Kosovo vs Albania

Why people mix them up

Kosovo and Albania are neighbours in the western Balkans, and most people in Kosovo are ethnic Albanians who speak Albanian. Because of this shared language and culture, people often assume the two are the same country or that Kosovo is a region of Albania. They are separate: Kosovo declared independence in 2008, and its recognition is disputed, so it appears differently on different maps.

How to tell them apart

• Albania has a coastline on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas; Kosovo is landlocked.
• Albania's flag is red with a black double-headed eagle; Kosovo's is blue with a gold outline of its territory and six white stars.
• Albania is the larger country, about 28,700 km², roughly two and a half times the size of Kosovo.
• The capitals are Tirana (Albania) and Pristina (Kosovo).
• Albanian is the official language of Albania; Kosovo has two official languages, Albanian and Serbian.
• Kosovo uses the euro; Albania uses its own currency, the lek.

Memory hook

Albania has the sea and the eagle; Kosovo has the map on its flag and no coast. If you can see the shape of the country on the flag, it is Kosovo.

On the map

Find the Adriatic coast south of Montenegro and north of Greece. The tall, narrow country along that coast is Albania. Kosovo lies inland, northeast of Albania, a small roughly diamond-shaped area between Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia. Some maps outline Kosovo as a separate country and others do not, so look for the small landlocked shape just over Albania's northeastern border.