Albania Independence Day – November 28, 2026

Expected Albania Independence Day Deals

On Albania Independence Day, commercial deals often center around cultural products, travel packages to Albania, or special promotions from Albanian-owned businesses. While we await official 2027 promotions, expect local Albanian restaurants to offer traditional menus and cultural centers to host special events. Look for discounts on books about Albanian history or music. We will update this page with confirmed live deals as November 28 approaches.

History of Albania Independence Day

At the start of the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire was expanding into South-Eastern Europe, invading and controlling numerous lands ruled by local kingdoms. By 1431, they ruled most of modern-day Albania. A local revolt was led by a deserter from the Ottomans called Skanderbeg in 1443. His heroic military campaigns to defend Albania against the might of the Ottoman Empire resulted in him becoming a national hero to the Albanians. It’s said that his stand against the Ottomans may have prevented further expansion of the empire into more western regions of Europe.

After Skanderbeg’s death on January 17, 1468, Albania fell back under Ottoman control in 1479 and it remained a part of the Ottoman Empire until just before the start of the First World War. In the late 19th century, a wave of desire for nationhood had been sweeping across Eastern Europe. While Albania enjoyed a privileged position within the Empire, it eventually joined the various uprisings against the Ottoman Empire. As the Ottomans were weakened by their defeat in the Balkan Wars, an uprising in 1912 led to the proclamation of independence by Ismail Qemali, the leader of the Albanian national movement on November 28, 1912.

In December 1912, a delegation of Albania submitted a memorandum to the London Conference of 1913 insisting on the ethnic rights of Albanians and requested an international recognition of independent Albania composed of Kosovo, and western Macedonia including Skopje and Bitola, and the whole territory of Epirus up to Arta. At the beginning of the London conference in December 1912, the ambassadors of all six Great Powers rejected the plan for establishing an independent Albania, and the treaty was signed, partitioning a major part of the claimed lands between Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro. They met again on July 29, 1913, and decided to constitute a new state as a constitutional monarchy, the Principality of Albania. Finally, with the Treaty of Bucharest signed in August 1913, this newly independent state was established, leaving about 40% of the ethnic Albanian population outside its borders.