28 November: Albania Independence Day

November 28 is Albania Independence Day. Here are ten things you might not know about Albania:

1. The capital and largest city is Tirana. It is one of the very few capital cities in the world which doesn't have a McDonalds. It is a very colourful city because its mayor from 2000-2011 was a painter, Edi Rama. He was criticised for focusing on the appearance of the city more than the development of an infrastructure. Honorary citizens of the city include Nikita Khrushchev, Pope Francis and... Norman Wisdom.
2. Norman Wisdom was very popular there because he was one of the few Western actors whose films weren't banned by the dictator Enver Hoxha. Hoxha also declared Albania an atheist state in 1967 (today the majority of the people are Muslims) and was so paranoid that he built 750,000 concrete bunkers to protect the country from an invasion that never happened.
3. Another well known town is Berat, renowned for its historic architecture and scenic beauty. Berat is known as the "Town of a Thousand Windows", due to the many large Windows of the old decorated houses overlooking the town.
4. During the Middle Ages, the Albanians called their country Arbëri or Arbëni and referred to themselves as Arbëresh or Arbënesh. Since the 17th century they have called it Shqipëria and themselves Shqiptarë meaning "Land of the Eagles" and "Children of the Eagles". The golden eagle is the Albanian national symbol.
5. Albania was a kingdom for a while and had one king, King Zog. His family were feudal landowners and possibly descended from the sister of Albania's greatest national hero, the 15th-century general Skanderbeg. Before being declared King, Zog also served as Prime Minister and President. He was never technically crowned. Once made king, he broke off his engagement to the daughter of Shefqet Bey Verlaci, which meant Verlaci had a legitimate blood feud against him, so he became somewhat paranoid, surrounding himself with guards and putting his mother in charge of the kitchens. In April 1938 Zog married Countess Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi, a Roman Catholic aristocrat who was half-Hungarian and half-American. They had one son, Leka. Soon after his birth, the country was invaded by Italy and the royal family fled into exile. Zog lived in England and Egypt and died in France. He bought a large house in New York but never lived in it. Some Albanians continued to believe that Zog and Leka were the rightful monarchs. Zog's grandson, also called Leka, born in South Africa in 1982, now lives in Tirana and is Political Adviser to the current President.
6. The highest mountain in Albania is Korab in the district of Dibër, at 2,764 metres (9,068 ft).
7. Albania has never won an Olympic medal, but does have one Nobel prize winner in Mother Teresa, whose birth place was part of Albania at the time of her birth. The Tirana International airport was named after Mother Teresa in 2001.The full name of the the airport is Tirana International Nene Tereza.
8. Ferid Murad (USA) who won the 1998 prize for Medicine had an Albanian father, as did John Belushi, star of the film The Blues Brothers.
9. Albania was the only country in Europe where the Jewish population grew during the Holocaust. Only 200 Albanian Jews are left in the country today - most of them emigrated to Israel after the fall of the Communist regime.
10. Albania had 3 million people but only 3000 cars at the end of the communist era in 1991 because private cars were illegal.