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, the collapse of a fraudulent nationwide investment scheme and widespread gangsterism.

Geographic coordinates: 41 00 N, 20 00 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 28,750 km²
Land: 27,400 km²
Water: 1,350 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland

Land boundaries
Total: 720 km
Border countries: (4) Greece 282 km; , The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 151 km; , Serbia and Montenegro 287 km; (114 km; with Serbia, 173 km

Coastline: 362 km

Maritime claims
Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
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

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Maja e Korabit 2,753 m

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

Land use
Arable land: 21%
Permanent crops: 5%
Permanent pastures: 15%
Forests and woodland: 38%
Other: 21% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 3,410 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: destructive earthquakes; tsunamis occur along southwestern coast

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

Population: 3,299,757 (July 1997 est.)
Growth rate: 0.9% (1997 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Albanian(s)
Adjective: Albanian

Ethnic groups: Albanian 95%, Greeks 3%, other 2% (Vlachs, Gypsies, Serbs, and Bulgarians) (1989 est.)
Note: in 1989, other estimates of the Greek population ranged from 1% (official Albanian statistics) to 12% (from a Greek organization)

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

Religions: Muslim 70%, Albanian 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

Age structure
0-14 years: 34% (male 575,087; female 534,618)
15-64 years: 60% (male 927,791; female 1,068,922)
65 years and over: 6% (male 80,135; female 113,204) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.9% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 21.96 births/1000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 7.54 deaths/1000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: -5.46 migrant(s)/1000 population (1997 est.)

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution from industrial and domestic effluents

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.87 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 47.1 deaths/1000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 68.28 years
Male: 65.24 years
Female: 71.55 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.64 children born/woman (1997 est.)

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

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Albania
Conventional short form: Albania
Local long form: Republika e Shqiperise
Local short form: Shqiperia
Former: People's Socialist Republic of Albania

Government type: emerging 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
Note: some new administrative units may have been created

Independence: 28 November 1912 (from Ottoman Empire)

National holiday: Independence Day, 28 November (1912)

Constitution: an interim basic law was approved by the People's Assembly on 29 April 1991; a draft constitution was rejected by popular referendum in the fall of 1994 and a new draft is pending

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 interim National Reconciliation Government Bashkim FINO (since 12 March 1997)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
Elections: president elected by the People's Assembly for a five-year term; election last held NA 1992 (next to be held NA March 1997); prime minister appointed by the president
Election results: Sali BERISHA elected president; percent of People's Assembly vote - NA

Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly or Kuvendi Popullor (140 seats; most members are elected by direct popular vote and some by proportional vote for four-year terms)
Elections: last held 26 May 1996 (next tentatively scheduled for 29 June 1997)
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - DP 122, PS 10, RP 3, UHP 3, Balli Kombetar 2

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, chairman of the Supreme Court is elected by the People's Assembly

International organization participation: BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NACC, OIC, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMIG, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Lublin DILJA
In the us chancery: Suite 1000, 1511 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20,005
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 223-4,942, 8,187
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 628-7,342
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Marisa R. LINO (15 July 1996)
From the us embassy: Rruga E. Labinoti 103, Tirane
From the us mailing address: PSC 59, Box 100 (A), APO AE 9,624
From the us telephone: [355] (42) 328-75, 335-20
From the us FAX: [355] (42) 322-22

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 1993-95 after a severe depression accompanying the collapse of the previous centrally planned system in 1990 and 1991. However, a weakening of government resolve to maintain stabilization policies in the election year of 1996 contributed to renewal of inflationary pressures, spurred by the budget deficit which exceeded 12%. The collapse of financial pyramid schemes in early 1997 - which had attracted deposits from a substantial portion of Albania's adult population - triggered unrest in much of the south in early 1997. The economy continues to be buoyed by remittances of some 20% of the labor force which works abroad, mostly in Greece and Italy. These remittances supplement GDP and help offset the large foreign trade deficit. Most agricultural land was privatized in 1992, substantially improving peasant incomes. Overall economic performance is likely to be substantially worse in 1997; inflation will easily top 50% and GDP may drop by 5% or more.

Real gdp growth rate: 5% (1996 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,290 (1996 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 56%
Industry: 21%
Services: 23% (1995)

Agriculture products: 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: 6% (1995 est.)

Labor force
Total: 1.692 million (1994 est.) (including 352,000 emigrant workers and 261,000 domestically unemployed)
By occupation agriculture: 49.5% (nearly all private)
By occupation private sector: 22.2%
By occupation state sector: 28.3% (non-farm; including state-owned industry 7.8%)
Note: includes only those domestically employed

Unemployment rate: 13% (1996 est.)

Budget
Revenues: $624 million
Expenditures: $996 million, including capital expenditures of $N/A

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports
Total value: $205 million (f.o.b., 1995)
Commodities: asphalt, metals and metallic ores, electricity, crude oil, vegetables, fruits, tobacco
Partners: Italy, US, Greece, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Imports
Total value: $680 million (f.o.b., 1995)
Commodities: machinery, consumer goods, grains
Partners: Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Debt external: $500 million (1994 est.)

Exchange rates: leke (L) per US$1 - 150.00 (May 1997), 104.50 (1996), 92.70 (1995), 94.62 (1994), 102.06 (1993), 75.03 (1992)

Electricity
Capacity: 1.533 million kW (1995)
Production: 3.86 billion kWh (1994)
Consumption per capita: 1,221 kWh (1995 est.)

Telephones: 55,000

Telephone system
Domestic: obsolete wire system; no longer provides a telephone for every village; in 1992, following the fall of the communist government, peasants cut the wire to about 1,000 villages and used it to build fences
International: inadequate; international traffic carried by microwave radio relay from the Tirane exchange to Italy and Greece

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $42 million (1996)
Percent of gdp: 1.5% to 2.0% (1996)

Airports: 11 (1994 est.)
With paved runways total: 5
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2 (1994 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 6
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2 (1994 est.)

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

Railways
Total: 670 km
Standard gauge: 670 km 1.435-m gauge (1995)

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

Merchant marine: total:8 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 39,201 GRT/57,938 DWT (1996 est.)

Disputes international: the Albanian Government supports protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians outside of its borders; Albanian majority in Kosovo seeks independence from Serbian Republic; Albanians in Macedonia claim discrimination in education, access to public-sector jobs and representation in government

Illicit drugs: increasingly active transshipment point for Southwest Asian opiates, hashish, and cannabis transiting the Balkan route and cocaine from South America destined for Western Europe; limited opium and cannabis production; ethnic Albanian narcotrafficking organizations active in Central and Eastern Europe