More about Albania

Albania is a Balkan country with a 225-mile coast on the Ionic and Adriatic Seas. It shares borders with Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, and Greece. Apart from a narrow coastal plain, the country is mountainous. Maja e Korabit, the tallest mountain, is slightly over 9,000 feet tall. Only 20.1 percent of the country is arable. Its strategic location along the Strait of Otronto between Italy and Albania at the mouth of the Adriatic Sea has made it a frequent battleground throughout history. The Ottoman Turks conquered the area in the 15th and 16th centuries and it remained part of the Ottoman Empire until it became independent on November 28, 1912, during the First Balkan War. The population is 86.5 percent literate. Three major religious groups predominate, with 70 percent of citizens Muslim, 20 percent Albanian Orthodox Christian, and 10 percent Roman Catholic. Ethnic makeup of the country is 95 percent Albanian, 3 percent Greek, and the remaining 2 percent Vlach, Roma, Serb, Macedonian, and Bulgarian. About 25 percent of the population lives below the poverty level, making it one of the poorest countries in Europe. Agriculture accounts for 23.2 percent of the GDP of $18.97 billion and employs 58 percent of the workforce.