1994 Edition

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

Agriculture

accounts for 55% of GDP; arable land per capita among lowest in Europe; 80% of arable land now in private hands; one-half of work force engaged in farming; produces wide range of temperate-zone crops and livestock

Airports

total: 12 usable: 10 with permanent-surface runways: 3 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 4

Area

total area: 28,750 sq km land area: 27,400 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

Birth rate

22.46 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Branches

Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Interior Ministry Troops

Budget

revenues: $1.1 billion expenditures: $1.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $70 million (1991 est.)

Cabinet

Council of Ministers; appointed by the president

Capital

Tirane

Climate

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

Coastline

362 km

Constitution

an interim basic law was approved by the People's Assembly on 29 April 1991; a new constitution was to be drafted for adoption in 1992, but is still in process

Currency

1 lek (L) = 100 qintars

Death rate

5.32 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Defense expenditures

215 million leke, NA% of GNP (1993 est.); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Digraph

AL

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Lublin Hasan DILJA chancery: Suite 1010, 1511 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 telephone: (202) 223-4942, 8187

Economic aid

recipient: $190 million humanitarian aid; $94 million in loans/guarantees/credits

Electricity

capacity: 1,690,000 kW production: 5 billion kWh consumption per capita: 1,520 kWh (1992)

Environment

current issues: deforestation natural hazards: subject to destructive earthquakes; tsunami occur along southwestern coast international agreements: party to - Biodiversity

Ethnic divisions

Albanian 95%, Greeks 3%, other 2% (Vlachs, Gypsies, Serbs, and Bulgarians) (1989 est.)

Exchange rates

leke (L) per US$1 - 99 (January 1994), 97 (January 1993), 50 (January 1992), 25 (September 1991)

Executive branch

chief of state: President of the Republic Sali BERISHA (since 9 April 1992) head of government: Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers Aleksander Gabriel MEKSI (since 10 April 1992)

Exports

$70 million (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: asphalt, metals and metallic ores, electricity, crude oil, vegetables, fruits, tobacco partners: Italy, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary

External debt

$724 million (1993 est.)

FAX

(202) 628-7342

355-42-32222

Fiscal year

calendar year

Flag

red with a black two-headed eagle in the center

Highways

total: 16,700 km paved: 6,700 km unpaved: earth 10,000 km (1990)

Illicit drugs

transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route; limited opium production

Imports

$524 million (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: machinery, consumer goods, grains partners: Italy, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece

Independence

28 November 1912 (from Ottoman Empire)

Industrial production

growth rate -10% (1993 est.); accounts for 16% of GDP (1993 est.)

Industries

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

Infant mortality rate

30 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

31% (1993 est.)

Inland waterways

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

International disputes

Albanian majority in Kosovo seeks independence from Serbia and Montenegro, and the Albanian Government supports the Kosovo position politically

Irrigated land

4,230 sq km (1989)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Labor force

1.5 million (1987) by occupation: agriculture 60%, industry and commerce 40% (1986)

Land boundaries

total 720 km, Greece 282 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 151 km, Serbia and Montenegro 287 km (114 km with Serbia, 173 km with Montenegro)

Land use

arable land: 21% permanent crops: 4% meadows and pastures: 15% forest and woodland: 38% other: 22%

Languages

Albanian (Tosk is the official dialect), Greek

Legal system

has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 73.4 years male: 70.42 years female: 76.61 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

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

Location

Balkan State, Southeastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula between Serbia and Montenegro and Greece

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 906,938; fit for military service 746,945; reach military age (19) annually 33,184 (1994 est.)

Map references

Africa, Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

continental shelf: not specified territorial sea: 12 nm

Member of

BSEC, CCC, CE (guest), CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Merchant marine

11 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 52,967 GRT/76,887 DWT

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Albania conventional short form: Albania local long form: Republika e Shqiperise local short form: Shqiperia former: People's Socialist Republic of Albania

National holiday

Liberation Day, 28 November (1944; changed by decree on 12 November 1993)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $3.3 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$1,100 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

11% (1993)

Nationality

noun: Albanian(s) adjective: Albanian

Natural resources

petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, timber, nickel

Net migration rate

-5.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Note

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

Overview

An extremely poor country by European standards, Albania is making the difficult transition to a more open-market economy. The economy rebounded in 1993 after a severe depression accompanying the collapse of the previous centrally planned system in 1990 and 1991. Stabilization policies, including public sector layoffs and reduced social services, have improved the government's fiscal situation and reduced inflation. The recovery was spurred by the remittances of some 5% of the population which works abroad, mostly in Greece and Italy. Foreign assistance and humanitarian aid also supported the recovery. Most agricultural land was privatized in 1992, substantially improving peasant incomes. Albania's limited industrial sector, now less than one-sixth of GDP, continued to decline in 1993. A sharp fall in chromium prices reduced hard currency receipts from the mining sector. Large segments of the population, especially those living in urban areas, continue to depend on humanitarian aid to meet basic food requirements. Unemployment remains a severe problem accounting for approximately one-fifth of the work force. Growth is expected to continue in 1994, but could falter if Albania becomes involved in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, workers' remittances from Greece are reduced, or foreign assistance declines.

People's Assembly (Kuvendi Popullor)

elections last held 22 March 1992; results - DP 62.29%, ASP 25.57%, SDP 4.33%, RP 3.15%, UHP 2.92%, other 1.74%; seats - (140 total) DP 92, ASP 38, SDP 7, RP 1, UHP 2

Pipelines

crude oil 145 km; petroleum products 55 km; natural gas 64 km (1991)

Political parties and leaders

there are at least 18 political parties; most prominent are the Albanian Socialist Party (ASP; formerly the Albania Workers Party), Fatos NANO, first secretary; Democratic Party (DP), Eduard SELAMI, chairman; Albanian Republican Party (RP), Sabri GODO; Omonia (Greek minority party), leader NA (ran in 1992 election as Unity for Human Rights Party (UHP)); Social Democratic Party (SDP), Skender GJINUSHI; Democratic Alliance Party (DAP), Spartak NGJELA, chairman

Population

3,374,085 (July 1994 est.) note: IMF, working with Albanian government figures estimates the population at 3,120,000 in 1993 and that the population has fallen since 1990

Population growth rate

1.19% (1994 est.)

Ports

Durres, Sarande, Vlore

Railroads

543 km total; 509 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, single track and 34 km narrow gauge, single track (1990); line connecting Titograd (Serbia and Montenegro) and Shkoder (Albania) completed August 1986

Religions

Muslim 70%, Greek Orthodox 20%, Roman Catholic 10% note: all mosques and churches were closed in 1967 and religious observances prohibited; in November 1990, Albania began allowing private religious practice

Suffrage

18 years of age, universal and compulsory

Telecommunications

inadequate service; 15,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 13 AM, 1 TV; 514,000 radios, 255,000 TVs (1987 est.)

Terrain

mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast

Total fertility rate

2.78 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Type

nascent democracy

Unemployment rate

18% (1993 est.)

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador William E. RYERSON embassy: Rruga E. Elbansanit 103, Tirane mailing address: PSC 59, Box 100 (A), APO AE 09624 telephone: 355-42-32875, 33520