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The flag of Albania: The national flag of Albania is a base red flag with a black two-headed eagle in the centre. It is derived from the similar seal of Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg, a 15th century Albanian who led the revolt against the Ottoman Empire that resulted in brief independence for Albania from 1443 to 1478. The current flag was officially adopted on April 7, 1992, but previous Albanian states such as the Kingdom of Albania and the post-war communist state had used much the same flag, with the former sporting the "Helmet of Skanderbeg" above the eagle and the latter a red star with a yellow rim.
The symbolism of the bicephalated eagle is that of the religiously divided Albanians, when the Albanians were divided into Christians of the Western Catholic tradition and the Orthodox East. The National Assembly of Vlora which proclaimed Albanian Independence on 28 November 1912 approved the flag as a symbol of the Albanian nation.
The horizontal open-winged eagle symbolises the lack of submission of the highland Albanians to foreign conquest. The communist regime added a yellow five-pointed star to the flag, which was removed by the first Albanian pluralist parliament in 1992 after the communism collapsed.
Albania's civil ensign and naval ensign, both maritime flags are different from the national flag. The civil ensign consists of three horizontal lines of red, black, and red. The naval ensign is similar to the national flag, except that the eagle is on a white field, and the lower portion of the flag has a red stripe.
The flag of Albania may be the inspiration for the flag of the fictional nation of Syldavia in Hergé's Tintin comics. It also influenced the revival of the Navarrese arrano beltza.
The presidential flag of the Albanian-populated province of Kosovo is also based on the flag of Albania. It should be noted that the flag of Albania is very similar to the Byzantine flag due to its ties to the ancient empire.
The Republic of Albania is a Balkan country in Southeastern Europe. It borders Montenegro to the north, the Serbian province of Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia in the east, and Greece in the south. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west and a coast on the Ionian Sea to the southwest. Despite having a troubled history, the country has been classified as an emerging democracy since the 1990s.
Albania consists of mostly hilly and mountainous terrain, with the highest mountain, Korab in the district of Dibra, reaching up to 2,753 metres (9,032 ft). The country mostly has a continental climate with cold winters and hot summers. Besides the capital city of Tirana, which has 800,000 inhabitants, the principal cities are Durrės, Elbasan, Shkodėr, Gjirokastėr, Vlorė, Korēė and Kukės. In Albanian grammar, a word can have indefinite and definite forms, and this also applies to city names: both Tiranė and Tirana, Shkodėr and Shkodra are used.
Unusual among Balkan nations, indeed anywhere in the world, Albania is a nearly homogeneous country with only small minorities. Most of the population, roughly 95%, is ethnically Albanian. Many ethnic Albanians also live in the bordering countries of Serbia, Montenegro, and the Republic of Macedonia. These amount to over 2,000,000; of that, about 1,800,000 reside in Kosovo), 60,000 in Montenegro, and roughly 500,000 live in the Republic of Macedonia (see Demographics of the Republic of Macedonia). Since 1991, large numbers of Albanians have emigrated to Greece, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and other European countries.
The dominant language is Albanian. Many Albanians are also fluent in English, Greek and Italian. Albanians are mostly non-denominational believers. During the communist era religion was prohibited. Since that time Albania has been proclaimed as the only officially atheist country in the world, claiming the religion to be Albanianism. The most widely-practiced religions are Islam (70%), Albanian Orthodoxy (20%), Catholicism (10%), the percentages are estimates; there are no available current statistics on religious affiliation. Though small, other main religions of the world also have some representation in Albania. Religious fanaticism has never been a problem, with people from different religious groups living in peace and even inter-marrying. Intermarriage across religions is very common, and an immensely strong sense of Albanian identity has tended to bind Albanians of all religious practices together.
Many historians believe Albanians to be the direct descendants of Illyrians. Some, however, disagree over the origin of the Illyrians. Some maintain that the Illyrians descended from the Pelasgians while other scholars place them in the later wave of Indo-European invasions. Their presence can be traced back to the formulation of their political structure in the 7th and 6th centuries BC. Excellent metal craftsmen and fierce warriors, the Illyrians formed warlord-based kingdoms that fought amongst themselves for most of their history. Only during the 6th century BC did the Illyrians venture significant raids against their immediate neighbours: the kingdom of the Molossians in southern Albania, the kingdom of Macedon, and the kingdom of Paionia.
The lands that are today inhabited by Albanians were first populated in the Paleolithic Age (Stone Age), over 100,000 years ago. The first zones that were initially settled were those with adequate geographical conditions. In Albania, the earliest settlements have been discovered in the Gajtan cavern (Shkodra), in Konispol, at mount Dajti, and at Xara (Saranda). Primitive peoples lived in secluded groups, mainly in dry caves that would also protect from the wind. They used stones and bones as their tools. Places such as caverns and terrains close to rivers were used to work on stone. In any case, the tools from this age were simple and created primarily from stone. Paleolithic peoples fed on collected products from plants and hunted wild animals. Because of the harsh conditions that they lived in, they had a short lifespan of around 21-30 years, with a higher youth mortality. The fight against harsh living conditions led to strengthened connections among the members of each group and in a change of organization of primitive peoples. At the end of the Paleolithic Age, the primitives transformed into a grouping among blood lines where the origins were traced to the mother. Thus a matriarchal society developed, which became common in later periods in the Neolithic age (New Stone Age). The inhabitation of Albanian lands increased in the Neolithic age. People began to abandon caverns and settle in open areas. Neolithic people were more prone to build their settlements in open fields or next to rivers. A large number of such settlements are discovered in Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and the Republic of Macedonia.
Aboriginals gradually developed stable settlements and started an agricultural economy. They knew how to plant barley, millet, and rice. This was associated with the development of matriarchy and this epoch saw the beginning of paired marriages.
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