President: Bujar Nishani (2011)
Prime Minister: Edi Rama (2013)
Land area: 10,579 sq mi (27,400 sq km); total area: 11,100 sq mi (28,748 sq km)
Population (2014 est.): 3,020,209 (growth rate: 0.3%); birth rate: 12.73/1000; infant mortality rate: 13.19/1000; life expectancy: 77.96; density per sq mi: 272
Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Tirana, 419,000
Other large cities: Durres, 113,900; Elbasan, 97,000
Monetary unit: Lek
National name: Republika e Shqiperise
Languages: Albanian 98.8% (official - derived from Tosk dialect), Greek 0.5%, other 0.6% (including Macedonian, Roma, Vlach, Turkish, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian), unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.)
Ethnicity/race: Albanian 82.6%, Greek 0.9%, other 1% (including Vlach, Roma (Gypsy), Macedonian, Montenegrin, and Egyptian), unspecified 15.5% (2011 est.)
Religions: Muslim 56.7%, Roman Catholic 10%, Orthodox 6.8%, atheist 2.5%, Bektashi (a Sufi order) 2.1%, other 5.7%, unspecified 16.2% (2011 est.)
National Holiday: Independence Day, November 28
Literacy rate: 98.7% (2011 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013 est.): $12.8 billion; per capita $10,700. Real growth rate: .7% (2013 est.). Inflation: 1.7% (2013 est.). Unemployment: 16.9% official rate (2013 est.). Note: These are official rates that may not include those working at near-subsistence farming. Arable land: 21.63% (2011). Agriculture: wheat, corn, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, sugar beets, grapes; meat, dairy products. Labor force: 1,098,000; agriculture 54.%, industry 12.8%, services 32.6% (2012 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: $2.323 billion (2013 est.): textiles and footwear; asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil; vegetables, fruits, tobacco. Imports: $2.1 billion (2012 est.): machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals. Major trading partners: Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Germany, China.
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 312,000 (2012); mobile cellular: 3.5 million (2012). Radio broadcast stations: 2 public, 25 private (2012). Television broadcast stations: 3 public, 60+ private (2010). Internet hosts: 15,528 (2012). Internet users: 1,300,000 (2011).
Transportation: Railways: total: 339 km (2011). Highways: total: 18,000 km; paved: 7,020 km; unpaved: 10,980 km (2011). Waterways: 41 km (2011). Ports and harbors: Durres, Sarande, Shengjin, Vlore. Airports: 4 (2013).
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
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