132-688: Future road in Europe Arbër Highway Rruga e Arbërit [REDACTED] Route information Length 170 km (110 mi) Major junctions From Albania To Republic of North Macedonia Location Country Albania Major cities Tirana , Debar Highway system Highways in Albania The Arbër Highway ( Albanian : Rruga e Arbërit ) part of SH61 and SH6
264-490: A Greek text written in the 4th century BC. The Bryges were also present in central Albania, while the south was inhabited by the Epirote Chaonians , whose capital was at Phoenice . Other colonies such as Apollonia and Epidamnos were established by Greek city-states on the coast by the 7th century BC. The Illyrian Taulanti were a powerful Illyrian tribe that were among the earliest recorded tribes in
396-678: A Latinis, Grecis et Sclauis ita quod in nullo se intelligunt cum aliis nationibus. (Namely, the above-mentioned Albanians have a language that is different from the languages of Latins, Greeks and Slavs, so that they do not understand each other at all.) The oldest attested document written in Albanian dates to 1462, while the first audio recording in the language was made by Norbert Jokl on 4 April 1914 in Vienna . However, as Fortson notes, Albanian written works existed before this point; they have simply been lost. The existence of written Albanian
528-575: A centralised authority over most of the non-conquered territories, becoming the Lord of Albania . The Ottoman Empire's expansion ground to a halt during the time that Skanderbeg's forces resisted, and he has been credited with being one of the main reasons for the delay of Ottoman expansion into Western Europe , giving the Italian principalities more time to better prepare for the Ottoman arrival . However,
660-573: A common period of prehistoric coexistence of several Indo-European dialects in the Balkans prior to 2000 BC. To this group would belong Albanian, Ancient Greek , Armenian , Phrygian , fragmentary attested languages such as Macedonian , Thracian , or Illyrian , and the relatively well-attested Messapic in Southern Italy. The common features of this group appear at the phonological, morphological, and lexical levels, presumably resulting from
792-453: A diverse political evolution, transitioning from a monarchy to a communist regime before becoming a sovereign parliamentary constitutional republic . Governed by a constitution prioritizing the separation of powers, the country's political structure includes a parliament , a ceremonial president , a functional prime minister and a hierarchy of courts. Albania is a developing country with an upper-middle income economy driven by
924-462: A high priority on the diversification of the economy through Soviet-style industrialization, comprehensive infrastructure development such as the introduction of a transformative railway system , expansion of education and healthcare services, elimination of adult illiteracy, and targeted advancements in areas such as women's rights. Albania's diplomatic history under Hoxha was characterized by notable conflicts. Initially aligned with Yugoslavia as
1056-472: A large amount (or the majority) of their sea environment lexicon. A similar phenomenon could be observed with agricultural terms. While the words for 'arable land', 'wheat', 'cereals', 'vineyard', 'yoke', 'harvesting', 'cattle breeding', etc. are native, the words for 'ploughing', 'farm' and 'farmer', agricultural practices, and some harvesting tools are foreign. This, again, points to intense contact with other languages and people, rather than providing evidence of
1188-485: A military invasion of Albania, resulting to the exile of Zog and the creation of an Italian protectorate . As World War II progressed, Italy aimed to expand its territorial dominion in the Balkans, including territorial claims on regions of Greece ( Chameria ), Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo. These ambitions laid the foundation of Greater Albania , which aimed to unite all areas with Albanian-majority populations into
1320-475: A number of isoglosses with Albanian. Other linguists linked the Albanian language with Latin , Greek and Armenian , while placing Germanic and Balto-Slavic in another branch of Indo-European. In current scholarship there is evidence that Albanian is closely related to Greek and Armenian, while the fact that it is a satem language is less significant. Armenian Greek Phrygian (extinct) Messapic (extinct) Gheg Tosk Messapic
1452-604: A possible linguistic homeland (also known as a Urheimat ). The centre of Albanian settlement remained the Mat River. In 1079, the Albanians were recorded farther south in the valley of the Shkumbin River. The Shkumbin, a 181 km long river that lies near the old Via Egnatia , is approximately the boundary of the primary dialect division for Albanian, Tosk and Gheg . The characteristics of Tosk and Gheg in
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#17327804599111584-464: A satellite state, the relationship deteriorated as Yugoslavia aimed to incorporate Albania within its territory. Subsequently, Albania established relations with the Soviet Union and engaged trade agreements with other Eastern European countries, but experienced disagreements over Soviet policies, leading to strained ties with Moscow and diplomatic separation in 1961. Simultaneously, tensions with
1716-402: A secular way of life, and embrace socialist ideology. After four decades of communism paired with the revolutions of 1989 , Albania witnessed a notable rise in political activism, particularly among students, which led to a transformation in the prevailing order. After the first multi-party elections of 1991 , the communist party maintained a stronghold in the parliament until its defeat in
1848-491: A single country. In 1943, as Italy's control declined, Nazi Germany assumed control of Albania, subjecting Albanians to forced labor, economic exploitation and repression under German rule . The tide shifted in 1944 when Albanian partisan forces, under the leadership of Enver Hoxha and other communist leaders, successfully liberated Albania from German occupation. The establishment of the People's Republic of Albania under
1980-933: A strong sense of identity and are unique in that they speak an archaic dialect of Tosk Albanian called Arbëresh . In the United States and Canada, there are approximately 250,000 Albanian speakers. It is primarily spoken on the East Coast of the United States, in cities like New York City, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit, as well as in parts of the states of New Jersey, Ohio, and Connecticut. In Argentina, there are nearly 40,000 Albanian speakers , mostly in Buenos Aires. Approximately 1.3 million people of Albanian ancestry live in Turkey , with more than 500,000 recognizing their ancestry, language and culture . There are other estimates, however, that place
2112-604: A varied range of climatic, geological, hydrological and morphological conditions. Albania's landscapes range from rugged snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps and the Korab , Skanderbeg , Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains , to fertile lowland plains extending from the Adriatic and Ionian seacoasts. Tirana is the capital and largest city in the country, followed by Durrës , Vlorë , and Shkodër . In ancient times,
