Relations with the countries of the former Yugoslavia were also tense, particularly over repression of the Albanian majority in the Serbian province of Kosovo. In 1989 Serbia ended Kosovo's autonomy, and in 1991 the ethnic Albanian leadership in Kosovo declared the province independent from Yugoslavia. Although the international community never recognized Kosovo's independence, Albania campaigned on Kosovo's behalf and asked the United Nations (UN) to send monitors to the region. The UN refused. In the mid-1990s Albania feared that major unrest and a military crackdown in Kosovo could lead to a massive outflow of refugees, destabilizing the entire Balkan region. Albania also disagreed with the new FYROM over its treatment of the largë ethnic Albanian minority there. Albania's leaders wanted ethnic Albanians in the FYROM to have more representation in the government, and wanted the Albanian language to have equal status with Macedonian. Nevertheless, the two governments established diplomatic relations.

General elections were held again in mid-1996, but the victory by President Sali Berisha's Democratic Party was tainted by accusations of fraud. Opposition parties eventually boycotted the parliament, which in early 1997 elected Berisha to another five-year term. Also in early 1997, several fraudulent investment schemes failed, costing thousands of Albanians their savings. Although the government promised to partially reimburse many investors, the combination of economic disruption and political scandal prompted Albanians in several cities first to protest, then to riot. By March a sporadic rebellion had broken out and several parts of the country lacked effective government. The southern part of the country, including the cities of Vlorë and Sarandë, was controlled by local militias or armed citizens defending themselves against looters.

In order to prevent the outbreak of an all-out civil war, President Berisha appointed a Socialist, Bashkim Fano, to lead an interim government of national reconciliation. He also agreed to hold early general elections in June and pledged to resign if his party lost. The new government appealed for an international force to help restore law and order in the country. However, the multinational contingent led by an Italian commander that arrived in April was only mandated to protect the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the most destitute areas of Albania.

The Socialists swept to power in the June 1997 elections, garnering 65 percent of the vote against the 19 percent drawn by the Democrats. Fatos Nano, who had regained control of the Socialist Party after his release from prison, was chosen again as prime ministër. Berisha resigned in July, and the parliament elected another Socialist leader, Rexhep Mejdani, as president. The Democrats began a boycott of parliament that lasted until March 1998. In August 1997 the government announced that the army and police had restored order to Vlorë, and the multinational force left that same month. In September 1998 Prime Ministër Nano resigned when his coalition could not agree on changes in his cabinet. Nano's resignation followed riots over the assassination of a prominent Democrat. Pandeli Majko, another Socialist, replaced Nano that month.

Relations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY, now the republic of Serbia and Montenegro) worsened in early 1998, when conflict erupted in Kosovo over the killing of several Serbian police officers by ethnic Albanian separatists. Serbian police and Yugoslav army units attacked Kosovo civilians and battled members of the secessionist Kosovo Liberation Army throughout most of 1998 and early 1999. In March 1999, after the FRY refused to sign a peace accord for Kosovo, NATO began launching air strikes against Yugoslav military targets. Serbian-led military forces only intensified their attacks on villages in Kosovo, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee. Albania, which had been forced to absorb refugees from Kosovo throughout 1998, was flooded with them in the weeks after the air strikes began. This imposed an enormous burden on the country's fragile economy. By early June, when the Yugoslav government finally agreed to an international peace plan for Kosovo, the UN estimated that about 444,000 Kosovars had fled to Albania. Under the terms of the plan, an international peacekeeping force was posted in Kosovo to help ensure the refugees'safe return.

G  Recent Developments

Majko resigned as prime ministër in October 1999, after losing a Socialist Party leadership vote. He was succeeded by Ilir Meta, a young, reform-minded leader. Meta vowed to continue the policies of the Majko government, which included promoting economic growth and pressing for Albania's membership in the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Socialists retained their parliamentary majority after the June 2001 elections.

