ALBANIA| Capital: | Tirana | |
| Population: | 3,364,571 | |
| Government type: | Emerging democracy | |
| Location: | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic and Ionian Sea,between Greece and Serbia and Montenegro | |
| Area: | 28,750 km˛ | |
| Land boundaries: | Total 720 km; Greece 282 km, Macedonia 151 km, Serbia and Montenegro 287 km (114 km with Serbia, 173 km with Montenegro) | |
| Ethnic groups: | Albanian (95%), Greeks (3%), other (2%) | |
| Religions: | Muslim (70%), Albanian Orthodox (20%), Roman Catholic (10%) | |
| Languages: | Albanian (Tosk is the official dialect), Greek |
General
An extremely poor country by European standards, Albania is making the difficult transition to a more open-market economy. The economy rebounded in 1993-95 after a severe depression accompanying the collapse of the previous centrally planned system in 1990 and 1991. However, a weakening of government resolve to maintain stabilization policies in the election year of 1996 contributed to renewal of inflationary pressures, spurred by the budget deficit which exceeded 12%. The collapse of financial pyramid schemes in early 1997 - which had attracted deposits from a substantial portion of Albania’s population - triggered severe social unrest which led to more than 1,500 deaths, widespread destruction of property, and an 8% drop in GDP. The new government installed in July 1997 has taken strong measures to restore public order and to revive economic activity and trade. The economy continues to be bolstered by remittances of some 20% of the labour force which works abroad, mostly in Greece and Italy. These remittances supplement GDP and help offset the large foreign trade deficit.
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