2244-431: A vision to institute a Western-style constitutional government, abolish feudalism, counter Italian influence, and enhance critical sectors, including infrastructure, education and healthcare. He faced resistance from former allies, who had assisted in the removal of Zog from power, and struggled to secure foreign aid to implement his agenda. Noli's decision to establish diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union, an adversary of
2376-426: A wave of evacuations of foreign nationals and refugees. The crisis led both Aleksandër Meksi and Sali Berisha to resign from office in the wake of the general election. In April 1997, Operation Alba , a U.N. peacekeeping force led by Italy, entered Albania with two goals: to assist with the evacuation of expatriates and secure the ground for international organizations. The main international organization involved
2508-531: A widespread campaign targeting religious clergy of various faiths, resulting in public persecution and executions, particularly targeting Muslims, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox adherents. In 1946, religious estates underwent nationalization, coinciding with the closure or transformation of religious institutions into various other purposes. This culminated in 1976, when Albania became the world's first constitutionally atheist state. Under this regime, citizens were forced to renounce their religious beliefs, adopt
2640-523: A work by Michael Attaliates , who referred to the Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople . At this point the Albanians were fully Christianised. After the dissolution of Arbanon, Charles of Anjou concluded an agreement with the Albanian rulers, promising to protect them and their ancient liberties. In 1272, he established the Kingdom of Albania and conquered regions back from
2772-573: Is a single carriageway highway that is being constructed between Albania and North Macedonia . The highway is planned to stretch along an ancient caravan route passing through the eastern highlands of Tirana along SH61, and ending at the current SH6 in Diber County . See also [ edit ] A1 motorway (Albania) Transport in Albania References [ edit ] ^ "Albania's tender for construction
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#17327804599112904-667: Is also spoken by 450,000 Albanian immigrants in Greece, making it one of the commonly spoken languages in the country after Greek. Albanian is the third most common mother tongue among foreign residents in Italy . This is due to a substantial Albanian immigration to Italy. Italy has a historical Albanian minority of about 500,000, scattered across southern Italy, known as Arbëreshë . Approximately 1 million Albanians from Kosovo are dispersed throughout Germany , Switzerland and Austria . These are mainly immigrants from Kosovo who migrated during
3036-408: Is around 29.% of the total land area, equivalent to 788,900 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, up from 788,800 hectares (ha) in 1990. Of the naturally regenerating forest 11% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 0% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 97% of the forest area
3168-507: Is called Albanoid in reference to a specific ethnolinguistically pertinent and historically compact language group. Whether descendants or sisters of what was called ' Illyrian ' by classical sources, Albanian and Messapic , on the basis of shared features and innovations, are grouped together in a common branch in the current phylogenetic classification of the Indo-European language family. The first written mention of Albanian
3300-608: Is considered the closest language to Albanian, grouped in a common branch titled Illyric in Hyllested & Joseph (2022). Hyllested & Joseph (2022) in agreement with recent bibliography identify Greco-Phrygian as the IE branch closest to the Albanian-Messapic one. These two branches form an areal grouping – which is often called "Balkan IE" – with Armenian. The hypothesis of the " Balkan Indo-European " continuum posits
3432-564: Is estimated to have as many as 7.5 million native speakers. Albanian and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in the region. Albanian in antiquity is often thought to have been an Illyrian language for obvious geographic and historical reasons, or otherwise an unmentioned Balkan Indo-European language that was closely related to Illyrian and Messapic . The Indo-European subfamily that gave rise to Albanian
3564-687: Is explicitly mentioned in a letter attested from 1332, and the first preserved books, including both those in Gheg and in Tosk, share orthographic features that indicate that some form of common literary language had developed. By the Late Middle Ages , during the period of Humanism and the European Renaissance , the term lingua epirotica ' Epirotan language ' was preferred in the intellectual, literary, and clerical circles of
3696-516: Is extremely rare for such a southerly latitude. Albanian language Albanian ( endonym : shqip [ʃcip] , gjuha shqipe [ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ] , or arbërisht [aɾbəˈɾiʃt] ) is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid branch , which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group . It is the native language of
3828-767: Is home to extensive mountain ranges, including the Albanian Alps in the north, the Korab Mountains in the east, the Pindus Mountains in the southeast, the Ceraunian Mountains in the southwest, and the Skanderbeg Mountains in the center. In the northwest is the Lake of Shkodër , Southern Europe's largest lake. Toward the southeast emerges the Lake of Ohrid , one of the world's oldest continuously existing lakes. Farther south,
3960-598: Is spoken in North-western Greece, while Arvanitika is spoken by the Arvanites in southern Greece. In addition, Arbëresh is spoken by the Arbëreshë people, descendants of 15th and 16th century migrants who settled in southeastern Italy, in small communities in the regions of Sicily and Calabria . These settlements originated from the (Arvanites) communities probably of Peloponnese known as Morea in
4092-486: Is spoken in the south, and Gheg spoken in the north. Standard Albanian is based on the Tosk dialect. The Shkumbin River is the rough dividing line between the two dialects. Gheg is divided into four sub-dialects: Northwest Gheg, Northeast Gheg, Central Gheg and Southern Gheg. It is primarily spoken in northern Albania, Kosovo , and throughout Montenegro and northwestern North Macedonia . One fairly divergent dialect
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4224-576: Is the Upper Reka dialect , which is however classified as Central Gheg. There is also a diaspora dialect in Croatia , the Arbanasi dialect . Tosk is divided into five sub-dialects, including Northern Tosk (the most numerous in speakers), Labërisht , Cham , Arvanitika , and Arbëresh . Tosk is spoken in southern Albania, southwestern North Macedonia and northern and southern Greece. Cham Albanian
4356-399: Is the most probable. Although Albanian shares lexical isoglosses with Greek , Germanic , and to a lesser extent Balto-Slavic , the vocabulary of Albanian is quite distinct. In 1995, Taylor, Ringe , and Warnow used quantitative linguistic techniques that appeared to obtain an Albanian subgrouping with Germanic, a result which the authors had already reasonably downplayed. Indeed,
4488-633: Is the official language of Albania and Kosovo and a co-official language in North Macedonia and Montenegro . Albanian is a recognised minority language in Croatia , Italy , Romania and in Serbia . Albanian is also spoken by a minority in Greece , specifically in the Thesprotia and Preveza regional units and in a few villages in Ioannina and Florina regional units in Greece. It
