d Montenegro

Geographic coordinates: 41 00 N, 20 00 E

Map references: Europe

Area:
total area: 28,750 sq km
land area: 27,400 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

Land boundaries:
total: 720 km
border countries: Greece 282 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia 151 km, Serbia and Montenegro 287 km (114 km with Serbia,
173 km with Montenegro)

Coastline: 362 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: the Albanian Government supports
protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians outside of its borders;
Albanian majority in Kosovo seeks independence from Serbian
Republic; Albanians in Macedonia claim discrimination in education,
access to public-sector jobs and representation in government;
Albania is involved in negotiations with Greece over border
demarcation, the treatment of Albania's ethnic Greek minority, and
migrant Albanian workers in Greece

Climate: mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear,
dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter

Terrain: mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast
lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
highest point: Maja e Korabit 2,753 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper,
timber, nickel

Land use:
arable land: 21%
permanent crops: 4%
meadows and pastures: 15%
forest and woodland: 38%
other: 22%

Irrigated land: 4,230 sq km (1989)

Environment:
current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution from
industrial and domestic effluents
natural hazards: destructive earthquakes; tsunami occur along
southwestern coast
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change

Geographic note: strategic location along Strait of Otranto (links
Adriatic Sea to Ionian Sea and Mediterranean Sea)

People
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Population: 3,249,136 (July 1996 est.)
note: the IMF, working with Albanian government figures, estimates
that the population was 3,120,000 in 1993 and that it has fallen
since 1990

Age structure:
0-14 years: 34% (male 570,978; female 529,147)
15-64 years: 60% (male 910,873; female 1,049,662)
65 years and over: 6% (male 77,799; female 110,677) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.34% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 22.21 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 7.64 deaths/1,000 population