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Republic of Albania. Information.
ALBANIA (officially - Republic of Albania), republic in southeastern Europe. It lies along the northwestern edge of the Balkan Peninsula. A total area is 28,748 sq km (11,100 sq mi), Population - 2,793,592 (2022) The capital and largest city is Tirana. Albania is bordered by the Adriatic Sea to the west, Greece to the south, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to the east, and Serbia and Montenegro (formerly the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or FRY) to the north and northeast. The Yugoslav republics of Montenegro and Serbia lie to the north and northeast. Separated from Italy by only 76 km (47 mi) of the Adriatic Sea, Albania, throughout its history, has been occupied by Italian powers expanding eastward into the Balkans or by Balkan powers expanding westward. In the 1500s Albania came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire (centered in what is now Turkey), and did not gain its independence until 1912. From 1944 to 1990 Albania was a staunchly Communist state, and in 1991 Albania began its transition to a democratic state and market economy. Some 36 percent of Albania is forested with mixed stands of willow, poplar, elm, pine, oak, and white beech trees. Many of the forests near transportation routes have been heavily logged and some have given way to sheep pastures. In these areas, the soil is either washed or blown away during the summer drought, and even in humid months the grass grows sparsely in clumps. Because of heavy grazing by livestock in the summer and the summer drought, much of Albania is unfavorable for wildlife. Wolves, deer, and boars have been pushed back into the most remote forests. Wild fowl, however, are abundant in lowland forests. Present-day Albanians probably descended from Illyrian people who lived in the southern Balkans long before Greeks, Romans, and Slavs migrated to the region. During the 7th and 6th centuries BC, the Greeks established several colonies along the Albanian coast, including Epidamnus (present-day Durres) and Apollonia (near present-day Vlore). By the 3rd century bc the colonies began to decline and eventually disappeared. As the Greeks left, the small Illyrian groups that predated them evolved into more complex political units, including federations and kingdoms. The most important of these kingdoms flourished between the 5th and 2nd centuries bc. At the same time, Rome was developing on the Italian peninsula, across the Adriatic Sea from Illyria. The Romans saw Illyria as a bridgehead for eastern conquests, and in 229 bc, Rome crossed the Adriatic and attacked. By 168 bc Romans had established effective control over Illyria and renamed it the province of Illyricum. Rome ruled the region for the next six centuries, but the Illyrians resisted assimilation and their distinctive culture and language survived. Nonetheless, Illyrians gained significant influence in the Roman armed forces, and several Illyrians became Roman emperors, including Aurelian (ad 270-275), Diocletian (284-305), and Constantine the Great (306-337). Christianity was felt increasingly in Illyricum by the middle of the 1st century ad, and in 58, Saint Paul placed an apostle in charge of Epidamnus. Seats for bishops were later created in Apollonia and Scodra (present-day Shkoder). In 395 the Roman Empire was split into a western and eastern empire, and the lands of modern Albania became part of the eastern, or Byzantine, Empire. Several Illyrians became Byzantine emperors, including Justinian I (527-565). By the 5th century Christianity had become the established religion, and Albanian Christians remained under the religious jurisdiction of the Roman pope, despite being subjects of the Byzantine Empire. In the 5th century invading Visigoths, Huns, and Ostrogoths devastated the region, and between the 6th and 8th centuries Slavic peoples settled in Illyrian territories. The Slavs assimilated many of the Illyrians in what is today Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. However, the southern Illyrian peoples, including those in modern Albania, resisted assimilation. In 732 Byzantine emperor Leo III detached the Albanian Church from Rome and placed it under the patriarch of Constantinople (now Istanbul). From the 8th through the 11th century, Illyria gradually became known as Albania, from the Albanos group that inhabited central Albania. Scholars have been unable to determine the origins of the name Shqiperia (Country of the Eagle), by which present-day Albanians refer to their country. Scholars generally agree, however, that the name Shqiperia replaced Albania in the 16th century. In the 9th century the Byzantine Empires power began