View source for Albanians

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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Albanians
| native_name      = {{lang|sq|Shqiptarët}}
| image            = Map of the Albanian Diaspora in the World.svg
| native_name_lang = sq
| pop              = {{circa}} 7 to 10 million<ref name="seven million">Carl Skutsch, Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities, [[Routledge]], 2013
{{ISBN|1135193886}}, p. 65.</ref><ref name="seven million2">Steven L. Danver, Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues:, Routledge, 2015, {{ISBN|1317463994}}, p. 260.</ref><ref name="eight million">{{Cite book |author=Mary Rose Bonk |title=Worldmark Yearbook, Band 1 |publisher=Gale Group, 2000 |page=37 }}</ref><ref name="eight million 2">{{Cite book |publisher=National Geographic Society, 2000 |title=National Geographic, Band 197 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ICBAAAAMAAJ&q=albanians+worldwide+8+million |page=59 |edition=[[University of Michigan]] |year=2000 |access-date=27 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="ten million albanian speaker">{{Cite book |publisher=Jeffrey Frank Jones |title=Over 20 Peace Corps Language Training Publications–Country Pre-departure Materials |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9NEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 |access-date=27 September 2020}}</ref>
| popplace         = {{flag|Albania}} 2,182,917 (2023)<ref name="Census 2023">{{cite web |publisher=[[Institute of Statistics (Albania)|Instituti i Statistikës]] (INSTAT) |title=Population and Housing Census 2023|url=https://shqiptarja.com/uploads/ckeditor/667eb96647c4bcens-2023.pdf}}</ref><br />{{flag|Kosovo}} 1,454,963 (2024)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kosovo 2024|url=https://askapi.rks-gov.net/Custom/31bc24d2-45e4-4eb5-a567-405f4bdd197f.pdf |access-date=2025-03-04}}</ref>
| tablehdr         = Other regions
{{collapsed infobox section begin|td=yes|Southern Europe}}
| region1          = {{flag|Italy}}
| pop1             = 970,000
| ref1             = {{sup|a}}<ref name="Kosovari in Italia" /><ref name="ethnologue1976">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/aae/%2A%2A%2AEDITION%2A%2A%2A|title=Arbëreshiski language of Italy – Ethnic population: 260,000 (Stephens 1976)|website=Ethnologue}}</ref><ref name="istat">{{Cite web|url=http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/129854 |title=Cittadini non-comunitari regolarmente presenti |publisher=istat.it |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113203531/http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/129854 |archive-date=13 November 2014 |date=4 August 2014 }}</ref>
| region2          = {{flag|Greece}}
| pop2             = 500,000–600,000
| ref2             = <ref name="researchgate.net">{{Cite journal |last1=Gemi |first1=Eda |title=Albanian Migration in Greece: Understanding Irregularity in a Time of Crisis |journal=European Journal of Migration and Law |date=February 2017 |volume=19 |issue=1 |page=18 |doi=10.1163/15718166-12342113 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313593101}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite book |last1=Cela |display-authors=etal |title=ALBANIA AND GREECE: UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLAINING |date=January 2018 |publisher=Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung |location=Tirana |pages=20–36 |url=https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/albanien/14698.pdf}}</ref><ref name="ssoar.info">{{Cite journal |last1=Adamczyk |first1=Artur |title=Albanian Immigrants in Greece From Unwanted to Tolerated? |journal=Journal of Liberty and International Affairs |date=June 15, 2016 |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=53 |url=https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/47088/ssoar-jlibertyintaff-2016-1-adamczyk-Albanian_immigrants_in_Greece_from.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y&lnkname=ssoar-jlibertyintaff-2016-1-adamczyk-Albanian_immigrants_in_Greece_from.pdf}}</ref><ref>Vathi, Zana. Migrating and settling in a mobile world: Albanian migrants and their children in Europe. Springer Nature, 2015.</ref><ref>Managing Migration: The Promise of Cooperation. By Philip L. Martin, Susan Forbes Martin, Patrick Weil</ref><ref name="populationbycitizenship">{{Cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCKET/General/nws_SAM01_EN.PDF |title=Announcement of the demographic and social characteristics of the Resident Population of Greece according to the 2011 Population – Housing Census. |trans-title=Graph 7 Resident population with foreign citizenship |publisher=[[Hellenic Statistical Authority|Greek National Statistics Agency]] |date=23 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225192921/http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/BUCKET/General/nws_SAM01_EN.PDF |archive-date=25 December 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author1=Julie Vullnetari |title=Albania on the Move: Links Between Internal and International Migration |publisher=Amsterdam University Press, 2012 |isbn=9789089643551 |page=73 |url=https://library.oapen.org/viewer/web/viewer.html?file=/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/34526/419372.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |language=en|year=2012 |quote=To this, weneed to add an estimate of irregular migrants; some Greek researchers haveargued that Albanians have a rate of 30 per cent irregularity in Greece, butthis is contested as rather high by others (see Maroukis 2009: 62). If we accept a more conservative share than that–e.g. 20 per cent–we come toa total of around 670,000 for all Albanian migrants in Greece in 2010, which is rather lower than that supplied by NID (Table 3.2). In a countrywith a total population of around eleven million, this is nevertheless a con-siderable presence: around 6 per cent of the total population}}</ref>
| region3          = {{flag|North Macedonia}}
| pop3             = 446,245
| ref3             = <ref name="MKDCensus">{{Cite web |website=stat.gov.mk |publisher=State Statistical Office of the Republic of North Macedonia |title=Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of North Macedonia, 2021 |url=https://www.stat.gov.mk/PrikaziSoopstenie.aspx?rbrtxt=146 |page= |language=en, mk }}</ref>
| region36         = {{flag|Turkey}}
| pop36            = 500,000–6,000,000 {{sup|b}}
| ref36            = <ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/national_albanians-in-turkey-celebrate-their-cultural-heritage_254383.html |title=Albanians in Turkey celebrate their cultural heritage |work=Today's Zaman |date=21 August 2011 |access-date=4 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031102644/https://www.todayszaman.com/national_albanians-in-turkey-celebrate-their-cultural-heritage_254383.html |archive-date=31 October 2015 }}</ref><!--gives 0.5 to 1.3 mil--><ref name="Saunders98" /><!--gives 5 mil for ancestry--><ref name="Yenigun184">{{Cite journal|last=Yenigun|first=Cuneyt|title=GCC Model: Conflict Management for the "Greater Albania"|url=https://sablon.sdu.edu.tr/dergi/sosbilder/dosyalar/27/OS_16.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927134953/https://sablon.sdu.edu.tr/dergi/sosbilder/dosyalar/27/OS_16.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 September 2015|journal=SDU Faculty of Arts and Sciences Journal of Social Sciences|volume=2|year=2009|pages=175–185}}. Page 184: "Turkey contains 5–6&nbsp;million Albanians (more
than in the Balkan area)"</ref>
| region4          = {{flag|Montenegro}}
| pop4             = 30,439
