Area Total | 28,748 sq km |
Climate | mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter |
Natural Resources | petroleum, natural gas, coal, bauxite, chromite, copper, iron ore, nickel, salt, timber, hydropower, arable land |
Imports | $4.1 billion (2017 est.) partners: Italy 28.5%, Turkey 8.1%, Germany 8%, Greece 8%, China 7.9%, Serbia 4% (2017) |
Government | parliamentary republic |
Capital | Tirana (Tirane) |
Population | 3.1 million (July 2018 est.) |
Ethnicity | Albanian 82.6%, Greek 0.9%, other 1% (including Vlach, Romani, Macedonian, Montenegrin, and Egyptian), unspecified 15.5% (2011 est.) |
Language | Albanian 98.8% (official – derived from Tosk dialect), Greek 0.5%, other 0.6% (including Macedonian, Romani, Vlach, Turkish, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian), unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.) |
Exports | Germany 12.5%, France 10.3%, US 9%, Spain 5.2%, UK 5.2%, Switzerland 4.6% (2017) – engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; foodstuffs, beverages, and tobacco; minerals, nonferrous metals |
News about Albania
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Balkan Insight’s Week in Pictures
by BIRN (Albania – Balkan Insight) on January 15, 2021
A round-up of Balkan Insight's favourite photographs of the week.
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Balkan Insight’s Week in Pictures
by BIRN (Albania – Balkan Insight) on January 8, 2021
A round-up of Balkan Insight's favourite photographs of the week.
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Albania Mulls Buying US Identification System to Curb Voting Fraud
by Gjergj Erebara (Albania – Balkan Insight) on January 6, 2021
Ahead of elections due in April, Albania said it was considering buying a US electronic voting identification system – which would make it harder for politicians to steal votes in a country where many people now live and work abroad.
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Albanian Doctors Fret over Private Control of Hospital Labs
by Esmeralda Keta (Albania – Balkan Insight) on January 5, 2021
A 2019 government deal with a private venture to improve lab services in Albania ended up complicating efforts to expand COVID-19 testing, critics say, and is causing concern over the long-term impact on publicly-funded diagnostics and scientific research.
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Year in Pictures: 2020 in the Balkans and Central Europe
by BIRN (Albania – Balkan Insight) on January 1, 2021
Over a chaotic, exhausting and unpredictable year for many people, BIRN has selected photographs from across the region that highlight major political events, social issues, celebrations and commemorations.
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Balkan Insight’s Week in Pictures
by BIRN (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 29, 2020
A round-up of Balkan Insight's favourite photographs of the week.
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Serbia Leads Region in Expecting COVID-19 Vaccines Within Days
by BIRN (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 21, 2020
Serbia has announced that it expects the first COVID-19 vaccines to arrive this week, while Turkey and other countries in the Balkans expect their first doses somewhat later – either by the end of 2020 or in the first quarter of 2021.
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Balkan Insight’s Week in Pictures
by BIRN (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 18, 2020
A round-up of Balkan Insight's favourite photographs of the week.
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Address Inactive: The Ethnic Albanians Being ‘Deleted’ in Serbia
by Xhorxhina Bami (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 17, 2020
Are political calculations behind a practice in Serbia to classify as inactive the addresses of people deemed no longer living at their registered addresses, a significant number of them ethnic Albanians?
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Kosovo Electricity Grid Starts Operating Independently from Serbia
by Sasa Dragojlo (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 15, 2020
Kosovo’s electricity network system operator, KOSTT, has begun to operate independently across the whole of the country and as part of a new energy bloc with neighbouring Albania, officials announced.
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Albanians Search Anxiously for Youngsters Arrested in Street Protests
by Vladimir Karaj (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 15, 2020
Parents of the youthful protesters arrested during the latest anti-government rallies are hunting in police stations across Tirana for their children – some accusing the police of making arbitrary arrests.
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Albania Let Rights Standards Slip While Chairing OSCE – NGOs
by Gjergj Erebara (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 14, 2020
Six rights organisations say human rights in Albania deteriorated in several fields in 2020 – the first year Albania has held the chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE.
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Albania Street Clashes Continue Despite Interior Minister’s Resignation
by Gjergj Erebara (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 11, 2020
Violent youngsters roamed Tirana centre on Thursday night, building barricades and clashing with riot police - unappeased by the resignation of the Interior Minister following the fatal shooting by police of an unarmed 25-year-old.