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Meta abruptly resigned as prime ministër in January 2002 following a bitter clash with Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano that split the party. Nano had accused Meta's government of corruption and demanded sweeping changes to the cabinet. Meta's resignation coincided with a decision of the Democratic Party to return to the parliament; the Democrats had refused to take their parliamentary seats for seven months, claiming that the June 2001 elections were rigged.

In February 2002 Socialist Party leaders selected Majko to succeed Meta as prime ministër, and in June the parliament elected Alfred Moisiu to replace outgoing president Rexhep Mejdani. Moisiu, a retired general and former defense ministër, assumed the presidency in July. Also in July Nano replaced Majko as prime ministër. The installation of a new cabinet was intended to end months of division within the ruling Socialist Party.



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Albania is rugged and mountainous, except for the fertile Adriatic coast. Mt. Korabit (9,066 ft/2,763 m), on the Macedonian-Albanian border, is the highest point in the country. The coastal climate is typically Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The mountainous interior, especially in the north, has severe winters and mild summers. The chief rivers of Albania are the Drin, Mat, Shkumbin, Vijose, and Seman, but they are mostly unnavigable. More than one third of Albania's land is covered by forests and swamps, about one third is pasture, and only about one fifth is cultivated. In addition to Tiranë, other important cities are Vlorë, Durrës, Shkodër, and Korçë.

The country's rugged and inaccessible terrain has traditionally isolated Albania from its neighbors, thus helping to preserve its ethnic homogeneity. About 90% of the population is ethnic Albanian, less than 10% is Greek, and there are scattered Vlach, Bulgar, Serb, and Gypsy minorities. Many ethnic Albanians also live in the Kosovo region of Serbia, with which there has long been a border dispute and where the drive for Albanian autonomy or independence from Serbia is pronounced. Some 70% of the people are Muslim, about 20% are Greek Orthodox, and 10% Roman Catholic. From 1967 to 1990 all mosques and churches were closed, and Albania was officially considered to be an atheist country. Albanian is an Indo-European language. The Shkumbin River, which virtually bisects the country, separates speakers of the northern dialect (Gheg) from those of the southern dialect (Tosk; the official dialect).

                                           Government

Albania is a republic with a unicameral assembly, to which deputies are elected by universal suffrage for four-year terms. The assembly elects the president for a five-year term, and the president appoints a prime ministër. The executive branch is completed by a council of ministers, which is nominated by the prime ministër and approved by the president. Albania is divided into 36 districts, which are administrated by multiparty executive committees.

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.  2001.
 
Albania
 
 
(lb'ny) (KEY) , Albanian Shqipnija or Shqipëria, officially Republic of Albania, republic (1995 est. pop. 3,414,000), 11,101 sq mi (28,752 sq km), SE Europe. Albania is on the Adriatic Sea coast of the Balkan Peninsula, between Serbia and Montenegro on the north, Macedonia on the east, and Greece on the south. Tiranë is the capital and largest city.      1
 
Land and People
Albania is rugged and mountainous, except for the fertile Adriatic coast. Mt. Korabit (9,066 ft/2,763 m), on the Macedonian-Albanian border, is the highest point in the country. The coastal climate is typically Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The mountainous interior, especially in the north, has severe winters and mild summers. The chief rivers of Albania are the Drin, Mat, Shkumbin, Vijose, and Seman, but they are mostly unnavigable. More than one third of Albania's land is covered by forests and swamps, about one third is pasture, and only about one fifth is cultivated. In addition to Tiranë, other important cities are Vlorë, Durrës, Shkodër, and Korçë.      2
The country's rugged and inaccessible terrain has traditionally isolated Albania from its neighbors, thus helping to preserve its ethnic homogeneity. About 90% of the population is ethnic Albanian, less than 10% is Greek, and there are scattered Vlach, Bulgar, Serb, and Gypsy minorities. Many ethnic Albanians also live in the Kosovo region of Serbia, with which there has long been a border dispute and where the drive for Albanian autonomy or independence from Serbia is pronounced. Some 70% of the people are Muslim, about 20% are Greek Orthodox, and 10% Roman Catholic. From 1967 to 1990 all mosques and churches were closed, and Albania was officially considered to be an atheist country. Albanian is an Indo-European language. The Shkumbin River, which virtually bisects the country, separates speakers of the northern dialect (Gheg) from those of the southern dialect (Tosk; the official dialect).      3
 
