Intro

Albania is one of the poorest countries in Europe. It has a fascinating history and, as resent history suggests, the potential to be something more. In this post, I will give a brief understanding of Albania. This is a part of my “Country by Country” series, and I suggest you look at the many other countries in this series.

Albanian History

To start with, I will give a quick look at Albania's rich history. Albania, being a part of Europe, was once part of Rome. Albania was a Christian country that had a complicated relationship with Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Albania's identification with Christianity was shaken to the core when the Ottoman empire conquered Albania. This change would lead to a conversion and exodus of Albania. Albania went from being a mainly Christian country to a mostly Muslim country.

Albania Early 20th Century History

Now, let's look at a more modern history of Albania. As the Ottoman Empire fell, the direction of Albania's path changed. Albania has always, but specifically then, called for independence. In 1914, Albania was granted independence. However, after World War I, Albanian territory was attempted to be split up and fought for, in part by Italy and countries like that of Yugoslavia. After all was said and done, Albania gained momentary independence in 1920, free from threats and given protection by the League of Nations. This independence, however, was short lived. Albanian independence ended when Mussolini invaded Albania during WWII and was reconquered by Germany after Italy dropped out of the war. This all led to a Communist ideology spreading throughout Albania. Thus, when Albania regained independence, it became a Communist country.

Modern Albanian History

Finally, as for the history of Albania, let’s look at the Communist years and a little bit afterwards. After WWII, Albania refused the financial assistance from the US led Marshall Plan. Instead, Albania, along with the USSR, was a founding member of the Warsaw Pact. Essentially, the Warsaw Pact was a counterweight to NATO, a defense pact amongst Communist countries. Albania started off with distancing themselves from all non-communist countries. Then, Albania ended up having a falling out with the USSR and became friendly with China. As the pattern continued, Albania then had a falling out with China. All of this international turmoil left Albania isolated. As Albania decentralized and communism fell, Albania basically went the opposite direction. In recent history, Albania has been trying to be friendly to all. In fact, Albania joined NATO and is in the process of trying to join the European Union.

Albania Basic Facts

Now, I want to take a look at some of Albanian basic facts. For one, Albania is around 28,750 km2. This is roughly the size of Massachusetts or Belgium. Albania has a population of around 2.8 million, which is about the same as Kansas. Like much of Europe, the average age of Albania is around 38 years old. The ethnic makeup of Albania is that 98% is Albanian and around 1% is Greek. The religious make up of Albania is 59% Islam, 10% is Catholic, and 7% is Eastern Orthodoxy.

Geography and Location of Albania

Albania is in the south Balkans. This is usually considered part of Southern Europe, but some consider this region part of Eastern Europe. Given Albania's location, Albania's geography is pretty obvious. It is full of hills and mountains. The mountains tend to travel from north to south. The largest lake is Lake Shkodër and its largest river is Drin River.

Albania Economics

As stated earlier, Albania is one of the poorest countries in Europe. As Albania reformed its economy and became more friendly with other nations, there was an economic boom in Albania. However, Albania is still a poor country. It has a poverty rate of around 22% in 2021, but there is an optimistic outlook for Albania. There are many natural resources like lumber, mining materials and textile industry. Specifically, though, there are high levels of natural gas, gold, and some petroleum. Another important resource found in Albania is Chromium, which may prove to become more important as technology advances as its uses include helping make stainless steel. However, Albania’s relationship with chromium has become more complicated given the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic on the global supply chain issues.

Albania Foreign Policy Neighbors

Finally, it is important to understand Albania's foreign policy. First, let’s look at Albania's immediate neighbors: Kosovo and Greece. Albania strongly supports Kosovo independence. They both share a lot of culture and history. Given the fact that Albania has a sizable population in Greece and has a sizable Greek population living in Albania, their relations are essential to both nations. The treatment of the two populations has been the subject of much of their international discussions. In fact, there has been a friendly relation between Albania and Turkey to create a united front against Greece.

Albania and Major Powers

Albania also has a relationship with the powerful countries of the world too. Given that Albania is a part of NATO, with Turkey's help, and is pushing to be a part of the EU, Albania obviously has a pro-west policy. They have friendly relations with Western Europe and the United States. Given their relations with Kosovo and Russia's relationship with Serbia, Albania tends to have a relatively cold relationship towards Russia.

China's relationship with Albania is a bit complicated. Albania has warm economic relations with China. China even considers Albania to be an important part of China's Belt and Road initiative. However, Albania was one of the countries that denounced China's treatment of Uyghurs. This makes Albania one of the few Muslim countries to do so.

Conclusion

Albania has an interesting past and a fascinating future ahead of it. It cannot be said that Albania's future is destined. While a poor country today, there is indeed potential for economic prosperity in the future. The international relationships that Albania has garnered is a far cry from the closed off Communist country it once was. If you found this post interesting, I suggest looking at other countries in this series that I call “Country by Country.”