| ref4             = <ref name="Monstat">{{Cite web |publisher=Statistical Office of Montenegro |url=http://www.monstat.org/userfiles/file/popis2011/saopstenje/saopstenje(1).pdf |title=Official Results of Monenegrin Census 2011 |date=n.d.|access-date=24 December 2013}}</ref>
| region5          = {{flag|Serbia}}
| pop5             = 61,687
| ref5             = <ref name="Почетна 2023 l788">{{cite web | title=Final results - Ethnicity | website=Почетна  | date=2023-07-14 | url=https://popis2022.stat.gov.rs/en-US/5-vestisaopstenja/news-events/20230428-konacnirezpopisa | ref={{sfnref | Почетна  | 2023}} | access-date=2023-12-07}}</ref>
| region6          = {{flag|Croatia}}
| pop6             = 17,513
| ref6             = <ref name="Census 2011 Grad_02">{{Croatian Census 2011|E}}</ref>
| region7          = {{flag|Slovenia}}
| pop7             = 6,186
| ref7             = <ref name="Slovenia">{{Cite web |title=7. Prebivalstvo po narodni pripadnosti, Slovenija, popisi 1953, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 in 2002 |url=https://www.stat.si/popis2002/si/rezultati/rezultati_red.asp?ter=SLO&st=7 |website=stat.si |language=sl |access-date=13 January 2019 |archive-date=26 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426055815/http://www.stat.si/Popis2002/si/rezultati/rezultati_red.asp?ter=SLO&st=7 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| region8          = {{flag|Spain}}
| pop8             = 3,998
| ref8             = <ref name="AlbSpa">{{Cite web |publisher=[[Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain)|Instituto Nacional de Estadística]] (INE) |title=Población y edad media por nacionalidad y sexo |url=http://www.ine.es/jaxi/Datos.htm?path=/t20/e245/p04/provi/l0/&file=00000010.px |access-date=11 August 2021 |language=es}}</ref>
| region9          = {{flag|Portugal}}
| pop9             = 99
| ref9             = {{sup|c}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=POPULAÇÃO ESTRANGEIRA RESIDENTE EM TERRITÓRIO NACIONAL – 2022 |url=https://www.sef.pt/pt/Documents/RIFA2022%20vF2a.pdf}}</ref>
{{collapsed infobox section end}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin|Northern Europe}}
| region10         = {{flag|Sweden}}
| pop10            = 54,000
| ref10            = <ref name="Sweden">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/SE|title=Total Population of Albanians in the Sweden|website=Ethnologue}}</ref>
| region11         = {{flag|Norway}}
| pop11            = 19,891
| ref11            = {{sup|c}}<ref name="Norway">{{Cite web |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk Sentralbyrå]] (SSB) |title=05183: Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by sex and country background |url=https://www.ssb.no/en/innvbef |access-date=11 August 2021}}</ref>
| region12         = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| pop12            = 13,000<ref>{{Census UK CoB|access-date=7 January 2017|year=2011|region=England and Wales}}</ref>
| ref12            = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://unitedkingdom.iom.int/sites/default/files/doc/mapping/IOM_ALBANIA.pdf|title=Albanians in the UK|website=unitedkingdom|access-date=10 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151014230457/http://unitedkingdom.iom.int/sites/default/files/doc/mapping/IOM_ALBANIA.pdf|archive-date=14 October 2015}}</ref>
| region14         = {{flag|Finland}}
| pop14            = 10,391
| ref14            = <ref name="Finland">{{Cite web |website=stat.fi |publisher=[[Statistics Finland]] |title=Population by language on 31 December |url=http://www.stat.fi/tup/suoluk/suoluk_vaesto_en.html |url-status=dead |date=29 December 2018 |access-date=29 December 2018 |archive-date=11 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611010801/https://www.stat.fi/tup/suoluk/suoluk_vaesto_en.html }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pxweb2.stat.fi/Dialog/Saveshow.asp |title=Demographics of Finland |website=pxweb2.stat.fi}}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
| region15         = {{flag|Denmark}}
| pop15            = 6,462
| ref15            = <ref>{{Cite web |title=National statistics of Denmark |publisher=statistikbanken.dk |access-date=22 August 2025| url= https://www.statistikbanken.dk/statbank5a/default.asp?w=1829| date= 11 August 2025 }}</ref>
| region16         = {{flag|Ireland}}
| pop16            = 953–2,133
| ref16            = <ref name="All non-Irish">{{Cite web |website=cso.ie |publisher=[[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|Central Statistics Office]] |title=Census of Population 2016 – Profile 7 Migration and Diversity All non-Irish nationals in Ireland |url=https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cp7md/p7md/p7anii/ }}</ref><ref name="Mother Tongue">{{Cite web |website=cso.ie |publisher=[[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|Central Statistics Office]] |title=Population Usually Resident and Present in the State who Speak a Language other than English or Irish at Home 2011 to 2016 by Birthplace, Language Spoken, Age Group and Census Year |url=http://www.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/Statire/SelectVarVal/Define.asp?maintable=EY025&PLanguage=0 }}</ref>
{{collapsed infobox section end}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin|Central Europe and Baltics}}
| region17         = {{flag|Romania}}
| pop17            = 10,000
| ref17            = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.divers.ro/albanezi_date_demografice_ro|title=Date demografice|access-date=18 August 2010|language=ro|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100811212110/http://www.divers.ro/albanezi_date_demografice_ro|archive-date=11 August 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| region18         = {{flag|Ukraine}}
| pop18            = 5,000
| ref18            = <ref>Olson, James S., An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires. (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994) p. 28–29</ref>
| region19         = {{flag|Czech Republic}}
| pop19            = 1,512
| ref19            = <ref>{{Cite web |website=czso.cz |publisher=[[Czech Statistical Office|Český statistický úřad]] |title=T14 Cizinci podle kategorií pobytu, pohlaví a občanství k 31 December 2016 |url=https://www.czso.cz/documents/11292/27914491/1612_c01t14.pdf/4bbedd77-c239-48cd-bf5a-7a43f6dbf71b?version=1.0 |language=sk, en |access-date=22 December 2018 |archive-date=12 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112214925/https://www.czso.cz/documents/11292/27914491/1612_c01t14.pdf/4bbedd77-c239-48cd-bf5a-7a43f6dbf71b?version=1.0 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| region20         = {{flag|Latvia}}
| pop20            = 17 - 31
| ref20            = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.stat.gov.lv/pxweb/en/OSP_PUB/START__POP__IR__IRE/IRE010/table/tableViewLayout1/|title=Population by ethnicity at the beginning of year – Time period and Ethnicity &#124; National Statistical System of Latvia |website=data.stat.gov.lv}}</ref><ref>[https://www.pmlp.gov.lv/lv/media/9756/download?attachment Latvijas iedzīvotāju sadalījums pēc nacionālā sastāva un valstiskās piederības, 01.01.2023. - PMLP]</ref>
{{collapsed infobox section end}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin|Western Europe}}
| region21         = {{flag|Germany}}
| pop21            = 200,000–300,000
| ref21            = <ref name="albde">[[Hans-Peter Bartels]]: [http://www.hans-peter-bartels.de/pdf/267.pdf?title=BT-Plenarprotokoll_05.06.2008_-_Ausschnitt_Bartels_-_Kosovo Deutscher Bundestag – 16. Wahlperiode – 166. Sitzung. Berlin, Donnerstag, den 5. Juni 2008] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130103000048/http://www.hans-peter-bartels.de/pdf/267.pdf?title=BT-Plenarprotokoll_05.06.2008_-_Ausschnitt_Bartels_-_Kosovo |date=3 January 2013 }}</ref><ref name="SB1" /><ref name="SB2" />
