- external:
$784 million (2000)
Economic aid - recipient:
ODA: $315 million (top donors were Italy, EU, Germany) (2000 est.)
Currency:
lek (ALL)
Currency code:
ALL
Exchange rates:
leke per US dollar - NA (2002), 143.49 (2001), 143.71 (2000),
137.69 (1999), 150.63 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Albania
Telephones - main lines in use:
120,000 (2001)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
250,000 (2001)
Telephone system:
general assessment: Albania has the poorest telephone service in
Europe with fewer than two telephones per 100 inhabitants; it is
doubtful that every village has telephone service
domestic: obsolete wire system; no longer provides a telephone for
every village; in 1992, following the fall of the Communist
government, peasants cut the wire to about 1,000 villages and used
it to build fences
international: inadequate; international traffic carried by
microwave radio relay from the Tirana exchange to Italy and Greece
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 13, FM 4, shortwave 2 (2001)
Radios:
1 million (2001)
Television broadcast stations:
3 (plus 58 repeaters) (2001)
Televisions:
700,000 (2001)
Internet country code:
.al
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
10 (2001)
Internet users:
12,000 (2001)
Transportation Albania
Railways: total: 447 km standard gauge: 447 km 1.435-m gauge (2002)
Highways:
total: 18,000 km
paved: 5,400 km
unpaved: 12,600 km (2000)
Waterways:
43 km
note: includes Albanian sections of Lake Scutari, Lake Ohrid, and
Lake Prespa (1990)
Pipelines:
gas 339 km; oil 207 km (2003)
Ports and harbors:
Durres, Sarande, Shengjin, Vlore
Merchant marine:
total: 13 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 21,954 GRT/34,412 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 11, roll on/roll off 1, includes some
foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience:
Croatia 1, Honduras 1 (2002 est.)
Airports:
12 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 8
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 4 (2002)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
over 3,047 m: 1
Heliports:
1 (2002)
Military Albania
Military branches:
Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Interior Ministry Troops,
Border Guards
Military manpower - military age:
19 years of age (2003 est.)
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15–49: 906,168 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15–49: 742,837 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 36,985 (2003 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$56.5 million (FY02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.49% (FY02)
Transnational Issues Albania
Disputes - international:
the Albanian Government calls for the protection of the rights of
ethnic Albanians outside its borders in the Kosovo region of Serbia
and Montenegro, and in the northern Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, while continuing to seek regional cooperation; some
outside ethnic Albanian groups voice union with Albania
Illicit drugs:
increasingly active transshipment point for Southwest Asian
opiates, hashish, and cannabis transiting the Balkan route and - to
a far lesser extent - cocaine from South America destined for
Western Europe; limited opium and growing cannabis production;
ethnic Albanian narcotrafficking organizations active and rapidly
expanding in Europe; vulnerable to money laundering associated with
regional trafficking in narcotics, arms, contraband, and illegal
aliens
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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@Algeria
Introduction Algeria
Background:
After a century of rule by France, Algeria became independent in
1962. The surprising first round success of the fundamentalist FIS
(Islamic Salvation Front) party in the December 1991 balloting
caused the army to intervene, crack down on the FIS, and postpone
the subsequent elections. The fundamentalist response has resulted
in a continuous low-grade civil conflict with the secular state
apparatus, which nonetheless has allowed elections featuring
pro-government and moderate religious-based parties. The FIS's armed
wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in January 2000 and many
armed militants of other groups surrendered under an amnesty program
designed to promote national reconciliation. Nevertheless, small
numbers of armed militants persist in confronting government forces
and carrying out isolated attacks on villages and other types of