Albania, the poorest country in Europe

 Albanian history and culture were descended from Illyria, who settled in the western Balkans around 2000 B.C. By the 7th century B.C., the Greeks had established autonomous colonies in Epidam-nos, Apollonia, and Butrint, where they had peacefully traded with the Illyrians who had established tribal states in the 4th century B.C. However, it began to be invaded by the Roman Empire at the end of the 3rd century B.C. and eventually came under the control of the Roman Empire in 167 B.C. The Roman Empire was then divided in 395 and became part of the Eastern Roman Empire, which was invaded by Goths, Huns, and Slavs throughout the 5th and 6th centuries, allowing the Illyrians to remain south of the Danube. Prior to the Roman conquest, Illyria had reached north of the Danube, but by the 11th century control of the area had fallen into the hands of the Bulgarian and Normans. However, in 1190 the feudal Duchy of Arbia was established in Kruja, and other principals emerged in the 14th century Albania was annexed by Serbia in 1344, but the defeat of Serbia by the Turkish Empire in 1389 resulted in the entire region being ruled by the Ottoman Turks. At this time, Catholic and upper-class landowners in northern Albania, and the ruling classes and commoners of southern Albania converted to Islam, making present-day Albania a Muslim-majority country. In June 1912, the Balkans declared war on Turkey, and the first Balkan War broke out, and Albania was recognized as an independent country at the Six Nations Conference held in July 1913 after the end of the war. However, with the outbreak of World War I, Albania suffered a series of tragedies that were occupied by Greece, Serbia, France, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. Once the former Albanian powers withdrew, Albanian leaders established a provisional government, and in 1920, they declared themselves a republic and moved the capital to Tirana. Ahmet Zogu, who became president of the Republic in 1924, exercised autocratic power and signed economic agreements with Italy for the development of the national economy. Italy, however, began to show its ambition by demanding control of Albania's economic, military and diplomatic relations, and in 1939 it became Italy's protectorate. With the outbreak of World War II, Albania was once again a victim of Italian imperialism. On the other hand, the Communist Party of Albania was founded by Enver Hoxha in November 1941, and the Communists served as a resistance against Germany and Italy after 1943. Enver Hoza, who took power after 1944 after the German army's defeat in World War II withdrew, secured autocratic power to build a socialist state and modernize the economy and society. Initially, it strengthened diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, China and other communist countries, including COMECON and Warsaw Treaty Organization, but broke ties with the Soviet Union after the Tito government switched to pragmatism and the Stalinist demotion. It also strongly criticized China's policy line, which began to change after U.S. President Nixon's visit to China, and cut ties with China. Since then, Albania has maintained an isolated and closed policy. However, after Hoza's death in 1985 and Ramiz Alia's inauguration, he began efforts to restore diplomatic relations with Western countries to overcome chronic economic difficulties, and after 1989, he began to make progressive reforms following frequent anti-government protests by workers. In March 1991, the Albanian Labor Party, renamed Albanian Socialist Party, won a landslide victory, and Ramiz Aaliyah, who became president in April, caved in to Albanian exodus and workers' strikes, forming a coalition government with the Democratic Party. But the nation's situation became more chaotic due to the withdrawal of Democratic ministers from the coalition, who advocated radical economic reform, and worsening food shortages, prompting President Alia to hold an early general election in March 1992. The 48-year-old communist regime collapsed when the opposition Democratic Party won the general election and Aaliyah resigned as president. II. Natural Environment Located on the west coast of the Balkans in southeastern Europe, Albania has a land area of 28,748km2, about the size of Korea's Gyeonggi-do Province and Gangwon-do Province, and is a poor and small country with most of its land made up of mountainous areas. It has a population of 3.3 million (as of 1994) and 270,000 people live in the capital, Tirana. The climate is Mediterranean, warm, clear and dry in summer, and cool and humid weather with about 40% of annual precipitation in winter. III. Politics The Slai Berisha regime, which established Albania's first democratic government, was the last to start democratization among the Eastern blocs, and the political situation is unstable due to sluggish democratic reform. Albania is currently in a state of anarchy as anti-government protests erupted in January 1997 over a pyramid-style financial fraud case. At the base of Albania's current anarchy, economic discontent, undemocratic political situations, and regional conflicts, but the direct reason for the worsening of Albania's situation can be found in the pyramid-style financial fraud case, which left more than half of the people dead. This is because pyramid investment companies promised 600% of annual dividends to the people and raised money, but failed to pay the interest they originally promised, resulting in total damage of 1 billion dollars, 30% of Albania's GDP. In the process, the government encouraged people to save pyramid schemes and later found that the ruling Social Democratic Party received political donations from pyramid investment companies, which led to a massive overthrow of the regime. The political system adopts a presidential system through the constitutional amendment in April 1991, and the parliament is a unitary system. In addition to the ruling Social Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the former Communist Party's successor, and the Greek-based Human Rights Party (HRC). Diplomatic relations with Korea were established in August 1991, but bilateral relations are very sluggish. IV. Economic Albania's GDP was about $4.3 billion (as of 1990) but fell to about $2.3 billion in 1992, almost halving. As a result, the GNP per capita, which stood at about $1,500 in 1989, has been in a serious economic recession since 1992, slightly exceeding $600. In addition, economic and social instability continues due to frequent worker riots and refugee escape due to continued production decline, increased unemployment, and inflation, adding to difficulties in promoting economic reform. However, Albania has diverse and rich mineral resources. In particular, chromium is the world's third-largest producer, and iron ore and coal reserves are significant. The U.S. is also in contact to develop oil fields in Albania's inland oil fields.