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tirana administrative divisions: 12 counties (qarqe. singular - qark); qarku i beratit. qarku i dibres. qarku i durresit. qarku i elbasanit. qarku i fierit. qarku i gjirokastres. qarku i korces. qarku i kukesit. qarku i lezhes. qarku i shkodres. qarku i tiranes. qarku i vlores independence: 28 november 1912 (from ottoman empire) national holiday: independence day. 28 november (1912) constitution: adopted by popular referendum on 28 november 1998 legal system: has a civil law system; has not accepted compulsory icj jurisdiction; has accepted jurisdiction of the international criminal court for its citizens suffrage: 18 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: president of the republic alfred moisiu (since 24 july 2002) head of government: prime minister sali berisha (since 10 september 2005) cabinet: council of ministers proposed by the prime minister. nominated by the president. and approved by parliament elections: president elected by the people's assembly for a five-year term; election last held 24 june 2002 (next to be held june 2007); prime minister appointed by the president election results: alfred moisiu elected president; people's assembly vote by number - total votes 116. for 97. against 19 legislative branch: unicameral people's assembly or kuvendi popullor (140 seats; 100 are elected by direct popular vote and 40 by proportional vote for four-year terms) elections: last held 3 july 2005 (next to be held in 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party - pd 56. ps 42. pr 11. psd 7. lsi 5. other 19 judicial branch: constitutional court. supreme court (chairman is elected by the people's assembly for a four-year term). and multiple appeals and district courts political parties and leaders: agrarian environmentalist party or paa [lufter xhuveli]; christian democratic party or pdk [nikolle lesi]; communist party of albania or pksh [hysni milloshi]; democratic alliance party or psd [neritan ceka]; democratic party or pd [sali berisha]; legality movement party or pll [ekrem spahiu]; liberal union party or pbl [arjan starova]; national front party (balli kombetar) or bnk [adriatik alimadhi]; new democratic party or pdr [genc pollo]; party of national unity or puk [idajet beqiri]; renewed democratic party or pdrn [dashamir shehi]; republican party or pr [fatmir mediu]; social democracy party or pds [paskal milo]; social democratic party or psd [skender gjinushi]; socialist movement for integration or lsi [ilir meta]; socialist party or ps [edi rama]; union for human rights party or pbdnj [vangjel dule] political pressure groups and leaders: confederation of trade unions of albania or kssh [kastriot muco]; front for albanian national unification or fbksh [gafur adili]; omonia [jani jani]; union of independent trade unions of albania or bspsh [gezim kalaja]; mjaft movement [ erion veliaj]; citizens advocacy office [kreshnik spahiu] international organization participation: acct (associate). bsec. ce. cei. eapc. ebrd. fao. iaea. ibrd. icao. icct. icftu. icrm. ida. idb. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iom. iso (correspondent). itu. miga. oic. opcw. osce. pfp. un. unctad. unesco. unido. unomig. upu. wco. wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: acting ambassador kreshink collaku chancery: 2100 s street nw. washington. dc 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 223-4942 fax: [1] (202) 628-7342 diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador marcie b. ries embassy: rruga elbasanit. labinoti #103. tirana mailing address: u. s. department of state. 9510 tirana place. dulles. va 20189-9510 telephone: [355] (4) 247285 fax: [355] (4) 374957 and [355] (4) 232222 flag description: red with a black two-headed eagle in the center economy - overview: lagging behind its balkan neighbors. 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. agriculture. which accounts for about one-quarter of gdp. is held back because of frequent drought and the need to modernize equipment. to clarify property rights. and to consolidate small plots of land. energy shortages and antiquated and inadequate infrastructure contribute to albania's poor business environment. which make it difficult to attract and sustain foreign investment. the planned construction of a new thermal power plant near vlore and improved transmission and distribution facilities will help relieve the energy shortages. also. the government is moving slowly to improve the poor national road and rail network. a long-standing barrier to sustained economic growth. on the positive side: growth was strong in 2003-05 and inflation is not a problem. gdp (purchasing power parity): $18.05 billion note: albania has a large gray economy that may be as large as 50 percent of official gdp. (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $8.741 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 6% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $4.900 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 23.6% industry: 20.5% services: 55.9% (2005 est.) labor force: 1.09 million (not including 352.000 emigrant workers) (2004 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 57%. non-agricultural private sector 20%. public sector 23% (2004 est.) unemployment rate: 14.4% officially; but may exceed 30% (2004 est.) population below poverty line: 25% (2004 est.) