirana, and the country is composed of 12 counties. Though Albania gained independence from the Ottoman Empire on November 28, 1912, a constitution was not approved by parliament until October 21, 1998. The constitution can be found here on Constitution Finder. The current president is Bamir Topi. Information about the leaders of Albania's government can be found here. The currency is the leke (abbreviated ALL), which stands at 104.08 ALL per USD as of 2010.




All of this information was gathered from the CIA World Factbook. For more information, check out these resources...

Council of Ministers, Republic of Albania

Albania, CIA World Factbook

Background Note: Albania, U.S. Department of State

Albania 2010 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, U.S. Department of State.

You can also check out the Country Studies tab on our Fed Docs libguide here for more resources on all of the countries.

Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Urban Studies, Engineering