A/HRC/37/49/Add.1 apartments, the privatization of State-owned land and facilities, verification of property titles, the development of areas for tourism, and integration of informal constructions. 11. Today, Albania is a functioning democracy. Albania joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April 2009 and became a candidate for accession to the European Union in June 2014. In November 2016, the European Commission recommended that Albania open negotiations to accede to the European Union conditional upon the implementation of the judicial reform package that was passed the same year. Additionally, Albania is making progress in addressing the five key reform priorities identified by the European Commission as necessary to integrating into the European Union. That includes key reforms to combat corruption and organized crime, strengthen the judiciary, improve public administration, and advance human rights. 12. The population of Albania was 2,930,187 as of 1 July 2017, based on the latest United Nations estimate. There was a fairly even distribution of the population, with somewhat higher concentrations of people in the western and central parts of the country. According to information received, the ethnic breakdown in Albania is as follows: Albanian 82.6 per cent, Greek 0.9 per cent, others 1 per cent (including Vlach, Roma, Macedonian, Montenegrin, and Egyptian), unspecified 15.5 per cent (2011 estimate). The language breakdown for the country is as follows: Albanian 98.8 per cent (official language derived from Tosk dialect), Greek 0.5 per cent, other 0.6 per cent (including Macedonian, Roma, Vlach, Turkish, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian), unspecified 0.1 per cent (2011 estimate). 13. According to the 2011 census on religious affiliation, 57 per cent of the country’s almost 3 million people self-identify as Sunni Muslim, 10 per cent are Roman Catholic, 7 per cent are Orthodox Christian, 8 to 9 per cent belong to other faiths (including Bektashism, a Sufi order whose world headquarters is in Albania) and 14 per cent did not express any religious affiliation. In addition, there are numerous Protestant denominations and other religious groups, including Baha’is, Jehovah’s Witnesses and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). It should be noted that many Albanians are reportedly sceptical about the results of the census for various reasons. 14. Notwithstanding the State’s constitutional commitment to secularism and neutrality vis-à-vis religion or belief, five religious communities are legally recognized and have entered into agreements with it. These are the country’s traditional religious groups, which include Muslims (organized under the Muslim Community of Albania, who are generally Sunni and adherents of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence), Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians (organized under the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania) and Bektashis (organized under the World Bektashi Main Community). A fifth group, the Protestant Evangelicals (organized under the Evangelical Brotherhood of Albania, also known as VUSH) hold the status of recognized religious community as of 2011. While other religious minority groups are also present in the country and generally enjoy the right to freedom of religion or belief, they are not formally recognized as religious communities by the State and can instead organize themselves under the Non-profit Organization Law.2 15. Among the primary achievements in protecting freedom of religion or belief in Albania is the almost complete reversal of Communist-era policies that were hostile to the exercise of this right, and the authorities’ seemingly unique ability to foster tolerance among the country’s communities of religious followers and non-believers. The Special Rapporteur notes that, while this dramatic reversal does not mean that challenges to the full realization of the right to freedom of religion or belief are non-existent, there seems to be a consensus among many Albanians, including those who have some grievances regarding their ability to exercise this right, that the Government generally respects the right to freedom of religion or belief and that no serious and systemic shortcomings exist in this area. 16. The Government’s sustained efforts to carry out political, social and legal reform since the end of the authoritarian rule in the early 1990s have significantly contributed to the greater promotion and protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief in the 2 See Section IV below for more information regarding the Non-profit Organization Law. 5