4620-437: The 2013 and 2017 parliamentary elections . As prime minister , he implemented numerous reforms focused on modernizing the economy , as well as democratizing state institutions, including the judiciary and law enforcement . Unemployment has steadily declined, with Albania achieving the 4th-lowest unemployment rate in the Balkans. Rama has also placed gender equality at the center of his agenda; since 2017 almost 50% of
4752-561: The Albanian people . Standard Albanian is the official language of Albania and Kosovo , and a co-official language in North Macedonia and Montenegro , as well as a recognized minority language of Italy , Croatia , Romania and Serbia . It is also spoken in Greece and by the Albanian diaspora , which is generally concentrated in the Americas , Europe and Oceania . Albanian
4884-743: The Aurignacian culture . The Neolithic era in Albania began around 7000 BC and is evidenced in finds which indicate domestication of sheep and goats and small-scale agriculture. A part of the Neolithic population may have been the same as the Mesolithic population of the southern Balkans like in the Konispol cave where the Mesolithic stratum co-exists with Pre-Pottery Neolithic finds. Cardium pottery culture appears in coastal Albania and across
5016-769: The Battle of Novšiće , the league was forced to retreat from their contested regions. The league was later defeated by the Ottoman army sent by the sultan. Albania declared independence from the Ottoman Empire on 28 November 1912, accompanied by the establishment of the Senate and Government by the Assembly of Vlorë on 4 December 1912. Its sovereignty was recognized by the Conference of London . On 29 July 1913,
5148-463: The Congress of Dibra decided that Albanian schools would finally be allowed. Albanian is an isolate within the Indo-European language family; no other language has been conclusively linked to its branch . The only other languages that are the sole surviving members of a branch of Indo-European are Armenian and Greek. The Albanian language is part of the Indo-European language family and
5280-800: The Congress of Durrës sought Paris Peace Conference protection but was denied, further complicating Albania's position on the international stage. Territorial tensions escalated as Yugoslavia, particularly Serbia, sought control of northern Albania, while Greece aimed dominance in southern Albania. The situation deteriorated in 1919 when the Serbs launched attacks on Albanian inhabitants, among others in Gusinje and Plav , resulting in massacres and large-scale displacement . Meanwhile, Italian influence continued to expand during this time, driven by economic interests and political ambitions. Fan Noli , renowned for his idealism , became prime minister in 1924, with
5412-661: The Despotate of Epirus . The kingdom claimed all of central Albania territory from Dyrrhachium along the Adriatic Sea coast down to Butrint . A catholic political structure was a basis for the papal plans of spreading Catholicism in the Balkan Peninsula. This plan found also the support of Helen of Anjou , a cousin of Charles of Anjou. Around 30 Catholic churches and monasteries were built during her rule mainly in northern Albania. Internal power struggles within
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5544-725: The Illyrians inhabited northern and central regions of Albania, whilst Epirotes inhabited the south. Several important ancient Greek colonies were also established on the coast. The Illyrian kingdom centered in what is now Albania was the dominant power before the Rise of Macedon . In the 2nd century BC, the Roman Republic annexed the region, and after the division of the Roman Empire it became part of Byzantium . The first known Albanian autonomous principality, Arbanon ,
5676-629: The Janissary of Muhammad Ali Pasha , an Albanian who became Wāli , and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan . In addition to the dynasty that he established, a large part of the former Egyptian and Sudanese aristocracy was of Albanian origin. In addition to the recent emigrants, there are older diasporic communities around the world. Albanian is also spoken by Albanian diaspora communities residing in Australia and New Zealand . The Albanian language has two distinct dialects, Tosk which
5808-476: The Kingdom of Albania , which became Greater Albania , and then a protectorate of Nazi Germany during World War II . After the war, the People's Socialist Republic of Albania was formed, which lasted until the Revolutions of 1991 concluded with the fall of communism in Albania and eventually the establishment of the current Republic of Albania. Since its independence in 1912, Albania has undergone
5940-483: The Korab Mountains are recognised as the coldest areas in the country. Throughout the year, the average monthly temperatures fluctuate, ranging from −1 °C (30 °F ) during the winter months to 21.8 °C (71.2 °F) in the summer months. Notably, the highest recorded temperature of 43.9 °C (111.0 °F) was observed in Kuçovë on 18 July 1973, while the lowest temperature of −29 °C (−20 °F)
6072-753: The Korçë District , Kamnik in Kolonja , Kolsh in the Kukës District , Rashtan in Librazhd , and Nezir in the Mat District . As in other parts of Europe, these PreIE people joined the migratory Indo-European tribes that entered the Balkans and contributed to the formation of the historical Paleo-Balkan tribes. In terms of linguistics, the pre-Indo-European substrate language spoken in the southern Balkans probably influenced pre-Proto-Albanian ,
6204-461: The Köppen classification , Albania encompasses five primary climatic types, spanning from Mediterranean and subtropical in the western half to oceanic , continental and subarctic in the eastern half of the country. The coastal regions along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas in Albania are acknowledged as the warmest areas, while the northern and eastern regions encompassing the Albanian Alps and
6336-864: The League of Prizren and culminated with the Congress of Manastir held by Albanian intellectuals from 14 to 22 November 1908, in Manastir (present day Bitola ), which decided on which alphabet to use, and what the standardised spelling would be for standard Albanian. This is how the literary language remains. The alphabet is the Latin alphabet with the addition of the letters ⟨ ë ⟩ , ⟨ ç ⟩ , and ten digraphs : dh , th , xh , gj , nj , ng , ll , rr , zh and sh . According to Robert Elsie : The hundred years between 1750 and 1850 were an age of astounding orthographic diversity in Albania. In this period,
6468-601: The Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë ), is a country in Southeast Europe . It is located in the Balkans , on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea , and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. With an area of 28,748 km (11,100 sq mi), it has
6600-609: The Sanjak of Prizren as representatives of the central authorities and no delegates from Vilayet of Scutari . Signed by only 47 Muslim deputies, the league issued the Kararname that contained a proclamation that the people from northern Albania, Epirus and Bosnia and Herzegovina are willing to defend the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire by all possible means against the troops of Bulgaria , Serbia and Montenegro . Ottomans authorities cancelled their assistance when
