1.
Flag of Albania
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The flag of Albania is a red flag with a silhouetted black double-headed eagle in the center. The red stands for bravery, strength and valor, while the eagle represents the sovereign state of Albania located in the Balkans. Elements of the design such as the double-headed eagle were borrowed from the banner of the Byzantine Empire. The eagle was used for purposes in the Late Middle Ages by a number of noble families in Albania. This was the flag of the League of Lezhë, which was the first unified Albanian state in the Middle Ages. On 28 November 1912, the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in Vlora, the Albanian flag has gone through a number of changes over the years as different regimes have modified it. During the reign of King Zog, a crown was added to the flag and was replaced by two fasces during the Italian occupation of Albania. After World War II, the communist regime added a golden star. Albanias maritime flags—the civil ensign and the naval ensign—are both different from the national flag, the civil ensign consists of three horizontal bands of red, black, and red. The naval ensign is similar to the flag, except that the eagle is on a white field. The eagle of the flag of Albania is depicted on the reverse of the Albanian five lekë coin, beginning in 1969, the flag of Albania was widely unofficially flown in Kosovo by the countrys ethnic Albanian population. It was the symbol of the unrecognized Republic of Kosova during the 1990s, the current independent state of Kosovo uses a different flag that was designed to avoid any symbols associated with a particular ethnic group. There is a version of the flag still commonly used by Albanians and officials. The flags had deformed eagles, a detail which didnt go without notice, the flags were ordered from a Chinese company that didnt get all details right. These flags were removed after Independence day, but few specimens are still active around the World. Emblem of Albania Flag of Kosovo List of flags of Kosovo Culture of Albania The Tale of the Eagle http, //www. flagscorner. com/albania-flag/ Albania at Flags of the World
2.
Coat of arms of Albania
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The coat of arms of Albania is an adaptation of the flag of Albania. It is based on the flag and seal of Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg, the emblem above the head of the two-headed eagle is the helmet of Skanderbeg, surmounted with billy goats horns. The eagle is considered to violate the rule of tincture. Skanderbegs helmet is made of metal, adorned with a strip dressed in gold. On its top lies the head of a goat made of bronze. It is thought that the strip with the monogram is the work of the descendants of Skanderbeg and was placed there by them, as Skanderbeg never held any other title. Contemporary sources show that 14th century Albanians were invariably identified as a tribal peoples and this second explanation may not be the truer, since the theory of the Macedonian-Albanian and Epirot-Albanian continuance is strong among Albanians but not among all the peoples of Europe. Indeed, the times when the star of Macedon shone brilliantly had returned, just as they seemed in those long forgotten times of Pyrrhus, Albania National Emblem In The World All Countries National Emblem
3.
Workers of the world, unite!
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Five years before the Communist Manifesto, the phrase appeared in the 1843 book The Workers Union by Flora Tristan. It reflected Marxs and Engels view of proletarian internationalism, first that workers should unite in unions to better push for their demands such as workplace pay and conditions. Secondly, that workers should see beyond their various craft unions, and thirdly, that workers of different countries have more in common with each other than workers and employers of the same country. The phrase was used by the Industrial Workers of the World in propaganda and songs, the IWW used it when opposing World War I in both the USA and Australia. The slogan was the Soviet Unions state motto, appeared in the State Emblem of the Soviet Union, on 1919 Russian SFSR banknotes, on Soviet coins from 1921 to 1934, the nascent USSR under Vladimir Lenin was oriented toward international communism. Contemporarily, some socialist and communist parties continue using it, moreover, it is a common usage in popular culture, often chanted during labor strikes and protests. In the first Swedish translation of the Communist Manifesto, published in 1848, later translations have, however, included the original slogan. Amongst Maoist-oriented groups a variation invented by Vladimir Lenin, Workers and Oppressed Peoples and Nations of the World and this slogan was the rallying cry of the 2nd Comintern congress in 1920, and denoted the anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist agenda of the Comintern. The phrase has been translated into many languages, all of the Soviet Socialist Republics in the Soviet Union had it as their motto translated into the local languages. An extensive list of translations is available at Wiktionary. Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
4.
Himni i Flamurit
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Himni i Flamurit is the national anthem of Albania. The music of the anthem was adapted from a composition by the Romanian composer Ciprian Porumbescu. Whereas the words were written by the Albanian poet Asdreni, and are different from the original Romanian lyrics which Andrei Barseanu wrote for Porumbescus piece. The hymn was first published as a poem in Liri e Shqipërisë, the original title of the poem was Betimi mi flamur. It was later printed in a volume of poems by Drenova titled Ëndra e lotë and this is also explained by Porumbescus musical formation, since he had studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. The view has been shared by Albanian musicologist, Ramadan Sokoli, there are two versions of the anthem, a long and a short one. Below is the text for the long version, the second stanza is considered as refrain and is repeated at the end. The short version makes use of the first two stanzas only and repeats the last two verses of the 2nd stanza, usually, in sportive events among national teams, the short version is the one officially used. Himni Kombëtar i Republikës së Shqipërisë Albania, Himni i Flamurit - Audio of the anthem of Albania, with information
5.
