Albania & Kosovo
Albania
- Albanian Flag is one of 5 most interesting flags in the world.
- Mother Teresa (Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu) is generally celebrated as the only Albanian to win a Nobel Prize, though born in Skopje in 1910 (now in Macedonia but then in the Ottoman Empire)
- But:
- The other Nobel Prize winner of Albanian origin was Ferid Murad (USA) who won the 1998 prize for Medicine. His father was Albanian.
Update: This is a 'gift' from Google, on 28th November 2015, for celebrating Albania's 103rd Birthday.
- The Tirana International airport was named after Mother Teresa in 2001.
- Albania is one of the most rare countries that is almost totally surrounded by its ethnic population: Albanians.
- John Belushi (star of the film The Blues Brothers) and Jim Belushi, also had an Albanian father.
- Albania, Armenia and Vatican City are the only European countries without a McDonald’s branch.
- Albanian Language is a branch by itself in Indo-European languages.
- There are 36 letters in its alphabet, so there's almost no sound we can't articulate. (Yes, dh, th, xh, gj, rr.. all are included)
- Albanians in Albania (but not Albanians in Kosovo, Macedonia and so on) nod their head up and down to mean ‘no’, and shake it from side to side for ‘yes’.
- During Hoxha's regime, approximately 700.000 bunkers were built all over the country, just in case "the enemies attacked the country, everyone had somewhere to hide in"..
- -Did 'enemies' ever attack it?
- -Which enemies? (They never appeared. So 700.000 bunkers.. were just a waste of money!)
- For about 10 years (1968-1978), Albania’s only ally in the world was China. After China, Albania had no allies and was basically a more isolated European North Korea until 1991. Today Albania is a parliamentary republic and a member of the United Nations, NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe and the World Trade Organization. It is one of the founding members of the Energy Community, Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and the Union for the Mediterranean. It is also an official candidate for membership in the European Union.
Some of the Communist regime statues:
Geography:
KOSOVO (KOSOVA)
- Kosovo or Kosova, is the youngest country in Europe, both by it's 'birthyear' and its population! More than half of whom are aged 25 or under! http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31967471
- South Sudan and Kosovo are the youngest countries in the world!
- It declared unilaterally independence from Serbia in February, 2008 and today is recognized by:
- 111 countries of United Nations,
- 23 out of 28 countries of European Union,
- 7/8 of G8 countries.
- It's historically important, especially because of Battle of Kosovo that took place in 1389.
- More than 90% of its population is ethnically Albanian.
- It had a terrible war with Serbia and had the intervention of NATO during Kosovo War in 1999, and now confirmed, it had about 10.000 losses.
- Pristina, the capital city of Kosovo, is also the largest city of the country. Along with this, it is the nation’s industrial, commercial and cultural centre. The city is densely populated and is home to 500,000 people.
- But the cultural capital is Prizren.
- The climate of Kosovo is continental with warm summers and cold and snowy winters because of its proximity to the Adriatic Sea and the west and mountain ranges to the east.
- The natural resources include lead, zinc, copper, silver, gold, brown coal, bauxite, lignite and nickel. Agriculture, mining and micro-enterprises are the major industries prevailing in the country.
- It is believed that Kosovo has reserves of approximately 14,000 billion tonnes of lignite.
- Kosovo acts as an important link between central and southern Europe
- Kosovo has adopted the €uro unilaterally and uses it as its currency. It is one of two countries outside the Eurozone that uses the Euro; the other country is Montenegro.
- It’s cheap and it’s all in euros
- A cup of coffee costs between fifty cents to one euro depending on the café. A traditional meal can be had for as little as €1.50.
- Kosovo is well connected.
- The most popular connections are with Macedonia’s capital Skopje, Albania, and Belgrade. Highways are free of congestion and flights from low cost carriers to the region are incredibly inexpensive if booked in advance.
- Where's the Best Macchiato in the World? (Hint, It's not in Italy) "It's in Kosovo" says Italian Yahoo Managing Editor.
- Both Albania and Kosovo have Muslim-majority populations, but there is an excellent inter-religious coexistence and harmony.
