Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

vehicle registration plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate ( Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificati ...

s are issued by the General Directory of Road Transport Services (DPSHTRR).

Current Vehicle Series

Private Vehicles

A new format similar to the post-1994 Italian and post-2009 French plate designs has been introduced since 16 February 2011. The plates start with a blue strip at the left with 'AL' and redesigned

double-headed eagle In heraldry and vexillology, the double-headed eagle (or double-eagle) is a charge (heraldry), charge associated with the concept of Empire. Most modern uses of the symbol are directly or indirectly associated with its use by the late Byzantin ...

in white, 2 serial letters, security hologram, 3 digits, 2 serial letters on a rectangular white background, and end on the right with a blue strip that's supposed to show year of registration and regional code in white on. 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. Plates of all vehicles would experience a similar change. Critics claim that the color of the

double headed eagle In heraldry and vexillology, the double-headed eagle (or double-eagle) is a charge associated with the concept of Empire. Most modern uses of the symbol are directly or indirectly associated with its use by the late Byzantine Empire, originall ...

and strip is not representative of red and black colors of the

Albanian flag The flag of Albania ( sq, Flamuri i Republikës së Shqipërisë) is a red flag with a silhouetted black double-headed eagle in the center. The red stands for bravery, strength, valour and bloodshed, while the Eagle represents the sovereign sta ...

. Private vehicle license plates have black borders and black texts on a white background. They follow a format B 123 FG This format is national, irrespective of the vehicle's registered district. ''Standard sized License Plate, 520 x 110 mm'' ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm'' Starting in 2022, license plates may also be issued in a smaller 360 x 100 mm format for the front and a 305 x 153 mm format for both front and rear plates. These are issued due to an increase of imports from Italy, Switzerland and the United States, which do not always issue EU-standard plates. In Albania, "repetitive" license plates have red borders and texts on a white background. These are additional license plates to install, if there's an object such as a bike carrier rack blocking the original license plate of a private vehicle. ''Standard sized License Plate, 520 x 110 mm'' ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm''

Agricultural vehicles

Agricultural vehicle registration plates in Albania have white borders and white texts on a green background. They follow the format A MB 00 where MB stands for ''Makinë Bujqësore'' which means Agricultural Vehicle. ''Standard sized License Plate, 520 x 110 mm'' ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm'' Agricultural trailer registration plates in Albania have white borders and white texts on a green background. They follow the format A RB 00 where RB stands for ''Rimorkio Bujqësore'' which means Agricultural trailer. ''Standard sized License Plate, 520 x 110 mm'' ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm''

Diplomatic Corps

Diplomatic corps The diplomatic corps (french: corps diplomatique) is the collective body of foreign diplomats accredited to a particular country or body. The diplomatic corps may, in certain contexts, refer to the collection of accredited heads of mission ( am ...

vehicle registration plates in Albania have green borders and green texts on a white background. They do not have the blue strip on the right hand-side of the plate, unlike private vehicle registration plates. They follow the format ''CD 00 00A where CD stands for ''Corps Diplomatique''. The first 2 digits of the license plate refer to the Diplomatic license plate codes (explained later in the article). For example code 01 belongs to the diplomatic corps of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

whereas code 41 refers to the diplomatic corps of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. Plate 01A belongs to the highest-ranking member of staff (usually the Ambassador) whereas all other plates are issued sequentially. ''Standard sized License Plate, 520 x 110 mm'' ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm'' Diplomatic service vehicle registration plates in Albania have green borders and green texts on a white background. They do not have the blue strip on the right hand-side of the plate, unlike private vehicle registration plates. They follow the format ''TR 00 00A where TR stands for ''Truproje Diplomatike'', which means "Diplomatic Bodyguards" in Albanian. The first 2 digits of the license plate refer to the Diplomatic license plate codes. ''Standard sized License Plate, 520 x 110 mm'' ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm''

Honorary consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

vehicle registration plates in Albania have green borders and green texts on a white background. They do not have the blue strip on the right hand-side of the plate, unlike private vehicle registration plates. They follow the format ''HCC 00 0A where HCC stands for ''Honorary Consul Corps''. The first 2 digits of the license plate refer to the Diplomatic license plate codes.

