50 Fun Facts About Albania

Albania has coastlines on the Adriatic and which other sea?

It borders Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Greece by land.

What is the capital and largest city of Albania?

Durrës, Vlorë and Shkodër follow it in size.

Albanians call their country Shqipëri, widely interpreted to mean what?

The older name Arbëri survives in the Arbëreshë communities of southern Italy.

The Albanian flag shows what black emblem on a red field?

It was the coat of arms of Skanderbeg's Kastrioti family, adapted from the Byzantine imperial flag.

Which ancient people, including the Taulantii and Ardiaei, dominated Albania before Macedon rose?

The name Albania is linked to the Illyrian tribe of the Albani mentioned by Ptolemy.

Which Greek colony was the most notable of those founded on the Albanian coast?

Butrint in the south was a Chaonian settlement that became a Roman colony.

Skanderbeg deserted the Ottoman army in 1443 at which battle before seizing Krujë?

He then formed the League of Lezhë in 1444 and resisted the sultans for 25 years.

Skanderbeg's victories over the Ottomans earned him which papal title?

His stand delayed the Ottoman advance into Western Europe, though most European powers except Naples failed to help him.

Albania declared independence from the Ottoman Empire on which date?

The Assembly of Vlorë established a senate and government days later.

Ahmet Zogu proclaimed Albania a monarchy in 1928 and took which royal name?

At 27 he had been the country's youngest ever prime minister; Mussolini's Italy drove him into exile in 1939.

Enver Hoxha, who ruled Albania from 1944 to 1985, was born in which southern city?

The same UNESCO-listed 'city of stone' produced the novelist Ismail Kadare.

Roughly how many bunkers did Hoxha's regime build across Albania?

They were never used for their purpose; today some are cafés, storehouses or animal shelters.

In 1976 Albania became the world's first what?

Hoxha's regime persecuted Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox clergy alike.

After breaking with the Soviet Union, communist Albania's enduring partner was which country?

Albania left the Warsaw Pact after the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia; ties with Beijing cooled in the 1970s.

Which English comedian became a huge star in Hoxha's Albania, which allowed few Western films?

In 2001 he scored a half-time penalty at St James' Park during an England-Albania qualifier.

The 1946 Corfu Channel incident involved Royal Navy ships striking what?

The court ordered Albania to pay Britain £844,000.

Albania's violent 1997 unrest, which killed about 2,000 people, followed the collapse of what?

An Italian-led UN force, Operation Alba, was deployed in April 1997.

Albania joined NATO and formally applied for EU membership in which year?

Accession negotiations with the EU began in 2022.

Mount Korab, Albania's highest point, rises to roughly what height?

The Albanian Alps in the far north are among the wettest places in Europe, with over 3,100 mm of rain a year.

Which body of water in Albania's north-west is Southern Europe's largest lake?

Lake Ohrid, on the North Macedonian border, is one of the world's oldest lakes.

The Vjosa, which flows from the Pindus to the Adriatic, was given which European first?

The river rises in the Pindus Mountains and reaches the Adriatic largely undammed.

Butrint, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, lies near which resort close to the Greek border?

The ancient Greek and Roman city became a national park in 2000.

Berat, a UNESCO site since 2008, is known to Albanians by which nickname for its stacked Ottoman houses?

The Ottomans called it Belgrad-i Arnavud, Albanian Belgrade, to distinguish it from Serbia's.

The capital was founded in 1614 by an Ottoman Albanian nobleman who built which structure at its heart?

Sulejman Pasha Bargjini's Old Mosque came with a bazaar and hammam; Tirana only became capital after 1912.

Albanian is an Indo-European language and the only surviving member of which branch?

Its two dialects, Gheg and Tosk, are split by the Shkumbin river.

The Gheg and Tosk dialects of Albanian are divided by which river?

Gheg is spoken to the north and Tosk to the south.

What is Albania's currency, introduced in 1926?

It was historically divided into 100 qindarka; one story names it after Lekë Dukagjini.

What was Albania's population according to the 2023 census?

It had fallen from 2.8 million in 2011 as emigration continued.

Which religious group formed the largest share of Albanians in the 2023 census, at about 46%?

Albania is secular with no official religion; Catholics live mainly in the north and Orthodox in the south.

Which Sufi order, headquartered in Albania, accounted for nearly 5% of the population in 2023?

Its followers are found mainly in the south.

Mother Teresa, of Albanian family, was born in 1910 in which city?

She was canonised in 2016; Tirana's airport and a main square carry her name.

In which year did Albanian writer Ismail Kadare win the first Man Booker International Prize?

He was nominated for the Nobel 15 times and made his name with The General of the Dead Army.

Tavë kosi, one of Albania's national dishes, is mutton and rice baked under a mixture of eggs and what?

It is also called Tavë Elbasani after its home city.

What is the most popular spirit in Albania?

Grape, plum and blackberry versions are the most common.

Albania claims to have more of what per capita than any country in the world?

Coffee is described as an integral part of the Albanian lifestyle.

Albanian iso-polyphony, on UNESCO's intangible heritage list, is folk singing accompanied by what?

It is thought to derive from the southern Albanian lament for the dead, the vajtim.

Pop star Dua Lipa was born in London to parents from which Albanian-majority territory?

Her first name means 'love' in Albanian; Rita Ora, Bebe Rexha and Ava Max share Albanian roots.

Albania reached the group stage of a major football tournament for the first time at which event?

They opened qualifying with a 1-0 win in Portugal and reached the finals again at Euro 2024.

Which Illyrian queen led operations against the Romans, ending in defeat in 227 BC?

King Gentius later lost the Third Illyrian War in 168 BC.

Ahmet Zogu became Albania's youngest ever prime minister in 1922 at what age?

He went on to be president in 1925 and king in 1928.

Which country invaded Albania in 1939, forcing King Zog into exile?

Nazi Germany took over in 1943; Hoxha's partisans liberated the country in 1944.

Albania's coastline, including the Riviera in the south-west, is roughly how long?

Tourism drew over 11 million visitors in 2024.

How many visitors did Albania attract in 2024?

That is more than four times the country's population.

Which Albanian port is the country's busiest and largest?

Ancient Dyrrhachium was the start of the Roman Via Egnatia.

What were Albania's 2026 protests over Kushner-linked Sazan Island developments called?

The Zvërnec peninsula projects raised environmental and anti-corruption concerns.

How many national parks does Albania have?

They include Butrint, Karaburun-Sazan, Llogara, Prespa and Vjosa.

Which Albanian region did Stefan Dušan's Serbian empire fail to capture in the 14th century?

Several Albanian principalities emerged as Byzantine power waned.

Which Albanian city hosted the 1908 congress that settled the Latin-based Albanian alphabet?

The city is now Bitola in North Macedonia.

Lake Ohrid, on the Albania-North Macedonia border, is home to more than how many endemic species?

North Macedonia's side was made a UNESCO site in 1979.

Medieval Albanians used which name, still used by Albanian communities in southern Italy?

Thousands fled to Calabria, Naples and Sicily after the Ottoman conquest.