Albania ( (listen) a(w)l-BAY-nee-ə; Albanian: Shqipëri or Shqipëria), officially the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. The country is located in the Balkans on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. Spanning an area of 28,748 km2 (11,100 sq mi), it displays varied range of climatic, geological, hydrological and morphological conditions.
Albania boasts a significant diversity with the landscape ranging from the snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps and the Korab, Skanderbeg, Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains, to the hot and sunny Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea Coasts. Tirana is its capital and largest city in the country, followed by Durrës, Vlorë, and Shkodër.
Different regions of Albania have been inhabited by various civilisations throughout the course of history, such as the Illyrians, Thracians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians and Ottomans. The Albanians established the autonomous Principality of Arbër in the 12th century, the Kingdom of Albania and Principality of Albania formed in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Ottoman conquest of Albania in the 15th century led to Ottoman control into the 20th century. After the defeat of the Ottomans in the Balkan Wars, the modern nation state of Albania declared independence in 1912. In 1939, the Kingdom of Albania was invaded by Italy, which became Greater Albania and then a protectorate of Nazi Germany during World War II. Following the war the People's Socialist Republic of Albania was formed which lasted until the Revolutions of 1991 concluded the fall of communism in Albania and eventually the establishment of the current Republic of Albania.
Albania is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic. It is a developing country, ranking 67th in the Human Development Index, with an upper-middle income economy dominated by the service sector, followed by manufacturing. It went through a process of transition following the end of communism in 1990, from centralised planning to a market-based economy. Albania provides universal health care and free primary and secondary education to its citizens. Albania is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, UNESCO, NATO, WTO, COE, OSCE, and OIC. It has been an official candidate for membership in the European Union since 2014. It is one of the founding members of the Energy Community, including the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and Union for the Mediterranean.
