All the chats in Albania

Albania, formally Republic of Albania, is a country located in southeastern Europe. It borders Montenegro to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Macedonia to the north to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coastline towards the Adriatic Sea in the west and towards the Ionian Sea to the southwest. Italy is 72 km from the Albanian coast, separated by the Strait of Otranto that connects the Adriatic with the Ionian Sea. The current Albanian territory was, at various times in its history, part of the Roman province of Dalmatia, Macedonia and the Upper Mesia.

The modern republic achieved its independence after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in Europe as a result of the Balkan Wars, developed between 1912 and 1913. Albania declared its independence in 1912 and this was recognized the following year. From then on, the country was constituted as a principality, republic and kingdom until its invasion by Italian troops in 1939. Italy created Greater Albania, which became a Nazi protectorate in 1943. In 1944 a popular socialist democracy was created under the leadership of Enver Hoxha and the Labor Party of Albania, who ruled the country until the dissolution of the socialist republic and the creation of the Republic of Albania in 1991. Currently Albania is a parliamentary democracy with a transitional economy.

Its capital, Tirana, is the economic, political and cultural center of the country, as well as the largest city with a population of 610,070 inhabitants out of a total of 3 038 594. The reforms aimed at creating a free market have opened the country to foreign investments, especially in the development of energy and transport infrastructure. Albania is a member of the UN, NATO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Islamic Cooperation and a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean. The country is a potential candidate for accession to the European Union since January 2003 and officially applied for membership on April 28,2009.