A country of southeast Europe on the Adriatic Sea. The region was settled in ancient times by Illyrians and later came under Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman rule. Having declared independence in 1912, Albania was successively a principality, a republic (after 1925), a kingdom (after 1928), and a Communist state (after 1944). Elections in 1992 transferred power from the Communist Party to a nominally democratic government. Tiranë is the capital and the largest city.