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ALBANIA |
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Last Updated: Sunday 6 March, 2005 National anthem |
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The Illyrian people are the most likely ascendants of modern Albania. They lived in the southern Balkans long before the migration of Greeks, Romanians and Slavs to the region. By the 6th century BC, the Greeks had established several colonies along the Albanian coast, including Epidamnus and Appollonia, near present-day Durres and Vlore respectively. By the 3rd century BC, the colonies began to decline and eventually disappeared. It was then that the small Illyrian groups that pre-dated the Greeks evolved into more complex political units, including federations and kingdoms, flourishing between the 5th and 2nd centuries BC.
From the 8th through the 11th centuries AD, Illyria gradually became known as Albania, from the Albanos group that inhabited central Albania. In the 9th century the Byzantine Empire's power began to weaken as Bulgarian Slavs followed by Norman Crusaders, Italian Angevins, Serbs and Venetians invaded the region. After the 10th century a feudal system developed in which peasant soldiers, who had served military lords, became serfs on landed estates. It was at this time that some of the regions and provinces became virtually independent of Constantinople. In the 16th century the name Shquipetar, Country of the Eagle, replaced Albania. With a population of some 3.5 million, 95% are Albanian and others Greek, Vlach, Gypsy, Serb and Bulgarian. According to official Albanian statistics, the Greek population was estimated at 1% while for a Greek organization it stood at 12%.In 1999 nearly 500,000 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo, Yugoslavia, found refuge in Albania. The Albanian Government favours the protection of the human rights of ethnic Albanians outside its borders in Kosovo and in the FYR Macedonia. There is meanwhile a constant outflow of many Albanians who illegally transit neighboring states and the Adriatic to emigrate to western Europe. Following an epoch of declared State atheism, the religion divide is calculated at Muslim 70%, Albanian Orthodox 20% and Roman Catholic 10%. Albanian, since 1945 in its Tosk dialect spoken south of the Shkumbin River, is the official language with over 3 million speakers. In all, however, there are approximately 5 million speakers of Albanian with a further 2 million living in Kosovo, southern Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Italy.Gheg is spoken in the north of Albania and in the neighbouring regions of north-west Macedonia and of southern Serbia and Montenegro that are populated by Albanians. The Albanians call their language shqip and their country Shqipéria, Land of the Eagles. Their national flag is actually red with a black two-headed eagle in the centre. Greek is also spoken. The present constitution was passed by Parliament on the 21st October, 1998 and by popular referendum on the 28th November, 1998 with one opposition party boycotting the vote. The date was the 86th anniversary of Albania’s independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912 which is now celebrated as Independence Day.The current President of the Republic, Alfred Moisiu, has been elected in office by the unicameral People's Assembly on the 24th June, 2002 for a five-year term. Currently a nascent democracy after 45 years of communist rule, the country is emerging as a multiparty political system harbouring some 15 parties in the run to the June 2001 elections. Suffrage is compulsory at 18 years of age.The 140-seat People’s Assembly, Kuvendi Popullor, is elected for a four-year term. 100 deputies are elected by direct popular vote and 40 by proportional vote. In these elections, there emerged two major parties with 41.5% of the votes going to the Socialists and 36.8% to the Democrats, with five splinter parties taking some 2.5% to 5.2% of the votes each. There are also two independent seats. The Prime Minister since July 2002 is Fatos Nano. He received a full vote of confidence as Socialist party leader in December 2003. The capital is Tirana on the Adriatic coast. There are 12 counties or qarqe: Qarku i Beratit, Qarku i Dibres, Qarku i Durresit, Qarku i Elbasanit, Qarku i Fierit, Qarku i Gjirokastres, Qarku i Korces, Qarku i Kukesit, Qarku i Lezhes, Qarku i Shkodres, Qarku i Tiranes, Qarku i Vlores. Turnout in local elections held in October 2003 was about 49%, confirming that local government has had little effect on the people’s way of thinking since the fall of the communist regime. Leaders had wished for a higher turnout, indicating that Albania’s image as a democracy was at stake. The national anthem is Rreth Flamurit te per bashkuar, The flag that united us in the struggle.Hymn to The Flag The flag that united us in the struggle Has seen us all ready to take the oath, With one mind and one vision, until our land Is liberated from enemy hands. (chorus)In battle we stand for rights and liberty, While the the people’s enemies stand alone, The hero who gives his life to our land, Will also in his dying be brave. Albanian Daily News - English web site.Radio Tirana - includes English language broadcsts. Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) – official news agency.
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