Albania has a total area of 28,748 square kilometres (11,100 square miles). The country is located in Southern Europe, bordering Montenegro to the north-west, Kosovo to the north-east, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. It lies between latitudes 42° and 39° N (Vermosh-Konispol) and between longitudes 21° and 19° E (Sazan-Vernik). Albania's coastline length is 476 km (296 mi) and extends along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The lowlands of the west face the Adriatic Sea.
The 70% of the country that is mountainous is rugged and often inaccessible from the outside. The highest mountain is Korab situated in Dibër County, reaching up to 2,764 metres (9,068 ft). It is located around the border triangle of Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia. The climate on the coast is typically Mediterranean with mild, wet winters and warm, sunny, and rather dry summers.
Inland conditions vary depending on elevation, but the higher areas above 1,500 m/5,000 ft are rather cold and frequently snowy in winter; here cold conditions with snow may linger into spring. Besides the capital city of Tirana, which has more than 700.000 inhabitants, the principal cities are Durrës, Korçë, Elbasan, Shkodër, Gjirokastër, Vlorë and Kukës. In Albanian grammar, a word can have indefinite and definite forms, and this also applies to city names: both Tiranë and Tirana, Shkodër and Shkodra are used.
The three largest and deepest tectonic lakes of the Balkan Peninsula are partly located in Albania. The Lake Shkodër in the country's northwest has a surface which can vary between 370 km2 (140 sq mi) and 530 km2, out of which one third belongs to Albania and the rest to Montenegro. The Albanian shoreline of the lake is 57 km (35 mi). Ohrid Lake is situated in the country's southeast and is shared between Albania and Republic of Macedonia. It has a maximal depth of 289 meters and a variety of unique flora and fauna can be found there, including "living fossils" and many endemic species. Because of its natural and historical value, Ohrid Lake is under the protection of UNESCO. There is also Lake Butrint which is a small tectonic lake. It is located in the National Park of Butrint. Albania has also a total of 13 islands. The majority of them are small in size with only two being larger than a square kilometer: Sazan and Kunë.
