The capital and largest city of Albania, a small country in south-eastern Europe on the Adriatic Sea, across the water from the heel of Italy. It has been the capital since 1920 and is where most of the country's government, business, and university life sits. Its industry has traditionally included metalworking, cotton textiles, food processing, and soap and cigarette making, though since the 1990s the city has changed enormously — after Albania's long period of isolation ended, Tirana became known for painting its grey concrete apartment blocks in bright colours, and for a young, busy café culture around Skanderbeg Square. In Albanian the city is called Tiranë or Tirana; both spellings are correct in that language, and English uses Tirana. As a proper noun it takes a capital T and no "the" — you go to Tirana, not to the Tirana.