Independence Day

What the day marks

Independence Day remembers the moment Albania became a state. On 28 November 1912 the All-Albanian Congress ratified a declaration of independence, and the text was adopted that day at Vlora. The declaration ended the country's place within the Ottoman Empire and brought into being the state of Albania, at the time called Independent Albania. The holiday is not a religious feast or a seasonal one. It marks a political act, the adoption of a document by a congress of delegates. Albanians keep it as their national day.

The flag in Vlora

The holiday is tied to a physical act as much as to a vote. Ismail Qemali raised the Albanian flag at Vlora on the day the declaration was adopted. The date carries a second layer. In 1443, on the same day of the year, Skanderbeg raised that same flag at Krujë. The modern holiday therefore coincides with an event more than four centuries older, and both are remembered on one date. Two towns appear in this story. Vlora is where the 1912 declaration was adopted and where the flag went up. Krujë is the earlier site, in the 15th century.

The road to 1912

The article places the declaration at the end of a long contest. Ottoman control of Albanian land began in the 15th century, and the struggle for independence is described as reaching back that far. Most historians, the article notes, place the real push much later, in the growth of Albanian nationalism during the 1800s. That current is said to have appeared first among Albanians abroad in southern Italy, descendants of people who left after Skanderbeg's death. The declaration of 1912 came at the end of that period.

How the date is kept

Albania keeps the holiday every 28 November, and the date does not move. The infobox records it as an annual observance on the same day each year, lasting a single day, and classes it as a national holiday and a public holiday of Albania. Celebrations are listed among its features. Because the date is fixed, it falls on a different weekday from one year to the next. A hundredth anniversary commemoration and a 2017 Independence Cup both appear among the article's related items.

How Independence Day is kept

Independence Day is kept in Albania on 28 November as a public holiday. The infobox lists celebrations as part of it and describes it as a national observance lasting one day, held once a year on the same date. The day is tied to two remembered events: the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the All-Albanian Congress at Vlora in 1912, and the raising of the Albanian flag by Ismail Qemali that day. Skanderbeg had raised the same flag at Krujë in 1443, on the same calendar date.

When and where

It falls on 28 November each year, a fixed date that does not move, so the weekday changes from one year to the next. The infobox records it as annual, lasting a single day. It marks the day of the 1912 declaration and coincides with Skanderbeg's flag-raising of 1443.

Albania is the country that keeps it, and it appears in the list of public holidays there. The story behind it is anchored in two Albanian towns. Vlora is where the declaration was adopted and the flag raised in 1912. Krujë is where Skanderbeg raised the same flag in 1443.

What Independence Day means

For Albania the day stands for the moment the country became a state of its own, after centuries under Ottoman rule. It also joins the modern nation to a much older figure, because the same date carries Skanderbeg's flag-raising of 1443. The shared date gives the holiday a double meaning: one part recent political history, the declaration adopted in 1912, and one part older national memory. Ismail Qemali's flag at Vlora and Skanderbeg's flag at Krujë are remembered together on it.

Questions people ask about Independence Day

See also

As-salamu alaykumA traditional Arabic greeting of peace exchanged in daily life and prayerTeškotoA Macedonian line dance that expresses the hardship and resilience of people in western Macedonia.TsamikoA slow Greek folk dance performed in a line or circle to 3/4 time music.NazarA blue glass eye amulet worn and displayed to deflect the evil eye.

Good reading and sources

• Independence Day (Albania) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.