All the evidence seems to suggest that Albanians are descended from the Illyrian tribes that occupied the western region of the Balkan Peninsula in the 12th and 11th centuries BC.  The Illyrians established their own states during the 5th and the 3rd centuries BC.

In the late 3rd century BC, the Romans defeated Illyria and began occupation of the region.  During this period of occupation, the Illyrians maintained their own culture, though from about the 1st century AD onwards, Christianity started to replace the old Illyrian religion.

In 395 AD, the Roman Empire was divided and the area that now constitutes modern Albania became part of the Byzantine Empire.  The area was subject to regular invasions by various tribes, but the Illyrians resisted their advances and preserved their language and culture.

Between this time and about the 17th century AD, the name Illyria gradually was transformed onto the name we know now, Albania.  The Albanians referred to their land as Shqiperi, meaning "Land of Eagles".

The Byzantine Empire was not powerful enough to prevent Albania from being invaded by outsiders, and in 1347 Albania was conquered and occupied by Serbs.

Turkey invaded Albania at the end of the 14th century.  The Albanians waged a successful 25-year struggle against Turkish occupation, under Scanderbeg. However, Albania eventually became part of the Ottoman Empire.  During this period, large numbers of Albanians migrated to Italy, and the majority of the population converted to Islam.

The Albanian League was founded in 1878, with the aim of unifying all Albanian territories (and thus win autonomy from Turkey), and also to promote the Albanian language, literature and education.  The Turks suppressed the League in 1881.

In October 1912, the Balkan States declared war on Turkey.  In November 1912, the people of Albania proclaimed the country’s independence. At the London Conference of December 1912, the Allied Powers recognized Albania’s independence.

During World War 1, Albania became a battlefield between the Allied and the Central Powers (a coalition of German and Austro-Hungarian allies).  At the end of the war, Albania again faced the prospect of fragmentation. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919, however, stopped this from happening.

In 1928, King Zog I was crowned, following various internal conflicts between different factions.  His reign lasted until the Italians occupied Albania in 1939.

Following World War 2, Albania fell under the control of the man who led war time resistance in Albania, a communist dictator called Enver Hoxha.  In January 1946, the People’s Republic of Albania was declared.

During his time, Hoxha tried to form alliances with Yugoslavia, Soviet Union and China, all of which were eventually broken.  Hoxha died in 1985.  At the time of his death, entry to Albania by foreigners was extremely difficult, travel abroad by Albanians was restricted, and religion was banned.

Communism fell throughout eastern Europe in the late 1980's, and the regime collapsed in Albania in March 1992.  An upturn in the economy was one of the immediate impacts of the subsequent government of Albania.

In early 1997, civil unrest and anti-government feelings erupted, and a state of emergency had to be declared.  A significant cause of this was the collapse of pyramid selling schemes, which eventually were outlawed.

At this point, I finish my survey, as the complexities of subsequent events involving Albania, Kosovo and other states cannot really be expressed in succinct terms.  However, at the present time, Albania is pressing for membership of NATO and the European Union, and I personally hope that the country continues its progress towards affluence and standing in the eyes of the rest of the world.