| region22         = {{flag|Switzerland}}
| pop22            = 200,000
| ref22            = <ref name="albsuisse">{{Cite web|url=http://www.schweiz-albanien.ch/fileadmin/Dokumente/Informationen/090808_albsuissealbanerch.pdf |title=Die Albaner in der Schweiz: Geschichtliches – Albaner in der Schweiz seit 1431 |access-date=22 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707002637/http://www.schweiz-albanien.ch/fileadmin/Dokumente/Informationen/090808_albsuissealbanerch.pdf |archive-date=7 July 2011 }}</ref><ref name="albsuisse2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.infowilplus.ch/_iu_write/artikel/2007/KW_21/Region/Artikel_8116/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706234401/http://www.infowilplus.ch/_iu_write/artikel/2007/KW_21/Region/Artikel_8116/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 July 2011 |title=Im Namen aller Albaner eine Moschee? |publisher=Infowilplus.ch |date=25 May 2007 }}</ref>
| region23         = {{flag|France}}
| pop23            = 33,000 (2021)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://joq-albania.com/artikull/1095080.html |title=Shifrat e Eurostat, rreth 110 mijë shqiptarë jetojnë në Francë e Gjermani, gati trefishim nga 2015-a |publisher=joq-albania.com |access-date=3 December 2025 |archive-date=3 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251203185437/https://joq-albania.com/artikull/1095080.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.radiokosovaelire.com/eurostat-ne-gjermani-dhe-ne-france-jetojne-rreth-110-mije-emigrante-nga-shqiperia-gati-nje-trefishim-i-numrit-krahasuar-me-vitin-2015/ |title=EUROSTAT: Në Gjermani dhe në Francë jetojnë rreth 110 mijë emigrantë nga Shqipëria, trefishi i numrit krahasuar me vitin 2015 |date=22 December 2022 |publisher=radiokosovaelire.com |access-date=3 December 2025 |archive-date=3 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251203185549/https://www.radiokosovaelire.com/eurostat-ne-gjermani-dhe-ne-france-jetojne-rreth-110-mije-emigrante-nga-shqiperia-gati-nje-trefishim-i-numrit-krahasuar-me-vitin-2015/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://shqiptarja.com/lajm/eurostat-rreth-110-mije-shqiptare-jetojne-ne-france-e-gjermani |title=Eurostat: Rreth 110 mijë shqiptarë jetojnë në Francë e Gjermani |publisher=shqiptarja.com |access-date=3 December 2025 |archive-date=3 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251203185749/https://shqiptarja.com/lajm/eurostat-rreth-110-mije-shqiptare-jetojne-ne-france-e-gjermani |url-status=live }}</ref>–75,000<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.botasot.info/diaspora/500041/zbulohet-numri-i-sakte-ja-sa-shqiptare-ka-ne-bote/ |title=Zbulohet numri i saktë, ja sa shqiptarë ka në botë |publisher=botasot.info |access-date=3 December 2025 |archive-date=3 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251203190031/https://www.botasot.info/diaspora/500041/zbulohet-numri-i-sakte-ja-sa-shqiptare-ka-ne-bote/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| ref23            = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/6478089?sommaire=6478362 |title=Étrangers – Immigrés: Publications et statistiques pour la France ou les régions |language=fr |publisher=Insee.fr |date=n.d.|access-date=4 November 2019}}</ref>
| region24         = {{flag|Austria}}
| pop24            = 28,212
| ref24            = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/bevoelkerung/volkszaehlungen_registerzaehlungen/bevoelkerung_nach_demographischen_merkmalen/index.html |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20101113145800/http://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/bevoelkerung/volkszaehlungen_registerzaehlungen/bevoelkerung_nach_demographischen_merkmalen/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 November 2010 |title=Statistik Austria |publisher=Statistik.at |access-date=24 December 2013 }}</ref>
| region25         = {{flag|Netherlands}}
| pop25            = 12,969
| ref25            = {{sup|c}}<ref name="Netherlands">{{Cite web |publisher=[[Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek]] (CBS) |title=Bevolking; generatie, geslacht, leeftijd en migratieachtergrond, 1 januari |url=http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/publication/?DM=SLNL&PA=37325&D1=0&D2=0&D3=0&D4=0&D5=a&D6=l&VW=T |language=nl}}</ref>
| region26         = {{flag|Belgium}}
| pop26            = 5,600–30,000
| ref26            = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://statbel.fgov.be/fr/modules/publications/statistiques/population/population_natio_sexe_groupe_classe_d_ges_au_1er_janvier_2010.jsp|title=Population par nationalité, sexe, groupe et classe d'âges au 1er janvier 2010|access-date=12 January 2012|language=fr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111222192722/http://statbel.fgov.be/fr/modules/publications/statistiques/population/population_natio_sexe_groupe_classe_d_ges_au_1er_janvier_2010.jsp|archive-date=22 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Anderlecht, Molenbeek, Schaarbeek: repères du crime à Bruxelles|url=http://www.cafebabel.fr/article/32786/trans-anderlecht-molenbeek-schaarbeek-spot-the-cri.html|access-date=12 January 2012|newspaper=cafebabel.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226102647/http://www.cafebabel.fr/article/32786/trans-anderlecht-molenbeek-schaarbeek-spot-the-cri.html|archive-date=26 December 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| region27         = {{flag|Luxembourg}}
| pop27            = 2,155
| ref27            = {{sup|c}}<ref name="Luxembourg">{{Cite web |publisher=Statistiques du Luxembourg |title=Population by nationalities in detail 2011–2018 |url=https://statistiques.public.lu/stat/TableViewer/tableViewHTML.aspx?ReportId=12859&IF_Language=eng&MainTheme=2&FldrName=1 |website=statistiques.public.lu |access-date=13 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425100607/https://statistiques.public.lu/stat/TableViewer/tableViewHTML.aspx?ReportId=12859&IF_Language=eng&MainTheme=2&FldrName=1 |archive-date=25 April 2020 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{{collapsed infobox section end}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin|Americas}}
| region28         = {{flag|United States}}
| pop28            = 194,028
| ref28            = <ref name="United States Census Bureau">{{Cite web |website=factfinder.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] (USCB) |title=TOTAL ANCESTRY REPORTED Universe: Total ancestry categories tallied for people with one or more ancestry categories reported 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_13_1YR_B04003&prodType=table |format=Table |access-date=9 November 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{New archival link needed|date=April 2026}}
| region29         = {{flag|Argentina}}
| pop29            = 50,000
| ref29            = {{sfn|Koinova|2021|p=103}}
| region30         = {{flag|Canada}}
| pop30            = 39,055
| ref30            = {{sup|c}}<ref name="Statistics Canada">{{Cite web|publisher=[[Statistics Canada]]|title=Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census |date=25 October 2017 |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=110528&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2017&THEME=120&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=}}</ref>
| region31         = {{flag|Colombia}}
| pop31            = 348
| ref31            = <ref>{{Cite web |title=Colombia – Inmigración 1990, 1995, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2017 |url=https://datosmacro.expansion.com/demografia/migracion/inmigracion/colombia |website=Expansión |language=es}}</ref>
| region32         = {{flag|Cuba}}
| pop32            = 101
