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
1 2 3 4 
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 21 to 23 of 23 items.
A top law-enforcement official has been charged in connection with an ambitious plan to turn this once stalwart communist country into a European hub for trafficking in heroin and cocaine. Authorities, who made several important arrests in February after an exhaustive two-year investigation, describe the makings of a major drug cartel, with connections in Colombia, Spain, Italy, and Greece.
The fallout from the 1997 pyramid-scheme scandals—Albania’s biggest fraud case, which led to deadly rioting and widespread chaos—continues to have an impact on Albanian politics.
Americas 
