What do you picture when you hear "Albania"? Especially if your answer is, "not much," I'm certain you will learn something new from this list of fun and interesting facts - I sure did!
There are more than 173,000 #bunkers across the country. They were built by the dictator leader Enver Hoxha and were designed to withstand atomic, chemical or other invasion by enemies. While they were never used for this purpose, they litter the countryside, and are starting to be converted to shelters for animals, museums or even hotels.
Once the poorest country in Europe, #Albania has worked hard to turn this distinction around. Since opening its doors to the public in 1991, and its first democratically elected President in 1992, it has been improving its infrastructure and has a growing tourism industry. The country is now working on being admitted to the #EuropeanUnion.
Speaking of the time the country lived under dictatorial rule, in 1991 when the Communist regime fell, there were between 3,000 and 7,000 cars in a country of 3 Million people! Everyone else used horse drawn carriages and bicycles. After that, cars became the ultimate status symbol with most households eventually coming to own one. Mercedes is a clear favorite among car brands with at one point more than 60% of cars in Albania being of the #Mercedes brand.
Albanians don't call their country "Albania." While it is known as Albania throughout the rest of the world, it is known internally as #Shqiperi (which loosely translates to "The Land of #Eagles"), and Albanians refer to themselves as #Shqiptar.
Albania has a very unique language called #Shqip, and it is unrelated to other European languages, making it an especially challenging language to learn.
The midday meal in Albania is the big meal of the day. Most often it includes veggies and meat and is followed by a salad. The Albanian diet is generally considered to be quite healthy.
We might assume the healthy Albanian diet is partially influenced by the fact that they are one of only a handful of countries on the planet that have no #McDonalds fast food restaurants.
However, they instead have #Kolonat restaurants, which has a suspiciously similar logo!
Albania's most popular #Olympic Sports are #weightlifting, #shooting and #wrestling, but unfortunately they have yet to win an Olympic medal in any sport.
Albania was the first official #Athiest country in Europe (having been declared so by dictator #Enver #Hoxha in 1967). Now, and since the fall of the regime, it is one of the few Muslim-majority countries in Europe, as 70% of the country identifies as #Muslim. Today, the country is generally considered very religiously tolerant.
When we think of going to the beach, Albania may not be first to come to mind, but there is an undiscovered hidden gem that should be higher on our lists - the #AlbanianRiviera! Gorgeous, less overrun beaches on the #Mediterranean promise lots of fun in the sun.
Every evening, Albanian's go for a walk. The '#Xhiro' is the official evening time when everyone comes outside, gathers with neighbors and walks around until nightfall. Some spend time getting dressed up ahead of time, and many roads are even closed for the occasion.
No ('Jo') means yes, and yes ('Po') means no! Not really, of course, but Albanians do shake their head when they are agreeing and nod up and down when agreeing - the opposite of what we might be used to!
#Scarecrows (or sometimes Teddy Bears) are often used at construction sites or even homes and other locations to bring good luck or generally ward off evil. They are called '#Dordolec' and are frequently seen all sorts of places across Albania.
#Pumpkins are common around the country - in food, used in decor and on display, and also as gifts to one another.
The heroine of Albania (and the only Albanian to ever win a Nobel Prize) is Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, a woman we all knew as '#MotherTheresa."
More Albanians live outside the country than in it.
Albania's former #KingZog I survived 55 assassination attempts during his reign and ultimately died peacefully of old age in his sleep years later in 1961.
If you get a haircut in Albania, the stylist will often slap your neck at the end of the cut and say, "Me Shendat" ("On Your Health").
Most Albanians follow customs called 'The #Kanun' which include #Honor, #Hospitality, #RightConduct and #FamilyLoyalty. Promises are kept and people are supposed to comfort others. In fact, many Albanians will often spend an entire month's salary to serve a special meal to visitors.
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