##ciekawa_strona##
Compare Albania (2001) - European Union (2006)
Compare Albania (2001) z European Union (2006)
| Albania (2001) | European Union (2006) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 36 districts (rrethe, singular - rreth) and 1 municipality* (bashki); Berat, Bulqize, Delvine, Devoll (Bilisht), Diber (Peshkopi), Durres, Elbasan, Fier, Gjirokaster, Gramsh, Has (Krume), Kavaje, Kolonje (Erseke), Korce, Kruje, Kucove, Kukes, Kurbin, Lezhe, Librazhd, Lushnje, Malesi e Madhe (Koplik), Mallakaster (Ballsh), Mat (Burrel), Mirdite (Rreshen), Peqin, Permet, Pogradec, Puke, Sarande, Shkoder, Skrapar (Corovode), Tepelene, Tirane (Tirana), Tirane* (Tirana), Tropoje (Bajram Curri), Vlore
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses) |
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| Age structure | 0-14 years:
29.53% (male 536,495; female 500,026) 15-64 years: 63.48% (male 1,073,351; female 1,155,115) 65 years and over: 6.99% (male 107,476; female 138,021) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 16.03% (male 37,608,010/female 35,632,351)
15-64 years: 67.17% (male 154,439,536/female 152,479,619) 65 years and over: 16.81% (male 31,515,921/female 45,277,821) (2006 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | wheat, corn, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, sugar beets, grapes; meat, dairy products | wheat, barley, oilseeds, sugar beets, wine, grapes; dairy products, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry; fish |
| Airports | 11 (2000 est.) | 3,115 (2006) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total:
3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
1,863 (2006) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
8 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 4 (2000 est.) |
1,252 (2006) |
| Area | total:
28,748 sq km land: 27,398 sq km water: 1,350 sq km |
total: 3,976,372 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | less than one-half the size of the US |
| Background | In 1990 Albania ended 44 years of xenophobic communist rule and established a multiparty democracy. The transition has proven difficult as corrupt governments have tried to deal with high unemployment, a dilapidated infrastructure, widespread gangsterism, and disruptive political opponents. International observers judged local elections in 2000 to be acceptable and a step toward democratic development, but serious deficiencies remain to be corrected before the the 2001 parliamentary elections. | Following the two devastating World Wars of the first half of the 20th century, a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief belligerent nations - France and Germany - both economically and politically. In 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual union of all Europe, the first step of which would be the integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris.
The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to integrate other parts of the countries' economies. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade barriers among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections were undertaken and they have been held every five years since. In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of an economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This further integration created the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU, raising the membership total to 15. A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999; it became the unit of exchange for all of the EU states except the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of the 12 euro-area countries began using the euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - bringing the current membership to 25. In order to ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently with an expanded membership, the 2003 Treaty of Nice set forth rules streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An EU Constitutional Treaty, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004, gave member states two years to ratify the document before it was scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006. Referenda held in France and the Netherlands in May-June 2005 rejected the proposed constitution. This development suspended the ratification effort and left the longer-term political integration of the EU in limbo. |
| Birth rate | 19.01 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Budget | revenues:
$393 million expenditures: $676 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) |
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| Capital | Tirana | name: Brussels (Belgium)
geographic coordinates: 50 50 N, 4 20 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October note: the Council of the European Union meets in Brussels, the European Parliament meets in Strasbourg, France, and the Court of Justice of the European Communities meets in Luxembourg |
| Climate | mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter | cold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to temperate; mild wet winters; hot dry summers in the south |
| Coastline | 362 km | 65,413.9 km |
| Constitution | a new constitution was adopted by popular referendum on 28 November 1998; note - the opposition Democratic Party boycotted the vote | based on a series of treaties: the Treaty of Paris, which set up the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951; the Treaties of Rome, which set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957; the Single European Act in 1986; the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) in 1992; the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997; and the Treaty of Nice in 2001; note - a new draft Constitutional Treaty, signed on 29 October 2004 in Rome, gave member states two years for ratification either by parliamentary vote or national referendum before it was scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006; defeat in French and Dutch referenda in May-June 2005 caused a suspension of the ratification process |
| Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Albania conventional short form: Albania local long form: Republika e Shqiperise local short form: Shqiperia former: People's Socialist Republic of Albania |
