In the North Albanian Alps, in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula on the Strait of Otranto, Albania

 “Morn dawns: and with it stern Albania’s hills…

Robed half in mist, bedewed with snowy rills.”
— Lord Byron, Childe Harold
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(in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula on the Strait of Otranto) Albania officially the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë) is bounded by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east, Greece to the southeast and south, and the Adriatic and Ionian seas to the west and southwest, respectively. Albania’s immediate western neighbor, Italy, lies some 50 miles (80 km) across the Adriatic Sea. (Albania's capital city is Tirana.)

+ Albanians refer to themselves as shqiptarë (often taken to mean “sons of eagles,” though it may well refer to “those associated with the shqip (i.e., Albanian) language,” and to their country as Shqipëria. They consider themselves to be descendants of the ancient Illyrians, who lived in central Europe and migrated southward to the territory of Albania at the beginning of the Bronze Age, about 2000 BCE.

+ Due to its location on the Adriatic and Ionian seas, Albania has long served as a bridgehead for various nations and empires seeking conquest abroad. In the 2nd century BCE the Illyrians were conquered by the Romans, and from the end of the 4th century CE they were ruled by the Byzantine Empire. After suffering centuries of invasion by Visigoths, Huns, Bulgars, and Slavs, the Albanians were finally conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. Ottoman 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 influence and to rediscover old affinities and common interests with the West. Albania was declared independent in 1912, but in the following year the demarcation of its boundaries by the great powers of Europe (Austria-Hungary, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia) assigned about half 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. With the collapse of other communist regimes beginning in 1989, new social forces and democratic political parties emerged in Albania. That shift reflected the country’s continuing orientation toward the West, and it accorded with the Albanian people’s long-standing appreciation of Western technology and cultural achievements.

+ The North Albanian Alps, an extension of the Dinaric Alps, cover the northern part of the country. It is heavily forested and sparsely populated. In contrast to the Alps (the central mountain region, which is more densely populated and has a generally less rugged terrain. In the region’s easternmost portion, is the imposing gypsum block of Albania’s highest peak, Mount Korab. Albania also has many lakes, the most important of which are Lake Scutari in the northwest, and Lakes Ohrid and Prespa along the eastern border.