| ref32            = <ref>{{Cite web |title=Cuba – International immigration |url=https://countryeconomy.com/demography/migration/immigration/cuba?anio=2015#geo |website=countryeconomy.com }}</ref>
| region33         = {{flag|Panama}}
| pop33            = 9
| ref33            = <ref>{{Cite web |website=contraloria.gob.pa |publisher=[[National Institute of Statistics and Census of Panama]] |title=Población nacida en el extranjero en la República, por grupos de edad, según sexo y país de nacimiento |url=http://www.contraloria.gob.pa/inec/archivos/P3591Cuadro7.xls |language=es}}</ref>
{{collapsed infobox section end}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin|Oceania}}
| region34         = {{flag|Australia}}
| pop34            = 11,315
| ref34            = {{Small|<ref name="ABS Ancestry">{{Cite web| url = http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/ViewData?breadcrumb=POLTD&method=Place%20of%20Usual%20Residence&subaction=-1&issue=2006&producttype=Census%20Tables&documentproductno=0&textversion=false&documenttype=Details&collection=Census&javascript=true&topic=Ancestry&action=404&productlabel=Ancestry%20(full%20classification%20list)%20by%20Sex&order=1&period=2006&tabname=Details&areacode=0&navmapdisplayed=true&| title = 20680-Ancestry (full classification list) by Sex – Australia| format = Microsoft Excel download| work = 2006 Census| publisher = [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]]| access-date = 2 June 2008| archive-date = 10 March 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080310121707/http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/ViewData?breadcrumb=POLTD&method=Place%20of%20Usual%20Residence&subaction=-1&issue=2006&producttype=Census%20Tables&documentproductno=0&textversion=false&documenttype=Details&collection=Census&javascript=true&topic=Ancestry&action=404&productlabel=Ancestry%20(full%20classification%20list)%20by%20Sex&order=1&period=2006&tabname=Details&areacode=0&navmapdisplayed=true&| url-status = dead}} Total responses: 25,451,383 for total count of persons: 19,855,288.</ref>}}
| region35         = {{flag|New Zealand}}
| pop35            = 243
| ref35            = {{Small|<ref>{{Cite web |website=m.stats.govt.nz |publisher=[[Statistics New Zealand]] |title=2013 Census ethnic group profiles: Albanian |url=http://m.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/ethnic-profiles.aspx?request_value=24673&parent_id=24650&tabname=&p=y&printall=true&p=y&printall=true }}{{dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>}}
{{collapsed infobox section end}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin|Asia and Africa}}
| region37         = {{flag|Egypt}}
| pop37            = 18,000
| ref37            = <ref name="Saunders98" />
| region38         = {{flag|Qatar}}
| pop38            = 1,200
| ref38            = <ref name="Qatar">{{Cite web |title=Qatar: Some estimates of foreign residents in Qatar by country of citizenship (selected countries, c. 2015–2016) |url=http://gulfmigration.org/qatar-estimates-foreign-residents-qatar-country-citizenship-selected-countries-c-2015-2016/ |website=gulfmigration.org |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=6 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106204352/http://gulfmigration.org/qatar-estimates-foreign-residents-qatar-country-citizenship-selected-countries-c-2015-2016/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| region39         = {{flag|Cyprus}}
| pop39            = 275
| ref39            = <ref>{{Cite web |website=cystat.gov.cy |publisher=Statistical Service of Cyprus |title=Population – Country of Birth, Citizenship Category, Country of Citizenship, Language, Religion, Ethnic/Religious Group, 2011 |url=http://www.cystat.gov.cy/mof/cystat/statistics.nsf/populationcondition_22main_en/populationcondition_22main_en?OpenForm&sub=2&sel=2 |access-date=2 January 2019 |archive-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612211105/http://www.cystat.gov.cy/mof/cystat/statistics.nsf/populationcondition_22main_en/populationcondition_22main_en?OpenForm&sub=2&sel=2 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| region40         = {{flag|South Africa}}
| pop40            = 268
| ref40            = <ref>{{Cite web |title=Sube el número de inmigrantes que viven en Sudáfrica |url=https://datosmacro.expansion.com/demografia/migracion/inmigracion/sudafrica |website=Expansión |language=es}}</ref>
| region41         = {{flag|United Arab Emirates}}
| pop41            = 200–300
| ref41            = <ref name="UAE">{{Cite web |title=UAE's population – by nationality |url=http://www.bqdoha.com/2015/04/uae-population-by-nationality |website=bqdoha.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711160839/http://www.bqdoha.com/2015/04/uae-population-by-nationality |archive-date=11 July 2015 |url-status=usurped |date=6 January 2019}}</ref>
{{collapsed infobox section end}}
| languages        = [[Albanian language|Albanian]]
| rels             = '''Majority''':<br />[[File:Star and Crescent.svg|15px]] [[Islam]]<br />[[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]{{Small|{{efn|[[Sunni Islam]] is the largest denomination of the Albanian people in Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia.}}}}{{·}}[[Bektashi Order|Bektashi]]{{·}}[[Non-denominational Muslim|Non-denominational]]<br />'''Minority''':<br />[[File:Christian cross.svg|15px]] [[Christianity]]<br />[[Catholic Church|Catholicism]]{{Small|{{efn|[[Roman Catholicism]] (both Latin and Greek-Byzantine rites) is the largest Christian denomination of the Albanian people in northern Albania, [[Arbanasi people|Croatia]] and [[Arbëreshë people|Italy]].}}}} ({{Small|[[Latin Church]]{{·}}[[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Rites]] [[Albanian Greek Catholic Church|Albanian Greek-Catholic Church]]{{·}}[[Italo-Albanian Catholic Church|Italo-Albanian Church]]}}){{·}}[[Eastern Orthodoxy]]{{Small|{{efn|[[Eastern Orthodoxy]] is the largest Christian denomination of the Albanian people in southern Albania, North Macedonia and Greece.}}}} ({{Small|[[Albanian Orthodox Church]]{{·}}[[Orthodox Church in America Albanian Archdiocese|Albanian American Orthodox Church]]}}){{·}}[[Protestantism]] ({{Small|[[Protestantism in Albania|Albanian Protestant Church]]}}{{·}}{{Small|[[Kosovo Protestant Evangelical Church|Kosovan Protestant Church]]}})<br />'''Other''':<br />[[Irreligion]]
| footnotes        = {{sup|a}} 502,546 Albanian citizens, an additional 43,751 [[Kosovar Albanians]], 260,000 [[Arbëreshë people]] and 169,644 Albanians who have acquired the Italian citizenship.<ref name="Kosovari in Italia">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri/kosovo/|title=Kosovari in Italia – statistiche e distribuzione per regione|website=Tuttitalia.it}}</ref><ref name="ethnologue1976" /><ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=31RhzMMTTdIC&pg=PA18 Ethnobotany in the New Europe: People, Health and Wild Plant Resources]'', vol. 14, Manuel Pardo de Santayana, Andrea Pieroni, Rajindra K. Puri, Berghahn Books, 2010, {{ISBN|1845458141}}, p. 18.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-10-07 |title=Stranieri diventati italiani: prima i marocchini |url=https://www.truenumbers.it/cittadinanza-italiana-per-stranieri/ |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=Truenumbers |language=it-IT}}</ref> <br />
{{sup|b}} Albanians are not recognized as a minority in Turkey. However approximately 500,000 people are reported to profess an Albanian identity. Of those with full or partial Albanian ancestry and others who have adopted [[Turkification|Turkish]] language, culture and identity their number is estimated at 1,300,000–5,000,000 many whom do not speak Albanian.<ref name="Saunders98" /><br />{{sup|c}} The estimation contains [[Kosovar Albanians]].
