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Albania flag
Republic of Albania
Republika e Shqipėrisė
   Albania is a Balkan country that overlooks the Adriatic Sea to the west, is largely mountainous and hilly, except for flat areas in the coastal strip. Due to the long communist dictatorship that kept Albania closed to the outside world until 1985, the country is not at the economic level of the rest of Europe, even if it is trying to gradually adapt.
Government type Parliamentary republic
Area 28,748 km² (11,100 sq mi)
Population 2,402,000 inh. (2023 census)
Population density 84 inh/km² (216 inh/mi²)
Capital Tirana (440,000 pop., 917,000 urban aggl.)
Currency Albanian lek
Human development index 0.796 (67th place)
Languages Albanian (official), Greek
Life expectancy M 78 years, F 81 years
Location in Europe

Boundaries:

Montenegro NORTH-WEST
Kosovo NORTH-EAST
North Macedonia EAST
Greece SOUTH-EAST
Adriatic Sea WEST
Ionian Sea SOUTH-WEST

GEOGRAPHY DATA OF ALBANIA


Largest cities
Tirana 440,000 pop., 917,000 urban aggl.
Durrės 113,000 pop.
Vlorė 79,500 pop.
Elbasan 78,700 pop.
Shkodėr 77,100 pop.
Highest mountains
Mount Korab 2,764 m (9,068 ft)
Maja Jezercė 2,694 m (8,839 ft)
Longest rivers
Drin 335 km (208 mi) total, 285 km (177 mi) in Albania
Semani-Devoll 281 km (175 mi)
Vjosa 272 km (169 mi) total, 192 km (119 mi) in Albania
Largest lakes
Lake Skadar 370 / 530 km² (143 / 205 sq mi) variable seasonally, about 1/3 is in Albania, other 2/3 in Montenegro
Lake Ohrid 349 km² (135 sq mi) total, 119 km² (46 sq mi) in Albania
Lake Prespa 274 km² (106 sq mi) total, 49 km² (19 sq mi) in Albania
Largest islands
Sazan 5.7 km² (2.2 sq mi)
Kunė 1.4 km² (0.5 sq mi)

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS OF ALBANIA

   Albania is administratively divided into 12 counties, Korēė, in the south-eastern area and Shkodėr to the north the two largest, while that of the capital Tirana is clearly the most populated, followed by Durrės and Fier, which both have a little less of 300,000 inhabitants, not even 1/3 compared to the county of Tirana.

   Only two cities exceed one hundred thousand inhabitants, the capital and Durres a little further west; in all there are 17 inhabited centers with over 15,000 inhabitants, located mainly in the central-western part of the country.



Tirana



Useful links

Institute of Statistics
Visit Albania