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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Albania Index
Albanian women working at computer terminals
EUROPE'S POOREST NATION by every economic measure, Albania
has
been isolated and underdeveloped for centuries. Economists
estimated the gross domestic product per capita at about
US$450
in 1990, a figure that placed Albania below Lesotho and
above Sri
Lanka as the world's thirty-second least developed
country.
Ironically, Albania possesses significant fossil fuel and
mineral
deposits, including oil and chromite, as well as a
topography and
annual rainfall suitable for generating hydroelectric
power.
Large-scale drainage projects begun after World War II
turned
marshes into fertile fields in Albania's lowlands, and the
country's Mediterranean climate offers ideal conditions
for
cultivating fruits and vegetables. But Europe's highest
birth
rate and a mismanaged postwar industrial expansion, which
failed
to create enough productive jobs to absorb the flood of
people
entering the work force, left Albania with an abundance of
literate but unemployed and unskilled workers. At the
start of
the 1990s, thousands of desperate Albanians fled abroad
seeking
jobs because of the wretched standard of living and
limited
economic opportunity at home.
Albania's communist economic system, with its strict
central
controls, egalitarian incentive system, and bias toward
heavy
industry, collapsed in the early 1990s, idling almost all
of the
country's production lines. In early 1992, the government
was
piecing together a new, market-based economic mechanism.
The
People's Assembly passed many new laws on privatization of
state
property and protection of free enterprise, private
property, and
foreign investments, and lawyers drafted new civil and
commercial
codes, banking and tax laws, and labor, antitrust, and
social
security regulations. The structure of Albania's
productive
capacity was clearly going to change radically as the
government
broke up collective farms and privatized state lands and
enterprises and as managers adjusted to free-market
conditions.
Nevertheless, agriculture was certain to remain the
economy's
cornerstone for the foreseeable future. The farm sector
produced
over 30 percent of Albania's
net material product
(see
Glossary)
and employed over 50 percent of the work force before the
centrally planned economy buckled. However, farm output
failed to
keep pace with the demands of Albania's burgeoning
population,
and the entire sociopolitical system began to crumble when
the
farm sector could no longer supply adequate food to urban
areas
or raw materials to factories.
The orthodox Stalinists of the ruling Albanian Party of
Labor
(APL) worshiped heavy industry and for decades offered it
investment monies, which usually flowed from foreign
coffers.
That investment brought expansion and diversification to
the
country's entire industrial sector, but production was
constrained by the mismanagement and inefficiency that
characterize communist systems. Before the communist
economy
imploded in 1990, industry accounted for over 40 percent
of
Albania's net material product and employed about 25
percent of
the nation's work force. The industrial sector's most
important
branches were petroleum production, electric-power
generation,
mining, engineering, and light industry. The
transportation and
trade sectors had registered improvements in absolute
terms over
prewar levels of development, but both lagged behind
European
standards.
Starting in the 1920s, Italy, Yugoslavia, the Soviet
Union,
and China in turn supported the Albanian economy before
war or
political spats prompted Tiranë to break off each
relationship.
Enver Hoxha, first secretary of the APL, launched a policy
of
strict autarky when the country's last foreign patron,
China,
stopped aid infusions in 1978. Rapid population growth and
lagging farm and industrial output, however, soon brought
hunger
and economic chaos. Tiranë delayed significant economic
reform
until popular discontent threatened to explode into
revolution.
By 1991, a chain reaction of supply shortfalls had
paralyzed the
entire economy, and Albania cried out for humanitarian
aid, this
time from the West. Albania's opening to the world had a
major
impact on the freedom of enterprises and people to
participate in
foreign trade, but the country's escalating foreign debt
and
currency problems rendered it incapable of importing badly
needed
materials and equipment.
