ALBANIA forms the s.w. district of European Turkey, and occupies the w. of the Balkan peninsula, from Bosnia and Montenegro to the Greek frontiers, which the Ber lin congress of 1878 recommended should be advanced to the Kalamas river. Upper or northern Albania corresponds to the Illyria of the Romans, and lower or southern Albania corresponds to the ancient Epirus.. On the east boundary, forming the water shed of the peninsula, rises the range of the Bora-dagh and the Pindus. The first detaches itself from the wild masses of the Tshar-dagh (dagh in Turkish means nwun, lain) and Argentaro mountains ; and west of it lie parallel chains, inclosing on the one side long elevated valleys, and sinking on the other in terraces down to level strips, along the coast, consisting mostly of unhealthy swamps and lagoons. Pindus, to the s., is also flanked by isolated basins or hollows, whose western edges pass into the jagged and thick-wooded Ebirotic highlands. These highlands advance to the sea, forming steep rocky coasts ; one promontory, the Acroceraunian, projecting in cape Linguetta far into the sea, reaches a height of 4000 to 5000 ft.
The chief rivers are the Bojana, the Drin, the Skombi, Ergent, Vojussa, Glykys or Acheron (which follows for some distance a subterranean channel, and on reappearing is called Mauropotamos), the Arta, and the upper course of the Aspropotamos. Among the lakes, those of Bojana, Ochri, and Janina are the most important.
A fine climate, the heat of which is tempered by high mountains and the proximity of the sea, and a favorable soil, would seem to invite the inhabitants to agriculture ; but for the most part in vain. In the north little or nothing is cultivated but maize ; in the moist valleys, a little rice and barley are produced ; but the mountain-terraces are used as pastures for numerous herds of cattle and sheep. In Epirus there is more variety. Here the slopes of the lower valleys are covered with olives, fruit and mulberry trees, intermixed with patches of vines and maize, while the densely wooded mountain-ridges furnish valuable supplies of timber. The plateau of Janina yields abundance of grain ; and in the valleys opening to the s. the finer fruits are produced, along with maize, rice, and wheat. Even cotton and indigo might be profitably cultivated in the moist valleys ;
but in its present wretched condition the country can barely support its scanty popula tion.
The inhabitants, estimated at about 1,000,000, form a peculiar people, the Albanians or Arnauts ; they call themselves Skypetars. They are descendants of the ancient Illyrians, mixed with Greeks and Slaves, and not to be confounded with the Albani that live on the Caspian sea. The Albanians are half-civilized mountaineers, frank to a friend, vindictive to an enemy. They are constantly under arms, and are more devoted to robbery and piracy than to cattle-feeding and agriculture. They live in perpetual anarchy, every village being at war with its neighbor, and even the several quarters of the same town carrying on mutual hostilities. Many of them serve as mercenaries in other countries, and they form the best soldiers of the Turkish army. At one time the Albanians were all Christians ; after the death of their last chief, the hero Scanderbeg, and their subjugation by the Turks, a large part became Mohammedans, who dis tinguished themselves by cruelty and treachery towards the tribes that remained true to their old faith. The steep valleys of the Acheron in the s., forming the district of Suli, are inhabited by a powerful tribe, the Suliotes, who till their fields sword in hand, and conceal their harvests in the earth. They made themselves famous by their long resistance to All Pasha. In the n., between the Black Drin and the sea, is the country or circle of the 3Iirdites, i.e., the brave, who are always ready with weapons in their hands to defend their freedom and their relL,crion—the Roman Catholic. A. is officially divided between the vilayets of Scutari and Janina. The divisions chiefly recognized by the Albanians themselves are the varieties of the native tribes, which col. Leake divides into the Ghegides, whose chief towns are Dulcigno, Scutaria, and Durazzo; the Toskides, in Beret and Elbasan ; the Liape, in the mountains between the Toske and Delvino ; and the Tsami, in the s. The chief towns are the ports of Durazzo, Avlona, Prevesa, and Parga ; and Scutari, Berat, Argyro Castro, Arta, Akhrida, and Joannina.