Jon Gjebrea
WRIT 1010 / 50
April 25, 2012
Dr. Lydia Wazir
Comperative essay Compare two countries
In this essay I am going to concentrate on clear contrasts between Albania and Italy- one of the countries from central Europe. These countries have different population, food, area. However, one may find their natural environment similar- in both countries there are politics, seas, and other components. When you think about the two countries- Albania and Italy, you may find them completely different at the first glance. During World War II beside Nazis, Albania was also under Italian regime and I might say that there everything started. Every single citizen of Albania as a second language has Italian, they are also into Italian fashion, and they mostly prefer Italian food rather than Albanian one. Due to the strategic geographical position Albania was always seen as a country that everyone could benefit from.
Albania is quite a small country with a population of 4.1 million, basically equal to one main city of Italy. Albania officially is known as the Republic of Albania, it is situated in Southern Europe. It borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west, and from the Ionian Sea to the southwest. It is less than 72 km (45 mi) from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which links the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea. Meanwhile Italy with 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. Both countries are known for their histories. “Ilire”, this is the way how the early Albanians were called. They were the first tribe in Southern Europe. Albania is known because it was 500 years under Ottoman Empire. Even though hundreds of years passed since that time still Albanians kept their traditions like words from Albanian vocabulary, elements from their religion and other traditional and cultural components. Then the first organization which opposed the partition of Albania and pushed for greater autonomy was the League of Prizren, formed on 1 June 1878, in Prizren, Kosovo. Due to the communist regime on the 50’ Albania created good relationship with China and Russia. I may say that Enver Hoxha, leader at that time isolated everyone. Related to Italy we can remind ourselves the Roman Empire, the strongest one ever. During the 1940’s, Mussolini came into power. After Mussolini’s regime, in 1946 Italy became independent. Since then everything changed. Italy entered into European Nations and NATO. A difference between these two countries is that Albania is not at the same economical position as Italy, due to the crisis now days.
Beside differences as mentioned we have also similarities. One of them is politics. If we take a look at the similarities Albania as well as Italy is a democratic country. The governments of these countries are supposed to respect the rights of the individual. Both countries have their constitutions, the book of laws of highest importance. The constitutions make the government the most important group of people protecting the liberty and providing limitations to what people do. The constitution of the Albania was first written and established around the 1910’s, when Albania became independent in 1912. The government there is democratic, which means that people elect it by themselves. Every person, who is over 18 years old, has a right to vote. There are state governments and the federal government. There is a legislative, a judicial and an executive branch. The most important person in the country is president. He is at the same time the leader of one of the political parties. In Albania there are two great political parties- the Democratic and the Socialist party. It is not only Albania and Italy, which are both similar and different at the same time, there are a lot of countries like this. As Albania is my homeland I wanted to talk about it. I believe that each country is unique by itself and it is hard to compare it with another country. At the same time we can identify some similarities between the countries that are neighbors, because history might explain you that one country was influenced by another. There are possible similarities in people’s mentality, behavior, ethics, food, landscapes etc. but the soul of each country and the country’s traditions are original and, as I already mentioned, unique.