| caption2         = 
| related_groups   = 
}}
{{Indo-European topics}}
{{Albanians}}
'''Albanians'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|æ|l|ˈ|b|eɪ|n|i|ə|n|z|,_|ɔː|l|-}} {{respell|a(w)l|BAY|nee|ənz}}; {{langx|sq|Shqiptarët}}, {{IPA|sq|ʃcipˈtaɾət|pron}}}} are an [[ethnic group]] and [[nation]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Draper |first=Stark |date=1997-01-01 |title=The conceptualization of an Albanian nation |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.1997.9993950 |journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies |language=en |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=123–144 |doi=10.1080/01419870.1997.9993950 |issn=0141-9870}}</ref> native to the [[Balkan Peninsula]] who share a common Albanian [[ancestry]], [[Albanian culture|culture]], [[Albanian history|history]] and [[Albanian language|language]].<ref name="Ed">{{Cite web |author=Gëzim Krasniqi |publisher=[[University of Edinburgh]] |title=Citizenship in an emigrant nation-state: the case of Albania |url=http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/file_download/series/277_citizenshipinanemigrantnationstatethecaseofalbania.pdf |access-date=7 August 2012 |pages=9–14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602201035/http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/file_download/series/277_citizenshipinanemigrantnationstatethecaseofalbania.pdf |archive-date=2 June 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> They are the main ethnic group of [[Albania]] and [[Kosovo]], and they also live in the neighboring countries of [[Albanians in North Macedonia|North Macedonia]], [[Albanians in Montenegro|Montenegro]], [[Albanians in Greece|Greece]], and [[Albanians in Serbia|Serbia]], as well as in [[Albanians in Italy|Italy]], [[Albanians in Croatia|Croatia]], [[Albanians in Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], and [[Albanians in Turkey|Turkey]]. Albanians also constitute a large [[diaspora]] with several communities established across Europe and other continents.                                            

[[Albanian language|The language of the Albanians]] is an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language and the only surviving representative of the [[Albanoid|Albanoid branch]], which belongs to the [[Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkan group]]. Albanians have a western Paleo-Balkanic origin, and, for geographic and historical reasons, most scholars maintain that they descend at least partially from the [[Illyrians]],<ref>
*{{cite book|last1=King|first1=Russell|author-link1=Russell King (geographer)|last2=Mai|first2=Nicola|title=Out Of Albania: From Crisis Migration to Social Inclusion in Italy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PUaNmz4Uc4C&pg=PA28|date=15 January 2013|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-0-85745-390-7|page=28}}
*{{cite book|last=Biberaj|first=Elez|title=Albania in transition: the rocky road to democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H7yZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT34|year=1998|publisher=Westview Press|isbn=978-0-8133-3502-5}}
*{{cite book |last1=Bugajski |first1=Janusz |title=Political Parties of Eastern Europe: A Guide to Politics in the Post-communist Era |date=10 September 2020 |publisher=Routledge |page=81 |isbn=978-1-000-16135-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRb8DwAAQBAJ&pg=RA7-PT485}}
*{{cite book|last=Kaser|first=Karl|title=Patriarchy After Patriarchy: Gender Relations in Turkey and in the Balkans, 1500-2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_KEW6l-stCUC|year=2008|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-8258-1119-8|page=15}}
*{{cite book|last=Ellis|first=Linda|title=The Oxford encyclopedia of ancient Greece and Rome|volume=1|editor=Michael Gagarin|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780195170726|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lNV6-HsUppsC|page=54}}</ref> but the question of which other Paleo-Balkan group(s) contributed to the [[Origin of the Albanians|ethnogenesis of the Albanians]] is still a subject of academic debate.

The first mention of the ethnonym ''[[Albanoi]]'' occurred in the 2nd century AD by [[Ptolemy]] describing an [[Illyrian tribe]] who lived around present-day central Albania.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Law |first=Gwillim |title=Administrative Subdivisions of Countries |year=1999 |isbn=9781476604473 |pages=20 |publisher=McFarland |language=En}}</ref><ref name="Plasari10">{{harvnb|Plasari|2020|pp=10–11}}</ref> The first certain reference to Albanians as an ethnic group comes from 11th-century chronicler [[Michael Attaleiates]] who describes them as living in the [[Dyrrhachium (theme)|theme of Dyrrhachium]].

The [[Shkumbin River]] roughly demarcates the [[Albanian language]] between [[Gheg Albanian|Gheg]] and [[Tosk Albanian|Tosk]] dialects. Christianity in Albania was under the jurisdiction of the [[Bishop of Rome]] until the 8th century AD. Then, dioceses in Albania were transferred to the [[patriarchate of Constantinople]]. In 1054, after the [[East–West Schism|Great Schism]], the north gradually became identified with [[Roman Catholicism]] and the south with [[Eastern Orthodoxy]]. In 1190 Albanians established the [[Principality of Arbanon]] in central Albania with the capital in [[Krujë]].

The [[Albanian diaspora]] has its roots in migration from the [[Middle Ages]] initially across Southern Europe and eventually across wider Europe and the [[New World]]. Between the 13th and 18th centuries, sizeable numbers migrated to escape various social, economic or political difficulties.{{efn|See:<ref name="Riehl238">{{harvnb|Riehl|2010|p=238}}. "Other interesting groups in the context of European migration include the Albanians who from the thirteenth century immigrated to Greece (i.e., the so-called "Arvanites", see Sasse 1998) and to Southern Italy (Calabria, Sicily, cf Breu 2005)."</ref><ref name="Nasse2426" /><ref name="Gogonas3" /><ref name="Hall2829" />}} Albanian population groups settled in [[Southern Greece]] between the 13th and 18th centuries and came to be known as [[Arvanites]]. Other Albanian population groups settled across [[Southern Italy]] and [[Sicily]] between the 11th and 18th centuries and came to be known as [[Arbëreshë people|Arbëreshë]].<ref name="Nasse2426" /> Albanians have also migrated [[Albanians in Romania|to Romania]] since the late 16th century. In the 18th century smaller Albanian population groups settled in [[Dalmatia|Southern Croatia]] (who came to be known as [[Arbanasi people|Arbanasi]]), and pockets of [[Albanians in Ukraine|Southern Ukraine]].<ref name="Barancic551">{{harvnb|Barančić|2008|p=551}}. {{hidden||"Možemo reći da svi na neki način pripadamo nekoj vrsti etničke kategorije, a često i više nego jednoj. Kao primjer navodim slučaj zadarskih Arbanasa. Da bismo shvatili Arbanase i problem njihova etnojezičnog (etničkog i jezičnog) identiteta, potrebno je ići u povijest njihova doseljenja koje seže u početak 18. st., tj. točnije: razdoblje od prve seobe 1726., razdoblje druge seobe od 1733., pa sve do 1754. godine koja se smatra završnom godinom njihova doseljenja. Svi su se doselili iz tri sela s područja Skadarskog jezera – Briske, Šestana i Livara. Bježeći od Turaka, kuge i ostalih nevolja, generalni providur Nicola Erizzo II dozvolio im je da se nasele u područje današnjih Arbanasa i Zemunika. Jedan dio stanovništva u Zemuniku se asimilirao s ondašnjim stanovništvom zaboravivši svoj jezik. To su npr. današnji Prenđe, Šestani, Ćurkovići, Paleke itd. Drugi dio stanovništva je nastojao zadržati svoj etnički i jezični identitet tijekom ovih 280 godina. Dana 10. svibnja 2006. godine obilježena je 280. obljetnica njihova dolaska u predgrađe grada Zadra. Nije bilo lako, osobito u samom početku, jer nisu imali svoju crkvu, škole itd., pa je jedini način održavanja njihova identiteta i jezika bio usmenim putem."