The totality of the collapse of Albania's communist
economic
system made introducing free-market reforms more
difficult, in
the view of some Western authorities, than in any other
East
European country. So critical was the need for heating
fuel in
the winter of 1991-92 that people stripped wood from park
benches, and the nurses at an orphanage in Shkodër locked
up
branches and twigs to keep them from thieves. Mobs stormed
warehouses, factories, bakeries, flour mills, shops, and
hotels,
taking everything they could carry and destroying much of
what
they could not. Italian soldiers escorting food convoys
found
that they had to guard their own garbage trucks after
armed gangs
descended on the vehicles to pick through their contents.
Thieves
stole medicine, medical equipment, and even ambulances
from
hospitals. Fires in storehouses and factories burned out
of
control because fire fighters had no equipment in good
repair.
Opposition political leaders blamed the communist APL for
instigating unrest in hopes of demonstrating to the
impressionable that the isolation and apparent order of
the old
regime were better than the present chaos and the ways of
the
wider world.
Despite Albania's economic dysfunction and
backwardness,
Western economists predicted that the country stood a good
chance
of prospering if its government could restore order and
take
advantage of the country's fertile lands, relatively rich
mineral
resources, favorable location, potential for tourism, and
generally literate work force.
Albania's communist regime published few economic
statistics,
and Western scholars found that the sparse data made
available
were often neither accurate nor consistent. No statistical
yearbook was issued for fourteen years after 1974, and
data on
performance of the oil industry were treated as a state
secret
after production began falling in the 1970s. Observers
specializing in the Albanian economy have posited that the
communist government released data only when performance
results
were positive and that data on aggregate economic growth
were not
published when they were close to or below the population
growth
rate.
Data as of April 1992
- Albania-Tourism
- Albania-Council of Ministers and People's Councils
- Albania -COUNTRY PROFILE
- Albania
- Albania-ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Albania-Women in the Work Force
- Albania-ECONOMY
- Albania-Imposition of the Stalinist System
- Albania-Education under Communist Rule
- Albania-Construction
- Albania-Currency and Monetary Policy
- Albania-THE ANCIENT ILLYRIANS
- Albania-Domestic Repression under Hoxha and Alia
- Albania-Structure and Marketing of Agricultural Output
- Albania-Chapter 1 - Historical Setting
- Albania-Union of Albanian Women
- Albania-The Rise of Albanian Nationalism
- Albania-The Precommunist Albanian Economy
- Albania-Foreign Trade Balance and Balance of Payments
- Albania-Political Control
- Albania-TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
- Albania-Drainage
- Albania-Food Processing
- Albania-Albania after World War II
- Albania-Albanians in Kosovo
- Albania-The Communist Takeover of Albania
- Albania-World War II
- Albania-Albanians under Ottoman Rule
- Albania-The Cultural and Ideological Revolution
- Albania-RETAIL TRADE, SERVICES, AND TOURISM
- Albania-Mechanization
- Albania-Human Rights
- Albania-Foreign Assistance
- Albania-Before 1944 RELIGION
- Albania-Air Transportation
- Albania-THE GOVERNMENT APPARATUS
- Albania-Government Revenues and Expenditures
- Albania-Albania and the Soviet Union
- Albania-REFORM POLITICS
- Albania-Consolidation of Power and Initial Reforms
- Albania-Trade Partners
- Albania-Medical Care and Nutrition HEALTH AND WELFARE
- Albania-Italian Penetration
- Albania-The Ottoman Conquest of Albania
- Albania-FOREIGN POLICY
- Albania-Water Transportation
- Albania-Postwar Development
- Albania-WORK FORCE AND STANDARD OF LIVING
- Albania-THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS AND THE MIDDLE AGES
- Albania-The Break with China and Self-Reliance
- Albania-Forests
- Albania-Ownership and Private Property
- Albania-World War I and Its Effects on Albania
- Albania-Conscript Training
- Albania-Trade Unions
- Albania-Albania's Reemergence after World War I
- Albania-Further Moves Toward Democracy
- Albania-WORLD WAR II AND THE RISE OF COMMUNISM, 1941-44
- Albania-Retail Trade and Services
- Albania-Albania and China
- Albania-Finance and Banking
- Albania-POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
- Albania-The Land
- Albania-Languages and Dialects
- Albania-INTERWAR ALBANIA, 1918-41
- Albania-MASS ORGANIZATIONS
