Mount Arith

Albania is mostly mountainous, with the first alpine regions forming towards the end of the Jurassic period. During the Cenozoic era, the malformation of the Albanides accelerated, causing the subterranean landscape to take its present form. The average altitude of the country is 708 m (2,323 ft), more than twice that of Europe. Its highest summits are situated in the Accursed Mountains and the eastern mountain range, with Korab being the highest peak, at 2,764 m (9,068 ft) above sea level. The country's geography is unique due to its location and varied relief, with landscapes ranging from mediterranean in the west to a more continental influence and mountainous terrain in the interior and east. Such combination of plains, hills and mountains has resulted in a diverse range of geographical features, extending horizontally and vertically. However, this complexity has made regionalisation challenging, as different authors have used alternating criteria and methods. In the 1920s, Herbert Louis proposed a scheme that divided Albania into two large regions: Inner Albania and Coastal Albania, each with specific subdivisions. His scheme was widely used until 1964, when it was to be replaced by Pandi Geço's proposed scheme which divided the country into four physiographic regions, listed as follows: Albanian Alps, Central Mountain Region, Southern Mountain Region, Albanian Coastal Lowlands and its hills. By 1990, Geço's scheme was improved through further research and consideration of ecological concerns, recapping all regions into 67 constituent subunits. The earliest written accounts on the mountains of Albania can be attributed to German geographer Kurt Hassert, who explored the northern region of the country in June 1897, carrying out his first expedition to Mount Cukal. In 1926, British mountaineer C. M. Sleeman surveyed the mountains of northern Albania and his observations later appeared in the 42nd edition of the Alpine Journal.

Neighbouring summits