| |||||
Capital | Dürres | ||||
Largest city | Dürres | ||||
Other cities | Tirana, Vlorë, Shköder, Lezhë | ||||
Language | Albanian | ||||
Religion main |
Eastern Orthodoxism, Islamism | ||||
others | Roman Catholicism | ||||
Demonym | Albanian | ||||
Government | Constitutional monarchy | ||||
Prince | William II | ||||
Royal house: | Wied | ||||
Prime-Minister | Sali Berisha | ||||
Area | 22,304 km² | ||||
Population | 3,000,000 | ||||
Established | 1916 | ||||
Independence | from Ottoman Empire | ||||
declared | 1912 | ||||
Currency | Lek |
Albania (Albanian: Shqipëri/Shqipëria, Gheg Albanian: Shqipnia/Shqypnia), officially known as the Principality of Albania (Albanian: Principata e Shqipnis), is a country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Bulgaria to the east and Greece to the south. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west, and on the Ionian Sea to the southwest. It is less than 72 km (45 mi) from the Italic peninsula, across the Strait of Otranto which links the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea.
The History of Albania emerges from the prehistoric stage from the 4th century BC, with early records of Illyria in Greco-Roman historiography. The modern territory of Albania has no counterpart in antiquity, comprising parts of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia (southern Illyricum), Macedonia (particularly Epirus Nova), and Moesia Superior. The territory remained under Roman (Byzantine) control until the Slavic migrations of the 7th century, and was integrated into the Bulgarian Empire in the 9th century.
The territorial nucleus of the Albanian state forms in the Middle Ages, as the Principality of Arbër and the Kingdom of Albania. The first records of the Albanian people as a distinct ethnicity also date to this period. The area was conquered in the 15th century by the Ottoman Empire and remained under Ottoman control as part of the Rumelia province until 1912, when the first independent Albanian state was declared. The formation of an Albanian national consciousness dates to the latter 19th century and is part of the larger phenomenon of rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire. A provisional government (1912–1914) was succeeded by the Principality of Albania, established in 1916, after the Ottoman defeat in the World War I.It was annexed by Fascist Italy during World War II.After the collapse of the Axis powers, the Principality was re-established.
Albania is a member of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Council of Europe, World Trade Organisation, Organisation of the Islamic Conference and one of the founding members of the Union for the Mediterranean.