- Albania-Dependence on the Soviet Union, 1948-60
- Albania-Manufacturing
- Albania-Land Distribution and Agricultural Organization
- Albania-Population THE ALBANIAN PEOPLE
- Albania-TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
- Albania-INDUSTRY
- Albania-Enterprises and Firms
- Albania-Fisheries
- Albania-Government and Politics
- Albania-People's Army
- Albania-Topography
- Albania-Local Albanian Leaders in the Early Nineteenth Century
- Albania-Settlement Patterns
- Albania-DEFENSE ORGANIZATION
- Albania-Paramilitary Training
- Albania-Military Schools
- Albania-People's Assembly
- Albania-Energy and Natural Resources
- Albania-The Coalition Government of 1991
- Albania-Union of Albanian Working Youth
- Albania-ECONOMIC SYSTEM
- Albania-DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARMED FORCES
- Albania-Chapter 4 - Government and Politics
- Albania-Black Market
- Albania-Social and Economic Conditions after World War I
- Albania-Italian Occupation
- Albania-Democratic Front
- Albania-Road Transportation
- Albania-Albanian-Yugoslav Tensions
- Albania-Light Industry
- Albania-Frontier Guards
- Albania-Fertilizers, Pesticides, and Seeds
- Albania-THE ALBANIAN LANDS UNDER OTTOMAN DOMINATION, 1385-1876
- Albania-Governmental Bodies and Control
- Albania-Traditional Social Patterns and Values SOCIAL SYSTEM
- Albania-Railroads
- Albania-NATIONAL SECURITY
- Albania-Population and Work Force
- Albania-Military Manpower
- Albania
- Albania-Greeks and Other Minorities
- Albania-Directorate of State Security
- Albania-United Trade Unions of Albania
- Albania-INTERNAL SECURITY
- Albania-SOCIETY
- Albania-Naval Forces
- Albania-Environmental Problems
- Albania
- Albania-Courts
- Albania-INTRODUCTION
- Albania
- Albania-Alia Takes Over
- Albania
- Albania-Shifting Alliances
- Albania-Climate
- Albania
- Albania-ALBANIA
- Albania-Dependence on Yugoslavia, 1945-48
- Albania-Social Insurance
- Albania-ECONOMIC POLICY AND PERFORMANCE
- Albania-Social Structure under Communist Rule
- Albania-PreCommunist Era EDUCATION
- Albania
- Albania-Foreign Trade Organization
- Albania-Military Budget and the Economy
- Albania-GEOGRAPHY
- Albania-Alia's Pragmatism
- Albania-Auxiliary Police
- Albania-Multiparty System
- Albania-AGRICULTURE
- Albania-Savings
- Albania
- Albania-Housing
- Albania-EVOLUTION OF NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY
- Albania
- Albania-Ground Forces
- Albania
- Albania-FOREWARD
- Albania-Telecommunications
- Albania-Livestock and Pasturelands
- Albania-ORIGINS OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
- Albania-MASS MEDIA
- Albania
- Albania-Standard of Living
- Albania-COMMUNIST ALBANIA
- Albania
- Albania-The Communist and Nationalist Resistance
- Albania-Dependence on China, 1961-78
- Albania-Chapter 2 - The Society and its Environment
- Albania
- Albania-Hoxha's Antireligious Campaign
- Albania
- Albania-Prices and Wages
- Albania-NATIONAL AWAKENING AND THE BIRTH OF ALBANIA, 1876-1918
- Albania-Penal Code
- Albania-Domestic Consumption
- Albania-Chapter 5 - National Security
- Albania-People's Police
- Albania
- Albania-Chapter 3 - The Economy
- Albania-Zog's Kingdom
- Albania-FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS
- Albania-Security Forces
- Albania-Activities of Foreign Companies in Albania
- Albania-The Revival of Religion
- Albania
- Albania-PROSPECTS FOR REFORM
- Albania-ALBANIA'S COMMUNIST PARTY
- Albania-The Hoxha Regime
Background | | Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, but was conquered by Italy in 1939. Communist partisans took over the country in 1944. Albania allied itself first with the USSR (until 1960), and then with China (to 1978). In the early 1990s, Albania ended 46 years of xenophobic Communist rule and established a multiparty democracy. The transition has proven challenging as successive governments have tried to deal with high unemployment, widespread corruption, a dilapidated physical infrastructure, powerful organized crime networks, and combative political opponents. Albania has made progress in its democratic development since first holding multiparty elections in 1991, but deficiencies remain. International observers judged elections to be largely free and fair since the restoration of political stability following the collapse of pyramid schemes in 1997; however, there have been claims of electoral fraud in every one of Albania's post-communist elections. In the 2005 general elections, the Democratic Party and its allies won a decisive victory on pledges to reduce crime and corruption, promote economic growth, and decrease the size of government. The election, and particularly the orderly transition of power, was considered an important step forward. Albania joined NATO in April 2009 and is a potential candidate for EU accession. Although Albania's economy continues to grow, the country is still one of the poorest in Europe, hampered by a large informal economy and an inadequate energy and transportation infrastructure.