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| Currency | lek (ALL) | - |
| Death rate | 6.5 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.1 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Debt - external | $1 billion (2000) | - |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Joseph LIMPRECHT embassy: Rruga Elbasanit Labinoti 103, Tirana mailing address: PSC 59, Box 100(A), APO AE 09624 telephone: [355] (42) 32875, 33520 FAX: [355] (42) 32222 |
chief of mission: Ambassador C. Boyden GRAY
embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat/Rue Zinner, B-1000 Brussels mailing address: same as above telephone: [32] (2) 508-2222 FAX: [32] (2) 512-5720 |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Petrit BUSHATI chancery: 2100 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 223-4942 FAX: [1] (202) 628-7342 |
chief of mission: Ambassador John BRUTON
chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500 FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766 |
| Disputes - international | the Albanian Government supports protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians outside of its borders but has downplayed them to further its primary foreign policy goal of regional cooperation; Albanian majority in Kosovo seeks independence from Yugoslavia; Albanians in The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia claim discrimination in education, access to public-sector jobs, and representation in government | as a political union, the EU has no border disputes with neighboring countries, but Estonia and Latvia have no land boundary agreements with Russia, Slovenia disputes its land and maritime boundaries with Croatia, and Spain has territorial and maritime disputes with Morocco; the EU has set up a Schengen area - consisting of 13 EU member states that have signed the convention implementing the Schengen agreements (1985 and 1990) on the free movement of persons and the harmonization of border controls in Europe; the Schengen agreements ("acquis") became incorporated into EU law with the implementation of the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999; member states are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden; in addition, non-EU states Iceland and Norway (as part of the Nordic Union) have been included in the Schengen area since 1996 (full members in 2001), bringing the total current membership to 15; the UK (since 2000) and Ireland (since 2002) take part in some aspects of the Schengen area, especially with respect to police and criminal matters; the 10 new member states that joined the EU in 2004 eventually are expected to participate in Schengen, following a transition period to upgrade their border controls and procedures |
| Economic aid - recipient | $NA; aid for energy from China, Germany, Norway (2000) | - |
| Economy - overview | Poor by European standards, Albania is making the difficult transition to a more open-market economy. The economy rebounded in 1993-95 after a severe depression accompanying the end of the previous centrally planned system in 1990 and 1991. However, a weakening of government resolve to maintain stabilization policies in the election year of 1996 contributed to renewal of inflationary pressures, spurred by the budget deficit which exceeded 12% of GDP. The collapse of financial pyramid schemes in early 1997 - which had attracted deposits from a substantial portion of Albania's population - triggered severe social unrest which led to more than 1,500 deaths, widespread destruction of property, and a 7% drop in GDP. The government has taken measures to curb violent crime and to revive economic activity and trade. The economy is bolstered by remittances from some 20% of the labor force that works abroad, mostly in Greece and Italy. These remittances supplement GDP and help offset the large foreign trade deficit. Most agricultural land was privatized in 1992, substantially improving peasant incomes. In 1998, Albania recovered the 7% drop in GDP of 1997 and pushed ahead by 8% in 1999 and by 7.5% in 2000. International aid helped defray the high costs of receiving and returning refugees from the Kosovo conflict. Privatization scored some successes in 2000, but other reforms lagged. | Domestically, the European Union attempts to lower trade barriers, adopt a common currency, and move toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income (from $15,000 to $56,000) and historic national animosities, the European Community faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. For example, since 2003 Germany and France have flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004, the EU admitted 10 central and eastern European countries that are, in general, less advanced technologically and economically than the other 15. Twelve EU member states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999, but the UK, Sweden, and Denmark do not participate. The 10 new member states may choose to adopt the euro when they meet the EU's fiscal and monetary criteria and the other euro states so agree. |
| Electricity - consumption | 5.379 billion kWh (1999) | 2.711 trillion kWh (2002 est.) |
| Electricity - exports | 100 million kWh (1999) | 282.6 billion kWh (2002) |
| Electricity - imports | 600 million kWh (2000) | 281.2 billion kWh (2002 est.) |
| Electricity - production | 5.332 billion kWh (1999) | 2.925 trillion kWh (2002 est.) |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
3.81% hydro: 96.19% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
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| Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Adriatic Sea 0 m highest point: Maja e Korabit (Golem Korab) 2,753 m |
lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands -7 m
highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m; note - situated on the border between France and Italy |
| Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution from industrial and domestic effluents | NA |
| Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 82, Tropical Timber 94
signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds |
| Ethnic groups | Albanian 95%, Greeks 3%, other 2% (Vlachs, Gypsies, Serbs, and Bulgarians) (1989 est.)
