Foundation Islamic Union
Albania
Official Name: Republic of Albania (AL)
Capital : Tirana
Important Cities: Iskodër, Elbasan, Durrës, Körçe, Avlonia.
Area: 28.748 km2.
Population : 2.866.000[1] 36% of the population lives in cities.
Number of People Per Km2: 119
Ethnicity: 95.3% Albanian, 2.5% Gypsy, 1.8% Greek, 0.14% Macedonian.
Language: The official language is Albanian. The languages of ethnic elements are also spoken.
Religion: There are 70% Muslims, 20% Orthodox Christians and 10% Catholic Christians. 75-80 per cent of the Muslim population is Sunnite and the rest is Bektashi. Although Albanian Bektashis are counted among Muslims, they are out of Islam in terms of belief and life.
Geographical Situation: Albania, which is a Balkan country and lies in the western region of the Balkan Peninsula, is surrounded by Montenegro from the north, Serbia and Macedonia from the east, Greece from the southeast, and the Adriatic Sea from the west. The length of the coast facing the Adriatic Sea is 316 kilometres. Two-thirds of its territory, which is generally mountainous, consists of mountains and hills. The remaining part is plains and low hills. It has many rivers. The longest rivers are the Drina, Vyosa, Shkumbi, Semani, Mati and Erzen. Part of the lakes of Iskodër, Ohrid and Prespa belong to Albania. There are some small lakes within its borders and some of them are glacial lakes. 36% of its territory is forested, 17% is agricultural land and 14% is grassland. In Albania, which is located in the Mediterranean climate zone, summers are dry, hot and sunny, winters are rainy and mild.
Government: Albania is governed by a multi-party democratic system and a constitution promulgated on 29 April 1991. The head of state is the head of state, the head of government is the prime minister. It has a 140-member parliament whose members are elected in free general elections. Albania is a member of the UN and the International Monetary Fund.
Political Parties: The main political parties in Albania are the following: Democratic Party: It has a liberal approach. This party, which won 92 seats in the parliament in the last general elections, is in power. Social Democratic Party: Left-wing. In the last general elections it won 7 seats in parliament.
Socialist Party A continuation of the Communist Labour Party. In the last general elections it won 38 seats.
Administrative Division: It is divided into 27 provinces and 200 districts.
History: Before Islam entered Albania, Albanians cooperated with the Ottomans on various occasions. In the Ottoman-Venetian struggle, Albanian beys sided with the Ottomans. The Ottoman state captured Albania in 1417 and established the Albanian sanjak. After 1432, various revolts broke out in Albania against the Ottoman administration. Due to these rebellions and some foreign interventions, some parts of Albania were lost to the Ottomans. After the 1463 Ottoman-Venetian wars, the Ottomans started to recapture parts of Albania and in 1501 they captured most of it.
In 1914, the invaders appointed William Ovfid of Serbian origin as king. However, since King William was foreign to Albanians in terms of religion and nationality, he could not establish authority in the country. Therefore, Albania was in complete confusion until 1925. During this period, gangs were formed to ensure the independence of the country and these gangs fought against the occupiers. In early 1925, a republic was declared in the country and Ahmed Zogu was elected president. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, fascist Italian armies invaded Albania. This occupation lasted until 29 November 1944. Immediately after the end of the occupation, a communist dictatorship was established in the country under the leadership of Enver Hoxha.
Enver Hoxha remained in power until his death on 11 April 1985. After him, Ramiz Alia was elected as president.
Ramiz Alia suddenly became a radical reformer in order to keep his seat in this process of rapid change. He decided to introduce a multi-party system in order to appease popular anger. The establishment of the Democratic Party, alongside the ruling communist Labour Party, was then officially recognised. This was followed by some freedoms in the press, allowing the Democratic Party to publish a newspaper, The Birth of Democracy.
