Albania 

Facts
Population: 3,600,523 (July 2007 est.).
Age structure: 0-14 years: 24.1% (male 454,622/female 413,698)
15-64 years: 66.6% (male 1,228,497/female 1,170,489)
65 years and over: 9.3% (male 154,352/female 178,865) (2007 est.).
Population growth rate: 0.529% (2007 est.).
Birth rate: 15.16 births/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Death rate: 5.33 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Net migration rate: -4.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.1 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.099 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.863 male(s)/female
total population: 1.042 male(s)/female (2007 est.).
Infant mortality rate: total: 20.02 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 20.46 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 19.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.).
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.6 years
male: 74.95 years
female: 80.53 years (2007 est.).
Total fertility rate: 2.03 children born/woman (2007 est.).
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA.
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA.
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA.
Nationality: noun: Albanian(s)
adjective: Albanian.
Ethnic groups: Albanian 95%, Greek 3%, other 2% (Vlach, Roma (Gypsy), Serb, Macedonian, Bulgarian) (1989 est.)
note: in 1989, other estimates of the Greek population ranged from 1% (official Albanian statistics) to 12% (from a Greek organization).
Religions: Muslim 70%, Albanian Orthodox 20%, Roman Catholic 10%
note: percentages are estimates; there are no available current statistics on religious affiliation; all mosques and churches were closed in 1967 and religious observances prohibited; in November 1990, Albania began allowing private religious practice.
Languages: Albanian (official - derived from Tosk dialect), Greek, Vlach, Romani, Slavic dialects.
Literacy: definition: age 9 and over can read and write
total population: 98.7%
male: 99.2%
female: 98.3% (2001 census).
GDP (purchasing power parity): $20.46 billion
note: Albania has a large gray economy that may be as large as 50% of official GDP (2006 est.).
GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2006 est.).
GDP - per capita (PPP): $5,700 (2006 est.).
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 23.3%
industry: 18.8%
services: 57.9% (2006 est.).
Labor force: 1.09 million (not including 352,000 emigrant workers) (September 2006 est.).
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 58%
industry: 15%
services: 27% (September 2006 est.).
Population below poverty line: 25% (2004 est.).
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%.
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.5% (2006).
Unemployment rate: 13.8% official rate, but may exceed 30% due to preponderance of near-subsistence farming (September 2006 est.).
Budget: revenues: $2.608 billion
expenditures: $3.1 billion; including capital expenditures of $710 million (2007 est.).
Agriculture - products: wheat, corn, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, sugar beets, grapes; meat, dairy products.
Industries: food processing, textiles and clothing; lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydropower.
Industrial production growth rate: 3.4% (2005 est.).
Electricity - production: 5.451 billion kWh (2005).
Electricity - consumption: 3.53 billion kWh (2005).
Electricity - exports: 729 million kWh (2005).
Electricity - imports: 385 million kWh (2005).
Exports: $763.2 million f.o.b. (2006 est.).
Exports - commodities: textiles and footwear; asphalt, metals and metallic ores, crude oil; vegetables, fruits, tobacco.
Exports - partners: Italy 72.4%, Greece 10.5%, Serbia and Montenegro 5% (2005).
Imports: $2.901 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.).
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals.
Imports - partners: Italy 29.3%, Greece 16.4%, Turkey 7.5%, China 6.6%, Germany 5.4%, Russia 4% (2005).
Debt - external: $1.55 billion (2004).
Economic aid - recipient: ODA: $366 million
note: top donors were Italy, EU, Germany (2003 est.).
Currency (code): lek (ALL)
note: the plural of lek is leke.
Exchange rates: leke per US dollar - 98.384 (2006), 102.649 (2005), 102.78 (2004), 121.863 (2003), 140.155 (2002).
Fiscal year: calendar year.
Statistics: C.I.A. World Factbook. Updated: July 20, 2007.
Press
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Displaying 1 to 7 of 25 items.
Albania
(Right-wing), Tirana
(Independent), Tirana
http://www.albaniannews.com/
(English-language news service), Tirana
http://www.hri.org/news/balkans/ata/
Tirana
http://membres.lycos.fr/ballikombit/
(Independent daily), Tirana
http://www.ballkan.com/
(Financial news), Tirana
http://www.biznesi.com.al/
Drita
(Literary magazine), Tirana
Albania in the News
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Displaying 1 to 4 of 23 items.
Amidst serious economic problems, a flawed election and an ineffective Parliament, the situation in Albania looks gloomy at the moment.
Although Albania's recent elections demonstrated progress in some respects, the sum of those parts may be little to no progress at all.
Whoever wins the June 28 election, it will bring major changes to Albania.
The European Commission (EC) annual reports on would-be members brought a mixture of hope and bitterness in the Balkans.