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Communications

Airports [time series]

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

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

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

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

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

Merchant marine [time series]

11 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 52,886 GRT/75,993 DWT

Pipelines [time series]

crude oil, 145 km; refined products, 55 km; natural gas, 64 km (1988)

Ports [time series]

Durres, Sarande, Vlore

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

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

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

stations--17 AM, 1 FM, 9 TV; 246,000 TVs (1990); 210,000 radios

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Albanian People's Army, Albanian Coastal Defense Command, Air and Air Defense Force, Frontier Troops, Interior Troops

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

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

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, 900,723; 743,594 fit for military service; 33,497 reach military age (19) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

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

Budget [time series]

revenues $2.3 billion; expenditures $2.3 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1989)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

lek (plural--leke); 1 lek (L) = 100 qintars

Economic aid [time series]

Western (non-US) countries, ODA (1988) $5.8 million

Electricity [time series]

1,690,000 kW capacity; 5,000 million kWh produced, 1,530 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates [time series]

leke (L) per US$1--8.00 (noncommercial fixed rate since 1986), 4.14 (commercial fixed rate since 1987)

Exports [time series]

$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

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$NA

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

GNP [time series]

$4.1 billion, per capita $1,250; real growth rate NA% (1990 est.)

Imports [time series]

$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

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate NA

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

NA%

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

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.

Unemployment rate [time series]

NA%

Geography

Climate [time series]

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

Coastline [time series]

362 km Continental shelf: not specified; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly larger than Maryland

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

Kosovo question with Yugoslavia; Northern Epirus question with Greece

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

subject to destructive earthquakes; tsunami occur along southwestern coast; deforestation seems to be slowing

Land boundaries [time series]

768 km total; Greece 282 km, Yugoslavia 486 km

Land use [time series]

arable land 21%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and pastures 15%; forest and woodland 38%; other 22%; includes irrigated 1%

Natural resources [time series]

crude oil, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, timber, nickel

Note [time series]

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

Terrain [time series]

mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast

Area (Total area) [time series]

28,750 km2; land area: 27,400 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

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 [time series]

Tirane

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

147,000 party members (November 1986); note--in March 1991 the Albanian Workers' Party announced that it considered itself no longer Communist but socialist

Constitution [time series]

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

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

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

Executive branch [time series]

president, prime minister of the Council of Ministers, one deputy prime minister of the Council of Ministers

Flag [time series]

red with a black two-headed eagle in the center below a red five-pointed star outlined in yellow

Independence [time series]

28 November 1912 (from Ottoman Empire); People's Socialist Republic of Albania declared 11 January 1946

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court 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);

Legal system [time series]

has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch [time series]

unicameral People's Assembly (Kuvendi Popullor)

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Republic of Albania

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ECE, FAO, IAEA, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO

National holiday [time series]

Liberation Day, 29 November (1944)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

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 [time series]

universal and compulsory at age 18 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;

Government type (Type) [time series]

nascent democracy with strong Communist party influence; basic law has dropped all references to socialism

People

Birth rate [time series]

24 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate [time series]

5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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

Infant mortality rate [time series]

50 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force [time series]

1,500,000 (1987); agriculture about 60%, industry and commerce 40% (1986)

Languages (Language) [time series]

Albanian (Tosk is official dialect), Greek

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

72 years male, 79 years female (1991)

Literacy [time series]

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

Nationality [time series]

noun--Albanian(s); adjective--Albanian

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor [time series]

Central Council of Albanian Trade Unions, 610,000 members

Population [time series]

3,335,044 (July 1991), growth rate 1.8% (1991)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

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%

Total fertility rate [time series]

2.9 children born/woman (1991)