President: Bamir Topi (2007)
Prime Minister: Sali Berisha (2005)
Land area: 10,579 sq mi (27,400 sq km); total area: 11,100 sq mi (28,748 sq km)
Population (2009 est.): 3,639,453 (growth rate: 0.5%); birth rate: 15.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 18.6/1000; life expectancy: 77.9; density per sq mi: 340
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Tirana, 353,400
Other large cities: Durres, 113,900; Elbasan, 97,000
Monetary unit: Lek
National name: Republika e Shqiperise
Current government officials
Languages: Albanian (Tosk is the official dialect), Greek
Ethnicity/race: Albanian 95%, Greeks 3%, other 2%: Vlachs, Gypsies, Serbs, and Bulgarians (1989 est.)
Religions: Islam 70%, Albanian Orthodox 20%, Roman Catholic 10% (est.)
National Holiday: Independence Day, November 28
Literacy rate: 87% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $19.76 billion; note: Albania has a large gray economy that may be as large as 50% of official GDP (2007 est.); per capita $5,500. Real growth rate: 5% (2007 est.).
Inflation: 3% (2007 est.). Unemployment: 13% official rate, but may exceed 30% due to preponderance of near-subsistence farming (2007 est.). Arable land: 20.1% (2005). Agriculture: wheat, corn, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, sugar beets, grapes; meat, dairy products. Labor force: 1.09 million (not including 352,000 emigrant workers); agriculture 58%, industry 15%, services 27% (2006 est.). Industries: food processing, textiles and clothing; lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydropower. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, bauxite, chromite, copper, iron ore, nickel, salt, timber, hydropower. Exports: $962 million f.o.b. (2007 est.): textiles and footwear; asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil; vegetables, fruits, tobacco. Imports: $3.42 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals. Major trading partners: Italy, Greece, Turkey, Germany (2006).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 353,600 (2005); mobile cellular: 1.53 million (2005).
Radio broadcast stations: AM 13, FM 46 (3 national, 62 local), shortwave 1 (2005). Television broadcast stations: 65 (3 national, 62 local); note - 2 cable networks (2005).
Internet hosts: 852 (2007). Internet users: 471,200 (2006).
Transportation: Railways: total: 447 km (2006).
Highways: total: 18,000 km; paved: 5,400 km; unpaved: 12,600 km (2002). Waterways: 43 km (2007).
Ports and harbors: Durres, Sarande, Shengjin, Vlore.
Airports: 11 (2007).
International disputes: The Albanian Government calls for the protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians in neighboring countries, and the peaceful resolution of interethnic disputes; some ethnic Albanian groups in neighboring countries advocate for a "greater Albania," but the idea has little appeal among Albanian nationals; the mass emigration of unemployed Albanians remains a problem for developed countries, chiefly Greece and Italy
