Ports and harbors: Durres, Sarande, Shengjin, Vlore
Merchant marine: total: 8 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 36,582 GRT/54,832 DWT (1997 est.)
Airports-with paved runways: total: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (1997 est.)
Airports-with unpaved runways: total: 4 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (1997 est.)
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards
Military manpower-military age: 19 years of age
Military manpower-availability: males age 15-49: 749,633 (1998 est.)
Military manpower-fit for military service: males: 609,986 (1998 est.)
Military manpower-reaching military age annually: males: 32,367 (1998 est.)
Military expenditures-dollar figure: $42 million (1996)
Military expenditures-percent of GDP: 1.5% to 2.0% (1996)
Disputes-international: the Albanian Government supports protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians outside of its borders but has downplayed them to further its primary foreign policy goal of regional cooperation; Albanian majority in Kosovo seeks independence from Serbian Republic; Albanians in The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia claim discrimination in education, access to public-sector jobs and representation in government
Illicit drugs: increasingly active transshipment point for Southwest Asian opiates, hashish, and cannabis transiting the Balkan route and cocaine from South America destined for Western Europe; limited opium and cannabis production; ethnic Albanian narcotrafficking organizations active in Central and Eastern Europe
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Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia
Area: total: 2,381,740 sq km land: 2,381,740 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area-comparative: slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas
Land boundaries: total: 6,343 km border countries: Libya 982 km, Mali 1,376 km, Mauritania 463 km, Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 956 km, Tunisia 965 km, Western Sahara 42 km
Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone: 32-52 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau; sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer