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On the Adriatic Sea in southeastern Europe. Capital: Tirana
CIA Factbook: "An emerging democracy."
The CIA Factbook states the following:
"Between 1990 and 1992 Albania ended 46 years of xenophobic Communist rule and established a multiparty democracy. The transition has proven difficult as successive governments have tried to deal with high unemployment, widespread corruption, a dilapidated infrastructure, powerful organized crime networks with links to high government officials, and disruptive political opponents. International observers judged parliamentary elections in 2001 and local elections in 2003 to be acceptable and a step toward democratic development, but identified serious deficiencies. Many of these deficiencies have been addressed through bi-partisan changes to the electoral code in 2003 and 2005, but implementation of these changes will not be demonstrated until parliamentary elections in July 2005."
Figures unless otherwise stated are from the CIA Factbook.
Estimated per capita GDP:
2007 $5,500 (Ranks 127th)
2006 $5,600
2005 $5,300
2004 $4,900
2003 $4,500
1999 $3,000
GDP annual growth rate estimated for 2007: 5.0 percent. (Ranks 109th)
Agriculture is 49 percent of its GDP.
Unemployment: officially 15 percent; unofficially maybe as high as 30 percent (2001 estimate).
Factbook: "Poor and backward by European standards, Albania is making the difficult transition to a more modern open-market economy. The government has taken measures to curb violent crime and to spur economic activity and trade. The economy is bolstered by annual remittances from abroad of $600-$800 million, mostly from Greece and Italy; this helps offset the towering trade deficit."
Deaths 5.44. Births 15.22
Estimate for July 2008: 3.619 million. Growth rate: 0.538 percent per year.
Persons per square kilometer of arable land: 616.6
More leaving than arriving, for a net loss of 4.41 per 1,000 population - people leaving for work and sending money back to families.
Infant mortality estimated for 2008: 19.31, down from 21.52 in 2005 (deaths before the age of one year, per 1,000 live births.
Average life expectancy estimated for 2008: 77.78
Albanian 95 percent, Greek 3 percent, other 2 percent (1989 est.)
Muslim 70 percent, Albanian Orthodox 20percent, Roman Catholic 10 percent
SOURCES:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
Copyright © 2008 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.