Albania
A rugged Balkan coast of mountains, beaches, and ancient stone towns
Albania faces the Adriatic and Ionian seas along a coastline of dramatic cliffs and emerging beach resorts, its interior crumpled into some of the steepest mountains in the Balkans. Long one of Europe's most isolated nations, sealed off for decades under a hardline communist regime, it has opened into a country of warm hospitality, ancient stone cities like Berat and Gjirokastër, and a distinctive language, Albanian, that forms its own branch of the Indo-European family. Around 2.4 million people live here, with Tirana as its colorful, fast-changing capital.
Mountains cover most of the country, from the Albanian Alps in the north to Mount Korab on the eastern border, which at 2,764 meters is the highest peak shared with North Macedonia. Rivers like the Drin and Vjosa, one of Europe's last wild rivers, rush through deep canyons to the coast. The lowlands along the Adriatic hold most of the population and farmland. A Mediterranean climate warms the coast, while the highlands see heavy winter snow, and the country is rich in chromium, copper, and hydropower.
Ancient Illyria and later Roman and Byzantine rule gave way to centuries within the Ottoman Empire, during which much of the population adopted Islam. The national hero Skanderbeg resisted Ottoman armies in the fifteenth century. Independence came in 1912, followed by monarchy, Italian occupation, and the long isolationist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, which left thousands of concrete bunkers across the land. Since 1991 Albania has embraced democracy and a market economy, joining NATO in 2009 and pursuing EU membership.