Albania is a small country with a landmass of 28,748 square km.
It is situated in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. It shares borders with Montenegro and Kosovo to the north and northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. To the west, Albania coast abuts the Adriatic and Ionian seas.
The Adriatic separates Albania from Italy via the Strait of Otranto (72 km). Much of Albania’s surface is mountainous – the average height above sea level is 708 m, and its highest peak, Mount Korab on the Macedonian border, is 2,753 m. Most of the population lives in the south – central lowlands and along the coastal plain.
Albania lies in the subtropical belt and has a Mediterranean climate, with relatively short and mild winter and hot and dry summers. The climate of Albania varies a lot from one region to another with big contrasts in terms of temperature, rainfall, sunshine, air humidity, etc. The annual rainfall is on average 1,430mm per year, decreasing from west to east.
The Ionian Cost is very rugged with rocky coves along the narrow coastal strip and steep mountainsides rising directly from the water for much of its length. The highest point along this stretch is at the Llogara Pass, over 1,000 m high. Geological activity and erosion have created many caves at the base of these cliffs, some of which were inhabited in prehistoric times.
The Adriatic coast is low lying, with large protected bays (such as those of Vlora and Durrës), which have been used as harbors since ancient times. The rivers that flow into the Adriatic have created fertile alluvial plains on these lowlands and, at their mouths, exceptionally rich wetlands, which are home to many waterfowl and migratory birds.
At the beginning of the third millennium B.C., an Indo- European population was established in the area and as a result of the merge, a population was conceived that retained specific cultural and language characteristics in the Balkan Peninsula (pelasgians tribe). Between the second millennium and the first century B.C., the Illyrian population was founded. Like the Greeks, the Illyrians succeeded in preserving their language and traditions in spite of Roman occupation.
There were three Ottoman attacks n Kruja, all of which failed and only 10 years after the death of Skanderbeg, in 1478, they finally managed to capture Kruja. For more than 400 years, Albania was under the Ottoman regime. Albanian Resistance continued during the subsequent periods, being inspired especially by the Illuminist movement of the Albanian National Renaissance, which emerged in XIX century.