}} "We can say that all in some way belong to a kind of ethnic category, and often more than one. As an example, I cite the case of Zadar Arbanasi. To understand the problem of the Albanians and their ethnolinguistic (ethnic and linguistic) identity, it is necessary to go into the history of their immigration that goes back to the beginning of the 18th century., etc more precisely: the period from the first migration of 1726, the period of the second migration of 1733, and until 1754, which is considered to be the final year of their immigration. All they moved from three villages from the area of Lake Scutari – Briska, Šestan and Livara. Fleeing from the Ottomans, plague and other troubles, the general provider Nicola Erizzo II allowed them to settle in the area of today's Arbanasa and Zemunik. One part of the population in Zemunik became assimilated with the local population, forgetting their language. These are for example, today's Prenda, Šestani, Ćurkovići, Paleke etc. The second part of the population tried to maintain their ethnic and linguistic identity during these 280 years. On 10 May 2006 marked the 280th anniversary of their arrival in the suburb of Zadar. It was not easy, especially in the beginning, because they did not have their own church, school, etc., and is the only way to maintain their identity and language was verbally."</ref><ref name="Novik261262">{{harvnb|Novik|2015|pp=261–262}}. "Historical Facts. Four villages with Albanian population are located in the Ukraine: Karakurt (Zhovtnevoe) set up in 1811 (Odessa region), Tyushki (Georgievka), Dzhandran (Gammovka) and Taz (Devninskoe) set up in 1862 (Zaporizh’a region). Before migrating to the territory of the Russian empire, Albanians had moved from the south-east of the present day Albania into Bulgaria (Varna region) because of the Osmanli invasion (Державин, 1914, 1926, 1933, 1948, pp. 156–169). Three hundred years later they had moved from Bulgaria to the Russian empire on account of Turkish-Russian opposition in the Balkan Peninsula. Ethnic Albanians also live in Moldova, Odessa and St. Petersburg. Present Day Situation. Nowadays, in the Ukraine and Russia there are an estimated 5000 ethnic Albanians. They live mainly in villages situated in the Odessa and Zaporizh’a regions. The language and many elements of traditional culture are still preserved and maintained in four Albanian villages (Будина, 2000, pp. 239–255; Иванова, 2000, pp. 40–53). From the ethnolinguistic and linguistic point of view these Albanian villages are of particular interest and value since they are excellent examples of a "melting pot" (Иванова, 1995, 1999). Bulgarians and Gagauzes live side by side with Albanians in Karakurt; Russians and Ukrainians share the same space with Albanians in the Azov Sea region. It is worth mentioning that in these multi-lingual environments, the Albanian patois retains original Balkan features."</ref>

By the 15th century, the expanding [[Ottoman Empire]] overpowered the Balkan Peninsula, but faced successful rebellion and resistance by the [[League of Lezhë]], a union of [[Albanian principalities]] led by [[Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg]]. By the 17th and 18th centuries, a substantial number of Albanians [[Islamisation of Albania|converted]] to [[Islam]], which offered them equal opportunities and advancement [[Albania under the Ottoman Empire|within the Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{harvnb|Vickers|2011|pp=17–24}}; {{harvnb|Giakoumis|2010|pp=87–88}}; {{harvnb|Myhill|2006|p= 232}}; {{harvnb|Koti|2010|pp=16–17}}; {{harvnb|Ramet|1998|pp=203–204}}; {{harvnb|Skendi|1956|pp=321–323}}.</ref> Thereafter, Albanians attained significant positions and culturally contributed to the broader [[Muslim world]].<ref name="Clayer" /> Innumerable officials and soldiers of the Ottoman State were of Albanian origin, including more than [[List of Ottoman Grand Viziers|40 Grand Viziers]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Malcolm|first=Noel|title=Rebels, Believers, Survivors: Studies in the History of the Albanians|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-0-19-259923-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ti7wDwAAQBAJ|page=320}}</ref> and under the [[Köprülü family|Köprülü]], in particular, the Ottoman Empire reached its greatest territorial extension.<ref>{{Cite book|first1=Suraiya|last1=Faroqhi|first2=Bruce|last2=McGowan|first3=Sevket|last3=Pamuk|editor1=Halil İnalcık|editor2=Donald Quataert|title=An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire|volume=2|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0-521-57455-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c00jmTrjzAoC|page=420}}</ref> Between the second half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century [[Albanian Pashaliks]] were established by [[Kara Mahmud Pasha|Kara Mahmud]] [[Pashalik of Scutari|pasha of Scutari]], [[Ali Pasha of Ioannina|Ali]] [[Pashalik of Yanina|pasha of Yanina]], and [[Ahmet Kurt Pasha|Ahmet Kurt]] [[Pashalik of Berat|pasha of Berat]], while the Albanian [[wālī]] [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali]] established a [[Muhammad Ali dynasty|dynasty]] that ruled over [[Egypt under Muhammad Ali and his successors|Egypt]] and [[History of Sudan under Muhammad Ali and his successors|Sudan]] until the middle of the 20th century, a period in which Albanians formed a substantial [[Albanians in Egypt|community in Egypt]].

During the 19th century, cultural developments, widely attributed to Albanians having gathered both spiritual and intellectual strength, conclusively led to the [[Albanian Renaissance]]. In 1912 during the [[Balkan Wars]], Albanians declared the [[Independent Albania|independence of their country]]. The demarcation of the new Albanian state was established following the [[Treaty of Bucharest (1913)|Treaty of Bucharest]] and left about half of the ethnic Albanian population outside of its borders, [[Partition (politics)|partitioned]] between Greece, Montenegro and Serbia.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bell|first1=Imogen |title=Central and South-Eastern Europe 2003|date=2002|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-1-85743-136-0|page=66|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4CrpzRJCbckC&pg=PA66|language=en}}</ref> After the [[Second World War]] up until the [[Fall of communism in Albania|Revolutions of 1991]], Albania was governed by a [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|communist government]] under [[Enver Hoxha]] where Albania became largely isolated from the rest of Europe. In neighbouring [[Yugoslavia]], Albanians underwent periods of discrimination and systematic oppression that concluded with the [[War of Kosovo]] and eventually with [[Independence of Kosovo|Kosovar independence]].