Tirana
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Tirana /tᵻˈrɑːnə/ is the capital and largest city of Albania and as well the heart of Albanias cultural, economic and governmental activity. It is located on the center of the country surrounded by hills with the Dajti Mountain on the east. The city is located some 700 kilometres north of Athens,290 km west of Skopje,250 km south-east of Pristina and 160 km south of Podgorica. Tirana is a city with a history dating from the Paleolithic times back 10,000 to 30,000 years ago to the present day. The oldest settlement located in the area of the city was the Cave of Pellumbas, as argued by various archaeologists, Tirana and its suburbs are filled with ancient Illyrian toponyms as its precincts are some of the earliest regions in Albania to be inhabited. One of the ancient monuments, the Tirana Mosaic is believed to have part of a 3rd century ancient Roman house. Later, in the 5th and 6th centuries, a Paleo-Christian Basilica was built around this site, Tirana was founded as a city in 1614 although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. An almost unimportant centre until the beginning of the 20th century, the Congress of Lushnjë proclaimed Tirana as the capital of Albania, Tirana is one of largest cities in the Balkan Peninsula ranking 7th with a population of 800,000 and the largest Albanian-speaking city in the world. The municipality, has a population of 800,986. It is also the biggest Metropolitan area in Albania and the one with a population of over 800.000. Being Albanias primate city, Tirana is the political, social and cultural center of Albania. Almost all of the largest companies, media and scientific institutions have their headquarters in the city, the city is ranked in the Top 10 of the sunniest cities in Europe with a total of 2,544 hours of sun. As argued by various archaeologists, Tirana and its suburbs are filled with Illyrian toponyms, as its precincts are some of the earliest inhabited regions in Albania. A castle possibly called Tirkan or Theranda, whose remnants are found along Murat Toptani Street, was built by Emperor Justinian in 520 A. D. the area had no special importance in Illyrian and classical times. Records from the first land registrations under the Ottomans in 1431–32 show that Tirana consisted of 60 inhabited areas, Tirana is mentioned since 1572 as Borgo di Tirana. In 1614, Sulejman Bargjini, a ruler, built the Old mosque, a small commercial centre. During this period, the Ethem Bey Mosque, built by Molla Bey of Petrela, was constructed and it employed the best artisans in the country and was completed in 1821 by Mollas son Etëhem, who was also Sulejman Bargjinis grandnephew. In 1800, the first newcomers arrived in the settlement, the so-called ortodoksit and they were Vlachs from villages near Korçë and Pogradec, who settled around modern day Park on the Artificial Lake
6.
Albanian language
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Centuries-old communities speaking Albanian-based dialects can be found scattered in Greece, Southern Italy, Sicily, and Ukraine. Due to the large Albanian diaspora, the number of speakers is much higher than the native speakers in Southeast Europe. The first audio recording of Albanian was made by Norbert Jokl on 4 April 1914 in Vienna, the Albanian language is part of the Indo-European language group. In general there is insufficient evidence to connect Albanian with one of those languages, Albanian is now considered an isolate within Indo-European, no extant language shares the same branch. The only other languages that are the surviving member of a branch of Indo-European are Armenian. Although Albanian shares lexical isoglosses with Greek, Balto-Slavic, and Germanic languages, in 1995, Ann Taylor, Donald Ringe and Tandy Warnow described as surprising their finding, using quantitative linguistic techniques, that Albanian appears to comprise a subgroup with Germanic. This theory is reinforced by subsequent research by the same authors, Albanian also shares two features with Balto-Slavic languages, a lengthening of syllabic consonants before voiced obstruents and a distinct treatment of long syllables ending in a sonorant. Other conservative features of Albanian include the retention of the distinction between active and middle voice, present tense and aorist. In another but uncommon hypothesis, Albanian is grouped with both Balto-Slavic and Germanic based on the merger of Proto-Indo-European *ǒ and *ǎ into *ǎ in a northern group. However, this shift is now regarded as only part of a larger push chain that affected all long vowels. The earliest loanwords attested in Albanian come from Doric Greek, whereas the strongest influence came from Latin, curtis, the loanwords do not necessarily indicate the geographical location of the ancestor of Albanian language. However, according to linguists, the borrowed words can help to get an idea about the place of origin. The period during which Proto-Albanian and Latin interacted was protracted and drawn out roughly from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. This is borne out into three layers of borrowings, the largest number belonging to the second layer, which may be compared to, for example. The first, with the fewest borrowings, was a time of less important interaction, the final period, probably preceding the Slavic or Germanic invasions, also has a notably smaller number of borrowings. Other formative changes include the syncretism of several case endings, especially in the plural. Such borrowing indicates that the Romanians migrated from an area where the majority was Slavic to an area with a majority of Albanian speakers and their movement is probably related to the expansion of the Bulgarian Empire into Albania around that time. Jernej Kopitar was the first to note Latins influence on Albanian, Kopitar gave examples such as Albanian qiqer from Latin cicer, qytet from civitas, peshk from piscis and shigjetë from sagitta
7.