Elections were held on 10 February 1991 for the election of 250 members of the People's Assembly. The aim of the elections was to ensure that the Socialist Party, the continuation of the Labour Party, would remain in power for one more term before the opposition parties had completed their organisation, before they could introduce themselves to the public and while there was an environment in which election fraud could be committed. This was so, and the Socialist Party won 169 seats in the parliament. However, the public was not satisfied with this result and reacted. Thereupon, elections were held again on 22 March 1992 and in these elections the Democratic Party became the first party by winning 92 parliamentary seats. Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha was elected as the President of the Republic. The Socialist Party government was also ended and a government led by the Democratic Party was formed.
External Problems: The most important external problem is the Kosovo issue. Today, more than 80% of the people of Kosovo, which is within the borders of the new Yugoslavia and which was annexed to Serbia by the Serbian government by removing its autonomy, are of Albanian origin. Albania-Greece relations are also not good and Greece puts pressure on the Albanian government on some issues.
Islamic Studies: Among the countries where the communist regime prevailed, Albania is the country with the strictest hostility to religion. In this country, the communist regime made hostility to religion the official ideology of the state and a constitutional principle. Article 37 of the constitution, which was in force until the collapse of communism, obliged the country's administration to carry out the necessary work to spread atheist propaganda and to make the people of the country accept historical materialism. Article 55 of the same constitution prohibited the establishment of religious institutions and organisations incompatible with the socialist regime. By the end of the sixties, 2,169 mosques and churches were closed in this country.
In 1990, it began to regain its freedom. Efforts were initiated to reopen the mosques that had been closed down during the former dictatorship. For example, 65,000 people attended the inauguration ceremony of the Iskodra mosque, the first mosque to be opened for worship after the reforms. The Presidency of Religious Affairs was established for the organisation of Islamic services and the headquarters of the communist Labour Party was placed at its disposal. Some Islamic aid organisations, such as the International Islamic Relief Organisation, were also established.
Economy: Albania's economy is mostly based on mineral production and industry. It extracts some oil and natural gas. In 1992 it produced a total of 6 million barrels of oil and 136 million m3 of natural gas. In 1993, oil reserves were estimated at 185 million barrels and natural gas reserves at 11 billion m3. It also produces chromium, lignite, nickel, copper, iron, sulphur, zinc, lead and bauxite.
Agriculture and animal husbandry also play an important role in the economy. The share of income from these sectors in gross domestic product is 36 per cent and 55 per cent of the working population is employed in these areas.
Currency: Lek.
National Income per Capita: 6,250 USD[2]
Foreign Trade: The main exports are oil, mineral ores and various agricultural products. The leading imported goods are machinery, transport vehicles and spare parts, foodstuffs, chemicals and consumer durables. The foreign trade deficit in 1991 was 179 million dollars.
Industry: Metallurgy, iron and steel, chemicals, textiles, footwear, leather, timber, furniture, food, beverages, cigarettes, pharmaceuticals and construction materials industries are the most developed and on the way of development. The share of income from local resources and the manufacturing industry in gross domestic product is 42 per cent. About 19.5 per cent of the working population is employed in the industrial sector.
Energy: In 1991, 2 billion 800 million kw/h of electricity was produced, 3 billion 155 million kw/h was consumed and the difference was met by imports. 9 per cent of the electricity is obtained from thermal power plants and 91 per cent from hydroelectric power plants. Annual electricity consumption per capita is 960 kw/hour on average.
Transportation: The country's only airport with scheduled flights is the airport open to international traffic in the capital Tirana. Albania has 25 ships capable of carrying cargo over 100 gph, 720 km. of railways, 21.000 km. of highways, 8.000 km. of which are asphalted. In this country, there is one motorised transport vehicle for 68 people on average.
Education: Education is free. There are 1,800 primary schools, 50 general secondary schools, 470 vocational secondary schools and 8 higher education institutions. Among university-age youth, the rate of those enrolled in university is 8 per cent and the rate of those who can read and write is 100 per cent.
[1] www.ticaret.gov.tr (accessed April 2022)
[2] www.ticaret.gov.tr (accessed April 2022)
