An Introduction to Albania
Idiosyncratic and until recently politically isolated, Albania is a country in transition - new economic and political ideas still taking root and transforming society and the median age under 30; and more literally in transit - there is no recent census data with which to assess the overall impact of emigration from Albania and an influx of refugees from Kosovo. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Europe (Other)
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GOVERNMENT: Unitary Parliamentary Republic
AREA: 28,748 sq km
POPULATION: 2,831,741 (2011 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Language: Albanian
Some business and general info
The Market Research Industry
Trade and Industry in Albania
Norman Wisdom (1915-2010), on the other hand, is a bona fide Albanian legend, given the Freedom of the City of Tirana in 1995 at the same time as that of London. Wisdom was the only western actor whose films were permitted to be shown in Albania under Enver Hoxha, who viewed the ultimately victorious proletarian struggles against capitalism of his character Norman Pitkin as a Communist parable on the class war. Ordinary Albanians loved and still love his slapstick humour - he visited as an old man in 1995 and received a tumultuous welcome from fans including the President. In 2001 he attended the national team's training ground in Tirana and got a marginally bigger cheer than co-visitor David Beckham, appearing and comically stumbling on the pitch before the start of the Albania v England match wearing a half Albanian and half English football shirt.
Charlie Chaplin's 'favourite clown', Wisdom came through a difficult childhood, running away from home at 11 and soon after being kicked out again by his father. In his own words: 'I was born in very sorry circumstances. Both of my parents were very sorry.'
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Idiosyncratic and until recently politically isolated, Albania is a country in transition - new economic and political ideas still taking root and transforming society and the median age under 30; and more literally in transit - there is no recent census data with which to assess the overall impact of emigration from Albania and an influx of refugees from Kosovo.
Earlier a part of the Roman, Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires, Albania assumed a position of some importance in the European system of the Ottoman turks from the fifteenth century, providing two dozen of its Grand Viziers and spreading its natives throughout the administration of the Empire. It became independent in 1912-' and was ruled between the wars by monarchs including the famous King Zog, with a short republican period. After WW II it joined the communist bloc and was led until 1985 by Enver Hoxha, through rapid industrialisation. Hoxha in 1967 proclaimed Albania the world's first 'atheist state' - preaching religion incurred sentences of three to ten years. The regime collapsed in 1990 and subsequent elections saw a crushing defeat for the communists - but the post-war period did see massive improvements in Albanian life, notably education - literacy levels have risen from around 15% to around 99%. The country is now a full member of NATO and has applied to join the EU.
GDP: $24.9 bn (2011 est.); $7,741 per capita
Religions c.70% Muslim, 20% Orthodox Christian, 10% Roman Catholic
Currency: Lek (ALL); $US 1 = 113 ALL
Telephone Code: + 355
By 1992 Albania had lost half its 1989 real GDP: when communism collapsed, a mass exodus to Italy and Greece occurred and an early attempt at autarky - economic self-sufficiency - failed. Drastic reforms were then undertaken by a new democratic government to bring in a market economy, including liberalisation and privatisation, and a firm income policy. By the end of the decade, GDP had recovered to 1989 levels - somewhat earlier than some of its neighbours. It has remained relatively stable since but the country suffers from corruption and high levels of organised crime.
Exports were $1.89 bn in 2011 and consist mainly of textiles and footwear; asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil, vegetables, fruits and tobacco. Italy takes a massive 58.75% of the total, which Greece, Austria and China all taking between 5 and 10%. Major imports (total $5.02bn in 2011) are machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, textiles and chemicals - Italy is again the major partners, contributing 29.9% in 2009, but Greece (14.1%), Turkey (7.1%) and Germany (6.9%) are also important.
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