CountryGuide

President: Bamir Topi
Total area:28,748 sq km
Language:  the Ghegs and the Tosks

Population:3,659,616
Capital and largest city:Tirana 353,400
Other large cities:Durres
Official religion:Islam and Christianity
Monetary uni: Lek

Government:Emerging democracy

History:A part of Illyria in ancient times and later of the Roman Empire, Albania was ruled by the Byzantine Empire from 535 to 1204. An alliance (1444–1466) of Albanian chiefs failed to halt the advance of the Ottoman Turks, and the country remained under at least nominal Turkish rule for more than four centuries, until it proclaimed its independence on Nov. 28, 1912.