Military Vehicles

Military Vehicle registration plates in Albania have green borders and green texts on a white background. They follow the format ''MM 000PU where MM stands for ''Ministria e Mbrojtjes'' which means Ministry of Defense. The last two digits can be the following combinations: * FA ('' Forca Ajrore'',

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

) * FD (''Forca Detare'',

Naval Force A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

) * FT (''Forca Tokësore'',

Land Force An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

) * KM (''Komanda Mbështetëse'', Support Command) * PU (''Policia Ushtarake'',

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...

) * SP (''Shtabi i Përgjithshëm'',

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

) ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm''

Police Vehicles

Albanian Police Vehicle registration plates in Albania have blue borders and blue texts on a white background. They follow the format ''MB 000 AA where MB stands for ''Ministria e Brendshme'' which means Ministry of Interior. These plates are also issued to other subjects under the Ministry of the Interior, including the

Republican Guard A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...

, which arranges transport for high-ranking members of state. ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm''

Taxis

Taxi registration plates in Albania have red borders and red texts on a yellow background. They follow the format A 000 T where T stands for ''Taxi''. ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm''

Technological Vehicles

Technological Vehicle registration plates in Albania have white borders and white texts on a green background. They follow the format A MT 00 where MT stands for ''Makinë Teknologjike'' which means Technological Vehicle. ''Standard sized License Plate, 520 x 110 mm'' ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm'' Technological trailer registration plates in Albania have white borders and white texts on a green background. They follow the format A RT 00 where RT stands for ''Rimorkio Teknologjike'' which means Technological trailer. ''Standard sized License Plate, 520 x 110 mm'' ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm''

Trailers

Trailer registration plates in Albania have white borders and white texts on a green background. They follow the format A R 000 where R stands for ''Rimorkio'' which means Trailer. ''Standard sized License Plate, 520 x 110 mm'' ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm''

Test and Temporary Plates

Test Vehicle registration plates in Albania have red borders and red texts on a white background. They follow the format A 0 PROV where PROV stands for ''Provë'' which means Test. ''Standard sized License Plate, 520 x 110 mm'' ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm'' Temporary Vehicle registration plates in Albania have red borders and red texts on a white background. They follow the format A 0 PRK where PRK stands for ''Përkohshme'' which means Temporary. ''Standard sized License Plate, 520 x 110 mm'' ''2-Lined License Plate, 254 x 205 mm''

Current Motorcycle Series

Private motorcycles in Albania have a license plate format A 000 Motorcycle registration plate in Albania have a size of 212 mm by 205 mm or 177 mm by 177 mm, and have black text and black boundaries on a white background.

Font Style

Albanian uses a unique font style on its license plates, a font style not used in any other jurisdiction. Below is a list of all characters and numbers in this font style

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

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 DIN 1451 is a sans-serif typeface that is widely used for traffic, administrative and technical applications. It was defined by the German standards body DIN (, 'German Institute for Standardisation', pronounced like the English word ''din'') i ...

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 Korçë District ( sq, Rrethi i Korçës), was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 counties. It had a population of 143,499 in 2001, and an area of . Its capital was the city of Korçë. Its te ...

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.20 (letters) x 10 000 (9999 cars) etters "O", "Q", "V", "X", and "Y" are not used, while "Z" is reserved for government vehicles and "W" is not used in Albanian language.

District abbreviations

Diplomatic license plate codes

References

Kurjoziteti mbi targat e reja shqiptare Shquperia TV

External links

License plates in Albania

Drejtoria e Pergjithshme e Sherbimeve te Transportit Rrugor Website
{{Vehicle registration plates of Europe

Road transport in Albania Albania transport-related lists