6732-607: The Treaty of London delineated the borders of the country and its neighbors, leaving many Albanians outside Albania, predominantly partitioned between Montenegro , Serbia , and Greece . Headquartered in Vlorë, the International Commission of Control was established on 15 October 1913 to take care of the administration of Albania until its own political institutions were in order. The International Gendarmerie
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#17327804599116864-402: The United Kingdom and Austro-Hungarian Empire consequently blocked the arrangement and caused the Treaty of Berlin . From this point, Albanians started to organise themselves with the goal to protect and unite the Albanian-populated lands into a unitary nation, leading to the formation of the League of Prizren . The league had initially the assistance of the Ottoman authorities whose position
6996-521: The parliamentary elections of 1992 directed by the Democratic Party . Considerable economic and financial resources were devoted to pyramid schemes that were widely supported by the government. The schemes swept up somewhere between one sixth and one third of the population of the country. Despite the International Monetary Fund 's warnings, Sali Berisha defended the schemes as large investment firms, leading more people to redirect their remittances and sell their homes and cattle for cash to deposit in
7128-530: The 14th century, but they failed to cite specific words. The oldest surviving documents written in Albanian are the " formula e pagëzimit " (Baptismal formula), Un'te paghesont' pr'emenit t'Atit e t'Birit e t'Spertit Senit . ("I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit ") recorded by Pal Engjelli, Bishop of Durrës in 1462 in the Gheg dialect, and some New Testament verses from that period. The linguists Stefan Schumacher and Joachim Matzinger (University of Vienna) assert that
7260-519: The 17th century, while Orthodox Albanians followed suit mainly in the following century. Since the Albanians were seen as strategically important, they made up a significant proportion of the Ottoman military and bureaucracy. Many Muslim Albanians attained important political and military positions and culturally contributed to the broader Muslim world . Enjoying this privileged position, they held various high administrative positions with over two dozen Albanian Grand Viziers . Others included members of
7392-410: The 1990s. In Switzerland , the Albanian language is the sixth most spoken language with 176,293 native speakers. Albanian became an official language in North Macedonia on 15 January 2019. There are large numbers of Albanian speakers in the United States, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Canada . Some of the first ethnic Albanians to arrive in the United States were the Arbëreshë. The Arbëreshë have
7524-404: The 7th century. In the 11th century, the Great Schism formalised the break of communion between the Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic Church that is reflected in Albania through the emergence of a Catholic north and Orthodox south. The Albanian people inhabited the west of Lake Ochrida and the upper valley of River Shkumbin and established the Principality of Arbanon in 1190 under
7656-471: The Adriatic after 6500 BC, while the settlements of the interior took part in the processes which formed the Starčevo culture . The Albanian bitumen mines of Selenicë provide early evidence of bitumen exploitation in Europe, dating to Late Neolithic Albania (from 5000 BC), when local communities used it as pigment for ceramic decoration, waterproofing , and adhesive for reparing broken vessels. The bitumen of Selenicë circulated towards eastern Albania from
7788-453: The Albanian and Germanic branches share a relatively moderate number of lexical cognates. Many shared grammatical elements or features of these two branches do not corroborate the lexical isoglosses. Albanian also shares lexical linguistic affinity with Latin and Romance languages. Sharing linguistic features unique to the languages of the Balkans , Albanian also forms a part of the Balkan linguistic area or sprachbund . The place and
7920-426: The Albanian language was on 14 July 1284 in Ragusa in modern Croatia ( Dubrovnik ) when a crime witness named Matthew testified: "I heard a voice crying on the mountain in the Albanian language" ( Latin : Audivi unam vocem, clamantem in monte in lingua albanesca ). The Albanian language is also mentioned in the Descriptio Europae Orientalis dated in 1308: Habent enim Albani prefati linguam distinctam
8052-435: The Albanian language was put to writing in at least ten different alphabets – most certainly a record for European languages. ... the diverse forms in which this old Balkan language was recorded, from the earliest documents to the beginning of the twentieth century ... consist of adaptations of the Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Cyrillic alphabets and (what is even more interesting) a number of locally invented writing systems. Most of
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#17327804599118184-451: The Albanians became primarily widespread from the 17th century and continued into the 18th century. Islam offered them equal opportunities and advancement within the Ottoman Empire. However, motives for conversion were, according to some scholars, diverse depending on the context though the lack of source material does not help when investigating such issues. Because of increasing suppression of Catholicism, most Catholic Albanians converted in
8316-566: The Arbanitai as subjects of the Duke of Dyrrachium . In the Middle Ages, Albania was denoted as Arbëri or Arbëni by its inhabitants, who identified themselves as Arbëreshë or Arbëneshë . Albanians employ the terms Shqipëri or Shqipëria for their nation, designations that trace their historical origins to the 14th century. But only in the late 17th and early 18th centuries did these terms gradually supersede Arbëria and Arbëreshë among Albanians. These two expressions are widely interpreted to symbolise "Children of
8448-442: The Byzantine Empire in the 14th century enabled Serbs' most powerful medieval ruler, Stefan Dusan , to establish a short-lived empire that included all of Albania except Durrës. In 1367, various Albanian rulers established the Despotate of Arta . During that time, several Albanian principalities were created, notably the Principality of Albania , Principality of Kastrioti , Lordship of Berat and Principality of Dukagjini . In
8580-407: The Eagles" and "Land of the Eagles". Mesolithic habitation in Albania has been evidenced in several open air sites which during that period were close to the Adriatic coastline and in cave sites. Mesolithic objects found in a cave near Xarrë include flint and jasper objects along with fossilised animal bones, while those discoveries at Mount Dajt comprise bone and stone tools similar to those of
8712-516: The Greek colony of Epidamnos . The Illyrian Ardiaei tribe, centred in Montenegro, ruled over most of the territory of northern Albania. Their Ardiaean Kingdom reached its greatest extent under King Agron , the son of Pleuratus II . Agron extended his rule over other neighbouring tribes as well. Following Agron's death in 230 BC, his wife, Teuta , inherited the Ardiaean kingdom. Teuta's forces extended their operations further southwards to the Ionian Sea. In 229 BC, Rome declared war on
