Flag of AlbaniaThe flag of Albania (Flamuri i Republikës së Shqipërisë) is a red flag with a silhouetted black double-headed eagle in the center. The red stands for bravery, strength, valour and bloodshed, while the Eagle represents the sovereign state of Albania. The flag was established as the national flag of Albania when the country gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912. Medieval times and centuries later During John Hunyadi's campaign in Niš in 1443, Skanderbeg and a few hundred Albanians defected from the Turkish ranks; for twenty-five years he scored remarkable victories against the Ottomans.
MyzeqeThe Myzeqe (myzɛˈcɛ; Myzeqeja; Muzachia) is a plain in the Western Lowlands of Albania. The Myzeqe is the largest and widest plain, measured by area, in the Lowlands. The Myzeqe plain is a large alluvial plain traversed by three main rivers, the Shkumbin, Seman and Vjosë. The Vjosë gives a rough approximation of the southern extent of the Myzeqe, while the Shkumbin is roughly its northern extent. Administratively, the region falls mainly within Lushnjë and Fier District.
KrujëKrujë (Kruja; see also the etymology section) is a town and a municipality in north central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is only 20 km north from the capital of Albania, Tirana. Krujë was inhabited by the ancient Illyrian tribe of the Albani. In 1190 Krujë became the capital of the first Albanian state in the middle ages, the Principality of Arbër.
Double-headed eagleThe double-headed eagle is an iconographic symbol originating in the Bronze Age. A heraldic charge, it is used with the concept of an empire. Most modern uses of the emblem are directly or indirectly associated with its use by the late Byzantine Empire, originally a dynastic emblem of the Palaiologoi. It was adopted during the Late Medieval to Early Modern period in the Holy Roman Empire, Albania and in Orthodox principalities (Serbia and Russia), representing an augmentation of the (single-headed) eagle or Aquila associated with the Roman Empire.
ElbasanElbasan (ˌɛlbəˈsɑːn ˈɛlbaˈsan; Elbasani ˈɛlbaˈsani) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in central Albania. The Albanian name is derived from the Ottoman Turkish il-basan ("the fortress"). Elbasan is also the Aromanian name of the city. According to Saliaj the name in antiquity Scampa is derived from the word Shkamba ("The Rock or Cliff") in Albanian.
LabëriaLabëria is a historic region that is roughly situated in southwestern Albania. Its inhabitants are known as Labs (referred to as Lab, pl. Lebër, also dial. sing. Lap) and its boundaries reach from Vlorë to Himara in the south, to the Greek border near Sarandë, incorporating the Kurvelesh region of Gjirokastër District and extending east to the city of Tepelenë. Names of the Albanians and Albania The toponym Labëri/-a and the name of the Albanian sub-group: Lab (also Labe, Labi), pl.
DevshirmeDevshirme (devşirme, usually translated as "child levy" or "blood tax") was the Ottoman practice of forcibly recruiting soldiers and bureaucrats from among the children of their Balkan Christian subjects and forcibly converting them to Islam. Those coming from the Balkans came primarily from noble Balkan families and rayah (poor) classes. It is first mentioned in written records in 1438, but probably started earlier. It created a faction of soldiers and officials loyal to the Sultan.
ShkodërShkodër (ˈʃkəʊdər , ˈʃkɔdəɾ; Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest continuously inhabited cities, with roughly 2,200 years of recorded history. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkodër and the foothills of the Albanian Alps on the banks of Buna, Drin and Kir. Due to its proximity to the Adriatic Sea, Shkodër is affected by a seasonal Mediterranean climate with continental influences.
PristinaPristina (UKˈpriːʃtɪnə,_prɪʃˈtiːnə , USˈprɪʃtɪnə ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian kingdom. The heritage of the classical era is represented by the settlement of Ulpiana. After the Roman Empire was divided into a western and an eastern half, the area remained within the Byzantine Empire between the 5th and 9th centuries.
Albanian languageAlbanian (endonym: shqipja ʃcipja or gjuha shqipe ˈɟuha ˈʃcipe) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that language family. It is the descendant of a Paleo-Balkan language. Albanian is the official language of Albania and Kosovo, and a co-official language in North Macedonia and Montenegro, as well as a recognized minority language of Italy, Croatia, Romania and Serbia. It is also spoken in Greece and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europe and Oceania.
