The Republic of Albania is a small, mountainous country on south-eastern Europe’s Balkan Peninsula, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the west. It has land borders with Greece to the south and Serbia and Montenegro to the east.
Albania occupies an important strategic location in the Balkans along the Strait of Otranto which links the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
The name Albania is derived from an ancient Illyrian tribe, the Albanoi, forebears of the modern Albanians. The Albanian name for the country is Shqiperise or ‘Land of the Eagle’. The capital of Albania is Tirana.
