Albania (2001) | Yemen (2003) | |
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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) |
19 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan, Ad Dali', Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, 'Amran, Dhamar, Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'a', Shabwah, Ta'izz
note: there may be one additional governorate of the capital city of Sanaa |
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: 46.8% (male 4,606,110; female 4,446,229)
15-64 years: 50.4% (male 4,972,946; female 4,778,034) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 272,921; female 273,641) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | wheat, corn, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, sugar beets, grapes; meat, dairy products | grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish |
Airports | 11 (2000 est.) | 44 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
total: 16
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
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.) |
total: 28
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 4 (2002) |
Area | total:
28,748 sq km land: 27,398 sq km water: 1,350 sq km |
total: 527,970 sq km
land: 527,970 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Perim, Socotra, the former Yemen Arab Republic (YAR or North Yemen), and the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY or South Yemen) |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming |
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. | North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The British, who had set up a protectorate area around the southern port of Aden in the 19th century, withdrew in 1967 from what became South Yemen. Three years later, the southern government adopted a Marxist orientation. The massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis from the south to the north contributed to two decades of hostility between the states. The two countries were formally unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990. A southern secessionist movement in 1994 was quickly subdued. In 2000, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to a delimitation of their border. |
Birth rate | 19.01 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 43.23 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$393 million expenditures: $676 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) |
revenues: $3 billion
expenditures: $3.1 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2001 est.) |
Capital | Tirana | Sanaa |
Climate | mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter | mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east |
Coastline | 362 km | 1,906 km |
Constitution | a new constitution was adopted by popular referendum on 28 November 1998; note - the opposition Democratic Party boycotted the vote | 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001 |
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 |
conventional long form: Republic of Yemen
conventional short form: Yemen local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah local short form: Al Yaman |
Currency | lek (ALL) | Yemeni rial (YER) |
Death rate | 6.5 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 9.04 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $1 billion (2000) | $6.2 billion (2002) |
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 Edmund J. HULL
embassy: Dhahar Himyar Zone, Sheraton Hotel District, Sanaa mailing address: P. O. Box 22347, Sanaa telephone: [967] (1) 303-161 FAX: [967] (1) 303-182 |
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 Abd al-Wahhab Abdallah al-HAJRI
chancery: Suite 705, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 965-4760 FAX: [1] (202) 337-2017 |
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 | Eritrea protests Yemeni fishing around the Hanish islands awarded to Eritrea by the ICJ in 1999; nomadic groups in border region with Saudi Arabia resist demarcation of boundary |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA; aid for energy from China, Germany, Norway (2000) | $2.3 billion to be disbursed 2003-07 (2003-07 disbursements) |
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. | Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported strong growth in the mid-1990s with the onset of oil production, but has been harmed by periodic declines in oil prices. Yemen has embarked on an IMF-supported structural adjustment program designed to modernize and streamline the economy, which has led to substantial foreign debt relief and restructuring. International donors, meeting in Paris in October 2002, agreed on a further $2.3 billion economic support package. Yemen has worked to maintain tight control over spending and implement additional components of the IMF program. A high population growth rate and internal political dissension complicate the government's task. |
Electricity - consumption | 5.379 billion kWh (1999) | 2.8 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 100 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 600 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 5.332 billion kWh (1999) | 3.01 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
3.81% hydro: 96.19% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Adriatic Sea 0 m highest point: Maja e Korabit (Golem Korab) 2,753 m |
lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution from industrial and domestic effluents | very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification |
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: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban |
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) |
predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans |
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 | Yemeni rials per US dollar - NA (2002), 168.67 (2001), 161.72 (2000), 155.72 (1999), 135.88 (1998) |
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 state: President Field Marshall Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen, assumed office upon the merger of North and South Yemen); Vice President Maj. Gen. Abd al-Rab Mansur al-HADI (since 3 October 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Qadir BA JAMAL (since 4 April 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for a seven-year term (recently extended from a five-year term by constitutional amendment); election last held 23 September 1999 (next to be held NA 2006); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of vote - Ali Abdallah SALIH 96.3%, Najib Qahtan AL-SHAABI 3.7% |
Exports | $310 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | textiles and footwear; asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil; vegetables, fruits, tobacco | crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish |
Exports - partners | Italy 67%, Greece 15%, Germany 5%, Austria 2%, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 2% (2000) | India 21.1%, Thailand 16.9%, South Korea 11.2%, China 11.1%, Malaysia 7.7%, US 6.7%, Singapore 4% (2002) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | red with a black two-headed eagle in the center | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; similar to the flag of Syria, which has two green stars and of Iraq which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt, which has a heraldic eagle centered in the white band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $10.5 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $15.07 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
55% industry: 24% services: 21% (2000) |
agriculture: 22%
industry: 38% services: 40% (2001) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,000 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $800 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 7.5% (2000 est.) | 4.1% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 41 00 N, 20 00 E | 15 00 N, 48 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location along Strait of Otranto (links Adriatic Sea to Ionian Sea and Mediterranean Sea) | strategic location on Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes |
Heliports | 1 (2000 est.) | - |
Highways | total:
18,000 km paved: 5,400 km unpaved: 12,600 km (1998 est.) |
total: 67,000 km
paved: 7,705 km unpaved: 59,295 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 25.9% (1998) |
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.) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals | food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals |
