Albania

Airports

total: 12 usable: 10 with permanent-surface runways: 3 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 4

Highways

16,700 km total; 6,700 km highways, 10,000 km forest and agricultural cart roads (1990)

Inland waterways

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

Merchant marine

11 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 52,967 GRT/76,887 DWT

Pipelines

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

Ports

Durres, Sarande, Vlore

Railroads

543 km total; 509 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, single track and 34 km narrow gauge, single track (1990); line connecting Titograd (Serbia and Montenegro) and Shkoder (Albania) completed August 1986

Telecommunications

inadequate service; 15,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 13 AM, 1 TV; 514,000 radios, 255,000 TVs (1987 est.)

Branches

Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Interior Ministry Troops

Defense expenditures

215 million leke, NA% of GNP (1993 est.); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 896,613; fit for military service 739,359; reach military age (19) annually 32,740 (1993 est.)

Agriculture

arable land per capita among lowest in Europe; over 60% of arable land now in private hands; one-half of work force engaged in farming; wide range of temperate-zone crops and livestock

Budget

revenues $1.1 billion; expenditures $1.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $70 million (1991 est.)

Currency

1 lek (L) = 100 qintars

Economic aid

recipient - $190 million humanitarian aid, $94 million in loans/guarantees/credits

Electricity

1,690,000 kW capacity; 5,000 million kWh produced, 1,520 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates

leke (L) per US$1 - 97 (January 1993), 50 (January 1992), 25 (September 1991)

Exports

$45 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: asphalt, metals and metallic ores, electricity, crude oil, vegetables, fruits, tobacco partners: Italy, Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary

External debt

$500 million (1992 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route

Imports

$120 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: machinery, consumer goods, grains partners: Italy, Macedonia, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece

Industrial production

growth rate -55% (1991 est.)

Industries

food processing, textiles and clothing, lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydropower

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

210% (1992 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $2.5 billion (1992 est.)

National product per capita

$760 (1992 est.)

National product real growth rate

-10% (1992 est.)

Overview

The Albanian economy, already providing the lowest standard of living in Europe, contracted sharply in 1991, with most industries producing at only a fraction of past levels and an unemployment rate estimated at 40%. For over 40 years, the Stalinist-type economy operated on the principle of central planning and state ownership of the means of production. Fitful economic reforms begun during 1991, including the liberalization of prices and trade, the privatization of shops and transport, and land reform, were crippled by widespread civil disorder. Following its overwhelming victory in the 22 March 1992 elections, the new Democratic government announced a program of shock therapy to stabilize the economy and establish a market economy. In an effort to expand international ties, Tirane has reestablished diplomatic relations with the major republics of the former Soviet Union and the US and has joined the IMF and the World Bank. The Albanians have also passed legislation allowing foreign investment, but not foreign ownership of real estate. Albania possesses considerable mineral resources and, until 1990, was largely self-sufficient in food; however, the breakup of cooperative farms in 1991 and general economic decline forced Albania to rely on foreign aid to maintain adequate supplies. In 1992 the government tightened budgetary contols leading to another drop in domestic output. The agricultural sector is steadily gaining from the privatization process. Low domestic output is supplemented by remittances from the 200,000 Albanians working abroad.

Unemployment rate

40% (1992 est.)

Area

total area: 28,750 km2 land area: 27,400 km2 comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

Climate

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

Coastline

362 km

Environment

subject to destructive earthquakes; tsunami occur along southwestern coast

International disputes

Kosovo question with Serbia and Montenegro; Northern Epirus question with Greece

Irrigated land

4,230 km2 (1989)

Land boundaries

total 720 km, Greece 282 km, Macedonia 151 km, Serbia and Montenegro 287 km (114 km with Serbia, 173 km with Montenegro)

Land use

arable land: 21% permanent crops: 4% meadows and pastures: 15% forest and woodland: 38% other: 22%

Location

Southeastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula between Serbia and Montenegro and Greece

Map references

Africa, Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

continental shelf: not specified territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, timber, nickel

Note

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

Terrain

mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast

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

Capital

Tirane

Constitution

an interim basic law was approved by the People's Assembly on 29 April 1991; a new constitution was to be drafted for adoption in 1992, but is still in process

Digraph

AL

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Roland BIMO chancery: 1511 K Street, NW, Washington, DC telephone: (202) 223-4942 FAX: (202) 223-4950

Elections

People's Assembly: last held 22 March 1992; results - DP 62.29%, ASP 25.57%, SDP 4.33%, RP 3.15%, UHP 2.92%, other 1.74%; seats - (140 total) DP 92, ASP 38, SDP 7, RP 1, UHP 2

Executive branch

president, prime minister of the Council of Ministers, two deputy prime ministers of the Council of Ministers

Flag

red with a black two-headed eagle in the center

Independence

28 November 1912 (from Ottoman Empire)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Leaders

Chief of State: President of the Republic Sali BERISHA (since 9 April 1992) Head of Government: Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers Aleksander Gabriel MEKSI (since 10 April 1992)

Legal system

has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral People's Assembly (Kuvendi Popullor)

Member of

BSEC, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IMF, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Names

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

National holiday

Liberation Day, 29 November (1944)

Political parties and leaders

there are at least 18 political parties; most prominent are the Albanian Socialist Party (ASP; formerly the Albania Workers Party), Fatos NANO, first secretary; Democratic Party (DP), Eduard SELAMI, chairman; Albanian Republican Party (RP), Sabri GODO; Omonia (Greek minority party), leader NA (ran in 1992 election as Unity for Human Rights Party (UHP)); Social Democratic Party (SDP), Skender GJINUSHI; Democratic Alliance Party (DAP), Spartak NGJELA, chairman

Suffrage

18 years of age, universal and compulsory

Type

nascent democracy

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador William E. RYERSON embassy: Rruga Labinoti 103, room 2921, Tirane mailing address: PSC 59, Box 100 (A), APO AE 09624 telephone: 355-42-32875, 33520 FAX: 355-42-32222

Birth rate

23.24 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate

5.45 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Albanian 90%, Greeks 8%, other 2% (Vlachs, Gypsies, Serbs, and Bulgarians) (1989 est.)

Infant mortality rate

31.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force

1.5 million (1987) by occupation: agriculture 60%, industry and commerce 40% (1986)

Languages

Albanian (Tosk is the official dialect), Greek

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 73 years male: 70.01 years female: 76.21 years (1993 est.)

Literacy

age 9 and over can read and write (1955) total population: 72% male: 80% female: 63%

Nationality

noun: Albanian(s) adjective: Albanian

Net migration rate

-5.67 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population

3,333,839 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate

1.21% (1993 est.)

Religions

Muslim 70%, Greek 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

Total fertility rate

2.85 children born/woman (1993 est.)