46 Fun Facts About Albania

Albania has coastlines on the Adriatic and which other sea?

The Ionian Sea washes Albania's southern coast below the Bay of Vlorë; the Strait of Otranto, between Italy's heel and Albania, marks where it meets the Adriatic.

What is the capital and largest city of Albania?

Tirana became Albania's capital in 1920 and is by far its largest city, with well over 400,000 residents, several times the population of second-placed Durrës.

Albanians call their country Shqipëri, widely interpreted to mean what?

Shqipëri is popularly read as Land of the Eagles, linked to shqipe, the Albanian word for eagle; Albanians accordingly call themselves Shqiptarë.

Which ancient people, including the Taulantii and Ardiaei, dominated Albania before Macedon rose?

The name Albania is linked to the Illyrian tribe of the Albani mentioned by Ptolemy.

At which Greek colony in Illyria was Octavian studying when Julius Caesar was killed?

Apollonia, founded around 600 BC near modern Fier, was a centre of learning; the 18-year-old Octavian was studying there in March 44 BC when news of Caesar's murder arrived.

Skanderbeg deserted the Ottoman army in 1443 at which battle before seizing Krujë?

Skanderbeg abandoned the Ottoman army at the Battle of Nish in November 1443, rode to Krujë with 300 Albanians and took its castle with a forged letter from the sultan.

Albania declared independence from the Ottoman Empire on which date?

Ismail Qemali raised the flag at Vlorë on 28 November 1912, declaring independence as the First Balkan War broke Ottoman rule; the date is Albania's Flag Day.

Ahmet Zogu proclaimed Albania a monarchy in 1928 and took which royal name?

Zogu was crowned Zog I, King of the Albanians, on 1 September 1928, having been president since 1925; his reign ended in exile eleven years later.

Enver Hoxha, who ruled Albania from 1944 to 1985, was born in which southern city?

Enver Hoxha was born in Gjirokastër in 1908; the Ottoman-era 'city of stone' in the south, a UNESCO site since 2005, was also the birthplace of novelist Ismail Kadare.

Who succeeded Enver Hoxha as leader of communist Albania in 1985?

Ramiz Alia became First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania on 13 April 1985, two days after Hoxha's death, and led the country until the communists lost the March 1992 election.

In 1976 Albania became the world's first what?

Hoxha's regime persecuted Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox clergy alike.

After breaking with the Soviet Union, communist Albania's enduring partner was which country?

China backed Albania with aid and technicians after the 1961 break with Moscow, until Hoxha denounced Beijing's opening to the United States and the partnership collapsed in 1978.

Which English comedian became a huge star in Hoxha's Albania, which allowed few Western films?

Norman Wisdom's slapstick films, read as satires of capitalism, were among the few Western movies shown in communist Albania, where he was adored as Pitkin after his screen character.

The 1946 Corfu Channel incident involved Royal Navy ships striking what?

The destroyers HMS Saumarez and HMS Volage struck mines in the Corfu Channel on 22 October 1946, killing 44 men; the International Court of Justice later awarded Britain £844,000.

Albania's violent 1997 unrest, which killed about 2,000 people, followed the collapse of what?

The 1997 revolt erupted when pyramid investment schemes holding savings worth roughly half of Albania's GDP collapsed; the state lost the south before the Italian-led Operation Alba restored order.

Albania joined NATO and formally applied for EU membership in which year?

Albania joined NATO on 1 April 2009 alongside Croatia and lodged its EU membership application later that month; accession negotiations finally opened in July 2022.

Mount Korab, Albania's highest point, rises to roughly what height?

Mount Korab, on the border with North Macedonia, reaches 2,764 m and is the highest point of both countries; it stands in the Korab range, not the Albanian Alps.

Which body of water in Albania's north-west is Southern Europe's largest lake?

Lake Shkodër, shared with Montenegro, spreads over 370 to 530 km² depending on the season, making it the largest lake in Southern Europe; the Buna river drains it to the Adriatic.

The Vjosa, which flows from the Pindus to the Adriatic, was given which European first?

The river rises in the Pindus Mountains and reaches the Adriatic largely undammed.

Butrint, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, lies near which resort close to the Greek border?

Butrint lies a short drive south of Sarandë, the Ionian resort facing Corfu; the ancient city's theatre, baptistery and Venetian tower became a national park in 2000.

Berat, a UNESCO site since 2008, is known to Albanians by which nickname?

Berat's Mangalem quarter climbs the hillside so steeply that each house's windows sit above the next, earning it the name 'city of one-above-another windows', often rendered 'city of a thousand windows'.

The capital was founded in 1614 by an Ottoman Albanian nobleman who built which structure at its heart?

Sulejman Pasha Bargjini's Old Mosque came with a bazaar and hammam; Tirana only became capital after 1912.

How many letters does the modern Albanian alphabet contain?

The Albanian alphabet has 36 letters, nine of them two-letter combinations such as dh, gj, ll, nj, rr, sh, th, xh and zh.

The Gheg and Tosk dialects of Albanian are divided by which river?