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With Arms Deals and Donations, Turkey Steps up Balkan Influence
by Hamdi Firat Buyuk (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 11, 2020
Turkey has long pursued a policy of soft-power diplomacy in the Balkans. More recently, the defence sector has come to the fore.
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COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories Grip West Balkans, Survey Reveals
by Milica Stojanovic (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 10, 2020
Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories is very strong in all six Western Balkan countries, a new survey shows – and these beliefs are not linked, as might be expected, to educational levels.
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Albania Police Injured as Protests Over Shooting Turn Violent
by Gjergj Erebara (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 10, 2020
Several hundred Albanians joined protests across the country on Wednesday night, angered after police shot dead a 25-year-old the night before.
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China Increasing its Footprint in Balkan Media, Study Concludes
by Xhorxhina Bami (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 9, 2020
A study presented on Wednesday concludes that China is increasing its presence in the media throughout the region.
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Bulgaria Refuses to Remove Barrier to North Macedonia’s EU Talks
by Sinisa Jakov Marusic (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 8, 2020
A meeting of EU countries’ European affairs ministers again failed to make progress to overcome Bulgarian objections to the start of membership negotiations with North Macedonia.
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Albania Govt Moves Again to Toughen Defamation Penalties
by Gjergj Erebara (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 4, 2020
Albania's Ministry of Justice is planning changes to the penal code that include a sharp rise in fines for defamation cases – and rephrasing the offence to make it easier to reach guilty verdicts.
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Albania’s Parliament to Probe Allegations of KLA Crimes
by BIRN (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 3, 2020
Amid mud-slinging over whether Albanian politicians helped tarnish the image of the Kosovo Liberation Army, parliament has resolved to investigate whether the KLA committed war crimes in the country.
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Venice Commission Slates Albania’s ‘Extremely Hasty’ Constitutional Changes
by Gjergj Erebara (Albania – Balkan Insight) on December 3, 2020
Advisory body to Council of Europe says the proposed changes to the Albanian constitution and electoral code have been rushed through parliament – warning that it is “crucial to ensure trust in the electoral process.”
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Foreign Fishermen Keep Albania’s Fleet Afloat
by Gezim Kabashi (Albania – Balkan Insight) on November 26, 2020
Almost half the fishermen working at Albania’s main port of Durres are immigrants, mostly from Egypt or Turkey, as few Albanian youngsters are now willing to work in this difficult industry.
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Women of Southeast, Central Europe Protest Rise in Male Violence
by BIRN (Albania – Balkan Insight) on November 25, 2020
On the international day calling attention to violence against women, both police data and unofficial reports from Central and Southeast Europe highlight that this deep-rooted problem is not going away.
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Podcasts Bring Welcome Change to Bulgaria’s Stale Media Scene
by Svetoslav Todorov (Albania – Balkan Insight) on November 25, 2020
The revolution will be broadcasted: the burgeoning podcast scene in Bulgaria may have a way to go, but it’s gaining momentum fast and already has the potential to transform a dire media landscape
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Albanians Spend Millions on COVID-19 Treatment in Turkey
by Vladimir Karaj (Albania – Balkan Insight) on November 24, 2020
As the healthcare system in Albania strains to deal with the pandemic, air ambulance operators have boomed, transporting sick patients to private hospitals in Turkey and elsewhere, BIRN can reveal.
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COVID-19 Surge Strains Balkan Health Systems to Their Limits
by BIRN (Albania – Balkan Insight) on November 23, 2020
The fresh wave of infections threatens health systems across the region with collapse, worrying patients and medics alike.
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Balkan Insight’s Week in Pictures
by BIRN (Albania – Balkan Insight) on November 20, 2020
A round-up of Balkan Insight's favourite photographs of the week.
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Balkan Insight’s Week in Pictures
by BIRN (Albania – Balkan Insight) on November 13, 2020
A round-up of Balkan Insight's favourite photographs of the week.
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Balkan Leaders Adopt Plan for Common Regional Market
by Sinisa Jakov Marusic (Albania – Balkan Insight) on November 10, 2020
At an EU-backed summit, political leaders from the Western Balkans adopted an action plan for creating a common market and a joint environmental agenda for the region.
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Serbia and Albania Sign Deal on Freedom of Movement
by Milica Stojanovic (Albania – Balkan Insight) on November 9, 2020
In a sign of warming relations between the two countries, Albania and Serbia on Monday signed a deal enabling citizens of both countries to enter the other one with only their ID cards.