Tirana history
Geographic location of Albania
Albania is a country in South-Eastern Europe, in the West of the Balkan Peninsula, having the geographical coordinates: 39 16' latitude and 42 39' longitude. Albania is almost midway between Equator and the North Pole, and covers a surface of 28.748 km2. The overall length of the borderline of the Republic of Albania is 1094 km; out of which 657-km is land-border, 316-km sea-border, 48-km river-border and 73 km lake-border. The Republic of Albania, is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo[a] to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west, and on the Ionian Sea to the southwest. It is less than 72 km (45 mi) from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which links the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea.The average altitude is 708 m, i.e. two times higher than that of Europe. Albania is included in the humid sub-tropical zone of the Northern Hemisphere, and it belongs to the Mediterranean climatic zone. Albania is a member of the UN, NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Council of Europe, World Trade Organization etc. Albania has been a potential candidate for accession to the European Union since January 2003, and it formally applied for EU membership on 28 April 2009.
Albania is a parliamentary democracy with a transition economy. The Albanian capital, is Tirana. Albania was chosen as the top country in Lonely Planet's list of ten top countries to visit for 2011
Albania Climate
Coastal areas: Central Mediterranean, mild and wet winter, hot and dry summer.
Alpine areas: Central Continental, cold and wild winter, wet summer.
Main Cities of Albania
Tirana, Durres, Vlora, Saranda, Shkodra, Berat, Korca, Gjirokastra, Elbasan
Official Language - Albanian
Albanian is an Indo-European language and it represents a separate branch of this family.
Tirana’s History
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini ‘Pasha’, a local ruler from Mullet. The city began to grow at the beginning of the 18 century, but it remained an unimportant town until it was proclaimed Albania’s capital in 1920. This was mainly due to its geographical position more or less in the middle of the country, on the fault-line between the northern Ghegs and the southern Tosks. It wasn’t until the late 1920 when Italian influence became quite strong, that the centre of the city took the appearance of a capital city. Italian planners and architects build the main square named after the National Hero Scanderbeg, the huge boulevard, ministry buildings, national bank and the town hall. Today Tirana is the centre of the political, economical, and cultural life of the country with over 700 000 inhabitants.
In the last few years Tirana has seen substantial changes in its appearance. The dull communist-style apartment blocks have been painted over in bright colours and abstract patterns by an artist turned Mayer. This is not only a quick fix but also an uplifting experience for inhabitants and visitors alike. Furthermore it has seen an increased development in modern infrastructure contributing to the city’s metropolitan look.
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