to weaken as Bulgarian Slavs, followed by Norman Crusaders, Italian Angevins, Serbs, and Venetians, invaded the region. After the 10th century a feudal system developed in which peasant soldiers who had served military lords became serfs on landed estates. At this time some of the regions provinces became virtually independent of Constantinople. When the Christian church formally split in 1054 into Eastern and Western churches, southern Albania retained its ties to the Eastern, or Orthodox, Church in Constantinople while northern Albania reverted to the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome. During the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century) Albanian cities expanded and commerce flourished, particularly in the Adriatic region. With urban prosperity came the growth of art, culture, and education. The Albanian language survived, but was not used in churches, government, or schools; instead, Greek and Latin remained the official languages of literature and culture. The Serb occupation after 1347 prompted a mass migration of Albanians to Greece. Byzantine rule disappeared by the middle of the 14th century, and in 1388 the Ottomans (centered in what is now Turkey) invaded Albania. By 1430 the Ottomans had conquered Albania, but during the 1440s George Kastrioti (1403?-1468) organized the countrys feudal lords to fight the Ottomans. Kastrioti, popularly known as Skenderbeg, successfully resisted Ottoman control for 25 years with military help from Rome, Naples, and Venice. Albanian resistance collapsed after Skenderbeg's death, and the Ottomans reoccupied the country by 1506. About one-fourth of the countrys population fled to Italy, Sicily, and the Dalmatian coast on the Adriatic. Skenderbeg’s name has been invoked throughout Albanian history to inspire national unity and independence. Today he is revered as Albanian's greatest hero. During four centuries of extensive rule, the Ottomans failed to control all of Albania. In the highland regions, Ottoman power was weak, and the Albanians refused to pay taxes or perform military service. The Albanians staged several rebellions, partly in defense of their Christian faith. At the end of the 16th century, the Ottomans began a policy of Islamicization (conversion to Islam) as a way of preventing future unrest. By the end of the 17th century, about two-thirds of the population had converted to Islam, many to avoid the heavy tax levied against Christians. The Ottomans also extended their control through a feudal-military system, under which military leaders who were loyal to the empire received landed estates. As Ottoman power declined in the 18th century, the power of some military lords increased. The Bushati family dominated most of northern Albania between 1750 and 1831, while Ali Pasa Tepelene ruled southern Albania and northern Greece from 1788 to 1822. These local rulers created separate states until they were overthrown by Ottoman sultan Mahmud II. A number of Albanians also rose to high positions in the Ottoman government in the 18th and 19th centuries, with more than two dozen becoming grand viziers (prime ministers). During the 19th century, many of the conquered peoples in the Balkans increasingly wanted their own nations. In 1878 Albanian leaders met in the town of Prizren, in Kosovo, where they founded the League of Prizren (Albanian League) to promote a free, unified Albania in all Albanian-populated territories. The league also sought to develop Albanian language, education, and culture, and in 1908 Albanian leaders adopted a national alphabet based on the Latin script. Between 1910 and 1912 Albanian nationalists waged an armed struggle against the Ottomans, who had refused to give Albania autonomy (self-rule). The Ottomans were simultaneously attacked and, in 1912, defeated by Serb, Greek, and Bulgarian armies in what was later called the First Balkan War (see Balkan Wars). Albania immediately proclaimed its independence from the Ottoman Empire. At a conference following the war, Britain, Germany, Russia, Austria, France, and Italy (collectively known as the Great Powers) agreed to accept Albanian independence, but because of strong pressures from Albania's neighbors, the Great Powers gave the Albanian-inhabited region of Kosovo to Serbia. Roughly half the Albanian population was left outside the country's borders. The Great Powers also appointed a German prince, Wilhelm zu Wied, as Albanian ruler, but he was in power only six months before the outbreak of World War I. During the war, Austrian, French, Italian, Greek, Montenegrin, and Serb armies occupied Albania, and the country lacked any political leadership. At the Paris Peace Conference after the war, United States President Woodrow Wilson vetoed a plan by Britain, France, and Italy to partition Albania among its neighbors. In 1920 Albania was admitted to the newly formed League of Nations, thereby gaining international recognition as an independent state. During the 1920s Albania was deeply divided between two political forces. A conservative class of landowners and tribal leaders led by Ahmed Bey Zogu wished to maintain the status quo while liberal intellectuals, politicians, and merchants wanted to modernize Albania. The liberals were led by Fan S. Noli, a U.S.