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Location | | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea, between Greece in the south and Montenegro and Kosovo to the north
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Area(sq km) | | total: 28,748 sq km land: 27,398 sq km water: 1,350 sq km
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Geographic coordinates | | 41 00 N, 20 00 E
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Land boundaries(km) | | total: 717 km border countries: Greece 282 km, Macedonia 151 km, Montenegro 172 km, Kosovo 112 km
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Coastline(km) | | 362 km
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Climate | | mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter
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Elevation extremes(m) | | lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m highest point: Maja e Korabit (Golem Korab) 2,764 m
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Natural resources | | petroleum, natural gas, coal, bauxite, chromite, copper, iron ore, nickel, salt, timber, hydropower
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Land use(%) | | arable land: 20.1% permanent crops: 4.21% other: 75.69% (2005)
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Irrigated land(sq km) | | 3,530 sq km (2003)
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Total renewable water resources(cu km) | | 41.7 cu km (2001)
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Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) | | total: 1.71 cu km/yr (27%/11%/62%) per capita: 546 cu m/yr (2000)
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Natural hazards | | destructive earthquakes; tsunamis occur along southwestern coast; floods; drought
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Environment - current issues | | deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution from industrial and domestic effluents
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Environment - international agreements | | party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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Geography - note | | strategic location along Strait of Otranto (links Adriatic Sea to Ionian Sea and Mediterranean Sea)
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Population | | 3,639,453 (July 2009 est.)
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Age structure(%) | | 0-14 years: 23.1% (male 440,528/female 400,816) 15-64 years: 67.1% (male 1,251,001/female 1,190,841) 65 years and over: 9.8% (male 165,557/female 190,710) (2009 est.)
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Median age(years) | | total: 29.9 years male: 29.3 years female: 30.6 years (2009 est.)
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Population growth rate(%) | | 0.546% (2009 est.)
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Birth rate(births/1,000 population) | | 15.29 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
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Death rate(deaths/1,000 population) | | 5.55 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
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Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population) | | -4.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
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Urbanization(%) | | urban population: 47% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 1.9% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
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Sex ratio(male(s)/female) | | at birth: 1.1 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
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Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births) | | total: 18.62 deaths/1,000 live births male: 19.05 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.15 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
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Life expectancy at birth(years) | | total population: 77.96 years male: 75.28 years female: 80.89 years (2009 est.)
