1989 Edition

Agriculture

largely subsistence farming and nomadic animal husbandry; cash products — wheat, fruits, nuts, karakul pelts, wool, mutton

Aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $265 million; Western (nonUS) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $419 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $57 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $4.1 billion

Budget

revenues NA; expenditures S646.7 million, including capital expenditures of $370.2 million (FY87 est.)

Climate

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

Coastline

362 km

Comparative area

slightly larger than Maryland

Continental shelf

not specified

Currency

afghani (plural — afghanis); 1 afghani (Af) = 100 puls

Disputes

Kosovo question with Yugoslavia; Northern Epirus question with Greece

Electricity

480,000 kW capacity; 1,470 million kWh produced, 100 kWh per capita (1989)

Environment

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

Exchange rates

afghanis (Af) per US$1— 50.6 (fixed rate since 1982) Fiscal yean 21 March-20 March

Exports

$512 million (f.o.b., FY88); commodities— natural gas 55%, fruits and nuts 24%, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides, and pelts; partners — mostly USSR and Eastern Europe

External debt

$1.8 billion (December 1989 est.)

GDP

$3 billion, per capita $200; real growth rate 0% (1989 est.)

Illicit drugs

an illicit producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade; world's second largest opium producer (after Burma) and a major source of hashish

Imports

$996 million (c.i.f., FY88); commodities— food and petroleum products; partners — mostly USSR and Eastern Europe

Industrial production

growth rate 6.2% (FY89 plan)

Industries

small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, and cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, oil, coal, copper

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

over 50% (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

768 km total; Greece 282 km, Yugoslavia 486 km

Land use

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

Natural resources

crude oil, 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

Territorial sea

1 5 nm

Total area

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

Total area

Another 1 million have probably moved into and around urban areas within Afghanistan. Large numbers of bridges, buildings, and factories have been destroyed or damaged by military action or sabotage. Government claims to the contrary, gross domestic product almost certainly is lower than 10 years ago because of the loss of labor and capital and the disruption of trade and transport. Official claims indicate that agriculture grew by 0.7% and industry by 3.5% in 1988.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Birth rate

25 births/ 1,000 population (1990)

Death rate

5 deaths/ 1 ,000 population (1990)

Ethnic divisions

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

Infant mortality rate

52 deaths/ 1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force

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

Language

Albanian (Tosk is official dialect), Greek

Life expectancy at birth

72 years male, 78 years female (1990)

Literacy

75%

Nationality

noun — Albanian(s); adjective— Albanian

Net migration rate

0 migrants/ 1 ,000 population (1990)

Organized labor

Central Council of Albanian Trade Unions, 610,000 members

Population

3,273,131 (July 1990), growth rate 1.9% (1990)

Religion

Albania claims to be the world's first atheist state; all churches and mosques were closed in 1 967 and religious observances prohibited; pre-1967 estimates of religious affiliation— 70% Muslim, 20% Albanian Orthodox, 10% Roman Catholic

Total fertility rate

3.0 children born/ woman (1990)

Administrative divisions

26 districts (rrethe, singular — rreth); Herat, Dibre, Durres, Elbasan, Fier, Gjirokaster, Gramsh, Kolonje, Korse, Kruje, Kukes, Lezhe, Librazhd, Lushnje, Mat, Mirdite, Permet, Pogradec, Puke, Sarande, Shkoder, Skrapar, Tepelene, Tirane, Tropoje, Vlore

Capital

Tirane

Communists

147,000 party members (November 1986)

Constitution

27 December 1976

Diplomatic representation

none — the US does not recognize the Albanian Government and has no diplomatic or consular relations with Albania; there is no thirdpower representation of Albanian interests in the US or of US interests in Albania

Elections

President — last held 19 February 1987 (next to be held February 1991); results — President Ramiz Alia was reelected without opposition; People's Assembly — last held 1 February 1987 (next to be held February 1991); results— Albanian Workers Party is the only party; seats — (250 total) Albanian Workers Party 250

Executive branch

president of the Presidium of the People's Assembly, three vice presidents, Presidium of the People's Assembly; chairman of the Council of Ministers, three deputy chairmen, Council of Ministers

Flag

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

Independence

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

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Leaders

Chief of State— President of the Presidium of the People's Assembly Ramiz ALIA (since 22 November 1982); Head of Government — Chairman of the Council of Ministers Adil CARQANI (since 14 January 1982) Political parties and leaders: only party — Albanian Workers Party, Ramiz Alia, first secretary

Legal system

judicial review of legislative acts only in the Presidium of the People's Assembly, which is not a true court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral People's Assembly (Kuvendi Popullor)

Long-form name

People's Socialist Republic of Albania

Member of

CCC, CEMA (has not participated since rift with USSR in 1961), FAO, IAEA, IPU, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO

National holiday

Liberation Day, 29 November (1944)

Suffrage

universal and compulsory at age

Type

Communist state (Stalinist)

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

Aid

none

Budget

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

Currency

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

Electricity

1,630,000 kW capacity; 4,725 million kWh produced, 1,440 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

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

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

External debt

SNA

Fiscal year

calendar year

GNP

$3.8 billion, per capita $1,200; real growth rate NA% (1989 est.)

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

Industrial production

growth rate NA

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

NA%

Overview

As the poorest country in Europe, Albania's development lags behind even the least favored areas of the Yugoslav economy. The Stalinist-type economy operates 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, although they do not go nearly so far as current reforms in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Attempts at self-reliance and a policy of not borrowing from international lenders— sometimes overlooked in recent years — have greatly hindered the development of a broad economic infrastructure. Albania, however, possesses considerable mineral resources and is largely self-sufficient in food. Numerical estimates of Albanian economic activity are subject to an especially wide margin of error because the government is isolated and closemouthed.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Airports

38 total, 34 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 10 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 15 with runways 1,2202,439 m

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

Branches

Armed Forces (Army; Air and Air Defense Forces); Border Guard Forces; National Police Force (Sarandoi); Ministry of State Security (WAD); Tribal Militia Military manpower males 15-49, 3,880,124; 2,080,725 fit for military service; 168,021 reach military age (22) annually

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

Civil air

2 TU-154, 2 Boeing 727, assorted smaller transports

Defense expenditures

9.1% of GDP (1984) Adriatic Sea

Highways

21,000 km total (1984); 2,800 km hard surface, 1,650 km bituminoustreated gravel and improved earth, 16,550 km unimproved earth and tracks

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

Inland waterways

total navigability 1,200 km; chiefly Amu Darya, which handles steamers up to about 500 metric tons

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

Merchant marine

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

Military manpower

males 15-49, 882,965; 729,635 fit for military service; 33,598 reach military age (19) annually Albania (continued)

Pipelines

petroleum, oil, and lubricants pipelines— USSR to BagrSm and USSR to Shlndand ; natural gas, 1 80 km

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

Ports

Shir Khan and Kheyrabad (river ports)

Durres, Sarande, Vlore

Railroads

9.6 km (single track) 1.524meter gauge from Kushka (USSR) to Towraghondl and 15.0 km from Termez (USSR) to Kheyrabad transshipment point on south bank of Amu Darya

543 km total; 509 1.435-meter standard gauge, single track and 34 km narrow gauge, single track (1988); line connecting Titograd (Yugoslavia) and Shkoder (Albania) completed August 1986

Telecommunications

limited telephone, telegraph, and radiobroadcast services; television introduced in 1980; 31,200 telephones; stations — 5 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 satellite earth station Defense Forces

stations — 17 AM, 5 FM, 9 TV; 52,000 TV sets; 210,000 radios Defense Forces