Economy
Albania has the lowest standard of living in Europe. Approximately 60% of the workforce is engaged in agriculture; the majority of the balance is involved in some kind of industry. The country's economy contracted in the early 1990s as Albania attempted to move quickly from a tightly controlled state-run system to a market economy. During this period, the unemployment rate was about 40%, but by the end of the decade it was closer to 20%.      4
Agriculture was formerly socialized in the form of collective and state farms, but by 1992 most agricultural land had been privatized. Grains (especially wheat and corn), cotton, tobacco, potatoes, and sugar beets are grown and livestock is raised. Albania is rich in mineral resources, notably oil, lignite, copper, chromium, limestone, salt, bauxite, and natural gas. Mining, agricultural processing, and the manufacture of textiles, clothing, lumber, and cement are among the leading industries. Engineering, chemical, and iron and steel plants have been developed, and the country has several hydroelectric stations. Because of economic disturbances during the 1990s, Albania remains essentially a developing country.      5
Foreign trade is carried by sea, Durrës and Vlorë (also the terminus of the oil pipeline) being the major ports. Albania exports mined natural resources and foodstuffs and imports mostly machinery, other industrial products, and consumer goods. Its chief trading partners are Italy, Macedonia, Germany, and Greece. In the early 1990s Albania joined the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.      6
 
Government
Albania is a republic with a unicameral assembly, to which deputies are elected by universal suffrage for four-year terms. The assembly elects the president for a five-year term, and the president appoints a prime ministër. The executive branch is completed by a council of ministers, which is nominated by the prime ministër and approved by the president. Albania is divided into 36 districts, which are administrated by multiparty executive committees.      7
 
History
 
Historic Albania
The Albanians are reputedly descendants of Illyrian and Thracian tribes that settled the region in ancient times. The area then comprised parts of Illyria and Epirus and was known to the ancient Greeks for its mines. The coastal towns, Epidamnus (Durrës) and Apollonia, were colonies of Corcyra (Kérkira) and Corinth, but the interior formed an independent kingdom that reached its height in the 3d cent. A.D.      8
After the division (395) of the Roman Empire, Albania passed to Byzantium. While nominally (until 1347) under Byzantine rule, N Albania was invaded (7th cent.) by the Serbs, and S Albania was annexed (9th cent.) by Bulgaria. In 1014, Emperor Basil II retook S Albania, which remained in the Byzantine Empire until it passed to Epirus in 1204. Venice founded coastal colonies at present-day Shkodër and Lezhë in the 11th cent., and in 1081 the Normans began to contest Byzantine control of Albania. Norman efforts were continued by the Neapolitan Angevins; in 1272, Charles I of Naples was proclaimed king of Albania. In the 14th cent., however, the Serbs under Stephen Duan conquered most of the country.      9
 
Ottoman Rule
After Duan's death (1355), Albania was ruled by native chieftains until the Turks began their conquests in the 15th cent. In return for serving the Turks, a son of one of these chieftains received the title Iskender Bey (Lord Alexander), which in Albanian became Scanderbeg. Later, however, he led the Albanian resistance to Turkish domination and, after his death in 1468, was immortalized as Albania's national hero. Supported by Venice and Naples, Albania continued to struggle against the Turks until 1478, when the country passed under Ottoman rule.      10
Many Albanians distinguished themselves in the Turkish army and bureaucracy; others were made pashas and beys and had considerable local autonomy. In the early 19th cent., Ali Pasha ruled Albania like a sovereign until he overreached and was assassinated. Under Turkish rule Islam became the predominant religion of Albania. However, the Albanian highlanders, never fully subjected, were able to retain their tribal organizations. Economically, the country stagnated under Ottoman rule, and numerous local revolts flared. A cultural awakening began in the 19th cent., and Albanian nationalism grew in the aftermath of the Treaty of San Stefano (1877), which Russia imposed on the Turks and which gave largë parts of Albania to the Balkan Slavic nations. The European Great Powers intensified their struggle for influence in the Balkans during the years that followed.      11
 
