Second Environmental Performance Review of Albania

1Introduction I.1 Physical contextAlbania is situated in the south-western region of theBalkan Peninsula (Map I.1). The country has a totalarea of 28,748 km 2 , which makes it one of thesmallest countries in Europe. The neighbouringcountries are Montenegro to the north-west (with a172 km border), Serbia to the north-east (115 kmborder), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedoniato the north and east (151 km border), and Greece tothe south and south-east (282 km border) ( Map I.1).Italy is less than 100 km away to the west on theother side of the Strait of Otranto. The Strait dividesAlbania’s 487 km-long coastline to the northernAdriatic Sea coast and to the southern Ionian Seacoast.Albania has very mountainous topography. Over 70per cent of the country is mountainous, very rugged,and largely inaccessible. Mountains which are thesouthern continuation of the Dinaric Alps run parallelto the Adriatic coast. The highest peak is the Maja eKorabit (altitude 2,751 m) in the Korab Mountains onthe border of the former Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia. In 2009, four small glaciers werediscovered in the ‘Cursed’ mountains in NorthernAlbania. These glaciers are situated at the relativelylow altitude of 2,000 m.The country has four main geographical regions: theNorthern Mountain Range, which is the Albanianpart of the Prokletije mountain range, the SouthernMountain Range, the Western Lowlands, and theCentral Mountain Range.The climate varies with the topography. The mainclimatic regions of the country are the coastallowlands with typically Mediterranean weather andthe highlands with a Mediterranean-continentalclimate. These general climatic patterns are markedlyaffected by the geographic latitude and by variationsin altitude.The lowlands have mild winters. The annual averagetemperature is about 7°C while the summer averageis 24°C. Inland temperatures are affected more bydifferences in elevation than by any other factor. Thecontinental air mass that dominates the weatherpattern in Eastern Europe and the Balkans causes lowwinter temperatures in the mountains. Northerly andnorth-easterly winds are dominant most of the time.The average summer temperatures in the highlandsare lower than in the coastal areas and the dailyfluctuations are greater. Daytime maximumtemperatures in the interior river valleys can be veryhigh, but the nights are almost always cool.Due to the convergence of the airflow from theMediterranean Sea and the continental air mass, theaverage precipitation is heavy. Because these airmasses usually meet at the point where the terrainrises, the heaviest rain falls on the central uplands.The higher inland mountains receive lessprecipitation than the intermediate upland mountainranges where – although estimates vary – the annualaverages are probably about 1,800 mm and can be ashigh as 2,550 mm in some northern areas. Thewestern Albanian Alps, which receive about 3,100mm of rain annually, are among the wettest areas inEurope. Lowland rainfall averages from 1,000 mm tomore than 1,500 mm annually, with the higherprecipitation levels in the north. Rain is veryseasonal and nearly 95 per cent of the rain fallsduring winter.Because the water divide is to the east of Albania alot of water from the neighbouring countries drainsthrough Albania to the Adriatic Sea. The longestriver in the country, the Drini River (length 285 km)has stable, constant flow while most rivers haveirregular seasonal flow patterns. Some are totally dryin the summer season while the flow of others can beas small as one tenth of the normal average winterflow.Albania’s three main lakes, Ohrid, Shkoder andPrespa, are all situated on the country’s borders. Thebiggest, Lake Ohrid, has an area of 358.2 km 2 .I.2 Human contextThe total population of the country was 3.2 million in2010 and the average population density 111inhabitants/km 2 – practically the same as that of theEuropean Union (EU) (112 inhabitants/km 2 ).However, the population density varies considerablywithin the country; it is highest in the lowlandsbetween the capital, Tirana (800,199 inhabitants),and the important port and manufacturing city ofDurrës (310,442 inhabitants). In the Durrësprefecture the average population density is 402inhabitants/km 2 while in the mountainous northernKukes region it is much lower, at 33 inhabitants/km 2 .The urbanisation of the country has been very rapid.The 2010 estimations put the urban population at 52