The Shkumbin, which flows past Elbasan to the Adriatic, marks the traditional Gheg-Tosk line: Gheg is spoken north of it and Tosk, the basis of standard Albanian, to the south.

What is Albania's currency, introduced in 1926?

The lek, issued from 1926 and once divided into 100 qindarka, is generally said to take its name from Leka, the Albanian short form of Alexander the Great's name.

What was Albania's population according to the 2023 census?

The 2023 census counted about 2.4 million residents (2,402,113), down from 2.8 million in 2011 as emigration continued.

Which religious group formed the largest share of Albanians in the 2023 census, at about 46%?

Sunni Muslims were the largest group in the 2023 census, where about 46% ticked Muslim; Catholics and Orthodox each came in under 10%, and Albania has no state religion.

Which Sufi order, headquartered in Albania, accounted for nearly 5% of the population in 2023?

The Bektashi order, a Shia-leaning Sufi brotherhood, moved its world headquarters to Tirana after Turkey banned Sufi orders in 1925; it counted 4.8% of Albanians in 2023.

Mother Teresa, of Albanian family, was born in 1910 in which city?

Mother Teresa was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje, then in the Ottoman Empire, on 26 August 1910; Tirana's airport and a main square carry her name.

In which year did Albanian writer Ismail Kadare win the first Man Booker International Prize?

Ismail Kadare won the inaugural Man Booker International Prize in 2005, beating Gabriel García Márquez and Milan Kundera; he made his name with The General of the Dead Army (1963).

Tavë kosi, one of Albania's national dishes, is mutton and rice baked under a mixture of eggs and what?

Tavë kosi takes its name from kos, Albanian for yogurt: the lamb and rice are baked under a custard of yogurt, eggs and flour; it is also called Tavë Elbasani.

What is the most popular spirit in Albania?

Raki, a clear fruit brandy usually distilled from grapes, is Albania's national spirit, often home-made and offered to guests at any hour; mulberry and plum versions are also common.

Albania claims to have more of what per capita than any country in the world?

One survey counted about 650 coffee houses per 100,000 Albanians, the highest ratio in the world, ahead of Spain; the café is where business, politics and gossip are done.

Pop star Dua Lipa was born in London to parents from which Albanian-majority territory?

Dua Lipa's parents, Anesa and Dukagjin Lipa, left Pristina, Kosovo, in the 1990s; the family moved back there in 2008 before she returned to London at 15 to pursue music.

Albania reached the group stage of a major football tournament for the first time at which event?

Albania qualified for Euro 2016 in France, its first major finals, after opening the campaign with a 1-0 win in Portugal; a 1-0 victory over Romania gave it a first tournament win.

Which Illyrian queen led operations against the Romans, ending in defeat in 227 BC?

Queen Teuta, widow of King Agron, let Illyrian pirates raid Roman shipping; Rome's First Illyrian War ended her power and confined her to Rhizon, modern Risan in Montenegro.

Ahmet Zogu became Albania's youngest ever prime minister in 1922 at what age?

Born in October 1895, Ahmet Zogu became prime minister in December 1922 at 27, Albania's youngest; he went on to be president in 1925 and king in 1928.

Which country invaded Albania in 1939, forcing King Zog into exile?

Mussolini's Italy invaded on 7 April 1939 and made Victor Emmanuel III king of Albania; Zog fled via Greece, and Germany took over after Italy's 1943 armistice.

Albania covers roughly how many square kilometres?

Albania covers about 28,700 square kilometres (28,748 km²), slightly smaller than Belgium; it stretches about 340 km from north to south between Montenegro and Greece.

How many visitors did Albania attract in 2024?

That is more than four times the country's population.

Which Albanian port is the country's busiest and largest?

Ancient Dyrrhachium was the start of the Roman Via Egnatia.

Which lake is shared by Albania, Greece and North Macedonia?

Great Prespa Lake sits at about 850 m on the three-way border of Albania, Greece and North Macedonia; its Albanian shore forms Prespa National Park.

Which Albanian-born Ottoman ruler of Ioannina, nicknamed the Lion, was killed in 1822?

Ali Pasha, born at Tepelenë around 1740, ruled Ioannina and much of Albania and Greece almost independently for decades until Ottoman troops killed him in 1822; Byron visited his court in 1809.

Which city hosted the 1908 congress that settled the Latin-based Albanian alphabet?

The Congress of Manastir, held in November 1908 in the city now called Bitola in North Macedonia, chose the Latin-based alphabet that became standard for Albanian.

Lake Ohrid, on the Albania-North Macedonia border, is home to more than how many endemic species?

Lake Ohrid, one of Europe's oldest and deepest lakes, shelters more than 200 endemic species, including the Ohrid trout; its Albanian shore joined the UNESCO site in 2019.

Which name, used by medieval Albanians, is borne by the Albanian communities of southern Italy?

Medieval Albanians called themselves Arbëreshë, from Arbëria; refugees who fled to Calabria and Sicily in the 15th and 16th centuries kept the name, which their descendants retain.