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: na highest 10%: na inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.5% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 22.6% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $1.96 billion expenditures: $2.377 billion. including capital expenditures of $500 million (2005 est.) agriculture - products: wheat. corn. potatoes. vegetables. fruits. sugar beets. grapes; meat. dairy products industries: food processing. textiles and clothing; lumber. oil. cement. chemicals. mining. basic metals. hydropower industrial production growth rate: 3.1% (2004 est.) electricity - production: 5.68 billion kwh (2004) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 2.9% hydro: 97.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) electricity - consumption: 6.76 billion kwh (2004) electricity - exports: 200 million kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 1.08 billion kwh (2004 est.) oil - production: 2.000 bbl/day (2004 est.) oil - consumption: 7.500 bbl/day (2004 est.) oil - exports: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) oil - imports: 5.500 bbl/day (2004 est.) oil - proved reserves: 185.5 million bbl (1 january 2002) natural gas - production: 30 million cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - consumption: 30 million cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - proved reserves: 3.316 billion cu m (1 january 2002) current account balance: $-475 million (2005 est.) exports: $708.8 million f.o.b. (2005 est.) exports - partners: italy 71.7%. canada 4.3%. germany 4.3% (2004) imports: $2.473 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) imports - partners: italy 34.8%. greece 19.9%. turkey 7.7%. germany 5.3% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.45 billion (2005 est.) debt - external: $1.41 billion (2003) economic aid - recipient: oda: $315 million (top donors were italy. eu. germany) (2000 est.) currency (code): lek (all) currency code: all exchange rates: leke per us dollar - 103.07 (2005). 102.649 (2004). 121.863 (2003). 140.155 (2002). 143.485 (2001) fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 255.000 (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 1.1 million (2003) telephone system: general assessment: despite new investment in fixed lines. the density of main lines remains the lowest in europe with roughly 8 lines per 100 people; however. cellular telephone use is widespread and generally effective domestic: offsetting the shortage of fixed line capacity. mobile phone service has been available since 1996; by 2003 two companies were providing mobile services at a greater density than some of albania's balkan neighbors international: country code - 355; inadequate fixed main lines; adequate cellular connections; international traffic carried by microwave radio relay from the tirana exchange to italy and greece (2003) radio broadcast stations: am 13. fm 4. shortwave 2 (2001) radios: 1 million (2001) television broadcast stations: 3 (plus 58 repeaters) (2001) televisions: 700.000 (2001) internet country code: .al internet hosts: 455 (2004) internet service providers (isps): 10 (2001) internet users: 30.000 (2003) airports: 11 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 3 2.438 to 3.047 m: 3 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 8 over 3.047 m: 1 1.524 to 2.437 m: 2 914 to 1.523 m: 1 under 914 m: 4 (2005 est.) heliports: 1 (2005 est.) pipelines: gas 339 km; oil 207 km (2004) railways: total: 447 km standard gauge: 447 km 1.435-m gauge (2004) roadways: total: 18.000 km paved: 7.020 km unpaved: 10.980 km (2002) waterways: 43 km (2004) merchant marine: total: 25 ships (1.000 grt or over) 40.878 grt/62.676 dwt by type: cargo 24. roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: 2 (denmark 1. turkey 1) registered in other countries: 1 (2005) ports and terminals: durres. sarande. shengjin. vlore military branches: general staff headquarters. land forces command (army). naval forces command. air defense command. logistics command. training and doctrine command military service age and obligation: 19 years of age (2004) manpower available for military service: males age 19-49: 809.524 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 19-49: 668.526 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 37.407 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $56.5 million (fy02) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 1.49% (fy02) disputes - international: the albanian government calls for the protection of the rights of ethnic albanians in neighboring countries. and the peaceful resolution of interethnic disputes; some ethnic albanian groups in neighboring countries advocate for a "greater albania." but the idea has little appeal among albanian nationals; thousands of unemployed albanians emigrate annually to nearby italy and other developed countries illicit drugs: increasingly active transshipment point for southwest asian opiates. hashish. and cannabis transiting the balkan route and - to a far lesser extent - cocaine from south america destined for western europe; limited opium and growing cannabis production; ethnic albanian narcotrafficking organizations active and expanding in europe; vulnerable to money laundering associated with regional trafficking in narcotics. arms. contraband. and illegal aliens
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