Republic of Albania

The capital:            Tirane

The inhabitants enumerated:            3,544,841 (July 2002)

The language:            Albanian

The sweat:            Albanian

The climate:            [mtswTy] the climate and dry dry in areas the coasts, be about to that formation without the clouds in the summer with degree heat

High extremely in the day and the night daily. [me'tdl] in the winter rains.

Regime of the governing:            The republican

The economy            

- the currency:            [lyk]

- the resources:            Wheat, and atom, and potato, and bee eaters, and beets, and grapes, and meats, and products of the bricks, and natural gas,

Petroleum, and metals (as Romen, and copper, and iron and nickel, botanical charcoal, and asphalt).

The religion:            The Islam (70%). 

History :

The name Albania is derived from an ancient Illyrian tribe, the Albanoi, from which many Albanians are thought to be descended. The Albanian name for their country is Shqiperia. Historically, Albania has been a nation subject to foreign domination except for a brief period of independence from the Turks 1443-1478. After the upheaval of World War I, Albania was re-established as an independent state largely through the efforts of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson at the Paris peace conference, and remained independent until Italy invaded the country in 1939. After Italy's surrender in 1943, German troops occupied the country and were challenged by the communist-dominated National Liberation Front (NLF), which gained control in November 1944. Yugoslav communists were instrumental in establishing the Albanian communist party in November 1941, and the NLF regime became a virtual satellite of Yugoslavia until the Tito-Stalin split in 1948. Albania's hard-line brand of communism led to growing difficulties with the Soviet Union under Krushchev and came to a head in 1961 when the Soviet leaders openly denounced Albania at a party congress. The two broke diplomatic relations later that year. However, Albania continued nominal membership in the Warsaw Pact until the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. During the 1960s, China emerged as Albania's staunch ally and primary source of economic and military assistance. But the close relationship faltered during the 1970s when China decided to seek a rapprochement with the U.S. After years of rocky relations, the open split came in 1978 when the Chinese government ended its aid program and terminated all trade. Enver Hoxha, leader of the Albanian Communist Party, decided to pursue an independent, isolationist course. The result was financial ruin for Albania. By 1990, changes elsewhere in the Communist Bloc began to influence thinking in Albania. The transition has proven difficult as corrupt governments have tried to deal with severe unemployment, the collapse of a fraudulent nationwide investment scheme, widespread gangsterism, and massive refugee influxes from neighboring Kosovo.