Background: In 1990 Albania ended 44 years of xenophobic communist rule and established a multiparty democracy. The transition has proven difficult as corrupt governments have tried to deal with severe unemployment and widespread gangsterism.

Map reference: Africa, Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total area total: 28,750 km²
Land: 27,400 km²

Land boundaries: total 720 km, Greece 282 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 151 km, Serbia and Montenegro 287 km (114 km with Serbia, 173 km with Montenegro)

Coastline: 362 km

Maritime claims
Continental shelf: not specified
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter

Terrain: mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, timber, nickel

Land use
Arable land: 21%
Permanent crops: 4%
Meadows and pastures: 15%
Forest and woodland: 38%
Other: 22%

Irrigated land: 4,230 km² (1989)

Natural hazards: subject to destructive earthquakes; tsunami occur along southwestern coast

Geography
Note: strategic location along Strait of Otranto (links Adriatic Sea to Ionian Sea and Mediterranean Sea)

Population: 3,374,085 (July 1994 est.)
Note: IMF, working with Albanian government figures estimates the population at 3,120,000 in 1993 and that the population has fallen since 1990
Growth rate: 1.19% (1994 est.)

Nationality: noun:Albanian(s)

Ethnic groups: Albanian 95%, Greeks 3%, other 2% (Vlachs, Gypsies, Serbs, and Bulgarians) (1989 est.)

Languages: Albanian (Tosk is the official dialect), Greek

Religions: Muslim 70%, Greek Orthodox 20%, Roman Catholic 10%
Note: all mosques and churches were closed in 1967 and religious observances prohibited; in November 1990, Albania began allowing private religious practice

Population growth rate: 1.19% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 22.46 births/1000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 5.32 deaths/1000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: -5.27 migrant(s)/1000 population (1994 est.)

Environment
Current issues: deforestation

Infant mortality rate: 30 deaths/1000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 73.4 years
Male: 70.42 years
Female: 76.61 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.78 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Literacy: age 9 and over can read and write (1955)
Total population: 72%
Male: 80%
Female: 63%

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Albania
Conventional short form:
Former: People's Socialist Republic of Albania

Government type: nascent democracy

Capital: Tirane

Administrative divisions: 26 districts (rrethe, singular - rreth; Berat, Dibre, Durres, Elbasan, Fier, Gjirokaster, Gramsh, Kolonje, Korce, Kruje, Kukes, Lezhe, Librazhd, Lushnje, Mat, Mirdite, Permet, Pogradec, Puke, Sarande, Shkoder, Skrapar, Tepelene, Tirane, Tropoje, Vlore

Independence: 28 November 1912 (from Ottoman Empire)

National holiday: Liberation Day, 28 November (1944; changed by decree on 12 November 1993)

Constitution: an interim basic law was approved by the People's Assembly on 29 April 1991; a new constitution was to be drafted for adoption in 1992, but is still in process

Legal system: has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age, universal and compulsory

Executive branch
Chief of state: President of the Republic Sali BERISHA (since 9 April 1992)
Head of government: Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers Aleksander Gabriel MEKSI (since 10 April 1992)

Legislative branch: Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Interior Ministry Troops

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

International organization participation: BSEC, CCC, CE (guest), CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador William E. RYERSON
From the us chancery: Suite 1010, 1511 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20,005
From the us telephone: 355-42-32,875, 33,520
From the us fax: (202) 628-7,342
From the us embassy: Rruga E. Elbansanit 103, Tirane
From the us mailing address: PSC 59, Box 100 (A), APO AE 9,624
From the us FAX: 355-42-32,222

Flag description: red with a black two-headed eagle in the center

Economy overview: An extremely poor country by European standards, Albania is making the difficult transition to a more open-market economy. The economy rebounded in 1993 after a severe depression accompanying the collapse of the previous centrally planned system in 1990 and 1991. Stabilization policies, including public sector layoffs and reduced social services, have improved the government's fiscal situation and reduced inflation. The recovery was spurred by the remittances of some 5% of the population which works abroad, mostly in Greece and Italy. Foreign assistance and humanitarian aid also supported the recovery. Most agricultural land was privatized in 1992, substantially improving peasant incomes. Albania's limited industrial sector, now less than one-sixth of GDP, continued to decline in 1993. A sharp fall in chromium prices reduced hard currency receipts from the mining sector. Large segments of the population, especially those living in urban areas, continue to depend on humanitarian aid to meet basic food requirements. Unemployment remains a severe problem accounting for approximately one-fifth of the work force. Growth is expected to continue in 1994, but could falter if Albania becomes involved in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, workers' remittances from Greece are reduced, or foreign assistance declines.

Real gdp growth rate: 11% (1993)

Real gdp per capita: $1,100 (1993 est.)

Agriculture products: accounts for 55% of GDP; arable land: per capita among lowest in Europe; 80% of arable land: now in private hands; one-half of work force engaged in farming; produces wide range of temperate-zone crops and livestock

Industries: food processing, textiles and clothing, lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydropower

Industrial production growth rate: -10% (1993 est.), accounts for 16% of GDP (1993 est.)

Labor force: 1.5 million (1987)
By occupation agriculture: 60%
By occupation industry and commerce: 40% (1986)

Unemployment rate: 18% (1993 est.)

Budget: revenues:$1.1 billion

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $70 million (f.o.b., 1992)
Commodities: asphalt, metals and metallic ores, electricity, crude oil, vegetables, fruits, tobacco
Partners: Italy, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary

Imports: $524 million (f.o.b., 1992)
Commodities: machinery, consumer goods, grains
Partners: Italy, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece

Debt external: $724 million (1993 est.)

Exchange rates: leke (L) per US$1 - 99 (January 1994), 97 (January 1993), 50 (January 1992), 25 (September 1991)

Electricity
Capacity: 1,690,000 kW
Production: 5 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 1,520 kWh (1992)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: 215 million leke, NA% of GNP (1993 est.), note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Airports: 12
Usable: 10
With permanentsurface runways: 3
With runways over 3659 m: 0
With runways 2440-3659 m: 6
With runways 1220-2439 m: 4

Pipelines: crude oil 145 km; petroleum products 55 km; natural gas 64 km (1991)

Waterways: 43 km plus Albanian sections of Lake Scutari, Lake Ohrid, and Lake Prespa (1990)

Merchant marine: 11 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 52,967 GRT/76,887 DWT

Disputes international: Albanian majority in Kosovo seeks independence from Serbia and Montenegro, and the Albanian Government supports the Kosovo position politically

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route; limited opium production