[al-bey-nee-uh, -beyn-yuh] 
| 1. | a republic in S Europe, in the Balkan Peninsula, W of Macedonia and NW of Greece. 3,293,252; 10,632 sq. mi. (27,535 sq. km). Capital: Tirana. |
| 2. | Obsolete. Scotland. |
Al·ba·ni·a (āl-bā'nē-ə, -bān'yə, ôl-)  (click for larger image in new window) A country of southeast Europe on the Adriatic Sea. The region was settled in ancient times by Illyrians and Thracians and later came under Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman rule. Having declared independence in 1912, Albania became a republic in 1925, then a satellite of the USSR in 1944. Elections in 1992 transferred power from the Communist Party to a nominally democratic government. Tiranë is the capital and the largest city. Population: 3,600,000. |
Republic in southeastern Europe on the Adriatic Sea coast of the Balkan Peninsula, bordered by Yugoslavia to the northwest, north, and northeast, Macedonia to the east, and Greece to the southeast and south. Tirana is its capital and largest city.
Note: The most secretive and closed of the former Eastern Bloc nations, Albania held free elections in March 1991, ending almost fifty years of communist rule and inaugurating a multiparty system. Protests over the collapse of a government-sponsored fraudulent investment scheme led to near anarchy in 1997. United Nations peacekeepers restored order.
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