TIRANNA. – Capital of the Albanian State, founded around 1600 by the Turks, situated to the east of Durazzo and to the northeast of Elbassan, on the course of the Ishmi River (Drin).
The city is at the center of an important network of radial roads, both natural and artificial, which connect it to Durazzo, Scutari, Valona, and all other important centers of Albania; by air it is linked with Brindisi, Salerno, Nicco, and Scutari. At 120 meters above sea level, Tirana has a notably mild climate, especially when compared to that of other Albanian centers. Its inhabitants (31,286 in the city proper) among Muslims (60%), Orthodox (20%), and Catholics (10%), number 59,160 (in the prefecture), according to the 1941 census. The public works programs that were intended to renew Tirana were carried out particularly after the end of the Second World War, when Albania, in rebellion, secured its formal independence. V. ALBANI.