National Independence
The first of the Balkan Wars, in 1912, gave the Albanians an opportunity to proclaim their independence. During the Second Balkan War (1913), Albania was occupied by the Serbs. A conference of Great Power ambassadors defined the country's borders in 1913 and destroyed the dream of a Greater Albania by ceding largë tracts to Montenegro, Serbia, and Greece. The ambassadors at the conference placed Albania under their guarantee and named William, prince of Wied, as its ruler. Within a year he had fled, as World War I erupted and Albania became a battleground for contending Serb, Montenegrin, Greek, Italian, Bulgarian, and Austrian forces.      12
Secret treaties drafted during the war called for Albania's dismemberment, but Albanian resistance and the principle of self-determination as promoted by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson helped to restore an independent Albania. In 1920 the Congress of Lushnje reasserted Albanian independence. The early postwar years witnessed a struggle between conservative landlords led by Ahmed Zogu and Western-influenced liberals under Bishop Fan S. Noli. After Noli's forces seized power in 1924, Zogu fled to Yugoslavia, where he secured foreign support for an army to invade Albania. In 1925, Albania was proclaimed a republic under his presidency; in 1928 he became King Zog.      13
Italy, whose political and economic influence in Albania had steadily increased, invaded the country in 1939, forcing Zog into exile and bringing Albania under Italian hegemony. The Albanian puppet government declared war on the Allies in 1940; but resistance groups, notably the extreme leftist partisans under Enver Hoxha, waged guerrilla warfare against the occupying Axis armies. In 1943–44, a civil war also raged between the partisans and non-Communist forces within Albania. Albania was liberated from the Axis invaders without the aid of the Red Army or of direct Soviet military assistance, and received most of its war matériel from the Anglo-American command in Italy.      14
 
Albanian Communism
In late 1944, Hoxha's partisans seized most of Albania and formed a provisional government. The Communists held elections (Dec., 1945) with an unopposed slate of candidates and, in 1946, proclaimed Albania a republic with Hoxha as premier. From 1944 to 1948, Albania maintained close relations with Yugoslavia, which had helped to establish the Albanian Communist party. After Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia broke with Stalin, Albania became a satellite of the USSR. Albania's disapproval of de-Stalinization and of Soviet-Yugoslav rapprochement led in 1961 to a break between Moscow and Tiranë.      15
Chinese influence and economic aid replaced Soviet, and Albania became China's only ally in Communist Eastern Europe. Albania ceased active participation in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) and, after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, withdrew from the Warsaw Treaty Organization. In the early 1970s continuing Soviet hostility and Albanian isolation led the Hoxha regime to make overtures to neighboring Yugoslavia, Greece, and Italy. The alliance with China lasted until 1977 when Hoxha broke ties in protest of China's liberalization and the U.S.-China rapprochement.      16
Ramiz Alia became president in 1982 and, following Hoxha's death in 1985, first secretary of the Albanian Communist party. Alia began to strengthen ties with other European nations, notably Italy and Greece, and restored diplomatic relations with the USSR (1990) and the United States (1991). The government began to allow tourism and promote foreign trade, and permitted the formation of the opposition Democratic party.      17
 
