Geography |
The Republic of Albania is bordered by the Adriatic Sea to the west, Greece to the south, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the east, Serbia and Montenegro to the north and north east. Its land area totals 28 750 km2. It is about 350 km north to south and 150 km east to west.
Albania is mountainous, with about 70 percent of the land above 300 m. The land rises steeply from the coastal plain to elevations of more than 2 400 m (2 764 m at the country´s highest point, Mount Korab). The most rugged mountains, the Dinaric Alps, are in the north. The mountains become gentler to the south, eventually merging with the Pindus Mountains of northern Greece.
Albania´s major rivers, the Bune, Drin, Shkumbin, and Vjose, all empty into the Adriatic Sea. It shares Lake Scutari (also called Lake Skhodra) with Yugoslavia, Lake Ohrid with Macedonia, and Lake Prespa with Macedonia and Greece.
The coastal lowlands have a Mediterranean climate with hot, arid, almost cloudless summers with mild, rainy winters. In the mountains, there is more summer rainfall and higher humidity, especially in the north. Temperatures in the mountains have much larger diurnal variation. The average temperatures in August, the hottest month, range from 170 C to 310 C. January, the coldest month, ranges from 20 C to 120 C. December, the wettest month, has an average rainfall of 211 mm while the driest months, July and August, receive only 32 mm. On the coast, annual rainfall averages 1 200 mm, but it may range up to 4 060 mm in the mountains, often occurring as snow.
The Republic of Albania is bordered by the Adriatic Sea to the west, Greece to the south, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the east, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the north and north east, the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro to the north and the republic of Serbia to the north east. Its land area totals 28 750 km2. It is about 350 km north to south and 150 km east to west.
Albania is mountainous, with about 70 percent of the land above 300 m. The land rises steeply from the coastal plain to elevations of more than 2 400 m (2 764 m at the country´s highest point, Mount Korab). The most rugged mountains, the Dinaric Alps, are in the north. The mountains become gentler to the south, eventually merging with the Pindus Mountains of northern Greece.
Albania´s major rivers, the Bune, Drin, Shkumbin, and Vjose, all empty into the Adriatic Sea. It shares Lake Scutari (also called Lake Skhodra) with Yugoslavia, Lake Ohrid with Macedonia, and Lake Prespa with Macedonia and Greece.
The coastal lowlands have a Mediterranean climate with hot, arid, almost cloudless summers with mild, rainy winters. In the mountains, there is more summer rainfall and higher humidity, especially in the north. Temperatures in the mountains have much larger diurnal variation. The average temperatures in August, the hottest month, range from 17° C to 31° C. January, the coldest month, ranges from 2° C to 12° C. December, the wettest month, has an average rainfall of 211 mm while the driest months, July and August, receive only 32 mm. On the coast, annual rainfall averages 1 200 mm, but it may range up to 4 060 mm in the mountains, often occurring as snow.
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.