8844-670: The IE-ization of Albania involves a man with predominantly Yamnaya ancestry buried in a tumulus of northeastern Albania which dates to 2663–2472 calBC. During the Middle Bronze Age, Cetina culture sites and finds appear in Albania. Cetina culture moved southwards across the Adriatic from the Cetina valley of Dalmatia . In Albania, Cetina finds are concentrated around southern Lake Shkodër and appear typically in tumulus cemeteries like in Shkrel and Shtoj and hillforts like Gajtan (Shkodër) as well as cave sites like Blaz, Nezir and Keputa (central Albania) and lake basin sites like Sovjan (southeastern Albania). The incorporated territory of Albania
8976-404: The Middle Ages. Among them the Arvanites call themselves Arbëror and sometime Arbëresh. The Arbëresh dialect is closely related to the Arvanites dialect with more Italian vocabulary absorbed during different periods of time. The Albanian language has been written using many alphabets since the earliest records from the 15th century. The history of Albanian language orthography is closely related to
9108-523: The Ottomans were gaining a firm foothold in the region, Albanian towns were organised into four principal sanjaks . The government fostered trade by settling a sizeable Jewish colony of refugees fleeing persecution in Spain. The city of Vlorë saw passing through its ports imported merchandise from Europe such as velvets, cotton goods, mohairs, carpets, spices and leather from Bursa and Constantinople . Some citizens of Vlorë even had business associates throughout Europe. The phenomenon of Islamisation among
9240-513: The Serbian elite, ignited allegations of bolshevism from Belgrade. This in turn led to increased pressure from Italy and culminated in Zog's restoration to authority. In 1928, Zog transitioned Albania from a republic to a monarchy that garnered backing from Fascist Italy , with Zog assuming the title of King Zog I. Key constitutional changes dissolved the Senate and established a unicameral National Assembly while preserving Zog's authoritative powers. In 1939, Italy under Benito Mussolini launched
9372-443: The Shkumbin river since the Post-Roman and Pre-Slavic period, straddling the Jireček Line . Centuries-old communities speaking Albanian dialects can be found scattered in Greece (the Arvanites and some communities in Epirus , Western Macedonia and Western Thrace ), Croatia (the Arbanasi ), Italy (the Arbëreshë ) as well as in Romania , Turkey and Ukraine . The Malsia e Madhe Gheg Albanian and two varieties of
9504-412: The Tosk dialect, Arvanitika in Greece and Arbëresh in southern Italy, have preserved archaic elements of the language. Ethnic Albanians constitute a large diaspora , with many having long assimilated in different cultures and communities. Consequently, Albanian-speakers do not correspond to the total ethnic Albanian population, as many ethnic Albanians may identify as Albanian but are unable to speak
9636-729: The West heightened due to Albania's refusal to hold free elections and allegations of Western support for anti-communist uprisings . Albania's enduring partnership was with China; it sided with Beijing during the Sino-Soviet conflict , resulting in severed ties with the Soviet Union and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact in response to the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. But their relations stagnated in 1970, prompting both to reassess their commitment, and Albania actively reduced its dependence on China. Under Hoxha's regime, Albania underwent
9768-641: The area. They lived in an area that corresponds much of present-day Albania. Together with the Dardanian ruler Cleitus , Glaucias , the ruler of the Taulantian kingdom, fought against Alexander the Great at the Battle of Pelium in 335 BC. As the time passed, the ruler of Ancient Macedonia, Cassander of Macedon captured Apollonia and crossed the river Genusus ( Albanian : Shkumbin ) in 314 BC. A few years later Glaucias laid siege to Apollonia and captured
9900-457: The contact between the various languages. The concept of this linguistic group is explained as a kind of language league of the Bronze Age (a specific areal-linguistics phenomenon), although it also consisted of languages that were related to each other. A common prestage posterior to PIE comprising Albanian, Greek, and Armenian, is considered as a possible scenario. In this light, due to
10032-796: The cultural orientation and knowledge of certain foreign languages among Albanian writers. The earliest written Albanian records come from the Gheg area in makeshift spellings based on Italian or Greek. Originally, the Tosk dialect was written in the Greek alphabet and the Gheg dialect was written in the Latin script . Both dialects had also been written in the Ottoman Turkish version of the Arabic script , Cyrillic , and some local alphabets ( Elbasan , Vithkuqi , Todhri , Veso Bey, Jan Vellara and others, see original Albanian alphabets ). More specifically,
10164-616: The early 5th millennium BC. First evidence of its overseas trade export comes from Neolithic and Bronze Age southern Italy . The high-quality bitumen of Selenicë has been exploited throughout all the historical ages since the Late Neolithic era until today. The Indo-Europeanization of Albania in the context of the IE-ization of the western Balkans began after 2800 BC. The presence of the Early Bronze Age tumuli in
10296-479: The east, Greece to the south, and the Ionian Sea to the southwest. It is between latitudes 42° and 39° N and longitudes 21° and 19° E . Geographic coordinates include Vërmosh at 42° 35' 34" northern latitude as the northernmost point, Konispol at 39° 40' 0" northern latitude as the southernmost, Sazan at 19° 16' 50" eastern longitude as the westernmost, and Vërnik at 21° 1' 26" eastern longitude as
10428-568: The easternmost. Mount Korab , rising at 2,764 m (9,068.24 ft) above the Adriatic , is the highest point, while the Mediterranean Sea, at 0 m (0.00 ft), is the lowest. The country extends 148 km (92 mi) from east to west and around 340 km (211 mi) from north to south. Albania has a diverse and varied landscape with mountains and hills that traverse its territory in various directions. The country
10560-544: The end of August 1914. Prince Wied's regime collapsed, and he left the country on 3 September 1914. The interwar period in Albania was marked by persistent economic and social difficulties, political instability and foreign interventions. After World War I , Albania lacked an established government and internationally recognized borders, rendering it vulnerable to neighboring entities such as Greece, Italy, and Yugoslavia, all of which sought to expand their influence. This led to political uncertainty, highlighted in 1918 when
10692-651: The expanse includes the Large and Small Lake of Prespa , some of the Balkans' highest lakes. Rivers rise mostly in the east and discharge into the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The country's longest river, measured from mouth to source, is the Drin , which starts at the confluence of its two headwaters, the Black and White Drin . Of particular concern is the Vjosë , one of Europe's last intact large river systems. In Albania forest cover
10824-621: The failure of most European nations, with the exception of Naples, in giving him support, along with the failure of Pope Pius II's plans to organize a promised crusade against the Ottomans meant that none of Skanderbeg's victories permanently hindered the Ottomans from invading the Western Balkans. Despite his brilliance as a military leader, Skanderbeg's victories were only delaying the final conquests. The constant Ottoman invasions caused enormous destruction to Albania, greatly reducing
10956-476: The first Albanian cabinet. In November 1913, the Albanian pro-Ottoman forces had offered the throne of Albania to the Ottoman war minister of Albanian origin, Ahmed Izzet Pasha . The pro-Ottoman peasants believed that the new regime was a tool of the six Christian Great Powers and local landowners, who owned half of the arable land. In February 1914, the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus
11088-832: The first half of the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire invaded most of Albania, and the League of Lezhë was held under Skanderbeg as a ruler, who became the national hero of the Albanian medieval history. With the fall of Constantinople , the Ottoman Empire continued an extended period of conquest and expansion with its borders going deep into Southeast Europe . They reached the Albanian Ionian Sea Coast in 1385 and erected their garrisons across Southern Albania in 1415 and then occupied most of Albania in 1431. Thousands of Albanians consequently fled to Western Europe, particularly to Calabria , Naples , Ragusa and Sicily , whereby others sought protection at
11220-459: The first literary records of Albanian date from the 16th century. The oldest known Albanian printed book, Meshari , or "missal", was written in 1555 by Gjon Buzuku , a Roman Catholic cleric. In 1635, Frang Bardhi wrote the first Latin–Albanian dictionary. The first Albanian school is believed to have been opened by Franciscans in 1638 in Pdhanë . One of the earliest Albanian dictionaries
11352-522: The intenser amount of precipitation, whilst the northeastern and southwestern highlands as well as the Western Lowlands the more limited amount. The Albanian Alps in the far north of the country are considered to be among the most humid regions of Europe, receiving at least 3,100 mm (122.0 in) of rain annually. Four glaciers within these mountains were discovered at a relatively low altitude of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), which
11484-641: The kingdom for extensively plundering Roman ships. The war ended in Illyrian defeat in 227 BC. Teuta was eventually succeeded by Gentius in 181 BC. Gentius clashed with the Romans in 168 BC, initiating the Third Illyrian War . The conflict resulted in Roman conquest of the region by 167 BC. The Romans split the region into three administrative divisions. The Roman Empire
11616-541: The language. Standard Albanian is a standardised form of spoken Albanian based on Tosk . The language is spoken by approximately 6 million people in the Balkans, primarily in Albania, Kosovo , North Macedonia , Serbia , Montenegro and Greece . However, due to old communities in Italy and the large Albanian diaspora , the worldwide total of speakers is much higher than in Southern Europe and numbers approximately 7.5 million. The Albanian language
11748-601: The larger number of possible shared innovations between Greek and Armenian, it appears reasonable to assume, at least tentatively, that Albanian was the first Balkan IE language to branch off. This split and the following ones were perhaps very close in time, allowing only a narrow time frame for shared innovations. Albanian represents one of the core languages of the Balkan Sprachbund . Glottolog and Ethnologue recognize four Albanian languages. They are classified as follows: The first attested written mention of
11880-465: The latter alphabets have now been forgotten and are unknown, even to the Albanians themselves. Albanian constitutes one of the eleven major branches of the Indo-European language family , within which it occupies an independent position. In 1854, Albanian was demonstrated to be an Indo-European language by the philologist Franz Bopp . Albanian was formerly compared by a few Indo-European linguists with Germanic and Balto-Slavic , all of which share
12012-488: The leadership of Enver Hoxha was a significant epoch in modern Albanian history. Hoxha's regime embraced Marxist–Leninist ideologies and implemented authoritarian policies, including prohibition of religious practices, severe restrictions on travel, and abolition of private property rights. It was also defined by a persistent pattern of purges, extensive repression, instances of betrayal, and hostility to external influences. Any form of opposition or resistance to his rule
12144-549: The leadership of Progon of Kruja . The realm was succeeded by his sons Gjin and Dhimitri. Upon the death of Dhimiter, the territory came under the rule of the Albanian-Greek Gregory Kamonas and subsequently under the Golem of Kruja . In the 13th century, the principality was dissolved. Arbanon is considered to be the first sketch of an Albanian state, that retained a semi-autonomous status as
12276-473: The league, under Abdyl Frashëri , became focused on working towards Albanian autonomy and requested merging four vilayets , including Kosovo , Shkodër , Monastir and Ioannina , into a unified vilayet, the Albanian Vilayet . The league used military force to prevent the annexing areas of Plav and Gusinje assigned to Montenegro. After several successful battles with Montenegrin troops, such as
12408-429: The ministers have been female, the largest number of women serving in the country's history. During the 2021 parliamentary elections , the ruling Socialist Party led by Rama secured its third consecutive victory, winning nearly half of votes and enough seats in parliament to govern alone. On 26 November 2019, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake ravaged Albania, with the epicenter about 16 km (10 mi) southwest of
12540-429: The names for fish and for agricultural activities (such as ploughing ) are borrowed from other languages. A deeper analysis of the vocabulary, however, shows that could be a consequence of a prolonged Latin domination of the coastal and plain areas of the country, rather than evidence of the original environment in which the Albanian language was formed. For example, the word for 'fish' is borrowed from Latin, but not
12672-456: The north and Tosk spoken to the south of the Shkumbin river . Their characteristics in the treatment of both native words and loanwords provide evidence that the split into the northern and the southern dialects occurred after Christianisation of the region (4th century AD), and most likely not later than the 6th century AD, hence possibly occupying roughly their present area divided by
12804-518: The number of people in Turkey with Albanian ancestry and or background upward to 5 million. However, the vast majority of this population is assimilated and no longer possesses fluency in the Albanian language, though a vibrant Albanian community maintains its distinct identity in Istanbul to this day. Egypt also lays claim to about 18,000 Albanians, mostly Tosk speakers. Many are descendants of
12936-544: The often inaccessible Mountains of Albania . The Albanians, as Christians, were considered an inferior class of people, and as such they were subjected to heavy taxes among others by the Devshirme system that allowed the Sultan to collect a requisite percentage of Christian adolescents from their families to compose the Janissary . The Ottoman conquest was also accompanied with the gradual process of Islamisation and
