Albania is divided into 12 administrative counties. These
counties include 36 districts and 373 municipalities. There are overall 2980
villages in all Albania. The municipalities are the first level of local
governance, responsible for local needs and law enforcement. The Albanian
republic is a parliamentary democracy established under a constitution renewed
in 1998. Elections are held every four years. Albania, along with Croatia,
joined NATO on 1 April 2009, becoming the 27th and 28th members of the alliance.
Tirana is Albania's capital and largest city.
The Albanian population is relatively young by European
standards, with a median age of 28.9 years.
The dominant and official language is Albanian, a revised
and merged form of the two main dialects, Gheg and Tosk, but with a bigger
influence of Tosk as compared to the Gheg. The Shkumbin River is the dividing
line between the two dialects. In the areas inhabited by the Greek minority, a
dialect of Greek is spoken that preserves features now lost in standard modern
Greek. Other languages spoken by ethnic minorities in Albania include
Aromanian, Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Gorani, and Roma.
There are no official statistics regarding religious
affiliation in Albania. The CIA World Factbook gives a distribution of 70%
Muslims, 20% Eastern Orthodox, and 10% Roman Catholics.
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