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Total fertility rate(children born/woman) | | 2.01 children born/woman (2009 est.)
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Nationality | | noun: Albanian(s) adjective: Albanian
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Ethnic groups(%) | | Albanian 95%, Greek 3%, other 2% (Vlach, Roma (Gypsy), Serb, Macedonian, Bulgarian) (1989 est.) note: in 1989, other estimates of the Greek population ranged from 1% (official Albanian statistics) to 12% (from a Greek organization)
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Religions(%) | | Muslim 70%, Albanian Orthodox 20%, Roman Catholic 10% note: percentages are estimates; there are no available current statistics on religious affiliation; all mosques and churches were closed in 1967 and religious observances prohibited; in November 1990, Albania began allowing private religious practice
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Languages(%) | | Albanian (official - derived from Tosk dialect), Greek, Vlach, Romani, Slavic dialects
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Country name | | 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
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Government type | | emerging democracy
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Capital | | name: Tirana (Tirane) geographic coordinates: 41 19 N, 19 49 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
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Administrative divisions | | 12 counties (qarqe, singular - qark); Berat, Diber, Durres, Elbasan, Fier, Gjirokaster, Korce, Kukes, Lezhe, Shkoder, Tirane, Vlore
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Constitution | | approved by parliament on 21 October 1998; adopted by popular referendum on 22 November 1998; promulgated 28 November 1998
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Legal system | | has a civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; has accepted jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court for its citizens
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Suffrage | | 18 years of age; universal
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Executive branch | | chief of state: President of the Republic Bamir TOPI (since 24 July 2007) head of government: Prime Minister Sali BERISHA (since 10 September 2005) cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, nominated by the president, and approved by parliament elections: president elected by the Assembly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); four election rounds held between 8 and 20 July 2007 (next election to be held in 2012); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Bamir TOPI elected president; Assembly vote, fourth round (three-fifths majority (84 votes) required): Bamir TOPI 85 votes, Neritan CEKA 5 votes
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Legislative branch | | unicameral Assembly or Kuvendi (140 seats; 100 members elected by direct popular vote and 40 by proportional vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 28 June 2009 (next to be held in 2013) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PD 68, PS 64, LSI 4, other 4 note: Parliament in November 2008 approved an electoral reform package that transformed the electoral system from a majority system to a regional proportional system; the code also established an electoral threshold limiting smaller party representation
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Judicial branch | | Constitutional Court, Supreme Court (chairman is elected by the People's Assembly for a four-year term) and multiple appeals and district courts
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Political pressure groups and leaders | | Citizens Advocacy Office [Kreshnik SPAHIU]; Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania or KSSH [Kastriot MUCO]; Front for Albanian National Unification or FBKSH [Gafur ADILI]; Mjaft Movement; Omonia [Jani JANI]; Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania or BSPSH [Gezim KALAJA]
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International organization participation | | BSEC, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, NATO, OIC, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
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Flag description | | red with a black two-headed eagle in the center; the design is claimed to be that of 15th-century hero George Castriota SKANDERBERG, who led a successful uprising against the Turks that resulted in a short-lived independence for some Albanian regions (1443-1478)
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Economy - overview | | Lagging behind its Balkan neighbors, Albania is making the difficult transition to a more modern open-market economy. Macroeconomic growth has averaged around 5% over the last five years and inflation is low and stable. The government has taken measures to curb violent crime, and recently adopted a fiscal reform package aimed at reducing the large gray economy and attracting foreign investment. The economy is bolstered by annual remittances from abroad representing about 15% of GDP, mostly from Albanians residing in Greece and Italy; this helps offset the towering trade deficit. The agricultural sector, which accounts for over half of employment but only about one-fifth of GDP, is limited primarily to small family operations and subsistence farming because of lack of modern equipment, unclear property rights, and the prevalence of small, inefficient plots of land. Energy shortages because of a reliance on hydropower, and antiquated and inadequate infrastructure contribute to Albania's poor business environment and lack of success in attracting new foreign investment. The completion of a new thermal power plant near Vlore has helped diversify generation capacity, and plans to upgrade transmission lines between Albania and Montenegro and Kosovo would help relieve the energy shortages. Also, with help from EU funds, the government is taking steps to improve the poor national road and rail network, a long-standing barrier to sustained economic growth.
