Tirana is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea in the distance. Due to its location at the Plain of Tirana and the close proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, the city is particularly influenced by a Mediterranean seasonal climate. It is among the wettest and sunniest cities in Europe, with 2,544 hours of sun per year.
The prime minister of Albania, officially styled Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, is the head of government of the Republic of Albania and the most powerful and influential person in Albanian politics. The prime minister holds the executive power of the nation and represents the Council of Ministers and chairs its meetings.
The president of Albania, officially styled the President of the Republic of Albania, is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and the representative of the unity of the Albanian people.
Edi Rama is an Albanian politician, painter, writer, former university lecturer, publicist and former basketball player, who has served as the 33rd and current Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. He was appointed Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1998, an office he held until 2000. First elected mayor of Tirana in 2000, he was reelected in 2003 and 2007.
The University of Tirana is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the State University of Tirana in 1957 through merging of five existing institutes of higher education.
Azem Shpend Hajdari was the leader of the student movement in 1990–1991 that led to the fall of communism in Albania. He then became a politician of the Democratic Party of Albania (DP). He symbolizes the start of the democratic era in Albania. He was a member of the Albanian parliament and the Chairman of the Defence Parliamentary Commission. He was assassinated in Tirana on September 12, 1998.
The Selman Stërmasi Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tirana, Albania. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of KF Tirana. The stadium holds 9,500 people. It is named after Selman Stërmasi, one of KF Tirana's best players of all time. The stadium was also used by Dinamo and Partizani until 2010, however, due to failure to cooperate on the admittance fees, these teams were not allowed to use the stadium any further.
At approximately 12 p.m. local time on Saturday, March 15th, 2008, an ex-military ammunition depot in the village of Gërdec in the Vorë Municipality of Albania, U.S and Albanian munitions experts were preparing to destroy stockpiles of obsolete ammunition. The methodical destruction of the old ammunition was supposed to occur with a series of small, controlled explosions. However, a chain of events led to the entire stockpile detonating simultaneously. Hundreds of houses were demolished within a few kilometres of the depot, while car windows on the Tirana-Durres highway were shattered by the main explosion, which involved more than 400 tonnes of propellant in containers. A large fire caused a series of smaller but powerful explosions that continued until 2 a.m. on Sunday. The explosions could be heard as far away as the Macedonian capital of Skopje, 170 km (110 mi) away.
The Universal Hospital Tirana is a 120-bed hospital on Kavajë Street in western Tirana, Albania, offering medical services. Services are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Universal Hospital Tirana is one of the largest and the most comprehensive private hospitals in the country. The hospital belongs to Ege Saglik Tesisleri ve Egitim Muesseseleri AS, a Turkish company based in Izmir/Turkey and the majority shareholder of this company is Universal Saglik Yatirimlari Holding, again a Turkish company based in Istanbul/Turkey and chaired by Azmi Ofluoglu.
St Paul's Cathedral is a cathedral in Tirana, Albania. It belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tiranë-Durrës. The stained glass window to the left of the front door features Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa. Also a statue of Mother Teresa can be found at the entrance of the cathedral. It is a modern-looking building and does not resemble a traditional church.
Elbasan Street is a major street of Tirana, Albania. It is the most important street of southern Tirana leading to national road SH3 and European Route E852. It eventually leads to Elbasan. The US Embassy in Tirana and the Jordan Misja Artistic Lyceum are located on Elbasan Street.
Rinia Park is the central public park of Tirana, Albania. Built in 1950 during the communist era, it covers an area of 2.98 hectares.
Bujar Faik Nishani was an Albanian politician. He served as the president of Albania from 24 July 2012 to 24 July 2017.
The Republican Guard is a militarized government agency of Albania mandated by law to protect high-ranking state officials, including the President of Albania, as well as certain national properties, high-ranking foreign visitors and diplomatic offices. It is mostly subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, except that the unit responsible for the president's security being under the authority of the president.
Albanian International School is an English-language international school in Tirana, Albania.
The Pyramid of Tirana is a structure and former museum located in Tirana, the capital of Albania. It opened as a museum in 1988 and became a conference center in 1991 following the collapse of Communism. During the 1999 Kosovo War, the building was used as a NATO base. In 2018, a new project was unveiled that would turn the pyramid into a youth IT center for Creative Technologies with a focus on computer programming, robotics, and start ups under the name of TUMO Center Tirana. The renovated structure was opened to the public in May 2023.
The Great Mosque of Tirana or Namazgah Mosque is a mosque which is currently being built in Tirana, Albania. When completed, it will be the largest mosque in the Balkans.
Albania and Egypt have cordial and cooperative relations. Albania has an embassy in Cairo, and Egypt has an embassy in Tirana. Diplomatic relations between Albania and Egypt were established in 1958. Both countries are members of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
