CAPITAL: Tirana
LANGUAGES: Albanian
POLITICS: Parliamentary Reppubblic
ECONOMY: Since the fall of communism in 1990, Albania has launched economic programmes towards a more open-market economy. The democratically elected government that assumed office in April 1992 launched an ambitious economic reform programme to halt economic deterioration and put the country on the path towards a market economy. Most of agriculture, state housing, and small industry were privatized, along with transports, services, and small and medium-sized enterprises. In 1995, Albania began privatizing large state enterprises. Since 2000, Albania has experienced a more rapid expansion of its economy. Following the signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement in June/July 2006, EU ministers urged Albania to push ahead with reforms, focusing on freedom of press, property rights, respect for ethnic minorities and observing international standards in municipal elections. Albania has made an impressive imparment, building a modern and diversified economy. Tourism in Albania is a large industry and is growing rapidly. The most notable tourist attractions are the ancient sites of Apollonia, Butrinti, and Kruj�. Albania's coastline is becoming increasingly popular with tourists due to its relatively unspoiled nature and its beaches.

DEMOGRAPHICS: Albania is a largely ethnically homogeneous country with only small minorities. The majority of the total population is considered Albanian. The dominant language is Albanian, with two main dialects, Gheg and Tosk. Many Albanians are also fluent in English, Italian and Greek.

GEOGRAPHY: Albania has a total area of 28,750 square kilometers. Its coastline is 362 kilometres long and stretches on the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea. The lowlands of the west face the Adriatic Sea. The 70% of the country that is mountainous is rugged and often inaccessible. The highest mountain is Korab situated in the district of Dibra, reaching up to 2,753 metres (9,032 ft). The country has a continental climate with cold winters and hot summers. The capital city is Tirana. In Albanian grammar, a word can have indefinite and definite forms, and this also applies to city names: both Tiran� and Tirana, Shkod�r and Shkodra are used.

RELIGION: Christianity manifested itself in Albania during the Roman rule in the middle of the 1st century AD. At first, the new religion had to compete with Oriental cults such as those worshiping Mithra, the Persian god of light, which had entered the land after Albania's growing interaction with eastern regions of the Roman Empire. For a long time, it also had to compete with gods worshiped by Illyrian pagans. The steady growth of the Christian community in Dyrrhachium (the Roman name for Epidamnus) led to the creation there of a bishopric in 58 AD. Later, episcopal seats were established in Apollonia, Buthrotum (modern Butrint), and Scodra (modern Shkodra).

After the division of the Roman Empire in 395, Albania became politically part of the Eastern Roman Empire, but remained ecclesiastically dependent on Rome. When the final schism occurred in 1054 between the Western and Eastern churches, the Christians in southern Albania went under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople, and those in the north under the Papacy in Rome. This arrangement prevailed until the Ottoman invasions of the 14th century, when the Islamic faith was introduced.

One of the major legacies of nearly five centuries of Ottoman rule was the conversion of up to 60 percent of the Albanian population to Islam. Therefore, the country emerged as a predominantly Muslim nation after its independence from the Ottoman rule. In the mountainous north, the propagation of Islam was strongly opposed by Roman Catholics. Albania was preponderantly Roman Catholic, with eighteen episcopal Sees, some of which have an uninterrupted history from the dawn of Christendom until today. Albania was the last Roman Catholic bridgehead in the Balkans and the Popes were doing everything in their power to keep it and enlarge it. Gradually, however, illiteracy and the absence of an educated clergy weakened the resistance.

During the 45 years of the Communist regime, religion was officially banned, and Albania was proclaimed the first and only atheist state in the world. Today, with the freedom of religion and worship, Albania contains numerous religions . Religious fanaticism has never been a problem, with people from different religious groups living in peace. Interreligious marriage is very common, and an immensely strong sense of Albanian identity has tended to bind Albanians of all religious practices together. The Roman Catholics are mostly located in the northern part of the country. The Muslims are spread throughout the land.

For generations, religious pragmatism was a distinctive trait of the Albanians. Even after accepting Islam, many people privately remained Christian. As late as 1912, in a large number of villages in the Elbasan area, most men had two names, a Muslim one for public use and a Christian one for private use. Adherence to ancient pagan beliefs also continued in the 20th century, particularly in the northern mountain villages, many of which were devoid of churches and mosques. Despite such a different religious background, Albania has been free of religious conflict, mainly because Albanians have traditionally displayed a high degree of religious tolerance.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is in the northwest of continental Europe. It is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Irish sea and the Northern Sea and it is linked to France by the channel tunnel. It is a constitutional monarchy composed of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland . The present monarch is Queen Elizabeth 2nd. The United Kingdom owns also fourteen territories inherited by the British colonial Empire and many islands.