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GDP (purchasing power parity) | | $21.86 billion (2008 est.) $20.61 billion (2007 est.) $19.44 billion (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars Albania has an informal, and unreported, sector that may be as large as 50% of official GDP
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GDP (official exchange rate) | | $12.96 billion (2008 est.)
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GDP - real growth rate(%) | | 6.1% (2008 est.) 6% (2007 est.) 5.5% (2006 est.)
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GDP - per capita (PPP) | | $6,000 (2008 est.) $5,700 (2007 est.) $5,400 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
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GDP - composition by sector(%) | | agriculture: 20.5% industry: 19.8% services: 59.7% (2008 est.)
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Labor force | | 1.103 million (not including 352,000 emigrant workers) (2007 est.)
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Labor force - by occupation(%) | | agriculture: 58% industry: 15% services: 27% (September 2006 est.)
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Unemployment rate(%) | | 12.5% (2008 est.) 13.2% (2007 est.) note: these are official rates, but actual rates may exceed 30% due to preponderance of near-subsistence farming
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Population below poverty line(%) | | 25% (2004 est.)
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Household income or consumption by percentage share(%) | | lowest 10%: 3.2% highest 10%: 25.9% (2005)
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Distribution of family income - Gini index | | 26.7 (2005)
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Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP) | | 23.1% of GDP (2008 est.)
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Budget | | revenues: $3.458 billion expenditures: $4.175 billion (2008 est.)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%) | | 3.4% (2008 est.) 2.9% (2007 est.)
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Stock of money | | $3.028 billion (31 December 2008) $2.707 billion (31 December 2007)
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Stock of quasi money | | $6.251 billion (31 December 2008) $6.433 billion (31 December 2007)
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Stock of domestic credit | | $8.176 billion (31 December 2008) $7.247 billion (31 December 2007)
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Market value of publicly traded shares | | $NA
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Economic aid - recipient | | ODA: $318.7 million note: top donors were Italy, EU, Germany (2005 est.)
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Public debt(% of GDP) | | 51.9% of GDP (2008 est.) 51.4% of GDP (2007 est.)
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Agriculture - products | | wheat, corn, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, sugar beets, grapes; meat, dairy products
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Industries | | food processing, textiles and clothing; lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydropower
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Industrial production growth rate(%) | | 3% (2008 est.)
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Current account balance | | -$1.906 billion (2008 est.) -$1.202 billion (2007 est.)
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Exports | | $1.345 billion (2008 est.) $1.076 billion (2007 est.)
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Exports - commodities(%) | | textiles and footwear; asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil; vegetables, fruits, tobacco
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Exports - partners(%) | | Italy 55.9%, Greece 11.6%, China 7.2% (2008)
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Imports | | $4.898 billion (2008 est.) $3.999 billion (2007 est.)
