Albanians are celebrating 100 years since their country's declaration of independence on November 28, 1912. Albania was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from the late 14th century until the early 20th century, when a groundswell of nationalism led to the independence movement. Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and Macedonia are also taking part in several days of celebrations that began on November 25. (16 PHOTOS)
Albanians Celebrate 100 Years Of Independence
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Musicians perform in the main square in Tirana, the Albanian capital.
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Decorations surround a statue of Skanderbeg, the Albanian national hero, in central Tirana.
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Children wear Albanian national dress in Tirana.
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People celebrate in Tirana.
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Kosovar Albanian men wear traditional attire as they ride through Tirana.
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Albanian artist Saimir Strati appears in front of his mosaic of the Albanian flag at the Hotel Prishtina. The 65-square-meter mosaic, made of 1.35 million beans, earned Strati his seventh Guinness world record.
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Members of the Albanian minority in Macedonia celebrate Albanian Independence Day in Skopje.
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Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Musa Xhaferi, Macedonian party leader Ali Ahmeti, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, and Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci were among the leaders celebrating Albanian independence in Skopje, Macedonia, on November 25.
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Pupils from the Xhevdet Doda secondary school in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, form the number 100 in the colors of the Albanian flag.
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Decorations in Pristina, Kosovo
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Kosovo Albanians take part in a “Mustache Men” event to honor the whiskered independence leaders of 1912.
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A young participant in the "Mustache Men" celebration
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Albanian leader Ismail Qemali (center) announces the declaration of independence to the public after the Assembly of Vlorë on November 28, 1912.