Hey again everyone. Those of you who keep up with my name lists know
that I've recenly posted a bunch of names from Albania. Here is more information
on the country in question.

FACTS
Albainia is a small country in south eastern Europe.
It's bordered by Greece, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and the Adriatic Sea.
It has a population of over 3 million.
1.17 % of the population ( 200,000 people) is of Greek background
0.23 % are Macedonian, Balkan, Roma, Bulgarian and Serb.
The capital is Tirane.
The official language is Albanian
Most of the population is also fluent in Greek, Italian, German and English.

The people call their homeland Shqiperi(Land of the Eagle) because of the country's
large eagle population.
The Albanian national flag is of a double headed eagle

HISTORY
Albania was part of both the Roman and Byzantine empire.
In 1460 it became part of the Ottoman Empire, making it the only Muslim country in Europe(though there was always a small percentage of Albanian Orthodox, Catholics and Jews.)

In 1914, after 500 years of Ottoman rule, Albania became independent. Immediately afterwards new troubles started.

The weakening of the Ottoman Empire led to a series of conflicts New border lines were made and many Albanians suddenly found themselves living outside of Albania. During the Balkan Wars Albania was invaded by both Serbia and Greece.

During the WW II, Albania suffered badly; first it was invaded by Mussolini, then in 1943, when Mussolini's regime began to collapse, it was occupied by Germany. By the time WWII ended, over 28,000 Albanians had been killed, 10,000 were political prisoners and 35,000 had been placed in into forced labor.

After WWII, Albania came under Communist control for over 40 years. For most of that time the country was ruled by Marxist leader, Enver Hoxha.Those years were the darkest period in Albiana's history. The people were harshly oppressed and from 1944-1985, over 700,000 people were killed or imprisoned.

During that time the nation was also poverty stricken and the people were forced to live with little food and less supplies. Traveling abroad, owning cars or refrigerators were not allowed. Villages had no electricity or running water. Even city hospitals were poorly equipped and had no medicines.

No religion of any kind was allowed. Churches and mosques were closed, people weren't allowed to worship, pray, own any sort of religious book, or even give their children Christian or Muslim names. In fact in 1967, Hoxha claimed that he had completely eliminated all religion and declared Albania the world’s 1st atheistic nation.

Hoxha finally died in 1985. In 1991 the Communist government was forced to resign. Religious freedoms were restored and many reforms instituted. Thousands in foreign aid and supplies were sent, as well as many aid workers and missionaries.

But Albania's problems were far from over. In 1997, there was another severe economic crisis and thousands of people lost their jobs. The resulting riots and rampant crime caused thousands of Albanians to flee and many foreign aid workers to leave as well.

In 1997 brutal civil wars flared up in Macedonia and Yugoslavia--where many ethnic Albanians lived. When the Serbs took over the Yugoslavian province of Kosovo in 1999, they killed hundreds of Albanians living there and destroyed the homes of countless others.Over 300,000 refugees wound up fleeing to Albania

Today Albania is still extremely poor and relies almost completely on foreign aid.
Many people are still poverty stricken and hospitals are still poorly staffed and short
on supplies/medicines. Orphanages are jammed because in addition to many children being orphaned, many families can’t afford to keep all of their children, and they too are badly short staffed.

THINGS TO PRAY FOR:
For peace to remain in this troubled nation
For the many people, who are still poverty stricken
For the crime rate to go down
For the thousands of people who have lost loved ones
For the thousands of children who;ve been orphaned
For the thousands of refugees who have been forced to flee their homes
For the aid workers who help the poor and sick
For the gospel to continue to be preached.
For the LORD to comfort the many brokenhearted