Albania

Where the name comes from

Albania means “land of the Albanians”, possibly after the Albani tribe recorded near Durrës around AD 150; the deeper origin is uncertain.

First people

Illyrian tribes lived here in ancient times, and Albanian is a distinct Indo-European language with debated ancient Balkan roots.¹

Known for

Albania is known for its beaches on the Ionian Sea and for the hundreds of thousands of concrete bunkers built under communist leader Enver Hoxha.²

Outside contact

The Ottoman conquest was complete by 1479.¹

The modern country

Albania’s national revival in the 1800s built up Albanian books, schools and a shared alphabet across religious communities, and independence was declared at Vlora in 1912. Italy later occupied the country in 1939 and Germany in 1943–1944.³