Albania is unique

This statement may seem exaggerated in many ways, but it certainly applies to the area of religion, at least in the European context. Nowhere else on the continent do so many religions exist side by side: Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, Sunni Islam and the Bektashi Dervish order, plus a small Jewish community and, more recently, protestant faith group. But what makes Albania genuinely unique is its state atheism. From 1967 until the fall of the communist regime, all religions were banned. So how can this diversity be explained? And what does it mean for Albanian culture and the way Albania perceives itself today?