The paucity of artistic and intellectual achievements, compared with those of other nations throughout the world, was basically the result of Albania's long history of foreign domination and of the rugged topography of the country, which facilitated the isolation of many communities for centuries. During the several centuries of Turkish rule, the Albanians were forbidden to develop a written language. Furthermore, there were no schools that conducted classes in the Albanian language; there were only Turkish schools for the Muslim population and Greek schools for the Orthodox population. To compound these difficulties, there are two major dialects of Albanian--Geg, spoken in the north, and Tosk, in the south. Albania did not have a uniform alphabet until November 1908, when a congress of intellectuals agreed upon the use of the Latin alphabet. It was not until the Communist regime came to power that it was decided that Tosk would be the official literary dialect (see ch. 2, Historical Setting; ch. 3, Physical Environment; ch. 4, The People). An additional obstacle to the development of a substantial intellectual and artistic community and tradition was the fact that until 1957 there were no universities in the country. The State University of Tirana, Albania's only university, was not established until that year. Before World War II Albanian students went abroad, primarily to Western Europe, in the pursuit of higher education. After World War II students were usually sent to the Soviet Union or other Eastern European countries to attend universities and other institutions of higher learning (see ch. 5, Social System). In 1970 there was still evidence that the Communist leaders were not entirely satisfied with the cultural works produced in the past twenty-six years. There were also indications that many creative works were not ideologically pure. Few cultural works produced during the Communist period are known in the West owing to Albania's virtual isolation. Evaluation of literature, drama, music, and art can only be made on the basis of criticism and praise of such works that appear in the press. Literature Albania has a strong tradition of folklore, which had been transmitted orally for several centuries. At the end of the nineteenth century and in the early twentieth century, much of this lore was written down in anthologies and collections. The folklore consists of heroic songs, lyrics, tales, and proverbs. The predominant themes are the heroic feats of the mountain tribes in the north against the Slavs across the border, the important role of the Albanians in the Ottoman Empire, and the glorious resistance led by the country's national hero, Gjergi Skanderbeg, against the Turks in the fifteenth century. There are also a large number of love songs and wedding songs found in the folk tradition.