note: in 1989, other estimates of the Greek population ranged from 1% (official Albanian statistics) to 12% (from a Greek organization) |
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| Exchange rates | leke per US dollar - 146.08 (December 2000),143.71 (2000) 137.69 (1999), 150.63 (1998), 148.93 (1997), 104.50 (1996); note - leke is the plural of lek | euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001) |
| Executive branch | chief of state:
President of the Republic Rexhep MEIDANI (since 24 July 1997) head of government: Prime Minister Ilir META (since 29 October 1999) cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and approved by the president elections: president elected by the People's Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 24 July 1997 (next to be held NA 2002); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Rexhep MEIDANI elected president; People's Assembly vote by number - total votes 122, for 110, against 3, abstained 2, invalid 7 |
chief of union: President of the European Commission Jose Manuel DURAO BARROSO (since 22 November 2004)
cabinet: European Commission (composed of 25 members, one from each member country; each commissioner responsible for one or more policy areas) elections: the president of the European Commission is designated by member governments; the president-designate then chooses the other Commission members; the European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a five-year term; election last held 18 November 2004 (next to be held 2009) election results: European Parliament approved the European Commission by an approval vote of 449 to 149 with 82 abstentions note: the European Council brings together heads of state and government and the president of the European Commission and meets at least twice a year; its aim is to provide the impetus for the major political issues relating to European integration and to issue general policy guidelines |
| Exports | $310 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 5.322 million bbl/day (2001) |
| Exports - commodities | textiles and footwear; asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil; vegetables, fruits, tobacco | machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages. |
| Exports - partners | Italy 67%, Greece 15%, Germany 5%, Austria 2%, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 2% (2000) | US 24.2%, Switzerland 7.7%, China 5%, Russia 4.7% (2004) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | NA |
| Flag description | red with a black two-headed eagle in the center | on a blue field, 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle, representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of stars is fixed |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $10.5 billion (2000 est.) | - |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
55% industry: 24% services: 21% (2000) |
agriculture: 2.2%
industry: 27.3% services: 70.5% (2004 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,000 (2000 est.) | - |
| GDP - real growth rate | 7.5% (2000 est.) | 1.7% (2005 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 41 00 N, 20 00 E | - |
| Geography - note | strategic location along Strait of Otranto (links Adriatic Sea to Ionian Sea and Mediterranean Sea) | - |
| Heliports | 1 (2000 est.) | 93 (2006) |
| Highways | total:
18,000 km paved: 5,400 km unpaved: 12,600 km (1998 est.) |
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| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 25.5% (1995 est.) |
| Illicit drugs | increasingly active transshipment point for Southwest Asian opiates, hashish, and cannabis transiting the Balkan route and - to a far lesser extent - cocaine from South America destined for Western Europe; limited opium and cannabis production; ethnic Albanian narcotrafficking organizations active and rapidly expanding in Europe | - |
| Imports | $1 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 15.69 million bbl/day (2001) |
| Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals | machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing |
| Imports - partners | Italy 37%, Greece 28%, Turkey 6%, Germany 6%, Bulgaria 3% (2000) | US 15.3%, China 12.4%, Russia 7.8%, Japan 7.2% (2004) |
| Independence | 28 November 1912 (from Ottoman Empire) | 7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the EU); 1 November 1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered into force) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 9% (2000 est.) | 1.3% (2005 est.) |
| Industries | food processing, textiles and clothing; lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydropower | among the world's largest and most technologically advanced, the European Union industrial base includes: ferrous and non-ferrous metal production and processing, metal products, petroleum, coal, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, rail transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, construction equipment, industrial equipment, shipbuilding, electrical power equipment, machine tools and automated manufacturing systems, electronics and telecommunications equipment, fishing, food and beverage processing, furniture, paper, textiles, tourism |
| Infant mortality rate | 39.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 5.1 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.6 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1% (2000 est.) | 2.2% (2005 est.) |
| International organization participation | ACCT (associate), BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMIG, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | European Union: ASEAN (dialogue member), ARF (dialogue member), IDA, OAS (observer), UN (observer), WTO
European Commission: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO, EBRD, G-10, NSG (observer), OECD, UNRWA, ZC (observer) European Central Bank: BIS European Investment Bank: EBRD, WADB (nonregional member) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 7 (2000) | - |
| Irrigated land | 3,410 sq km (1993 est.) | 131,250 sq km (2003) |