-educated bishop of the Orthodox church. In 1924 a popular revolt against the conservatives forced Zogu to flee to Yugoslavia. Noli became prime minister of the new government and set out to build a Western-style democracy. Six months later, suffering from internal opposition and lacking international support, Noli was overthrown by Zogu, with help from Yugoslavia. Zogu reigned for 14 years, first as president (1925-1928) and then as King Zog I (1928-1939). Zogu's dictatorial rule was marked by economic stagnation, although he helped create a modern school system and made the country somewhat more stable. Zog failed, however, to resolve the problem of land reform, and the peasantry remained impoverished. During Zogu's reign, Italy exercised so much influence over Albania's affairs that Albania was virtually an Italian protectorate. In April 1939, shortly before the start of World War II, Italy invaded and occupied Albania, sending Zog fleeing to Greece. After Nazi Germany defeated Yugoslavia and Greece in 1941, Kosovo and Çamëria were taken from those countries and joined to Albania, which remained under Italian control until 1943 when German forces took it after the Italian surrender. The wartime state disintegrated in November 1944 when the Germans withdrew. Kosovo was then returned to Serbia (by then part of Yugoslavia). During the war, nationalists, monarchists, and Communists in Albania actively resisted Italian, German, and Albanian fascism. The Communists eventually prevailed, seizing Albania in November 1944 with help from Communists in Yugoslavia. The secretary general (later first secretary) of the Communist Party, Enver Hoxha, was installed as the country's new leader. Supported by impoverished peasants and some intellectuals, the party launched a radical reform program that destroyed the power of landlords and nationalized industry, banks, and commercial properties. In doing so, the Communists consolidated their rule and created a state-controlled socialist society. Agriculture was collectivized, following the model established in the USSR by Joseph Stalin, and by 1967 almost all peasants worked on collective farms. The Hoxha regime also gained firm control over the northern highlands and largely eliminated the traditional patriarchal clans and tribal leadership. Women gained a more prominent place in the new order as they achieved legal equality with men. Initially, Albania depended on Yugoslavia for economic and military aid, but it feared Yugoslav political domination. In 1948, when Stalin expelled Yugoslavia from the Communist bloc for ideological reasons, Albania backed the Soviet leader. Hoxha also purged Albania’s pro-Yugoslav faction, which was headed by Koci Xoxe, Hoxha's chief rival. However, when the USSR and China argued over control of the world Communist movement in the early 1960s, Albania supported China, which Hoxha viewed as more pure in its Communism. Hohxa was also disillusioned with other Communist allies, whom he accused of abandoning the socialist revolution and seeking accommodation with the capitalist West. In 1961 diplomatic ties were broken between Albania and the USSR. Soviet aid, credits, and technical assistance, which had allowed Albania to create a modern industrial and agricultural base and enjoy a better standard of living, were cut off. China took the USSR's place as Albania's main trading partner and supplier of economic aid. Until the late 1960s Albania remained virtually isolated from the rest of the world. Following the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Albania sought to protect itself by renewing ties with neighboring European states and formally withdrawing from the USSR-led Warsaw Pact. During the 1970s Albania's relations with China became strained by China's reconciliation with the United States. In 1978 China canceled its trade agreements with, and aid to, Albania. Albania then pursued closer economic contacts with Europe, but in terms of political and social ties, Albania remained one of the most isolated countries in the world until the early 1990s. Under Hoxha's rule, political oppression was severe. In order to eliminate dissent, all political parties except the Communist Party (formally, the Albanian Party