ALBANIA

officially Republic of Albania, Albanian Shqipria, or Republika e Shqipris country in the Balkan Peninsula, on its western Adriatic coast. Albania is about 210 miles (340 km) long from north to south and nearly 95 miles (153 km) across at its widest extent from east to west. It is bordered on the north and northeast by Yugoslavia, on the east by Macedonia, and on the southeast by Greece; its western border consists of a rugged coastline along the Adriatic Sea. The capital is Tiran. Area 11,100 square miles (28,748 square km). Pop. (1992 est.) 3,357,000. officially Republic of Albania, Albanian Shqipria, or Republika e Shqipris, country located in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula on the Strait of Otranto, the southern entrance to the Adriatic Sea. It encompasses an area of 11,100 square miles (28,748 square kilometres), with a maximum length from north to south of about 210 miles (340 kilometres) and a maximum width of about 95 miles. It is bounded to the northwest by Montenegro, to the northeast by the Kosovo region of Serbia, to the east by Macedonia, and to the southeast and south by Greece. To the west and southwest, Albania is bordered by the Adriatic and Ionian seas. Albania's immediate western neighbour, Italy, lies some 50 miles across the Adriatic. The capital city is Tiran. Albanians refer to themselves as shqiptar, meaning sons of eagles, and to their country as Shqipria. Descended from the ancient Illyrians, they have lived in relative isolation and obscurity through most of their difficult history, in part because of the rugged terrain of their mountainous land but also because of a complex of historical, cultural, and social factors. Owing to its location on the Adriatic Sea, Albania has long served as a bridgehead for various nations and empires seeking conquest abroad. In the 2nd century BC the Illyrians were conquered by the Romans, and from the end of the 4th century AD they were ruled by the Byzantine Empire. After suffering centuries of invasion by Visigoths, Huns, Bulgars, and Slavs, the Albanians were finally conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. Turkish rule cut off Albania from Western civilization for more than four centuries, but in the late 19th century the country began to remove itself from Ottoman Orientalism and to rediscover old affinities and common interests with the West. Albania was declared independent in 1912, but the following year the demarcation of the boundaries of the new country by the Great Powers of Europe assigned about half its territory and people to neighbouring states. Ruled as a monarchy between the world wars, Albania emerged from the violence of World War II as a communist state that fiercely protected its sovereignty and in which almost all aspects of life were controlled by the ruling party. But with the collapse of other communist regimes beginning in 1989, new social forces and democratic political parties emerged in Albania. This shift reflected the country's continuing orientation toward the West, and it accorded with the Albanian people's long-standing appreciation of Western technology and cultural achievementseven while retaining their own ethnic identity, cultural heritage, and individuality. Elez Biberaj Peter R. Prifti Additional reading Geography A most useful guide and encyclopaedic reference source is Fjalori enciclopedik shqiptar (1985), published by the Academy of Sciences of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, covering diverse subjects and providing information from ancient times up to the mid-1980s. Adi Schnytzer, Stalinist Economic Strategy in Practice: The Case of Albania (1982), provides an excellent review of Albanian economic development under communist rule. William E. Griffith, Albania and the Sino-Soviet Rift (1963), is an excellent overview of Tiran's break with Moscow and subsequent alliance with Peking. Elez Biberaj, Albania and China: A Study of an Unequal Alliance (1986), analyzes the formation, development, and disintegration of the Albanian-Chinese alliance, based on primary sources from Albania, while his Albania: A Socialist Maverick (1990), gives an overview of Albania from 1945 to 1990, focusing on trends in Albanian politics, economics, and diplomacy during the 1980s. Elez Biberaj History Edwin E. Jacques, The Albanians: An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present (1995), is a panoramic yet detailed and generally objective study of Albanian history, based on an impressive amount of source material. Miranda Vickers, The Albanians: A Modern History (1995), a competent work, focuses on Albanian developments in the 20th century, including data on the post-Communism years. Kristo Frashri, The History of Albania (1964), is a rather short but informative book, still useful as an introduction. A work by an ethnic Albanian in Yugoslavia, Ramadan Marmullaku, Albania and the Albanians, trans. from Serbo-Croatian (1975), includes a chapter on the Albanian minority in Kosovo. Stavro Skendi, The Albanian National Awakening, 18781912 (1967), provides a comprehensive study of the rise and development of Albanian nationalism. Bernd Jrgen Fischer, King Zog and the Struggle for Stability in Albania (1984), is an absorbing account of Albania between the world wars, although it suffers from some inconsistencies. Anton Logoreci, The Albanians: Europe's Forgotten Survivors (1977), is mostly about postwar Albania and is strongly critical of the communist government. Peter R. Prifti, Socialist Albania Since 1944: Domestic