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Revision as of 04:08, 18 December 2001 by David Parker (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Albania is a nation of the western Balkan peninsula of southeastern Europe, with a coastline on the Adriatic Sea and a population of around 3.5 million on a largely mountainous and forested area of 28,747 sq. km. Tiranë is the capital, with 300,000 inhabitants: other principal cities are Durrës, Elbasan and Shkodër, each with 100,000, Vlorë (90,000) and Korçë (80,000). Albania is Europe's poorest country, with half of the economically-active population still engaged in agriculture and a fifth said to be working abroad. Albanians, a predominantly Muslim people thought to be descended from the area's ancient Illyrian population, also inhabit the neighboring Kosovo province of Serbia, western Macedonia and areas of Greece and Montenegro.
An independent republic since 1912 except for periods of monarchy (1928-1939) and Italian rule and German occupation (1939-1944), in 1990 Albania ended 46 years of isolationist one-party Communist government. The transition to multi-party democracy and a market economy has proven difficult as weak and sometimes corrupt governments have tried to deal with severe unemployment (estimated at 40% in the immediate aftermath of a corresponding economic contraction in 1989-1992), the collapse of a fraudulent nationwide investment scheme occasioning widespread violence (1997), widespread gangsterism, and large population movements in the form of both emigration to Greece, Italy and other countries, and massive refugee influxes from the Kosovo conflict of 1998-1999.