| Judicial branch | Supreme Court (chairman is elected by the People's Assembly for a four-year term) | Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures that the treaties are interpreted and applied correctly) - 25 justices (one from each member state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency, the court can sit with 11 justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 25 justices appointed for a six-year term |
| Labor force | 1.692 million (including 352,000 emigrant workers and 261,000 domestically unemployed) (1994 est.) | 218.5 million (2005 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 50%, industry and services 50% | agriculture: 4.4%
industry: 27.2% services: 67.2% note: the remainder is in miscellaneous public and private sector industries and services (2005 est.) |
| Land boundaries | total:
720 km border countries: Greece 282 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 151 km, Yugoslavia 287 km |
total: 11,214.8 km
border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Croatia 999 km, Holy See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein 34.9 km, Macedonia 246 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Romania 443 km, Russia 2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia 151 km, Switzerland 1,811 km, Turkey 206 km, Ukraine 726 km note: data for European Continent only |
| Land use | arable land:
21% permanent crops: 5% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 38% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
arable land: NA
permanent crops: NA other: NA |
| Languages | Albanian (Tosk is the official dialect), Greek | Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish; note - only official languages are listed; Irish (Gaelic) will become the 21st language on 1 January 2007 |
| Legal system | has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | - |
| Legislative branch | unicameral People's Assembly or Kuvendi Popullor (155 seats; most members are elected by direct popular vote and some by proportional vote for four-year terms)
elections: last held 29 June 1997 (next held 24 June 2001, 2nd round 8 July 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - PS 53.36%, PD 25.33%, PSD 2.5%, PBDNJ 2.78%, PBK 2.36%, PAD 2.85%, PR 2.25%, PLL 3.09%, PDK 1.00%, PBSD 0.84%; seats by party - PS 101, PD 27, PSD 8, PBDNJ 4, PBK 3, PAD 2, PR 2, PLL 2, PDK 1, PBSD 1, PUK 1, independents 3 |
Council of the European Union (25 member-state ministers having 321 votes; the number of votes is roughly proportional to member-states' population); note - the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU; European Parliament (732 seats; seats allocated among member states by proportion to population); members elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term
elections: last held 10-13 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by party - EPP-ED 268, PES 202, ALDE 88, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 36, UEN 27, independents 28 |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population:
71.83 years male: 69.01 years female: 74.87 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 78.3 years
male: 75.1 years female: 81.6 years (2006 est.) |
| Literacy | definition:
age 9 and over can read and write total population: 93% (1997 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
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| Location | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea, between Greece and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia | Europe between Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, southeastern Europe, and the North Atlantic Ocean |
| Map references | Europe | Europe |
| Maritime claims | continental shelf:
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation territorial sea: 12 NM |
NA |
| Merchant marine | total:
9 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 17,797 GRT/26,324 DWT ships by type: cargo 9 (2000 est.) |
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| Military - note | - | In November 2004, the European Union heads of government signed a "Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe" that offers possibilities - with some limits - for increased defense and security cooperation. If ratified, in a process that may take some two years, this treaty will in effect make operational the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) approved in the 2000 Nice Treaty. Despite limits of cooperation for some EU members, development of a European military planning unit is likely to continue. So is creation of a rapid-reaction military force and a humanitarian aid system, which the planning unit will support. France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Italy continue to press for wider coordination. The five-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg - has already deployed troops and police on peacekeeping missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo and assumed command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in August 2004. Eurocorps directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade, the Multinational Command Support Brigade, and EUFOR, which took over from SFOR in Bosnia in December 2004. Other troop contributions are under national command - commitments to provide 67,100 troops were made at the Helsinki EU session in 2000. Some 56,000 EU troops were actually deployed in 2003. In August 2004, the new European Defense Agency, tasked with promoting cooperative European defense capabilities, began operations. In November 2004, the EU Council of Ministers formally committed to creating thirteen 1,500-man "battle groups" by the end of 2007, to respond to international crises on a rotating basis. Twenty-two of the EU's 25 nations have agreed to supply troops. France, Italy, and the UK are to form the first three battle groups in 2005, with Spain to follow. In May 2005, Norway, Sweden, and Finland agreed to establish one of the battle groups, possibly to include Estonian forces. The remaining groups are to be formed by 2007.
