A L B A N I A A BEAUTIFUL NATURE AND A POWERFUL SPIRIT THE LAND OF SUN AND HOSPITALITY Albanians refer to themselves as Shqipetare, meaning "Sons of eagles", and to their country as Shqiparia. Descended from the ancient Illyrians, they have lived in relative isolation and obscurity through most of their difficult history, in part because of the rugged terrain of their mountainous land, but also because of a complex of historical, cultural, and social factors. Owing to its location on the Adriatic Sea, Albania has long served as a bridgehead for various nations and empires seeking conquest abroad. In the 2nd century BC the Illyrians were conquered by the Romans, and from the end of the 4th century AD they were ruled by the Byzantines Empire. After suffering centuries of invasion by the Visigoths, Huns, Bulgarians, and Slavs, the Albanians were finally conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. Turkish rule cut off Albania from Western civilization for more than four centuries, but in the late 19th century the country began to remove itself from Ottoman Orientalism and rediscover old affinities and common interests with the West. Albania was declared independent in 1912, but the following year the demarcation of the boundaries of the new country by the Great Powers of Europe assigned about half of its territory and people to neighboring states. Ruled as a monarchy between the world wars, Albania emerged from the violence of World War II as a communist state that fiercely protected its sovereignty and in which almost all aspects of life were controlled by the ruling party. Albania allied itself first with the USSR (until 1960), and then with China (to 1978). But with the collapse of other communist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989, Albania, too, ended 46
A L B A N I A A BEAUTIFUL NATURE AND A POWERFUL SPIRIT THE LAND OF SUN AND HOSPITALITY Albanians refer to themselves as Shqipetare, meaning “Sons of eagles”, and to their country as Shqiparia. Descended from the ancient Illyrians, they have lived in relative isolation and obscurity through most of their difficult history, in part because of the rugged terrain of their mountainous land, but also because of a complex of historical, cultural,