England

England is the largest and the most famous country of the United Kingdom. It takes up the south of the kingdom, it is bordered to the north by Scotland, to the west by Wales, to the east by the Northern sea and to the south by the Channel.The most important cities of England are London, which is the capital of the United Kingdom and a very beautiful city, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Birmingham.

In England there are some low mountains, the Pennines, which cross England from the north to the centre. The major rivers of England are the Thames, the Severn (the longest river in Great Britain), the Trent and the Humber. England's economy is the second largest economy in Europe; it is specialized in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors, in key technical industries, like aerospace, and in the software industry. The head office of the British government is in London, but England, differently from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, hasn�t got its own governement. England is divided into regions, counties and districts.
The patron saint is St. George.

Scotland

Scotland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom, it occupies the north of the island of Great Britain.

It borders England to the south , the North sea to the east, the Irish sea and theNorth channel to the southwest and the Atlantic ocean to the north-west. The capital is Edinburgh, a very important financial centre, but the largest city of Scotland is Glasgow, which is the main Scottish port, other cities are Aberdeen, sometimes named �the European capital of oil�, Inverness and Dundee. Other important Scottish businesses are: the textile and the chemistry industry, the beer production, fishing and tourism. In Scotland there is the highest peak of the United Kingdom :Ben Nevis (1344 metres). Scotland has over 790 island divided into the Hebrides, the Shetlands and the Orkneys. Main rivers of Scotland are the Clyde, theTweed and the most important lakes are Loch Lomond, Loch Tay and the famous Loch Ness. Scotland has a self-government, but the UK Parliament retains power over areas like taxes, military and international relations. The Scottish parliament has legislative authority for the Scottish areas relating Scotland. The patron saint is St. Andrew.

Wales

Wales with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. It is located in the south-west of Great Britain and is bordered by England to the east, the Irish sea to the west and north and the Bristol channel to the south. The capital and the largest city of Wales is Cardiff, other important cities are Cardigan, Newport and Swansea. Wales is located on a peninsula, much of the territory of Wales is mountainous. The highest peak in Wales is Snowdon (1085 metres), in mid-Wales there are the Cambrian Mountains. The coasts of Wales are beautiful and all its bays attract every year a lot of tourists with their white sand beaches and clean blue water. In Wales there are also three national parks one of these is Snowdonia where there are the highest mountains of Wales. Tourism and agriculture are important for Welsh economy.

The head of state in Wales is the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth 2nd. Power is divided among the Queen, the United Kingdom parliament and the National Assembly for Wales which is in Cardiff. The patron saint is St. David.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, it occupies the northeast part of Ireland. Northern Ireland consists of six counties in the Province of Ulster. It is bordered by the North Channel to the northeast and by Ireland to the southwest. The capital and the largest city of Northern Ireland is Belfast. The most important lakes are Upper lake and Lower lake; main rivers are the Foyle and the Bann. In Northern Ireland there is the low chain of mount Mourne.

It has got an industrial economy, based on shipbuilding and textiles. Tourism is also important for the economy of Northern Ireland. The patron saint is St. Patrick.

Some conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland started in the past and they are still going on.

Sweden is a country in the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It is surrounded by Norway (west), Finland (northeast) and the Baltic Sea (east).
It has been a member of the European Union since 1995. Its capital city is Stockholm.
Sweden has a long tradition as a major exporter of iron, copper and timber.
In the 1890s, universal schooling and industrialization enabled the country to develop a successful manufacturing industry and by the twentieth century Sweden emerged as a welfare state. Sweden has a rich supply of water power, but lacks significant oil and coal deposits.
The primary language of Sweden is Swedish.
Situated in Northern Europe, Sweden forms the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula. To the west is the Scandinavian chain (Skanderna), a range that separates Sweden from Norway.
Sweden is the 5th largest country in Europe, and the largest in Northern Europe.
Sweden has three main regions: Norrland, Svealand, G�taland. About 15% of Sweden lies north of the Arctic Circle. Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, with increasing forest coverage northward.
Gotland and �land are Sweden's largest islands; V�nern and V�ttern are Sweden's largest lakes.
Sweden enjoys a temperate climate despite its northern latitude, mainly because of the Gulf Stream. In the south of Sweden, leaf-bearing trees are prolific, further north pines, spruces and in the very north birches dominate the landscape. In the mountains of northern Sweden a sub-Arctic climate predominates. North of the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets for part of each summer, and in the winter night is similarly unending.
Sweden is a constitutional monarchy, in which King Carl XVI Gustaf is head of state, but royal power has long been limited to official and ceremonial functions.The nation's modern legislative body is the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag), with 349 members, which chooses the Prime Minister. Parliamentary elections are held every four years.
Sweden is an export oriented market economy featuring a modern distribution system with excellent internal and external communications and a skilled labour force. Timber, hydropower and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy heavily oriented towards foreign trade. Sweden's engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports. Telecommunications, the automotive industry and the pharmaceutical industries are also of great importance. Agriculture accounts for 2% of GDP and employment.