== Ethnonym ==
{{See also|Names of the Albanians and Albania}}
{{further|Albania (toponym)|Shqiptar}}

The Albanians ({{langx|sq|Shqiptarët}}) and their country Albania ({{langx|sq|Shqipëria}}) have been identified by many [[ethnonym]]s. The most common native [[ethnonym]] is "Shqiptar", plural "Shqiptarë"; the name "Albanians" ([[Byzantine Greek]]: ''Albanoi/Arbanitai/Arbanites''; [[Latin]]: ''Albanenses/Arbanenses'') was used in medieval documents and gradually entered [[European Languages]] from which other similar derivative names emerged,<ref name="Elsie200534" /> many of which were or still are in use,<ref name="Lloshi277" /><ref name="BardhylDemiraj534" /><ref name="Kamusella241" /> such as English "Albanians"; Italian "Albanesi"; German "Albaner"; [[Greek language|Greek]] "Arvanites", "Alvanitis" (Αλβανίτης) plural: "Alvanites" (Αλβανίτες), "Alvanos" (Αλβανός) plural: "Alvanoi" (Αλβανοί); [[Turkish language|Turkish]] "Arnaut", "Arnavut"; [[South Slavic languages]] "Arbanasi" (Арбанаси), "Albanci" (Албанци); [[Aromanian language|Aromanian]] "Arbinesh" and so on.{{efn|See:<ref name="Liotta198">{{harvnb|Liotta|2001|p=198}}. "Among Greeks, the term "Alvanitis"—or "Arvanitis"—means a Christian of Albanian ancestry, one who speaks both Greek and Albanian, but possesses Greek "consciousness." Numerous "Arvanites" live in Greece today, although the ability to speak both languages is shrinking as the differences (due to technology and information access and vastly different economic bases) between Greece and Albania increase. The Greek communities of Elefsis, Marousi, Koropi, Keratea, and Markopoulo (all in the Attikan peninsula) once held significant Arvanite communities. "Arvanitis" is not necessarily a pejorative term; a recent Pan Hellenic socialist foreign minister spoke both Albanian and Greek (but not English). A former Greek foreign minister, Theodoros Pangalos, was an "Arvanite" from Elefsis."</ref><ref name="Lloshi277" /><ref name="BardhylDemiraj534">{{harvnb|Demiraj|2010|p=534}}. "The ethnic name shqiptar has always been discussed together with the ethnic complex: (tosk) ''arbëresh'', ''arbëror'', ''arbër'' — (gheg) ''arbënesh'', ''arbënu(e)r'', ''arbën''; i.e. [''arbën/r''(—)]. p.536. Among the neighbouring peoples and elsewhere the denomination of the Albanians is based upon the root arb/alb, cp. Greek ''Αλβανός'', ''Αρβανός'' "Albanian", ''Αρβανίτης'' "Arbëresh of Greece", Serbian ''Albanac'', ''Arbanas'', Bulg., Mac. ''албанец'', Arom. ''arbinés'' (Papahagi 1963 135), Turk. ''arnaut'', Ital. ''albanese'', German ''Albaner'' etc. This basis is in use among the Arbëreshs of Italy and Greece as well; cp. ''arvanit'', more rarely ''arbëror'' by the arbëreshs of Greece, as against ''arbëresh'', ''arbëresh'', ''bri(e)sh'' (beside ''gjegj'' — Altimari 1994 (1992) 53 s.). (Italy) (Kr. ?) ''árbanas'', (Mandr.) ''allbanc'', (Ukr.) ''allbanc(er)'' (Musliu – Dauti 1996) etj. For the various forms and uses of this or that variant see, ''inter alia'', also Çabej SE II 6lss.; Demiraj 1999 175 ss. etj.</ref><ref name="Kamusella241" /><ref name="Murati71">{{harvnb|Murati|1991|p=71}}. "{{hidden||emri etnik a nacional e shqiptarëve, përkundër trajtës së drejtë sllave Albanci, tash del të shqiptohet si Šiptari e Šipci me një konotacion përbuzës negativ, ashtu siç është përdorur në krye të herës te serbët edhe në kohën e Jugosllavisë së Vjetër bashkë dhe me formën Šiftari e Arnauti me po të njëtat konotacione pejorative.}} "ethnic name or the national one of Albanians, despite the right Slavic term Albanci, now appears to be pronounced as Šiptari of Šipci with a connotation that is contemptuously negative, as it is used in the very beginning of the Serbs era at the time of the old Yugoslavia together and the form Šiftari and Arnauti which have the same pejorative connotations."</ref><ref name="Koukoudis34">{{harvnb|Koukoudis|2003|p=34}}. "The Vlachs call the Albanian-speaking Orthodox Christians ''Arbinéši'', and it was under this name that the ancestors of the modern Albanians first appeared in the Middle Ages."</ref>}}

The term "Albanoi" (Αλβανοί) is first encountered on the works of Ptolemy (2nd century CE)<ref name=":0" /> also is encountered twice in the works of Byzantine historian [[Michael Attaliates]], and the term "Arvanitai" (Αρβανίται) is used once by the same author. He referred to the "Albanoi" as having taken part in a revolt against the [[Byzantine Empire]] in 1043, and to the "Arbanitai" as subjects of the Duke of Dyrrachium (modern [[Durrës]]).<ref name="MadgearuGordon25b" /> These references have been disputed as to whether they refer to the people of Albania.<ref name="MadgearuGordon25b">{{harvnb|Madgearu|Gordon|2008|p=25}}. "It is still disputed by scholars that those Albanoi from 1042 were Normans from Sicily, [Southern Italy], or if they are in fact the Albanoi [a large clan of that belongs to the many clans of Albanians] found in Albanian lands during this time frame."</ref><ref name="Pritsak5253">{{harvnb|Pritsak|1991|pp=52–53}}.</ref> Historian E. Vranoussi believes that these "Albanoi" were Normans from Sicily. She also notes that the same term (as "Albani") in medieval Latin meant "foreigners".<ref>[http://epublishing.ekt.gr/el/5374/%CE%92%CF%85%CE%B6%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BD%CE%AC-%CE%A3%CF%8D%CE%BC%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%84%CE%B1/7455 Vranoussi Erasmia, "The terms Albanoi and Arvanitai and the first mention of the homonym people of the Balkans in the 11th century sources", Balkanika Symmikta, 1970, 2, p. 207 – 228.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012014600/http://epublishing.ekt.gr/el/5374/%CE%92%CF%85%CE%B6%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BD%CE%AC-%CE%A3%CF%8D%CE%BC%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%84%CE%B1/7455 |date=12 October 2018 }} For the meanings of ''Albanus, Albani, Albains'' etc., see pp 226–228, with footnotes to the lexicons Du Gange, ''Glossarium mediae el infimae Latinitatis'', edition 1883, vol. 1, pp. 162 – 163, J. Niermeyer, ''Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon minus'', Leiden 1960, pp. 32 – 33 and others. In Greek language.</ref>

The reference to "Arvanitai" from Attaliates regarding the participation of Albanians in a rebellion around 1078 is undisputed.<ref name="MadgearuGordon25">{{harvnb|Madgearu|Gordon|2008|p=25}}. "It was supposed that those Albanoi from 1042 were Normans from Sicily, called by an archaic name (the Albanoi were an independent tribe from Southern Italy). The following instance is indisputable. It comes from the same Attaliates, who wrote that the Albanians (Arbanitai) were involved in the 1078; rebellion of..."</ref> In later Byzantine usage, the terms "Arbanitai" and "Albanoi" with a range of variants were used interchangeably, while sometimes the same groups were also called by the classicising name Illyrians.<ref>Mazaris 1975, pp. 76–79.</ref><ref>N. Gregoras (ed. Bonn) V, 6; XI, 6.</ref><ref name="Finlay37">{{harvnb|Finlay|1851|p=37}}.</ref> The first reference to the Albanian language dates to the latter 13th century (around 1285).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/87039/Earlies-Reference-to-the-{{Not a typo|Exis|tance}}-of-the-Albanian-Language |title=Robert Elsie, ''The earliest reference to the existence of the Albanian Language'' |via=Scribd |date=28 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207231306/http://www.scribd.com/doc/87039/Earlies-Reference-to-the-%7B%7BNot |archive-date=7 February 2011 }}</ref>

