ALBANIA                                                                         
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 28,750 km2; land area: 27,400 km2                                   
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland                                 
                                                                                
Land boundaries: 768 km total; Greece 282 km, Yugoslavia 486 km                 
                                                                                
Coastline: 362 km                                                               
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Continental shelf: not specified;                                               
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 12 nm                                                          
                                                                                
Disputes: Kosovo question with Yugoslavia; Northern Epirus question             
with Greece                                                                     
                                                                                
Climate: mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry             
summers; interior is cooler and wetter                                          
                                                                                
Terrain: mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast                   
                                                                                
Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, coal, chromium,                      
copper, timber, nickel                                                          
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 21%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and                      
pastures 15%; forest and woodland 38%; other 22%; includes irrigated            
1%                                                                              
                                                                                
Environment: subject to destructive earthquakes; tsunami occur                  
along southwestern coast; deforestation seems to be slowing                     
                                                                                
Note: strategic location along Strait of Otranto (links                         
Adriatic Sea to Ionian Sea and Mediterranean Sea)                               
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 3,335,044 (July 1991), growth rate 1.8% (1991)                      
                                                                                
Birth rate: 24 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                    
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 50 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                       
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 79 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 2.9 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Albanian(s); adjective--Albanian                             
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: Albanian 90%, Greeks 8%, other 2% (Vlachs,                    
Gypsies, Serbs, and Bulgarians) (1989 est.)                                     
                                                                                
Religion: all mosques and churches were closed in 1967 and                      
religious observances prohibited; in November 1990 Albania began                
allowing private religious practice and was considering the repeal              
of the constitutional amendment banning religious activities;                   
estimates of religious affiliation--Muslim 70%, Greek Orthodox 20%,             
Roman Catholic 10%                                                              
                                                                                
Language: Albanian (Tosk is official dialect), Greek                            
                                                                                
Literacy: 72% (male 80%, female 63%) age 9 and over can                         
read and write (1955)                                                           
                                                                                
Labor force: 1,500,000 (1987); agriculture about 60%, industry                  
and commerce 40% (1986)                                                         
                                                                                
Organized labor: Central Council of Albanian Trade Unions, 610,000              
members                                                                         
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Republic of Albania                                             
                                                                                
Type: nascent democracy with strong Communist party influence;                  
basic law has dropped all references to socialism                               
                                                                                
Capital: Tirane                                                                 
                                                                                
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                                       
                                                                                
Independence: 28 November 1912 (from Ottoman Empire);                           
People's Socialist Republic of Albania declared 11 January 1946                 
                                                                                
Constitution: an interim basic law was approved by the People's                 
Assembly on 29 April 1991; a new constitution is to be drafted for              
adoption in four to six months                                                  
                                                                                
Legal system: has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction                      
                                                                                
National holiday: Liberation Day, 29 November (1944)                            
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, prime minister of the Council of                   
Ministers, one deputy prime minister of the Council of Ministers                
                                                                                
Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly (Kuvendi                       
Popullor)                                                                       
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Supreme Court                                                  
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State--President of the Republic Ramiz ALIA (since 22                  
November 1982);                                                                 
Head of Government--Prime Minister of the interim Council of                    
Ministers Ylli BUFI (since 5 June 1991);                                        
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders: Albanian Workers Party (AWP),                    
Ramiz ALIA, first secretary;                                                    
Democratic Party (DP), Sali BERISHA, chairman and cofounder with                
Gramoz PASHKO;                                                                  
Albanian Republican Party, Sabri GODO;                                          
Ecology Party, Namik HOTI;                                                      
Omonia (Greek minority party), leader NA;                                       
Agrarian Party, leader NA;                                                      
                                                                                
note--in December 1990 President ALIA allowed new political parties             
to be formed in addition to the AWP for the first time since 1944               
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18                                    
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
President--last held 30 April 1991 (next to be held spring 1992);               
results--President Ramiz ALIA was reelected with token opposition;              
                                                                                
People's Assembly--last held 31 March 1991 (next to be held                     
spring 1992);                                                                   
results--AWP 68%, DP 25%;                                                       
seats--(250 total) preliminary results AWP 168, DP 75, Omonia 5,                
Veterans Association 1, other 1;                                                
                                                                                
note--the AWP's votes came mostly from the countryside while the DP             
won majorities in the six-largest cities;                                       
                                                                                