Geography.
It is a Republic, the capital city is Paris; the highest mountain is Mont Blanc ( 4810 m).
Its main rivers are the Loire , the Seine , the Garonne , the Rhone and the principal lakes are Lake Geneva, Etang de Berre.
France has two important islands: Corsica and the Ile d'Ol�ron.
The official language is French and the religion is the Catholic one.
Euro (�) is the currency.

Climate.France is primarily located in the southern part of the temperate zone. In the west, a true temperate maritime climate can be found.
with hot and dry summers and mild and humid winters.
In north France, the climate is temperate. In North-eastern France, you find warm summers and colder winters. Lorraine has a mild climate.
Rainfall is brought mainly by western winds from the Atlantic.

Economy. In France there is a growing service sector, industries and agricultural resources. The government retains considerable influence over key segments of each sector with majority ownership of railway, electricity, aircraft, and telecommunication firms.
The government is slowly selling off its holdings in France Telecom, in Air France, and in the insurance, banking, and defense industries.
Meanwhile fertile land and modern technology have combined to make France the leading agricultural producer in Western Europe, a major exporter of wheat and dairy products.

Government
Type: Republic.
President-- Nicolas Sarkozy
Prime Minister--Dominique de Villepin

The patron saint of France

Saint Denis is the patron saint of France. Saint Denis was the first bishop of Paris. He supposedly came there between 250 and 270. He was executed in 272.

St. Denis preached so successfully here that, when the second persecution began, he was head of a thriving church built on the very spot where Notre Dame now stands. Three hundred of his disciples bravely suffered great tortures with him, and they were beheaded on a hill which now forms part of the city and which is still known as the Martyrs' Hill. A good woman is said to have buried the holy bishop's remains where the church of St. Denis now stands. A wonderful legend soon arose about him, when his head was struck off, he arose and picked it up and walked some distance away with it! For this reason he is often shown in paintings and sculptures with his head in his hands. St. Denis is the patron saint of France, and his name was the watchword for French soldiers for many centuries; so his burial place has always been greatly honored, his bones regarded as sacred relics, and his real life and death are often represented in art, although not so frequently as the queer legend which you have just heard.

French Dances. French traditional dancing expresses a huge range of geographically and culturally separate groups. At first glance there is little common ground between the hypnotic circle dances of Brittany, the graceful couple dances of central France and the wild Fandangos of the Basque Country. However, they all form part of the larger group of European dances, all of which have developed from simple circle dances with frequent contacts between the different regions.

The Fleur-de-Lis

In Heraldry and History

Legend.The English translation of "fleur-de-lis" is "flower of the lily." This symbol has many meanings. Traditionally, it has been used to represent French royalty, and in that sense it is said to signify perfection, light, and life. Legend has it that an angel presented Clovis, the Merovingian king of the Franks, with a golden lily as a symbol of his purification upon his conversion to Christianity. Others claim that Clovis adopted the symbol when waterlilies showed him how to safely cross a river and thus succeed in battle.

Heraldry.In the twelfth century, either King Louis VI or King Louis VII became the first French monarchs to use the fleur-de-lis on their shields. English kings later used the symbol on their coats of arms to emphasize their claims to the throne of France. In the 14th century, the fleur-de-lis was often incorporated into the family insignia that was sewn on the knight's surcoat, which was worn over their coat of mail, thus the term, "coat of arms."

Finland is a country situated in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the west, Russia to the east, Norway to the north and the Baltic sea to the south. Its capital city is Helsinki.
Finland is a country of thousands lakes and islands. One of these lakes, Saimaa, is the fifth largest in Europe. The Finnish landscape is mostly flat with few hills and its highest point, Halti at 1,324 meters, is situated in the extreme north of Lapland near the border between Finland and Norway. The most common type of rock is granite.
The longest river is the Kemijoki.
The climate in Southern Finland is a temperate climate. In Northern Finland dominates a subarctic climate, characterized by cold winters and relatively warm summers.

