Albania is situated on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, with Montenegro and Serbia to the north, Macedonia to the east, and Greece to the south. Slightly larger than Maryland, Albania is composed of two major regions: a mountainous highland region (north, east, and south) constituting 70% of the land area, and a western coastal lowland region that contains nearly all of the country's agricultural land and is the most densely populated part of Albania.
A part of Illyria in ancient times and later of the Roman Empire, Albania was ruled by the Byzantine Empire from 535 to 1204. An alliance (1444–1466) of Albanian chiefs failed to halt the advance of the Ottoman Turks, and the country remained under at least nominal Turkish rule for more than four centuries, until it proclaimed its independence on Nov. 28, 1912.
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Bylis Albania
Castle Krija Albania
Front of the Thambey Mosque
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Modern Albania
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PROFILE
Area: 28,748 sq km (10,822 sq miles)
Population: 3.619.778 million (2008 est)
Capital city: Tirana (pop: 400,000)
People: Albanian 95%, Greeks 3% and others 2% (Vlachs, Roma (Gypsy), Serb, Macedonians, Bulgarian Balkans Egyptians, (1989 est). note: in 1989, other estimates of the Greek population ranged from 1% (official Albanian statistics) to 12% (from a Greek organization)
Languages: Albanian, Greek, Vlach, Romani, Slavic dialects.
Religion: Sunni Muslim (70%), Albanian Orthodox (20%), Roman Catholic (10%)
Currency: Lek