Communists: 147,000 party members (November 1986); note--in                     
March 1991 the Albanian Workers' Party announced that it considered             
itself no longer Communist but socialist                                        
                                                                                
Member of: ECE, FAO, IAEA, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, UN, UNCTAD,                    
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO                                              
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: the Governments of the United States and             
Albania agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations to be effective              
from 15 March 1991 and to exchange diplomatic missions at the level             
of ambassador                                                                   
                                                                                
Flag: red with a black two-headed eagle in the center below a red               
five-pointed star outlined in yellow                                            
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
Overview: As the poorest country in Europe, Albania's development               
lags behind even the least favored areas of the Yugoslav economy.               
For over 40 years, the Stalinist-type economy has operated on the               
principles of central planning and state ownership of the means of              
production. In recent years Albania has implemented limited economic            
reforms to stimulate its lagging economy, provide incentives, and               
decentralize decisionmaking. In an effort to expand international               
ties, Tirane has reestablished diplomatic relations with the Soviet             
Union and the US. The Albanians have also passed legislation allowing           
foreign investment. Albania possesses considerable mineral                      
resources and, until 1990, was largely self-sufficient in food;                 
several years of drought have hindered agricultural development.                
Numerical estimates of Albanian economic activity are subject to an             
especially wide margin of error because the government until recently           
did not release economic information.                                           
                                                                                
GNP: $4.1 billion, per capita $1,250; real growth rate NA% (1990                
est.)                                                                           
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%                                           
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: NA%                                                          
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $2.3 billion; expenditures $2.3 billion,                       
including capital expenditures of NA (1989)                                     
                                                                                
Exports: $378 million (f.o.b., 1987 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--asphalt, bitumen, petroleum products, metals and                   
metallic ores, electricity, oil, vegetables, fruits, tobacco;                   
                                                                                
partners--Italy, Yugoslavia, FRG, Greece, Czechoslovakia, Poland,               
Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary                                                      
                                                                                
Imports: $255 million (f.o.b., 1987 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--machinery, machine tools, iron and steel products,                 
textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals;                                           
                                                                                
partners--Italy, Yugoslavia, FRG, Czechoslovakia, Romania,                      
Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, GDR                                                  
                                                                                
External debt: $NA                                                              
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate NA                                           
                                                                                
Electricity: 1,690,000 kW capacity; 5,000 million kWh produced,                 
1,530 kWh per capita (1990)                                                     
                                                                                
Industries: food processing, textiles and clothing, lumber,                     
oil, cement, chemicals, basic metals, hydropower                                
                                                                                
Agriculture: arable land per capita among lowest in Europe;                     
one-half of work force engaged in farming; produces wide range of               
temperate-zone crops and livestock; claims self-sufficiency in grain            
output                                                                          
                                                                                
Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA (1988) $5.8 million               
                                                                                
Currency: lek (plural--leke); 1 lek (L) = 100 qintars                           
                                                                                
Exchange rates: leke (L) per US$1--8.00 (noncommercial fixed rate               
since 1986), 4.14 (commercial fixed rate since 1987)                            
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 543 km total; 509 1.435-meter standard gauge, single                 
track and 34 km narrow gauge, single track (1990); line connecting              
Titograd (Yugoslavia) and Shkoder (Albania) completed August 1986               
                                                                                
Highways: 16,700 km total; 6,700 km highway and roads, 10,000 km                
forest and agricultural (1990)                                                  
                                                                                
Inland waterways: 43 km plus Albanian sections of Lake Scutari,                 
Lake Ohrid, and Lake Prespa (1990)                                              
                                                                                
Pipelines: crude oil, 145 km; refined products, 55 km; natural gas,             
64 km (1988)                                                                    
                                                                                
Ports: Durres, Sarande, Vlore                                                   
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 11 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 52,886             
GRT/75,993 DWT                                                                  
                                                                                
Airports: 12 total, 10 usable; more than 5 with permanent-surface               
runways; more than 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 5 with runways                 
1,220-2,439 m                                                                   
                                                                                
Telecommunications: stations--17 AM, 1 FM, 9 TV; 246,000 TVs                    
(1990); 210,000 radios                                                          
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Albanian People's Army, Albanian Coastal Defense Command,             
Air and Air Defense Force, Frontier Troops, Interior Troops                     
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 900,723; 743,594 fit for                    
military service; 33,497 reach military age (19) annually                       
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: 1.0 billion leks, NA% of GDP (FY90);                      
note--conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the              
official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading            
results                                                                         
                                                                                