13068-412: The only surviving representative of its own branch , which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group . Although it is still uncertain which ancient mentioned language of the Balkans it continues, or where in the region its speakers lived. In general, there is insufficient evidence to connect Albanian with one of those languages, whether Illyrian , Thracian , or Dacian . Among these possibilities, Illyrian
13200-1702: The part of Road of Arberit announced" . Archived from the original on 2011-07-17 . Retrieved 2010-12-04 . External links [ edit ] Arber Highway on Rruga e Arberit Newspaper v t e Highways of Albania Motorways ( Autostrada ) A1 A2 A3 Expressways ( Rruga Shtetërore ) SH1 SH2 SH3 SH4 SH5 SH6 SH7 SH8 SH9 SH24 SH27 SH32 SH41 SH52 SH56 SH64 [REDACTED] Commons category [REDACTED] Category Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arbër_Highway&oldid=1250303137 " Categories : Roads in Albania Roads in North Macedonia Transport in Tirana County Pan-European Corridor VIII Proposed transport infrastructure in Albania Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles containing Albanian-language text Infobox road maps tracking category Infobox road instances in Albania Albania Albania ( / æ l ˈ b eɪ n i ə , ɔː l -/ a(w)l- BAY -nee-ə ; Albanian : Shqipëri or Shqipëria ), officially
13332-520: The population and destroying flocks of livestock and crops. Besides surrender, there was no possible way Skanderbeg would be able to halt the Ottoman invasions despite his successes against them. His manpower and resources were insufficient, preventing him from expanding the war efforts and driving the Turks from the Albanian borders. Albania was therefore doomed to face an unending series of Ottoman attacks until it eventually fell years after his death. When
13464-461: The possibility of historical continuity. The precise relationship among these historical references and the question of whether Albanopolis was synonymous with Albanon remain subjects of scholarly debate. The Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates , in his 11th-century historical account, provides the earliest undisputed reference to the Albanians, when he mentions them having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople in 1079. He also identifies
13596-564: The prominent Köprülü family , Zagan Pasha , Muhammad Ali of Egypt and Ali Pasha of Tepelena . Furthermore, two sultans, Bayezid II and Mehmed III , both had mothers of Albanian origin. The Albanian Renaissance was a period with its roots in the late 18th century and continuing into the 19th century, during which the Albanian people gathered spiritual and intellectual strength for an independent cultural and political life within an independent nation . Modern Albanian culture flourished too, especially Albanian literature and arts , and
13728-513: The rapid construction of mosques. A prosperous and longstanding revolution erupted after the formation of the League of Lezhë until the fall of Shkodër under the leadership of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg , who consistently defeated major Ottoman armies led by Sultans Murad II and Mehmed II . Skanderbeg managed to unite several of the Albanian principalities, amongst them the Arianitis , Dukagjinis , Zaharias and Thopias , and establish
13860-634: The savior of Albania and Islam. To gain the support of the Mirdita Catholic volunteers from northern Albania, Prince Wied appointed their leader, Prênk Bibë Doda , foreign minister of the Principality of Albania. In May and June 1914, the International Gendarmerie was joined by Isa Boletini and his men, mostly from Kosovo , and the rebels defeated northern Mirdita Catholics, capturing most of Central Albania by
13992-569: The schemes. The schemes began to collapse in late 1996, leading many of the investors to join initially peaceful protests against the government, requesting their money back. The protests turned violent in February 1997 as government forces responded by firing on the demonstrators. In March, the Police and Republican Guard deserted, leaving their armories open. These were promptly emptied by militias and criminal gangs. The resulting civil war caused
14124-477: The service sector, with manufacturing and tourism also playing significant roles. After the dissolution of its communist system the country shifted from centralized planning to an open market economy . Albanian citizens have universal health care access and free primary and secondary education. The country is an official candidate for membership in the European Union. The historical origins of
14256-604: The term "Albania" can be traced back to medieval Latin , with its foundations believed to be associated with the Illyrian tribe of the Albani . This connection gains further support from the work of the Ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy during the 2nd century AD, where he included the settlement of Albanopolis situated to the northeast of Durrës . The presence of a medieval settlement named Albanon or Arbanon hints at
14388-478: The time that the Albanian language was formed are uncertain. The American linguist Eric Hamp has said that during an unknown chronological period a pre-Albanian population (termed as "Albanoid" by Hamp) inhabited areas stretching from Poland to the southwestern Balkans. Further analysis has suggested that it was in a mountainous region rather than on a plain or seacoast. The words for plants and animals characteristic of mountainous regions are entirely original, but
14520-510: The time, and used as a synonym for the Albanian language. Published in Rome in 1635, by the Albanian bishop and writer Frang Bardhi, the first dictionary of the Albanian language was titled Latin : Dictionarium latino-epiroticum ' Latin-Epirotan dictionary ' . During the five-century period of the Ottoman presence in Albania , the language was not officially recognised until 1909, when
14652-460: The town of Mamurras . The tremor was felt in Tirana and in places as far away as Taranto , Italy, and Belgrade , Serbia, while the most affected areas were the coastal city of Durrës and the village of Kodër-Thumanë . Comprehensive response to the earthquake included substantial humanitarian aid from the Albanian diaspora and various countries around the world . On 9 March 2020, COVID-19
14784-572: The treatment of the native words and loanwords from other languages are evidence that the dialectal split preceded the Slavic migrations to the Balkans , which means that in that period (the 5th to 6th centuries AD), Albanians were occupying nearly the same area around the Shkumbin river, which straddled the Jireček Line . References to the existence of Albanian as a distinct language survive from
14916-537: The vicinity of later Apollonia dates to 2679±174 calBC (2852-2505 calBC). These burial mounds belong to the southern expression of the Adriatic-Ljubljana culture (related to later Cetina culture ) which moved southwards along the Adriatic from the northern Balkans. The same community built similar mounds in Montenegro (Rakića Kuće) and northern Albania (Shtoj). The first archaeogenetic find related to
15048-545: The western extremity of the Byzantine Empire , under the Byzantine Doukai of Epirus or Laskarids of Nicaea . Towards the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries, Serbs and Venetians started to take possession over the territory. The ethnogenesis of the Albanians is uncertain; however, the first undisputed mention of Albanians dates back in historical records from 1079 or 1080 in