Imports - partners | Italy 37%, Greece 28%, Turkey 6%, Germany 6%, Bulgaria 3% (2000) | US 10.4%, Saudi Arabia 9.5%, China 8.7%, UAE 6.9%, Russia 5.8%, France 4.7% (2002) |
Independence | 28 November 1912 (from Ottoman Empire) | 22 May 1990, Republic of Yemen was established with the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and the Marxist-dominated People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]; previously North Yemen had become independent on NA November 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and South Yemen had become independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 9% (2000 est.) | 4% (2002 est.) |
Industries | food processing, textiles and clothing; lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydropower | crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement |
Infant mortality rate | 39.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 65.02 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 69.98 deaths/1,000 live births female: 59.81 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1% (2000 est.) | 12.2% (2002 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 | ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 7 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 3,410 sq km (1993 est.) | 4,900 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (chairman is elected by the People's Assembly for a four-year term) | Supreme Court |
Labor force | 1.692 million (including 352,000 emigrant workers and 261,000 domestically unemployed) (1994 est.) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 50%, industry and services 50% | most people are employed in agriculture and herding; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-fourth of the labor force |
Land boundaries | total:
720 km border countries: Greece 282 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 151 km, Yugoslavia 287 km |
total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km |
Land use | arable land:
21% permanent crops: 5% permanent pastures: 15% forests and woodland: 38% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 2.75%
permanent crops: 0.21% other: 97.04% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Albanian (Tosk is the official dialect), Greek | Arabic |
Legal system | has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law; 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 |
a new constitutional amendment ratified on 20 February 2001 created a bicameral legislature consisting of a Shura Council (111 seats; members appointed by the president) and a House of Representatives (301 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: last held 27 April 2003 (next to be held NA April 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - GPC 238, Islah 46, YSP 8, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Baath Party 2, independents 4 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
71.83 years male: 69.01 years female: 74.87 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 60.97 years
male: 59.16 years female: 62.87 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 9 and over can read and write total population: 93% (1997 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 50.2% male: 70.5% female: 30% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea, between Greece and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia | Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia |
Map references | Europe | Middle East |
Maritime claims | continental shelf:
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation territorial sea: 12 NM |
contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total:
9 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 17,797 GRT/26,324 DWT ships by type: cargo 9 (2000 est.) |
total: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 18,623 GRT/23,752 DWT
ships by type: cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Hong Kong 2 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | - | establishment of a Coast Guard, scheduled for May 2001, has been delayed |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards | Army (includes Special Forces, established in 1999), Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Forces, Republican Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $42 million (FY99) | $482.5 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.5% (FY99) | 5.2% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
870,768 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 4,443,312 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
712,763 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 2,493,612 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 19 years of age | 14 years of age (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
35,792 (2001 est.) |
males: 249,292 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 28 November (1912) | Unification Day, 22 May (1990) |
Nationality | noun:
Albanian(s) adjective: Albanian |
noun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni |
Natural hazards | destructive earthquakes; tsunamis occur along southwestern coast; drought | sandstorms and dust storms in summer |
Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, timber, nickel, hydropower | petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west |
Net migration rate | -3.69 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 145 km; petroleum products 55 km; natural gas 64 km (1991) | gas 88 km; oil 1,174 km (2003) |
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] | there are over 12 political parties active in Yemen, some of the more prominent are: General People's Congress or GPC [President Ali Abdallah SALIH]; Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah [Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR]; National Arab Socialist Baath Party [Dr. Qassim SALAAM]; Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdel Malik al-MAKHLAFI]; Yemeni Socialist Party or YSP [Ali Salih MUQBIL]
note: President SALIH's General People's Congress or GPC won a landslide victory in the April 1997 legislative election and no longer governs in coalition with Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR's Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah - the two parties had been in coalition since the end of the civil war in 1994; the YSP, a loyal opposition party, boycotted the April 1997 legislative election, but announced that it would participate in Yemen's first local elections, held in February 2001; these local elections aim to decentralize political power and are a key element of the government's political reform program |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 3,510,484 (July 2001 est.) | 19,349,881 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 19.6% (1996 est.) | NA |
Population growth rate | 0.88% (2001 est.) | 3.42% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Durres, Sarande, Shengjin, Vlore | Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla, As Salif, Ras Issa, Mocha, Nishtun |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 16, FM 3, shortwave 2 (1999) | AM 6, FM 1, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Radios | 810,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
447 km standard gauge: 447 km 1.435-m gauge (2001) |
0 km |
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 |
Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu |
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: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
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 |
general assessment: since unification in 1990, efforts have been made to create a national telecommunications network
domestic: the national network consists of microwave radio relay, cable, tropospheric scatter, and GSM cellular mobile telephone systems international: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 2 Arabsat; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and Djibouti |
Telephones - main lines in use | 87,000 (1997) | 291,359 (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 3,100 (1999) | 32,042 (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 9 (plus 264 repeaters) (1995) | 7 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast | narrow coastal plain backed by flat-topped hills and rugged mountains; dissected upland desert plains in center slope into the desert interior of the Arabian Peninsula |
Total fertility rate | 2.32 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 6.82 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 16% (2000 est.) officially; may be as high as 25% | 30% (1995 est.) |
Waterways | 43 km
note: includes Albanian sections of Lake Scutari, Lake Ohrid, and Lake Prespa (1990) |
none |