Vehicle registration plates of Albania

In Albania, vehicle registration plates are issued by the regional directorates of transport.

Current plates from 2011

Format
The new format is no longer based on regional district abbreviations, while old plates are still valid

A new format similar to the post-1994 Italian and post-2009 French plate designs has been introduced since 16 February 2011.[1] The plates start with a blue strip at the left with 'AL' and redesigned double-headed eagle in white, 2 serial letters, security hologram, 3 digits, 2 serial letters on a rectangular white background, and end on the right with year of registration and regional code in white on a blue strip. It has been observed that the last two identification elements are de facto not included while the font is more emphasized than the post-2002 one.[2] Plates of all vehicles would experience a similar change.[3] Critics claim that the color of the double headed eagle and strip is not representative of red and black colors of the Albanian flag.

Other types
Type Serial format Notes
Diplomatic CD 00-00 A Green serial and border.
Taxi AA 000 T Red serial and border on a yellow background. Blue contour left and right.
Trailer AA R 000 White serial on a turquoise background. "R" (Rimorkio) means Trailer.
Police Car MB 000 AA "MB" (Ministria e Brendshme-Albanian) means Ministry of Interior.
Military vehicles MM 000 FT "MM" (stands for Ministria e Mbrojtjes, "FT", "FA" or "FD" stands for the military branches).


History

1958–1993

During communism, plates of trucks would be painted upon on the sides with district name initials and a five digit serial number (in 1991 two digits followed with district name initials and three digits). State vehicles bared a white plate with the communist red star, district initials and serial number in black or white. Once private ownership was re-established after the fall of Communism, a new format with standard size was introduced similar to the post 1993 model but with different font and missing national identification strip.

1993–2011
Plate with smaller font and regional code issued from 2002 to 2011. 'KO' stands for Korçë District. Old plates are still valid even though new plates were introduced
Plate with DIN 1451 font issued from 1995 to 2002. 'SR' stands for Sarandë District. Note the inclusion of the national identification strip on the left

The old 1993 format is still valid even though the new 2011 plates were introduced in February 2011. The old 1993 format was introduced around 1993 with the addition of the national identification strip (in 1995) on the left and a new bigger DIN 1451 font. Spacing between characters changed numerous times and a security hologram was added. The format starts with a two-letter abbreviation of an Albanian district name. For instance, the abbreviation for Korçë District is KO. A four-digit number follows with a serial letter indicating the order of allocation of each series of numbers. Thus, a plate ending in "B" will have been more recently released than one ending in "A" in the same district. Since 2002, a smaller font was introduced while plates with the older font are still valid.

The numbers and letters running on a Latin alphabet system show the number of vehicles registered in a district. If the last letter of a plate is "U", it means that a particular district has ~200 000 (two hundred thousand) registered cars.[4]

District abbreviations
Map of regional codes
CodeDistrict
BCTropojë
BRBerat
BZBulqizë
DIDibër
DLDelvinë
DRDurrës
DVDevoll
ELElbasan
ERKolonjë
FRFier
GJGjirokastër
GRGramsh
HSHas
KJKavajë
KOKorçë
KRKrujë
KUKukës
KVKuçovë
LAKurbin
LBLibrazhd
LELezhë
LULushnjë
MAMalësi e Madhe
MKMallakastër
MRMirditë
MTMat
PEPeqin
PGPogradec
PRPërmet
PUPukë
SHShkodër
SKSkrapar
SRSarandë
TPTepelenë
TRTirana
VLVlorë

Diplomatic license plate codes
Code Country or Organization
01  Austria
02  United Kingdom
03  Bulgaria
04 N/A
05  Czech Republic
06  Egypt
07  France
08  Greece
09  Germany
10  Hungary
11  Italy
12  Iran
13  Serbia
14  China
15  Croatia
16 N/A
17  North Macedonia
18  Palestine
19  Poland
20  Romania (Honorary Consulate)
21  Russia
22 N/A
23  United States
24  Turkey
25   Switzerland
27  Saudi Arabia
28  Sweden
29  Spain
33  UNESCO
41  European Union
42  United Nations
43  UNICEF
44 N/A
45  WHO (World Health Organisation)
48 World Bank
52  Kuwait
55  Kosovo
56  Netherlands
60  Denmark
66  Slovakia
77  Brazil
79  Israel
81  Qatar

See also

References
  1. "Targat e reja të makinave, nisi sot vënia në qarkullim". TV Klan. 16 February 2011. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011.
  2. "Targat e reja, me stemen e BE". Koha Jone. 2 September 2010. Archived from the original on 3 September 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  3. "Konferencë për shtyp e Drejtorit të DPSHTRR-së, z. Kreshnik Bozdo". MPPT. 2 September 2010. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  4. 20 (letters) x 10 000 (9999 cars) [letters "O", "Q", "V", "X", and "Y" are not used, while "Z" is reserved for government vehicles].
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