All articles A–Z
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Alban
Saint Alban is honored as the first British Christian martyr, beheaded at Verulamium, modern St Albans, for sheltering a Christian priest, with a feast on 22 June.
Alban Berg
Alban Berg (1885–1935), Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School and pupil of Schoenberg; wrote the atonal opera Wozzeck (premiered Berlin 1925), the twelve-tone Lulu, and the Violin Concerto.
Alban Butler
Alban Butler (1710–1773) was an English Catholic priest and hagiographer whose Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, published anonymously from 1756, covered more than 1,600 saints.
Alban Isidor Stolz
Alban Isidor Stolz (1808–1883) was a German Catholic theologian, priest, and popular author, professor of pastoral theology at the University of Freiburg, best known for his religious calendars, the Kalender für Zeit und Ewigkeit.
Alban Köhler
Alban Köhler (1874–1947) was a German radiologist and pioneer of bone and joint radiology, known for Köhler disease I and II and his classic Borderlands X-ray reference work.
Alban Lafont
Alban-Marc Lafont (born 1999, Ouagadougou) is a French goalkeeper; youngest ever Ligue 1 starting keeper at 16y310d with Toulouse, Fiorentina 2018-19, Nantes captain and 2022 Coupe de France winner, Panathinaikos loan 2025.
Alban Skënderaj
Alban Skënderaj is an Albanian singer, songwriter, and producer, born in Lushnjë in 1982 and based in Italy, who won Top Fest in 2005 and 2006 and Kënga Magjike in 2012.
Albana (crater on Vesta)
Albana is a 90.86 km impact crater near the north pole of asteroid 4 Vesta, centered at 76.61°N, 200.69°E, named for a Roman vestal virgin and adopted by the IAU in 2012; it gives its name to Vesta's Av-1 quadrangle.
Albana Koçiu
Albana Koçiu is an Albanian politician who serves as Deputy Prime Minister of Albania, leading the government's European Union accession efforts and speaking for the government after cabinet meetings.
Albanella
Albanella, a comune in the province of Salerno, Campania, Italy, founded around the 9th century by Paestan refugees after Saracen raids; part of the barony of Fasanella, with the excavated rural sanctuary of S. Nicola di Albanella in its territory.
Albanerpetontidae
Albanerpetontidae (albanerpetontids, "albies") are an extinct family of small salamander-like lissamphibians from the Middle Jurassic to late Cenozoic of Laurasia and North Africa, defined by a mortise-and-tenon jaw joint, fused sculptured frontals, and chameleon-like ballistic tongue feeding.
Albania
Albania (Shqipëria), Balkan parliamentary republic, capital Tirana; post-communist since 1991, NATO member 2009, EU candidate with all 33 accession chapters opened by December 2025; hydropower-dependent, upper-middle-income economy growing about 3.9% in 2024.
Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest
Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest: RTSH entries since debut in 2004 with Anjeza Shahini; all selected via Festivali i Këngës; best result Rona Nishliu's fifth place, Baku 2012; recent entries Zjerm (8th, 2025) and Nân (13th, 2026).
Albania national football team
Albania national football team (Shqiponjat, Kuq e Zinjtë), men's team of the FShF, debuted 1946, reached Euro 2016 and Euro 2024 group stages, never qualified for a World Cup, coached by Sylvinho.
Albania–Serbia relations
Albania–Serbia relations: bilateral ties between Albania and Serbia, established 25 April 1914, strained by Kosovo's disputed independence, marked by the 2014–2015 leader visits, the Open Balkan initiative, and parallel EU accession paths.
Albanian Air Force
Albanian Air Force (Forca Ajrore Shqiptare): air branch of Albania's armed forces, founded April 24, 1951. Now NATO-aligned, rebuilding with UH-60 Black Hawks, Kuçova and Gjadri bases, French radar, and a National Flight School with Elbit Systems.
Albanian alphabet
Albanian alphabet (alfabeti shqip), the 36-letter Latin script for Albanian with digraphs dh, gj, ll, nj, rr, sh, th, xh, zh and letters ç, ë; fixed at the 1908 Congress of Manastir, standardized at the 1972 Tirana Orthography Congress.
Albanian Alps
Albanian Alps (Alpet Shqiptare, Bjeshkët e Nemuna, Prokletije): mountain range between the Dinaric and Pindus systems across Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro; highest peak Jezerca 2,694 m; Albanian Alps National Park covers 82,844.65 ha since 2022.
Albanian Armed Forces
Albanian Armed Forces (FARSH): military of Albania, NATO member since 2009, Land/Navy/Air Force under the General Staff; 2026 budget 58.9 billion lekë (2.12% of GDP, later 2.6%), missions since 1996, about 250 personnel deployed.
Albanian Civil War (1943–1944)
Albanian Civil War (1943–1944), also called the fratricidal war after the Mukja agreement collapse: armed conflict between the communist-led National Liberation Army and anti-communist Balli Kombëtar and Legaliteti, fought alongside resistance to the German occupation, ending in communist victory in November 1944.
Albanian Declaration of Independence
The Albanian Declaration of Independence (Deklarata e Pavarësisë) is the act signed at Vlorë on 28 November 1912 proclaiming Albania independent after nearly five centuries of Ottoman rule.
Albanian dialects
Albanian dialects: Gheg (gegërishtja) north of the Shkumbin river and Tosk (toskërishtja) south, the two main varieties of Albanian. Gheg keeps nasal vowels and intervocalic -n-; Tosk rhotacizes it. Standard Albanian, proclaimed in 1972, is largely Tosk-based.
Albanian Golgotha
The Albanian Golgotha (Serbian: Albanska golgota) was the winter retreat of the Serbian army, government, and civilians across Montenegro and Albania in 1915–1916, with survivors evacuated to Corfu.
Albanian language
Albanian (shqip, gjuha shqipe) is a separate branch of Indo-European with Gheg and Tosk dialects split by the Shkumbin river, first written in 1462, standardized at the 1972 Tirana Congress mainly on Tosk, spoken by over seven million people.
Albanian lek
The Albanian lek (Lek shqiptar) is the national currency of Albania, issued by the Bank of Albania since 1992 and freely floated with a 3% inflation target.
Albanian mafia
Albanian mafia: contested label for Albanian-speaking criminal networks from Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro active in cocaine, heroin and cannabis trafficking across Europe and Latin America, organized in fis clans.
Albanian National Awakening
The Albanian National Awakening (Albanian: Rilindja Kombëtare) was the political and cultural movement, begun in 1878 with the League of Prizren, that led to Albanian independence in 1912.
Albanian Orthodox Church
The Albanian Orthodox Church (Kisha Orthodhokse Autoqefale e Shqipërisë) is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church covering Albania, self-governing since 1922 and canonically recognized in 1937, later suppressed from 1967 to 1990 and rebuilt under Archbishop Anastasios.
Albanian Republic
The Albanian Republic (Albanian: Republika Shqiptare) was Albania's first republic, a state existing from 1925 to 1928, proclaimed after Ahmet Zogu's return to power and replaced when he became King Zog I on 1 September 1928.
Albanian revolt of 1432–1436
The Albanian revolt of 1432–1436 (Kryengritja Arbërore) was an Albanian uprising against early Ottoman rule, led principally by Gjergj Arianiti and sparked by new taxes and land registration.