Finland has a population of 5.3 million, spread over an area of 338.145 square kilometers. The majority of the population is concentrated in the southern parts of the country. Finland is the sixth largest country in Europe in terms of area.
Finland is a democratic, parliamentary republic and has been a member state of the United Nations since 1955 and the European Union since 1995. Finland has a semi-presidential system with a Parliament. The President of Finland is Tarja Halonen and the Prime minister is Matti Vanhanen.
Finland has a highly industrialized and free-market economy. The largest sector of the economy is services.
Agricultural development is limited because of the northern climate.
In recent years there has been national focus on innovation and research and development, with special emphasis on information technology. Nokia, the telecommunication company, is generally considered at the base of Finland's success.
Finnish and Swedish are the official languages.
Saint Henrik of Uppsala is the patron saint of Finland.
The flag is white with a blue cross.
The currency is the Euro.
In Finland the national festivity is on 6th December.

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is in southwestern Europe. On the Iberian Peninsula, it is the westernmost country of mainland Europe. Portugal is bordered by Spain to the north and east and by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are also part of Portugal.The territory which forms the modern Portuguese Republic witnessed a constant flow of civilizations after prehistoric times. The Moors occupied several regions of the present Portuguese territory from the 8th to the 13th century.During the 15th and 16th centuries, with its global empire, it was one of the world's major economic, political, and cultural powers. Portugal is a developed country, member of the European Union (since 1986) and the United Nations (since 1955); as well as a founding member of the Eurozone, OECD, NATO, and CPLP.

Government and politics
Portugal is a democratic republic ruled by the constitution of 1976 with Lisbon, the nation's largest city, as its capital. The four main governing components are the president of the republic, the assembly of the republic, the government, and the courts. The constitution grants the division or separation of powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Portugal, like most European countries, has no state religion, making it a secular state. The president, who is elected to a five-year term, has a supervising, non-executive role. The current President is Anibal Cavaco Silva. The Assembly of the Republic is a unicameral Parliament composed of 230 deputies elected for four years. The government is headed by the prime minister, who chooses the Council of Ministers. There are two political parties, the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party. Minority parties CDU (Portuguese Communist Party plus Ecologist Party "The Greens"), Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc) and CDS-PP (People's Party) are also represented in Parliament and local governments. The courts are organized into categories, including judicial, administrative, and fiscal ones. The supreme courts are the courts of last appeal. A thirteen-member constitutional court oversees the constitutionality of legislation.

Geography and climate
The climate can be classified as Oceanic above the city of Porto, and Mediterranean below Porto. Portugal is one of the warmest European countries. Generally, spring and summer are sunny, whereas autumn and winter are rainy and windy. Extreme temperatures occur in Northeastern parts of the country in winter and Southeastern parts in summer. Sea coastal areas are milder. In Portugal there aren�t many rivers. The most important are: the Duero 322 km, the Guadiana 260 km, the Tago 270 km. The most important mountains are Mount Pico 2351 m and Serra de Estrela 1993 m.

Economy
Portugal joined the European Union in 1986 and started a process of modernization within the framework of a stable environment. Governments have implemented reforms and privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy. Portugal was one of the founding countries of the euro in 1999, and therefore is integrated into the Eurozone.

Major industries include oil refineries, concrete production, paper, textile, footwear, furniture, and cork (of which Portugal is the world's leading producer)industries Agriculture and Fishing no longer represents the bulk of the economy, but Portuguese wines, namely Port Wine (named after the country's second largest city, Porto) and Madeira Wine (named after Madeira Island) are exported worldwide. Tourism is also important, especially in the region of Algarve and in the Atlantic Madeira archipelago.

Cities of Portugal

Lisbon (Portuguese: Lisboa) is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is also the seat of the district of Lisbon and capital of the Lisbon region. Due to its economic output, standard of living, and market size, the Grande Lisboa (Great Lisbon) is among the major financial and economic centres of the Iberian Peninsula. It is also the political centre of the country, as seat of government and residence of the Head of State.Porto (also Oporto) is a city in northern Portugal and is the second largest city in Portugal.

Fatima is a city in Portugal famous for the religious visions that took place there in 1917. The city is located in the district of Santarem in central Portugal. F�tima's claim to fame is the shrine called the Sanctuary of F�tima, built to commemorate the events of 1917 when three peasant children claimed to have seen the "Virgin of the Rosary", Our Lady of Fatima. The children actually experienced the apparitions in a pasture called the Cova da Iria near the village of Aljustrel, about a mile away.