24 interesting facts about Albania

The Republic of Albania is a small and poor country. In the 21st century, it began to develop quite rapidly, and after the stabilization of the situation, tourists also flocked here. Why not? Beautiful nature and low prices attract many. True, in some places Albania is very reminiscent of some former Soviet republic, both in a good way and in the opposite way.

Facts about Albania

1. It is a very sunny country. To be more precise, there are about the same number of sunny days annually here as in Spain — about 300.
2. The local currency is the Albanian lek. And the word «lek» is an abbreviation for Alexander the Great, as Alexander the Great is called here.
3. Ahmet Zogu, President of Albania in the first half of the 20th century, survived more than 50 assassination attempts in 9 years. Once, in response, he himself opened fire on the conspirators who attacked him, which, apparently, saved him.
4. The popular Albanian resort of Vlora is washed by the waters of two seas at once, the Ionian and the Adriatic (interesting facts about the seas).
5. Albania has a population of 2.8 million.
6. In the mountainous regions of this country, there are severe frosts in winter, and in the coastal zone, even at this time of the year, it is quite warm.
7. Slightly more than half of Albanians are Muslims, the rest are mostly Christians of various denominations. Everyone gets along well with each other, there are no conflicts on religious grounds.
8. Despite the past troubled times and not the most positive reputation, it is quite safe in Albania.
9. The Orthodox Easter, Catholic Christmas, and Muslim Eid al-Adha are public holidays here.
10. The Albanian resort of Ksamil is separated from the Greek resort of Corfu by only two and a half kilometers.
11. Albania gained independence only in 1912.
12. During the reign of the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha, more than 700 thousand bunkers were built in the country. Now it is such a peculiar local attraction.
13. Since the end of World War II, Albanians have not been at enmity with any European country.
14. In Albania, few people speak English, but they know Italian or Greek quite a few.
15. If an Albanian nods his head, he means «no», and if he shakes his head, he means «yes». Getting used to is not easy at first.
16. Albanian athletes have never won gold medals at the Olympics.
17. Mountains cover almost 70% of Albania (interesting facts about mountains).
18. There is not a single «McDonald’s» in the whole country.
19. In 2014, Pope Francis named Albania as a country where different religions coexist harmoniously.
20. On the border between Albania and Macedonia is located Lake Ohrid, famous for being the deepest and oldest in Europe (interesting facts about Macedonia).
21. Despite a noticeable leap in development, this country still remains the poorest of all European countries.
22. In Albania there is a village called «Borsch».
23. From here it is easy to get to Italy or Greece by ferry.
24. Contrary According to popular belief, Albania was never part of Yugoslavia.