15180-421: The word for 'gills' which is native. Indigenous are also the words for 'ship', 'raft', 'navigation', 'sea shelves' and a few names of fish kinds, but not the words for 'sail', 'row' and 'harbor'; objects pertaining to navigation itself and a large part of sea fauna. This rather shows that Proto-Albanians were pushed away from coastal areas in early times (probably after the Latin conquest of the region) and thus lost
15312-544: The writers from northern Albania and under the influence of the Catholic Church used Latin letters, those in southern Albania and under the influence of the Greek Orthodox church used Greek letters, while others throughout Albania and under the influence of Islam used Arabic letters. There were initial attempts to create an original Albanian alphabet during the 1750–1850 period. These attempts intensified after
15444-527: Was based on the religious solidarity of Muslim people and landlords connected with the Ottoman administration . They favoured and protected the Muslim solidarity and called for defence of Muslim lands simultaneously constituting the reason for titling the league Committee of the Real Muslims . Approximately 300 Muslims participated in the assembly composed by delegates from Bosnia, the administrator of
15576-400: Was confirmed to have spread to Albania. From March to June 2020, the government declared a state of emergency as a measure to limit the virus's spread. The country's COVID-19 vaccination campaign started on 11 January 2021, but as of 11 August 2021, the total number of vaccines administered in Albania was 1,280,239 doses. On 21 September 2024, it was reported that Prime Minister Rama
15708-463: Was established as the Principality of Albania 's first law enforcement agency. In November, the first gendarmerie members arrived in the country. Prince of Albania Wilhelm of Wied (Princ Vilhelm Vidi) was selected as the first prince of the principality. On 7 March, he arrived in the provisional capital of Durrës and began to organize his government, appointing Turhan Pasha Përmeti to form
15840-414: Was established in the 12th century. The Kingdom of Albania , Principality of Albania and Albania Veneta were formed between the 13th and 15th centuries in different parts of the country, alongside other Albanian principalities and political entities. In the late 15th century, Albania became part of the Ottoman Empire . In 1912, the modern Albanian state declared independence . In 1939, Italy invaded
15972-587: Was frequently linked to the influences of the Romanticism and Enlightenment principles. Prior to the rise of nationalism , Ottoman authorities suppressed any expression of national unity or conscience by the Albanian people. The victory of Russia over the Ottoman Empire following the Russian-Ottoman Wars resulted the execution of the Treaty of San Stefano which assigned Albanian-populated lands to their Slavic and Greek neighbours. However,
16104-532: Was historically inhabited by Indo-European peoples , amongst them numerous Illyrian and Epirote tribes. There were also several Greek colonies . The territory referred to as Illyria corresponded roughly to the area east of the Adriatic Sea in the Mediterranean Sea extending in the south to the mouth of the Vjosë . The first account of the Illyrian groups comes from Periplus of the Euxine Sea ,
16236-481: Was in 1284 in a witness testimony from the Republic of Ragusa , while a letter written by Dominican Friar Gulielmus Adea in 1332 mentions the Albanians using the Latin alphabet in their writings. The oldest surviving attestation of modern Albanian is from 1462. The two main Albanian dialect groups (or varieties ), Gheg and Tosk , are primarily distinguished by phonological differences and are mutually intelligible in their standard varieties, with Gheg spoken to
16368-419: Was met with expeditious and severe consequences, such as internal exile, extended imprisonment, and execution. The regime confronted a multitude of challenges, including widespread poverty, illiteracy, health crises and gender inequality. In response, Hoxha initiated a modernization initiative aimed at attaining economic and social liberation and transforming Albania into an industrial society. The regime placed
16500-769: Was planning to create the Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order , a sovereign microstate for the Order within Tirana. Albania lies along the Mediterranean Sea on the Balkan Peninsula in South and Southeast Europe , and has an area of 28,748 km (11,100 sq mi). It is bordered by the Adriatic Sea to the west, Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to
16632-539: Was proclaimed in Gjirokastër by the local Greek population against incorporation to Albania. This initiative was short-lived, and in 1921 the southern provinces were incorporated into the Albanian Principality. Meanwhile, the revolt of Albanian peasants against the new regime erupted under the leadership of the group of Muslim clerics gathered around Essad Pasha Toptani , who proclaimed himself
16764-580: Was reached in 2009, when the country attained membership in NATO, marking a pioneering achievement among the nations of Southeast Europe . In adherence to its vision for further integration into the EU, it formally applied for membership on 28 April 2009. Another milestone was reached on 24 June 2014, when the country was granted official candidate status . Edi Rama of the Socialist Party won both
16896-454: Was recorded in Shtyllë, Librazhd on 9 January 2017. Albania receives most of the precipitation in winter months and less in summer months. The average precipitation is about 1,485 millimetres (58.5 inches). The mean annual precipitation ranges between 600 and 3,000 millimetres (24 and 118 inches) depending on geographical location. The northwestern and southeastern highlands receive
17028-403: Was reported to be under public ownership , 3% private ownership and 0% with ownership listed as other or unknown. The climate of Albania exhibits a distinguished level of variability and diversity due to the differences in latitude, longitude and altitude. Albania experiences a Mediterranean and Continental climate , characterised by the presence of four distinct seasons. According to
17160-654: Was split in 395 upon the death of Theodosius I into an Eastern and Western Roman Empire in part because of the increasing pressure from threats during the Barbarian Invasions . From the 6th century into the 7th century, the Slavs crossed the Danube and largely absorbed the indigenous Greeks, Illyrians and Thracians in the Balkans ; thus, the Illyrians were mentioned for the last time in historical records in
17292-661: Was the Western European Union 's multinational Albanian Police element, which worked with the government to restructure the judicial system and simultaneously the Albanian police. After its communist system disintegrated, Albania embarked on an active path toward Westernization with the ambition to obtain membership in the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). A notable milestone
17424-680: Was written in 1693; it was the Italian manuscript Pratichae Schrivaneschae authored by the Montenegrin sea captain Julije Balović and includes a multilingual dictionary of hundreds of the most frequently used words in everyday life in Italian, Slavic, Greek, Albanian, and Turkish . Pre-Indo-European (PreIE) sites are found throughout the territory of Albania. Such PreIE sites existed in Maliq , Vashtëmi , Burimas , Barç , Dërsnik in
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