(2005) |
| Military branches | Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards | - |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $42 million (FY99) | - |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.5% (FY99) | - |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
870,768 (2001 est.) |
- |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
712,763 (2001 est.) |
- |
| Military manpower - military age | 19 years of age | - |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
35,792 (2001 est.) |
- |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 28 November (1912) | Europe Day 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday, the day that Robert SCHUMAN proposed the creation of an organized Europe |
| Nationality | noun:
Albanian(s) adjective: Albanian |
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| Natural hazards | destructive earthquakes; tsunamis occur along southwestern coast; drought | flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic |
| Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, timber, nickel, hydropower | iron ore, arable land, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, hydropower, uranium, potash, fish |
| Net migration rate | -3.69 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Pipelines | crude oil 145 km; petroleum products 55 km; natural gas 64 km (1991) | - |
| Political parties and leaders | Albanian National Front (Balli Kombetar) or PBK [Abaz ERMENJI]; Albanian Republican Party or PR [Fatmir MEDIU]; Albanian Socialist Party or PS (formerly the Albania Workers Party) [Fatos NANO, chairman]; Christian Democratic Party or PDK [Zef BUSHATI]; Democratic Alliance or PAD [Neritan CEKA]; Democratic Party or PD [Sali BERISHA]; Group of Reformist Democrats [Leonard NDOKA]; Liberal Union Party [Teodor LACO]; note - Teodor LACO of the Liberal Union Party was leader of the Social Democratic Union of Albania or PBSD; Movement of Legality Party or PLL [Nderim KUPI]; OMONIA [Vagjelis DULES]; Party of National Unity or PUK [Idajet BEQUIRI]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Skender GJINUSHI]; Unity for Human Rights Party or PBDNJ [Vasil MELO, chairman] | Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or EUL/NGL [Francis WURTZ]; European People's Party-European Democrats or EPP-ED [Hans-Gert POETTERING]; Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Graham R. WATSON]; Group of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Monica FRASSONI and Daniel Marc COHN-BENDIT]; Independence/Democracy Group or IND/DEM [Jens-Peter BONDE and Nigel FARAGE]; Socialist Group in the European Parliament or PES [Martin SCHULZ]; Union for Europe of the Nations Group or UEN [Brian CROWLEY and Cristiana MUSCARDINI] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
| Population | 3,510,484 (July 2001 est.) | 456,953,258 (July 2006 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 19.6% (1996 est.) | see individual country listings |
| Population growth rate | 0.88% (2001 est.) | 0.15% (2006 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Durres, Sarande, Shengjin, Vlore | - |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 16, FM 3, shortwave 2 (1999) | AM 866, FM 13,396, shortwave 73 (1998); note - sum of individual country radio broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Euroradio) |
| Radios | 810,000 (1997) | - |
| Railways | total:
447 km standard gauge: 447 km 1.435-m gauge (2001) |
total: 222,293 km
broad gauge: 28,438 km standard gauge: 186,405 km narrow gauge: 7,427 km other: 23 km (2003) |
| Religions | Muslim 70%, Albanian Orthodox 20%, Roman Catholic 10%
note: all mosques and churches were closed in 1967 and religious observances prohibited; in November 1990, Albania began allowing private religious practice |
Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish |
| Sex ratio | at birth:
1.08 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: NA
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and older: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment:
Albania has the poorest telephone service in Europe with fewer than two telephones per 100 inhabitants; it is doubtful that every village has telephone service domestic: obsolete wire system; no longer provides a telephone for every village; in 1992, following the fall of the communist government, peasants cut the wire to about 1,000 villages and used it to build fences international: inadequate; international traffic carried by microwave radio relay from the Tirana exchange to Italy and Greece |
note - see individual country entries of member states |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 87,000 (1997) | 238,763,162 (2002) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 3,100 (1999) | 314,644,700 (2002) |
| Television broadcast stations | 9 (plus 264 repeaters) (1995) | 2,791 (1995); note - does not include repeaters; sum of individual country television broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Eurovision) |
| Terrain | mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast | fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast; mountainous in the central and southern areas |
| Total fertility rate | 2.32 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.47 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 16% (2000 est.) officially; may be as high as 25% | 9.4% (2005 est.) |
| Waterways | 43 km
note: includes Albanian sections of Lake Scutari, Lake Ohrid, and Lake Prespa (1990) |
53,512 km |
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