here are few, if any, that contribute to the boundaries of the
districts. Eight districts border on the seashore, but only three of
them have more lowland than mountainous terrain. The Shkoder District,
for example, has all of the lowlands in the vicinity of the city and
almost half of the most mountainous portion of the North Albanian Alps.
In a few instances the borders of interior districts follow the river
valleys, but it is more usual for them to contain segments of the rivers
and, when this is the case, their boundary lines stay in the higher
regions.

CLIMATE

With its coastline oriented westward onto the Adriatic and Ionian seas,
its highlands backed upon the elevated Balkan landmass, and the entire
country lying at a latitude that receives different patterns of weather
systems during the winter and summer seasons, Albania has a number of
climatic regions highly unusual for so small an area. The coastal
lowlands have typically Mediterranean weather; the highlands have a
so-called Mediterranean continental climate. Both the lowland and
interior weather change markedly from north to south.

The lowlands have mild winters, averaging about 45 deg.F. Summer
temperatures average 75 deg.F., humidity is high, and the season tends
to be oppressively uncomfortable. The southern lowlands are warmer,
averaging about five degrees higher throughout the year. The difference
is greater than five degrees during the summer and somewhat less during
the winter.

Inland temperatures vary more widely with differences in elevation than
with latitude or any other factor. Cold winter temperatures in the
mountains result from the continental air masses that predominate over
Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Northerly and northeasterly winds blow
much of the time. Average summer temperatures are lower than in the
coastal areas and much lower at high elevations, but daily fluctuations
are greater. Daytime maximum temperatures in the interior basins and
river valleys are very high, but the nights are almost always cool (see
table 1).

The average precipitation over the country is high resulting from the
convergence of the prevailing airflow from the Mediterranean with the
continental air mass. They usually meet at the point where the terrain
rises. Arriving at that line, the Mediterranean air meets increasing
ground elevations that force it to rise and an air mass that tends to
resist its further progress. This causes the heaviest rai