Albania Population
USIS Washington File: FACT SHEET: KOSOVO HUMANITARIAN SITUATION UPDATE APRIL 6
(The following Fact Sheet was released April 6 by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the U.S. Department of State.) ... -- Assistant Secretary of State for Population Refugees and Migration Julia Taft is leading an inter-agency delegation to a UNHCR-chaired meeting in Geneva today to coordinate the relief effort. ... [Read More]
Candidates for NATO Membership: Key Facts and Figures
Capital: Vilnius (population 592,500). ... Capital: Tallinn (population 399,850). ... Population: 3.75 million. ... [Read More]
USIS Washington File: REFUGEE CAMPS STABLE, BUT SECURITY UNCERTAIN
Washington -- The population of impoverished Albania has swelled with more than 430,000 ethnic Albanian Kosovars over the last six weeks, resulting in a situation today that a United Nations refugee official describes as "fairly stable, nonetheless fraught with all kinds of dangers." ... Aid agencies are considering two scenarios when evaluating the needs of the refugee population. The fighting could end and their return might be negotiated, but repairing the damage will be very costly. Janowski said he traveled in parts of Kosovo last September that looked "like a moonscape" because of military assaults on the villages. ... [Read More]
Albania
The country is poor, and is in transition from central economic planning to a free market system; many questions related to privatization, property ownership claims, and the appropriate regulation of business remained unresolved. The country continued to experience slow but stable economic progress; however, 29.6 percent of the country's population of approximately 3.5 million live below the poverty line, with poverty greater in rural areas. Inflation was negligible during the year. The gross domestic product (GDP) grew by about 7.5 percent to an estimated $4.3 billion (602 billion lek). The official unemployment rate was 16 percent, a slight decrease from the 17.5 percent of the previous year. With two-thirds of all workers employed in agriculture--mostly at the subsistence level--remittances from citizens working abroad remained extremely important, as did foreign assistance. The agricultural sector counts for 52.9 percent of GDP with industry and services contributing 25.2 and 21.9 ... [Read More]
Small Arms/Light Weapons Destruction in Albania Memorandum
Reaffirms its commitment to destroy the small arms and light weapons looted during the 1997 crisis, including those that have already been collected and will be collected in the future from the civilian population, ... [Read More]
Albania
Albania is a republic with a multiparty parliament, a Prime Minister, and a President, elected by the Parliament. The Prime Minister heads the Government; the presidency is a largely ceremonial position with limited executive power. The Socialist Party (SP) and its allies won 87 of 140 parliamentary seats in general elections held from June through August 2001 that were conducted in a peaceful atmosphere. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) judged the elections to have improved over past elections in terms of the conduct of the campaign; however, ODIHR noted serious irregularities in the voting process. Local police units that report to the Ministry of Public Order are responsible principally for internal security. The military has a special 120-man "commando" unit, which operates in an antiterrorist role und ... [Read More]
US Department Of State Post Report
Although there are no exact figures, it is estimated that around three-fourths of the population invested approximately $1.2 billion in the pyramid schemes, and when they failed, possibly as much as 80% of the population suffered financial losses. Between February and June 1997 something on the order of 2000 people were killed in the widespread violence throughout the country. The government lost control in most areas and the police and armed forces evaporated. Arms and munitions depots were opened and looted by the public. Estimates report as many as one million weapons and one billion rounds of ammunition fell into the hands of a large proportion of the population. Prisons were opened and the inmates (including Nano and Hoxha’s widow) were freed. In March 1997 a “reconciliation government” was formed under Prime Minister Bashkim Fino (the young former mayor of Gjirokastra) to restore order and organize pre-term national elections as a step toward s ... [Read More]
Albania
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet; however, less than 1 percent of the population had access to the Internet because it was too expensive. The Government did not restrict academic freedom. b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally respected this right in practice. The law requires organizers to notify police about gatherings in public places, and the police may refuse to permit them for reasons such as security and traffic; however, there were no reports that such denials were made arbitrarily. On May 15 and 26, former political prisoners and victims of political persecution staged a formal protest on Tirana's main boulevard, se ... [Read More]
Albania (05/05)
During the Second World War, Albania was occupied first by Italy (1939-43) and then by Germany (1943-44). After the war, Communist Party leader Enver Hoxha, through a combination of ruthlessness and strategic alliances, managed to preserve Albania's territorial integrity during the next 40 years, but exacted a terrible price from the population, which was subjected to purges, shortages, repression of civil and political rights, a total ban on religious observance, and increased isolation. Albania adhered to a strict Stalinist philosophy, eventually withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact in 1968 and alienating its final remaining ally, China in 1978. ... [Read More]
Albania
The majority of citizens are secular in orientation after decades of rigidly enforced atheism under the Communist regime, which ended in 1990. Despite such secularism, most citizens traditionally associate themselves with a religious group. Citizens of Muslim background make up the largest traditional religious group (estimated at 65 to 70 percent of the population) and are divided into two communities: those associated with a moderate form of Sunni Islam and those associated with the Bektashi school (a particularly liberal form of Shi'a Sufism). In 1925 after the revolution of Ataturk, the country became the world center of Bektashism, although it has not been recognized as such by the Government. Bektashis are concentrated mainly in the central and southern regions and are estimated to represent approximately one quarter of the country's Muslim population. The Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania (referred to as Orthodox) and the R ... [Read More]
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