of Labor, or APL) were banned, and the regime periodically purged potential opponents from the ruling party. Thousands were dismissed from their jobs, imprisoned in labor camps, or killed. The state tightly controlled and censored all public institutions and organizations, including trade unions, the press, cultural associations, women's and youth organizations, and all economic enterprises. The Sigurimi, the state security network, monitored the entire population and eliminated any signs of dissent. Few foreigners were allowed into Albania, and only the party elite could travel abroad. In 1967 all religious bodies were banned, Christian and Muslim church property was confiscated, and the country was declared the world's first atheist state. The only signs of opposition appeared within the ruling party itself. In 1981 Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu died under mysterious circumstances; he was suspected of leading a plot to unseat Hoxha. In 1983 the Sigurimi executed a number of former party officials. When Hoxha died in April 1985, he was replaced as first secretary of the party by Ramiz Alia, who tried to preserve the Communist system while introducing tentative reforms to revive the declining economy. As Communist rule in Eastern Europe collapsed in 1989, some Albanians demanded more far-reaching reforms. The protesters included intellectuals, members of the working class, and frustrated young people. In response to growing unrest and public protests, Alia restored religious freedom, cut back the power of the Sigurimi, and adopted some market reforms and economic decentralization. In December 1990 the government endorsed the creation of independent political parties, thereby ending the Communist monopoly on power. The judicial system was reformed with the reestablishment of the ministry of justice and the reduction of capital offenses. Albanians were also granted the right to foreign travel. Throughout 1990 thousands of Albanian citizens tried to flee the country through Western embassies. A multinational relief operation arranged for the safe evacuation of more than 5,000 Albanians, and 20,000 more sailed illegally to Italy in vessels seized at civilian ports. Meanwhile, protests in Albania continued, leading to the removal of several hard-line Communists from the government and the party Politburo. At public demonstrations in early 1991 several protesters were reportedly killed by the police. In March a general amnesty for all political prisoners was declared, and multiparty elections to the People’s Assembly took place the same month. The Communist Party and its allies won 169 of the 250 seats, while the newly formed Democratic Party won 75. The Communist victory provoked new public protests in which police killed four people in the city of Shkoder. In April 1991 an interim constitution was passed, and the country’s name was changed from the People's Republic of Albania to the Republic of Albania. A Communist majority in parliament elected Alia to the new post of Albanian president and economist Fatos Nano became prime minister. Following a general strike by thousands of workers, the government resigned and a coalition government was created in June. It included Communists, Democrats, Republicans, and Social Democrats. Demonstrations continued through the summer as protesters demanded the arrest of former Communist leaders and full freedom for the media. In December 1991 the coalition government collapsed and an interim administration was appointed. New elections were held in March 1992, giving the Democrats 92 of the 140 seats in the reorganized People's Assembly. The Socialists (the renamed Communists) won 38 seats, the Social Democrats 7, and the Greek minority Unity Party for Human Rights 2. The Assembly elected the leader of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, president, and Berisha appointed Aleksander Meksi prime minister. Under Berisha, several former Communist officials, including Alia and Nano, were arrested, tried for corruption and abuse of power, and sentenced to long terms. Many observers believed the trials were unfair and that Berisha had used them to conveniently get rid of rivals. Both Alia and Nano were released within a few years of their convictions. In November 1994 the Democrats proposed a new constitution to the voters, who rejected it in a national referendum. Opponents said the proposal would leave too much power in the hands of the already powerful president. The president was also accused of authoritarianism for restricting press freedoms, persecuting former Communist officials, and controlling the courts. Government supporters charged that Socialists were trying to discredit the new democracy. Currency: Albanian Lek (ALL)