Attempts at Democracy
In the elections of Mar., 1991, the Communists defeated the Democrats, but popular discontent over poor living conditions and an exodus of Albanian refugees to Greece and Italy forced the cabinet to resign shortly thereafter. In new elections (1992) the Socialists (Communists) lost to the Democrats, Alia resigned, and Democratic leader Sali Berisha became Albania's first democratically elected president. With unemployment and inflation accelerating, the new government took steps toward a free-market economy. Although the economic picture showed some signs of improvement during the 1990s, poverty and unemployment remained widespread. The Berisha government prosecuted former Communist leaders, including Ramiz Alia, who was convicted of abuses of power and jailed. In 1994, Albania joined the NATO Partnership for Peace plan, and in 1995, it was admitted to the Council of Europe.      18
Berisha's party claimed a landslide victory in the 1996 general elections, which were marked by irregularities. In Mar., 1997, following weeks of rioting over collapsed pyramid investment schemes, Prime Ministër Aleksander Meksi, a Democrat, resigned. Berisha, however, was elected to a new five-year term and named Bashkim Fino, a Socialist, to head a new coalition government. Parliament declared a state of emergency as rebels gained control of largë sections of southern Albania and threatened the capital. Thousands of Albanians fled to Italy, and an international force from eight European nations arrived in Apr., 1997, to help restore order. The Socialists won parliamentary elections held in July, and Berisha resigned, succeeded by Socialist Rexhep Kemal Meidani. Fatos Nano became prime ministër in 1997 but resigned in 1998 and was succeeded by fellow Socialist Pandeli Majko. Majko resigned in Oct., 1999, after he lost a Socialist party leadership election and was succeeded by Socialist Ilir Meta. Albanians approved their first post-Communist constitution in 1998. The country was flooded with refugees from neighboring Kosovo in 1998 and 1999. In the June, 2001, parliamentary elections the Socialists were returned to power. After Meta resigned in Jan., 2002, Majko again became prime ministër; following Majko's resignation in July, Nano succeeded him. In June, 2002, a compromise candidate, Alfred Moisiu, a former general and defense ministër, was elected to succeed President Meidani.      19
 
Bibliography
See E. P. Stickney, Southern Albania or Northern Epirus in European International Affairs, 1912–1923 (1926); H. Hamm, Albania—China's Beachhead in Europe (tr. 1963); S. Skendi, ed., The Albanian National Awakening, 1878–1912 (1967); E. K. Keefe et al., Area Handbook for Albania (1971); S. Pollo and P. Arben, The History of Albania (1981); N. C. Pano, Albania (1989).

Wonderful Albanian Lakes

[Shkodra Lake] It is the biggest lake in Albania and also in Balkan Peninsula. It has an area of 368 km.sq. Shkodra lake in the Albanian territory is characterized by the diversity of shores and the land .The eastern shores are low with marshes while the southern shores are high and with rockies. The water of lake is rich with different kind of fish species , such as elk , etc. There are two tourist spots , Shiroka and Zogaj. They have fish restaurants and small hotels in Shiroka .
[Ohrid Lake ] It is the second lake in terms of area ( total 362 sq.km, one third belongs to the country) and the deepest both in Albania and Balkan Peninsula ( max 287 m deepth). The water of the lake is very clear . Rich in rare species of the fish , worth mentioning is the fish KORAN , hardly to be found in other lakes of the world over. Along the shores of the lake there are several tourist spots. The city of Pogradec is a resort center, preferred because of its beautiful beach and the fresh summer climate. The other tourist spots are Lini village, Pojska, and Driloni. The visitor can find here the basic facilities.


[Prespa Lake ] It is the highest tectonic lake in Albania and also in Balkan peninsula, 853 m above sea level. It has an area of 285 sq. km , 39 km. Sq. belongs to Albania. The Prespa lake has a panoramic view , full with small bays and high shores. It is rich in fish , among which the delicious small herrings. There are several villages on the shore of the lake. In front of Liqenas village there is a small island of Maligradi. There during the the fourteenth century the church of St Mary had been constructed within a cave. Some byzantine painting are found there. All area of Prespa between Albania, Greece and FYROM is proclamated as Natural Park.

[Lura Lakes ] The glacial complex of Lura lakes are one of the most beautiful pearls of Albanian nature. The glacial lakes of Lura have a general surface of 100 ha. They are located in the northeastern part of the countru in the district of Dibra. In winter these lakes freeze , taking the view of natural skiing lanes. The lake of Flowers is really astonishing with the big white water lilies in summer, leaving the impression of a big garden created by the hand of a mastermind. Lura is a National park.