Albania
Republic of Albania Republika e Shqipërisë Southeastern Europe AREA 11K mi2; 29K km2 [144th largest of 257 countries] ARABLE 22% POP 3.1M(282/mi2; 107/km2) [137th highest of 237 countries] GOV’T Parliamentary republic CAPITAL Tirana (520K) GDP/CAPITA $14,500 UNEMPLOYMENT 12% IN POVERTY 14% LIFE EXP 80 years MEDIAN AGE 36 yrs INFANT MORT 11/1K live births (130th) LITERACY 98% LANGUAGES Albanian, from Tosk dialect (official), Greek, other (including Macedonian, Romani, Vlach, Turkish, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian) RELIGIONS Muslim 57%, Roman Catholic 10%, Orthodox 7%, atheist 2%, Bektashi (a Sufi order) 2%, other 6%, unspecified 16% HEALTH 7% of GDP EDUCATION 3% of GDP (154th) MILITARY 2% of GDP (69th) LABOR FORCE Agriculture 22%, industry 24%, services 54% PCVs 1992–1997, 2003–present CURRENT: 47; TTD: 969 |  Albania Prrenjas is a small town in eastern Albania, located roughly halfway between Albania’s two major cities of Tirana and Korca. Here, children enjoy a pick-up game of football in an abandoned railyard adjacent to their apartment building—playing right next to scores of defunct trains rusting in the sun. Derelict trains and many now-empty factories are symbols of Albania’s Communist past—an oppressive era for the country that nevertheless saw that trains functioned and ran on time. U.S. Foreign Service, 2010–present |
Adult Books
By Ismail Kadare
Publisher: New Amsterdam Books; 1998th edition (June 16, 1998). first published November 23, 1978
Language: English
Paperback:218 pages
ISBN-10: 1561310654
ISBN-13:978-1561310654
Summary:
From the moment that Gjorg's brother is killed by a neighbour, his own life is forfeit: for the code of Kanun requires Gjorg to kill his brother's murderer and then in turn be hunted down. After shooting his brother's killer, young Gjorg is entitled to thirty days' grace—not enough to see out the month of April.
Then a visiting honeymoon couple cross the path of the fugitive. The bride's heart goes out to Gjorg, and even these 'civilised' strangers from the city risk becoming embroiled in the fatal mechanism of vendetta.
About the Author:
Ismail Kadare is a winner of the 2005 Man Booker Award for his body of work.
In 1980 Kadare published the novel Broken April, about the centuries-old tradition of hospitality, blood feuds, and revenge killing in the highlands of north Albania in the 1930s. The New York Times, reviewing it, wrote: "Broken April is written with masterly simplicity in a bardic style, as if the author is saying: Sit quietly and let me recite a terrible story about a blood feud and the inevitability of death by gunfire in my country. You know it must happen because that is the way life is lived in these mountains. Insults must be avenged; family honor must be upheld...."
Kids' Books
By Robert Elsie
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 3rd edition (January 20, 2015) [originally published 1994]
Format: Paperback, 190 pp
ISBN-10: 1507631308
ISBN-13: 978-1507631300
Age Range: All Ages
Summary:
Folktales are still very much alive in the mountains of Albania, a land of haunted history. They are recited in the evenings after a day’s work or out in the fields, are learned by heart and pass, as if immortal, from one generation to the next. Whose imagination could not be captured by the cunning of the Scurfhead, by the demands of the Earthly Beauty, by the heroic feats of Muja and Halil or by the appearance of a fiery Kulshedra in the forest? Included in this collection are not only folktales but prose versions of some of the best-known Albanian legends (based on historical or mythological events and figures). meal and invites the kids to go fishing. Will they manage to catch enough fish for everyone?
Films
Film:Alexander
Director: Ardit Sadiku
Release Date: 2023
