Albania

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

agricultural land:

43.8%;

• arable land 22.7%;
• permanent crops 2.7%;
• permanent pasture 18.4%

forest:

28.3%

other:

27.9% (2011 est.)

• destructive earthquakes;
• tsunamis occur along southwestern coast;
• floods;
• drought

• deforestation;
• soil erosion;
• water pollution from industrial and domestic effluents

party to:

Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Albanian(s)

adjective:

Albanian

at birth:

1.1 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.12 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.91 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.89 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

total number:

72,818

percentage:

12% (2005 est.)

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

etymology:

• the English-language country name seems to be derived from the ancient Illyrian tribe of the Albani;
• the native name "Shqiperia" is popularly interpreted to mean "Land of the eagles"

name:

Tirana (Tirane)

geographic coordinates:

41 19 N, 19 49 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

history:

• several previous;
• latest approved by the Assembly 21 October 1998, adopted by referendum 22 November 1998, promulgated 28 November 1998;
• amended several times, last in 2012

amendments:

• proposed by at least one-fifth of Assembly members;
• approval required by at least two-thirds vote of members;
• referendum required only if approved by two-thirds of Assembly;
• amendments approved by referendum effective upon declaration by the president of the republic;
• amended several times, last in 2012 (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Albania

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

President of the Republic Bujar NISHANI (since 24 July 2012)

head of government:

Prime Minister Edi RAMA (since 10 September 2013); Deputy Prime Minister Niko PELESHI

cabinet:

Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, nominated by the president, and approved by the Assembly

elections/appointments:

• president indirectly elected by the Assembly for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• a candidate needs three-fifths majority vote of the Assembly in 1 of 3 rounds or a simple majority in 2 additional rounds to become president;
• election last held in 4 rounds during the period 30 May-11 June 2012 (next election to be held in 2017);
• prime minister appointed by the president on the proposal of the majority party or coalition of parties in the Assembly

election results:

Bujar NISHANI elected president; Assembly vote - 73 of 140 in fourth round

description:

unicameral Assembly or Kuvendi (140 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 23 June 2013 (next to be held in 2017)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - PS 41.36%, PD 30.63%, LSI 10.46%, PR 3.02%, PDIU 2.61%, other 11.92%;
• seats by party - PS 65, PD 50, LSI 16, PDIU 4, PR 3, other 2;
• seats by parliamentary group as of April 2015 - ASHE 88, APMI 50, 2 - outside of the majority and opposition groups

highest court(s):

Supreme Court or Cour Supreme (consists of 150 judges organized into 4 divisions: civil and commercial; social security and labor; criminal; and administrative; Constitutional Council (consists of 9 members including the court president); note - Algeria's judicial system does not include sharia courts

judge selection and term of office:

• Constitutional Court judges appointed by the president with the consent of the Assembly to serve single 9-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 3 years;
• chairman elected by the People's Assembly for a single 3-year term;
• Court of Cassation judges, including the chairman, appointed by the president with the consent of the Assembly to serve single 9-year terms)

subordinate courts:

Courts of Appeal; Courts of First Instance

• Christian Democratic Party or PDK [Nard NDOKA]
• Democratic Party or PD [Lulzim BASHA]
• Movement for National Development of LZHK [Dashamir SHEHI]
• Republican Party or PR [Fatmir MEDIU]
• Christian Democratic Party of PKD [Mark FRROKU]
• Party for Justice, Integration and Unity or PDIU [Shpetim IDRIZI] (formerly part of APMI)
• Socialist Movement for Integration or LSI [Ilir META]
• Socialist Party or PS [Edi RAMA]
• Union for Human Rights Party or PBDNJ [Vangjel DULE]
• New Democratic Spirit or FRD [Bamir TOPI]

note: only the major parties of each coalition are listed

• Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania or KSSH [Kol NIKOLLAJ]
• Omonia [Vasil BOLLANO]
• Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania or BSPSH [Gezim KALAJA]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Floreta FABER (since 18 May 2015)

chancery:

1312 18th Street NW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20036

telephone:

[1] (202) 223-4942

FAX:

[1] (202) 628-7342

consulate(s) general:

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Donald LU (since 13 January 2015)

embassy:

Rruga e Elbasanit, 103, Tirana

mailing address:

US Department of State, 9510 Tirana Place, Dulles, VA 20189-9510

telephone:

[355] (4) 2247-285

FAX:

[355] (4) 2232-222

• red with a black two-headed eagle in the center;
• the design is claimed to be that of 15th-century hero George Kastrioti SKANDERBEG, who led a successful uprising against the Ottoman Turks that resulted in a short-lived independence for some Albanian regions (1443-78);
• an unsubstantiated explanation for the eagle symbol is the tradition that Albanians see themselves as descendants of the eagle;
• they refer to themselves as "Shqiptare," which translates as "sons of the eagle"

name:

"Hymni i Flamurit" (Hymn to the Flag)

lyrics/music:

Aleksander Stavre DRENOVA/Ciprian PORUMBESCU

note: adopted 1912

• wheat, corn, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, sugar beets, grapes;
• meat, dairy products;
• sheep

• food and tobacco products;
• textiles and clothing;
• lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydropower

agriculture:

41.8%

industry:

11.4%

services:

46.8% (December 2014 est)

lowest 10%:

4.1%

highest 10%:

20.5% (2012)

• textiles, footwear;
• asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil;
• vegetables, fruits, tobacco

general assessment:

• despite new investment in fixed lines, teledensity remains low with roughly 10 fixed lines per 100 people;
• mobile-cellular telephone use is widespread and generally effective

domestic:

• offsetting the shortage of fixed-line capacity, mobile-cellular phone service has been available since 1996;
• by 2011, multiple companies were providing mobile services, and mobile teledensity had reached 100 per 100 persons;
• Internet broadband services initiated in 2005, but growth has been slow;
• Internet cafes are popular in Tirana and have started to spread outside the capital

international:

• country code - 355;
• submarine cable provides connectivity to Italy, Croatia, and Greece;
• the Trans-Balkan Line, a combination submarine cable and land fiber-optic system, provides additional connectivity to Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Turkey;
• international traffic carried by fiber-optic cable and, when necessary, by microwave radio relay from the Tirana exchange to Italy and Greece (2015)

• 3 public TV networks, one of which transmits by satellite to Albanian-language communities in neighboring countries;
• more than 60 private TV stations;
• many viewers can pick up Italian and Greek TV broadcasts via terrestrial reception;
• cable TV service is available;
• 2 public radio networks and roughly 25 private radio stations;
• several international broadcasters are available (2010)

number of registered air carriers:

1; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 1

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

151,632

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

0 mt-km (2015)

total:

677 km

standard gauge:

677 km 1.435-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 104

total:

18,000 km

paved:

7,020 km

unpaved:

10,980 km (2002)

country comparison to the world: 116

• increasingly active transshipment point for Southwest Asian opiates, hashish, and cannabis transiting the Balkan route and - to a lesser extent - cocaine from South America destined for Western Europe;
• limited opium and expanding cannabis production;
• ethnic Albanian narcotrafficking organizations active and expanding in Europe;
• vulnerable to money laundering associated with regional trafficking in narcotics, arms, contraband, and illegal aliens