33 Countries of Origin’ Profiles

Produced by Euro-CIDES -FR- CAPTIVE/ JUST/2015/RDAP/AG/VICT/9243 Religion / Beliefs Albania is a secular state w ithout a n official religion, with th e freedom of religion b eing a constitutional r ight. The 2011 census, for the first time since 1930, included an optional open-ended question on religion; the census recorded a majority o f Muslims (58.79%), which include Sunni (56.70%) and Bektashi Muslims (2.09%). Christians, making up 16.92% of the population, include Roman Catholics (10.03%), Orthodox (6.75%) and Evangelicals ( 0.14%) . Atheists a ccounted for 2.5% of the population and 5.49% were non-affiliated believers, while 13.79% preferred not to answer. During modern times, the Albanian republican, monarchic and later communist regimes followed a systematic policy of separating religion from official functions and cultural life. The country has never had an official religion e ither as a republic or as a kingdom. In the 20th century, the clergy of all faiths was weakened under the monarchy and ultimately eradicated during the 1950s and 1960s, under the state policy of obliterating all organized religion from the territories of Albania. The communist regime p ersecuted and suppressed religious observance and institutions and entirel y banned religion. The country was then officially declared to be the world's first atheist state. Although, the country's religious freedom h as returned, since the end of communism. Albania was the only country in Europe where the Jewish population increased significantly during the Holocaust. Following the mass emigration to Israel, since the fall of communism, only 200 Albanian Jews a re left in the country. Religious tolerance is one of the most important values of the tradition of the Albanians. This is widely accepted, that Albanians are well known about those values, about a peaceful coexistence among the believers of different religious communities in Albania, which are mostly Muslims a n d Christians. During an official visit i n Tirana, Pope Francis h ailed Albania as model of religious harmony, due to the long tradition of religious coexistence and tolerance. The country is ranked among the least religious countries in the world. Furthermore, religion p lays an important role in the lives of only 39% of the country's population. Political Situation Politics in the country operate under a framework laid out in the Constitution of Albania. First in 1913, Albania was constituted as a monarchy, briefly a republic in 1920, then into a democratic monarchy i n 1928. Succeeding, it became a socialist republic, until the restoration of capitalism and democracy, after the end of communism. Nowadays, Albania is a unitary p arliamentary c onstitutional republic i n