Facts & Statistics

Albania's population is 3,619,778 (July 2008 estimate). Apart from Albanians living in Albania proper, there are more than two million ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, hundreds of thousands in Macedonia and Montenegro, and an estimated two million in the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Italy and Canada. Although Albania is often touted as a majority Muslim country in the foreign press, 70% of the population is estimated to be non-religious or  non-practising. Of the others, 21% is Muslim, 6% is Orthodox, and 3% is Catholic.

Tirana officially has 750,000 inhabitants (though the real number may be much higher), covers 42 square kilometres and lies at 110m above sea level, though two mountains of 1612m and 1828m also rise within the municipality. The city has some 30,000 students of which nearly half attend the University of Tirana.

Geography
At 28.748 square kilometres, Albania is a bit larger than Wales or Maryland. The longest rivers are the Drini, Semani and Vjosa. The largest lakes are Shkodra, Ohrid and Prespa. The highest mountain is Mt. Korabi near Peshkopi, at 2751m.

Local time
Albania is in the Central European Time Zone (GMT+1). During daylight savings time (end of April to end of October), the time is GMT+2. When it is noon in Albania, it is 06:00 in New York, 11:00 In London and 12:00 in Berlin.