Albania

The republic of Albania is situated in the southeastern part of Europe, on the Balkans. The Albanians speak a language that is no family of other languages on the continent. Before the Second World War Albania was occupied by Italy. After the war the country got a communist government that turned the Albania in one of the most closed countries in the world. In the end they only had real relations with China. Now Albania is a democracy finding its way back to Europe. The country has become a NATO member and wants to join the European Union.

The first stamps of Albania were issued in 1913. During the communist era the stamps were used to promote the government policies and to attract foreign currency for the country.

I sent an envelope with an International Reply Coupon to Posta Shqiptare in Tirana. They chose the stamp and put it on the envelope. The stamp is one of the Europa stamps from 2015 with the common theme of children's toys.

Website of the philatelic section of Posta Shqiptare (in Albanian): postashqiptare.al/filatelia (in Albanian).

Date sent: 17 April 2017

Date postmark: 27 April 2017

Date received: 11 May 2017

Number of days: 24

Envelope in collection: 35