Albania is a southern European country which shares borders with Greece, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia. It has coasts on the Adriatic Sea and on the Ionian Sea.

In 1912 Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire but was conquered by Italy in 1939. Communist partisans took over the country in 1944 and Albania allied itself with the USSR until 1960 and then with China until 1978. In the early 1990s Albania established a Multi-Party Democracy which has faced considerable odds dealing with high unemployment, widespread corruption, a dilapidated physical infrastructure, powerful organized crime networks, and a combative political environment. In April 2008 Albania received an invitation to join NATO and is a potential candidate for membership in the European Union.

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• Wikipedia: Geography of Albania

• Maps Of The World: Albania