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Imports - commodities(%) | | machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals
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Imports - partners(%) | | Italy 32.2%, Greece 13.1%, Turkey 7.2%, Germany 6.6%, China 4.5%, Russia 4.4% (2008)
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | | $2.364 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $2.162 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
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Debt - external | | $1.55 billion (2004)
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Exchange rates | | leke (ALL) per US dollar - 79.546 (2008 est.), 92.668 (2007), 98.384 (2006), 102.649 (2005), 102.78 (2004)
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Currency (code) | | lek (ALL) note: the plural of lek is leke
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Telephones - main lines in use | | 316,400 (2008)
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Telephones - mobile cellular | | 3.141 million (2008)
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Telephone system | | general assessment: despite new investment in fixed lines, the density of main lines remains low with roughly 10 lines per 100 people; cellular telephone use is widespread and generally effective; combined fixed line and mobile telephone density is approaching 100 telephones per 100 persons domestic: offsetting the shortage of fixed line capacity, mobile phone service has been available since 1996; by 2003, two companies were providing mobile services at a greater density than some of Albania's neighbors; Internet broadband services initiated in 2005; Internet cafes are popular in Tirana and have started to spread outside the capital international: country code - 355; submarine cable provides connectivity to Italy, Croatia, and Greece; the Trans-Balkan Line, a combination submarine cable and land fiber-optic system, provides additional connectivity to Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Turkey; international traffic carried by fiber-optic cable and, when necessary, by microwave radio relay from the Tirana exchange to Italy and Greece (2008)
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Internet country code | | .al
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Internet users | | 471,000 (2008)
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Airports | | 5 (2009)
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Pipelines(km) | | gas 339 km; oil 207 km (2008)
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Roadways(km) | | total: 18,000 km paved: 7,020 km unpaved: 10,980 km (2002)
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Ports and terminals | | Durres, Sarande, Shengjin, Vlore
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Military branches | | Joint Force Command (includes Land, Naval, and Aviation Brigade Commands), Joint Support Command (includes Logistic Command), Training and Doctrine Command (2009)
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Military service age and obligation(years of age) | | 19 years of age (2004)
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Manpower available for military service | | males age 16-49: 944,592 females age 16-49: 908,527 (2008 est.)
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Manpower fit for military service | | males age 16-49: 800,665 females age 16-49: 768,536 (2009 est.)
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Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually | | male: 34,778 female: 31,673 (2009 est.)
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Military expenditures(% of GDP) | | 1.49% of GDP (2005 est.)
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Disputes - international | | the Albanian Government calls for the protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians in neighboring countries, and the peaceful resolution of interethnic disputes; some ethnic Albanian groups in neighboring countries advocate for a "greater Albania," but the idea has little appeal among Albanian nationals; the mass emigration of unemployed Albanians remains a problem for developed countries, chiefly Greece and Italy
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Trafficking in persons | | current situation: Albania is a source country for women and girls trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; it is no longer considered a major country of transit; Albanian victims are trafficked to Greece, Italy, Macedonia, and Kosovo, with many trafficked onward to Western European countries; children were also trafficked to Greece for begging and other forms of child labor; approximately half of all Albanian trafficking victims are under age 18; internal sex trafficking of women and children is on the rise tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Albania is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons in 2007, particularly in the area of victim protection; the government did not appropriately identify trafficking victims during 2007, and has not demonstrated that it is vigorously investigating or prosecuting complicit officials (2008)
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Electricity - production(kWh) | | 2.888 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - production by source(%) | | fossil fuel: 2.9% hydro: 97.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
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Electricity - consumption(kWh) | | 3.603 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - exports(kWh) | | 0 kWh (2008 est.)
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Electricity - imports(kWh) | | 2.475 billion kWh (2008 est.)
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Oil - production(bbl/day) | | 5,985 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - consumption(bbl/day) | | 34,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - exports(bbl/day) | | 748.9 bbl/day (2005 est.)
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Oil - imports(bbl/day) | | 24,080 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - proved reserves(bbl) | | 199.1 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
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Natural gas - production(cu m) | | 30 million cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - consumption(cu m) | | 30 million cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - exports(cu m) | | 0 cu m (2008)
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Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m) | | 849.5 million cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%) | | NA
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | | NA
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HIV/AIDS - deaths | | NA
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Literacy(%) | | definition: age 9 and over can read and write total population: 98.7% male: 99.2% female: 98.3% (2001 census)
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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)(years) | | total: 11 years male: 11 years female: 11 years (2004)
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Education expenditures(% of GDP) | | 2.9% of GDP (2002)
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