and Foreign Developments (1978), is especially useful for readers who are mainly interested in domestic developments in socialist Albania. Nicholas C. Pano, The People's Republic of Albania (1968), is a pioneer work on socialist Albania, with the accent on foreign affairs. Peter R. Prifti Administration and social conditions Constitutional government In 1976 the Albanian People's Assembly approved a constitution that recognized the Albanian Party of Labour (APL; until 1948 known as the Albanian Communist Party) as the sole leading political force of the state and the society and proclaimed Marxism-Leninism as the official ideology. In 1991 it replaced this document with a new constitution that gave sanction to a multiparty political system and guaranteed Albanian citizens the freedoms of speech, religion, press, organization, association, assembly, and public demonstration. The People's Assembly is the legislative branch of the government. Its deputies are elected by direct suffrage of all citizens over 18 to four-year terms and meet in regular session four times per year. The Presidency of the People's Assembly acts on behalf of the assembly between sessions. The president, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is elected by the assembly for a five-year term. The president can declare a state of emergency, dissolve parliament, and call new elections. With the approval of the People's Assembly, the president also appoints the prime minister, who chairs the Council of Ministers. Appointed by the People's Assembly, the Council of Ministers is the executive branch of the government. It is in charge of the country's social, economic, and cultural activities. The Supreme Court is the country's highest judicial organ, and its members are elected by the People's Assembly. The Ministry of Justice supervises the implementation of the country's laws. The country is divided into 26 rrethe (districts). Government at the district, regional, and city levels operates through people's councils. Elected for three-year terms, people's councils administer all the affairs of their geographic areas. Political parties In June 1991 the APL changed its name to the Albanian Socialist Party (ASP). The APL, which had ruled Albania since 1944, had as its immediate objective the complete construction of a socialist society and as its ultimate objective the construction of a communist society, in which the principle from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs would be applied. Since no more than 10 percent of the adult population were members of the party at any time, the APL relied heavily on mass organizations, such as the Democratic Front or the United Trade Unions of Albania, to achieve its objectives. Its policy-making body, the Politburo, virtually decided the composition of the Council of Ministers. The ASP, on the other hand, claims that it is a qualitatively different organization from the APL, having rejected Marxist-Leninist ideology and no longer advocating the goal of creating a communist society. Identifying itself with western European social-democratic parties, the ASP supports the implementation of gradual reforms that would eventually lead to the creation of a market economy. The party program supports political pluralism, the separation of party and state, and the protection of human rights. The highest body of the ASP is the Congress, which meets every two years. Between congresses, the Steering Committee directs party activities. The 15-member Presidency, the ASP's policy-making body, is the real locus of power in the party. In addition to the ASP, there are several democratic, agrarian, and ecological parties. The Democratic Party advocates the establishment of a Western-style political system based on the rule of law and respect for human rights, and it calls for the dismantling of communist control over the media, a thorough privatization of state-owned enterprises, and an infusion of foreign aid. Its main support comes from students, intellectuals, and independent labour unions. The Republican Party calls for a less radical approach to economic and political reform, but its eventual goal is also the integration of Albania into Europe. Other parties have less clearly defined objectives. Cultural life The government has made a conscious effort to encourage and preserve the nation's rich folk life. There are some 4,300 cultural institutions of various sorts in the country. The National Library, as well as the State Choir and the Opera and Ballet Theatre, are located in Tiran. Albania's best-known writer is Ismail Kadare, a novelist and poet whose writings have been translated into some 30 foreign languages. Cultural development in general, however, has been handicapped by restrictions on freedom. Under more than four decades of communist rule, the government imposed strict censorship on the press, publications, and the performing arts, and these restrictions were not eased until as recently as 1990. Widely circulated newspapers are Zri i Popullit, the organ of the ASP; Rilindja Demokratike, published by the Democratic Party; and Republika, the organ of the Republican Party. Other important publications are: Ylli (monthly), a social and literary review; Studime Politiko-Shoqrore (quarterly), an academic journal; Nentori (monthly) and Drita (weekly), published by the Union of Writers and Artists of Albania; Pasqyra (weekly), the organ of the Central Council of Albanian Trade Unions; and Sindikalisti, published by the Independent Trade Unions. Elez Biberaj