Politics of Albania
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The Politics of Albania take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, wherein the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government, legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament, the Assembly of the Republic of Albania Kuvendi i Republikës së Shqipërisë. Since 1991 the introduction of pluralism, the party system is dominated by the Democratic Party of Albania, parliamentary elections are held every four years, the most recent in 2013. Its official journal is the Albanian Official Journal, the head of state in Albania is the President of the Republic. The President is elected to a 5-year term by the Assembly of the Republic of Albania by secret ballot, requiring a two-thirds majority of the votes of all deputies. Bujar Nishani was on 11 June 2012 elected president by a majority of deputies in the assembly. He took the oath of office on 25 July 2012, executive power rests with the Council of Ministers. The Chairman of the Council is appointed by the President, ministers are nominated by the President on the basis of the Prime Ministers recommendation, the Peoples Assembly must give final approval of the composition of the Council. The Council is responsible for carrying out foreign and domestic policies. It directs and controls the activities of the ministries and other state organs, the Assembly of the Republic of Albania Kuvendi i Republikës së Shqipërisë is the lawmaking body in Albania. There are 140 deputies in the Assembly, of which 100 are directly elected by a majority of the voters. The President of the Assembly has two deputies and chairs the Assembly, there are 15 permanent commissions, or committees. Parliamentary elections are held at least every 4 years, all laws passed by the parliament are published by the Albanian Official Journal, the official journal of the government of Albania. The court system consists of a Constitutional Court, the Court of Cassation, appeals courts, the Constitutional Court comprises nine members appointed by the Peoples Assembly for maximum 9-year terms. The Constitutional Court interprets the constitution, determines the constitutionality of laws, the remaining courts are each divided into three jurisdictions, criminal, civil, and military. The Court of Cassation is the highest court of appeal and consists of 11 members appointed by the Peoples Assembly, the President of the Republic chairs the High Council of Justice charged with appointing and dismissing other judges. The HCJ was expanded in late 1997 to comprise 13 members from among the branches of government. A college of three judges renders Albanian court verdicts, there is no trial, although the college is sometimes referred to in the Albanian press as the jury
8.
Enver Hoxha
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Enver Halil Hoxha was the communist leader of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985, as the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania. He was chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania and commander-in-chief of the forces from 1944 until his death. He served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954 and at times served as foreign minister. His rule was characterized by the use of Stalinist methods to destroy associates who threatened his power. Hoxhas government was characterized by his firm adherence to anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism from the mid-1970s onwards. After his break with Maoism in the 1976–78 period, numerous Maoist parties around the world declared themselves Hoxhaist, the International Conference of Marxist–Leninist Parties and Organizations is the best known association of these parties today. Hoxha was born in Gjirokastër, a city in southern Albania that has home to many prominent families. He was the son of Halil Hoxha, a Muslim Tosk cloth merchant who travelled widely across Europe and the United States, and Gjylihan Hoxha. The Hoxha family was attached to the Bektashi tradition, fourteen years before Enver set off for France to study, at age 16, Hoxha helped found and became secretary of the Students Society of Gjirokastër, which protested against the monarchist government of Zog I. After the government closed the Society, he moved to Korçë, there he learned French history, literature and philosophy, and read the Communist Manifesto for the first time. In 1930, Hoxha went to study at the University of Montpellier in France on a scholarship given to him by the Queen Mother for the faculty of natural sciences. He attended the lessons and the conferences of the Association of Workers organised by the French Communist Party, after a year, lacking interest in biology, and after not having passed any university exams, he left Montpellier to go to Paris hoping to continue his studies. He attended philosophy classes at Sorbonne, but, again, did not sit for any exam, in Paris, it is said that he collaborated with LHumanité, writing articles on the situation in Albania under the pseudonym Lulo Malësori. He also got involved in the Albanian Communist Group under the tutelage of Llazar Fundo and he dropped out once more, and from 1934 to 1936 he was a secretary at the Albanian consulate in Brussels, attached to the personnel office of the Queen Mother. He was dismissed after the consul discovered that his employee kept Marxist materials and he returned to Albania in 1936 and taught grammar school in the French Lyceum of Korçë. His extensive education left him fluent in French with a knowledge of Italian, Croatian, English. As a leader, he would often reference Le Monde and the International Herald Tribune, on 7 April 1939, Albania was invaded by Fascist Italy. The Italians established a government in Albania under Mustafa Merlika-Kruja
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Communist Albania (1944-1991) 
Republic of Albania (1991–present)