The national ethnonym ''Albanian'' and its variants are derived from ''[[Albanoi]]'', first mentioned as an [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] tribe in the 2nd century CE by [[Ptolemy]] with their centre at the city of [[Albanopolis]], located in modern-day central Albania, somewhere in the hinterland of [[Durrës]].<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm|1998|p=29|ps=: "Nor is there any mystery about the origin of this name. In the second century Ptolemy referred to a tribe called the 'Albanoi', and located their town, 'Albanopolis', somewhere to the east of Durres."}}</ref><ref name="Lloshi277" /><ref name="MënikuCampos2" /><ref name="Vasiliev613">{{harvnb|Vasiliev|1958|p=613}}.</ref><ref name="Jelavich25">{{harvnb|Jelavich|1983|p=25}}.</ref><ref name="ShabanDemiraj481">{{harvnb|Demiraj|1998|p=481}}.</ref> Linguists believe that the ''alb'' part in the root word originates from an Indo-European term for a type of mountainous topography, from which other words such as ''[[alps]]'' are derived.<ref name="Malcolm29">{{harvnb|Malcolm|1998|p=29}}. "Linguists believe that the 'Alb-’ element comes from the Indo-European word for a type of mountainous terrain, from which the word 'Alps' is also derived."</ref> Through the root word ''alban'' and its rhotacized equivalents ''arban'', ''albar'', and ''arbar'', the term in Albanian became rendered as ''Arbëneshë/Arbëreshë'' for the people and ''Arbënia/Arbëria'' for the country.<ref name="Elsie200534">{{harvnb|Elsie|2005|pp=3–4}}. "Their traditional designation, based on a root *''alban''- and its rhotacized variants *''arban''-, *''albar''-, and *''arbar''-, appears from the eleventh century onwards in Byzantine chronicles (''Albanoi'', ''Arbanitai'', ''Arbanites''), and from the fourteenth century onwards in Latin and other Western documents (''Albanenses'', ''Arbanenses'')."</ref><ref name="Lloshi277" /> The Albanian language was referred to as ''Arbnisht'' and ''Arbërisht''.<ref name="MënikuCampos2">{{harvnb|Mëniku|Campos|2012|p=2}}. "Albanian is an Indo-European language, but like modern Greek and Armenian, it does not have any other closely related living language. Within the Indo-European family, it forms a group of its own. In Albanian, the language is called shqip. Albania is called ''Shqipëri'', and the Albanians call themselves ''shqiptarë''. Until the fifteenth century the language was known as ''Arbërisht'' or ''Arbnisht'', which is still the name used for the language in Italy and Greece. The Greeks refer to all the varieties of Albanian spoken in Greece as Arvanitika. In the second century AD, Ptolemy, the Alexandrian mathematician, astronomer and geographer, used the name ''Albanoi'' to refer to an Illyrian tribe that used to live in what is now central Albania. During the Middle Ages the population of that area was referred to as ''Arbanori'' or ''Albanon''. It is clear that the words ''Arbëresh'', ''Arvanitika'', and even ''Albanian'' and ''Albania'' are all related to the older name of the language."</ref> While the [[exonym]] Albania for the general region inhabited by the Albanians does have connotations to Classical Antiquity, the Albanian language employs a different ethnonym, with modern Albanians referring to themselves as ''Shqip(ë)tarë'' and to their country as ''Shqipëria''.<ref name="Lloshi277" /> Two etymologies have been proposed for this ethnonym: one, derived from the etymology from the Albanian word for eagle (shqipe, var., shqiponjë).<ref name="Kamusella241" /> In Albanian [[folk etymology]], this word denotes a bird [[totem]], dating from the times of Skanderbeg as displayed on the [[Albanian flag]].<ref name="Kamusella241" /><ref name="ej2-s">{{Cite encyclopedia | title=ALBANCI | encyclopedia =[[Enciklopedija Jugoslavije]] 2nd ed. | volume=Supplement | pages=1 | publisher=[[JLZ]] | location=Zagreb | year=1984 }}</ref> The other is within scholarship that connects it to the verb 'to speak' (''me shqiptue'') from the Latin "''excipere''".<ref name="Kamusella241" /> In this instance the Albanian endonym like ''[[Slav (ethnonym)|Slav]]'' [[Endonym#Tendencies in the development of exonyms|and others]] would originally have been a term connoting "those who speak [intelligibly, the same language]".<ref name="Kamusella241">{{harvnb|Kamusella|2009|p=241}}. "Prior to the emergence of the modern self-ethnonym ''Shqiptarë'' in the mid-16th century (for the first time it was recorded in 1555 by the Catholic Gheg, Gjon Buzuku, in his missal), North Albanians (Ghegs) referred to themselves as ''Arbën'', and South Albanians (Tosks) ''Arbër''. Hence, the self-ethnonym ''Arbëreshë'' of the present-day Italo-Albanians (numbering about 100,000) in southern Italy and Sicily, whose ancestors, in the wake of the Ottoman wars, emigrated from their homeland in the 14th century. These self-ethnonyms perhaps influenced the Byzantine Greek Arvanites for 'Albanians,’ which was followed by similar ones in Bulgarian and Serbian (''Arbanasi''), Ottoman (''Arnaut''), Romanian (''Arbănas''), and Aromanian (''Arbineş''). It is clear that scholars and Albanians themselves agree that they do not agree on any single etymology of the ethnonym 'Albanian.' A similar predicament is faced by the self-ethnonym ''Shqiptarë''. The most popular scholarly explanation is that it was formed by analogy to 'Slavs' (*''Slovene''), believed to be derived from ''slovo'' ('word'), and by extension, from *''sluti'' ('to speak clearly.') The last explanation semantically contrasts with Slavic ''Niemiec'' ('mute,’'stammering,’'babbling'), and Greek 'barbarian' (from ''barbaros'' 'those who stammer, babble'). Hence, ''Shqiptarë'' could be derived from Albanian ''shqipoi'' (from Latin ''excipere'') for 'to speak clearly, to understand.' The Albanian public favors the belief that their self-ethnonym stems from ''shqipe'' ('eagle') found on the Albanian national flag."</ref> The words ''Shqipëri'' and ''Shqiptar'' are attested from 14th century onward,<ref name=Matasović>{{Cite book|last=Matasović|first=Ranko|year=2019|title=A Grammatical Sketch of Albanian for Students of Indo European|url=http://mudrac.ffzg.unizg.hr/~rmatasov/Albanian.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://mudrac.ffzg.unizg.hr/~rmatasov/Albanian.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |place=Zagreb |publisher=Ranko Matasović |page=39}}</ref> but it was only at the end of 17th and beginning of the early 18th centuries that the placename ''Shqipëria'' and the ethnic demonym ''Shqiptarë'' gradually replaced ''Arbëria'' and ''Arbëreshë'' amongst [[Albanian language|Albanian]] speakers.<ref name="Lloshi277" /><ref name=Matasović /> That era brought about religious and other sociopolitical changes.<ref name="Lloshi277" /> As such a new and generalised response by Albanians based on ethnic and linguistic consciousness to this new and different [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman world]] emerging around them was a change in ethnonym.<ref name="Lloshi277">{{harvnb|Lloshi|1999|p=277}}. "The Albanians of today call themselves ''shqiptarë'', their country ''Shqipëri'', and their language ''shqipe''. These terms came into use between the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. Foreigners call them ''albanesi'' (Italian), ''Albaner'' (German), ''Albanians'' (English), ''Alvanos'' (Greek), and ''Arbanasi'' (old Serbian), the country ''Albania'', ''Albanie'', ''Albanien'', ''Alvania'', and ''Albanija'', and the language ''Albanese'', ''Albanisch'', ''Albanian'', ''Alvaniki'', and ''Arbanashki'' respectively. All these words are derived from the name ''Albanoi'' of an Illyrian tribe and their center ''Albanopolis'', noted by the astronomer of Alexandria, Ptolemy, in the 2nd century AD. ''Alban'' could be a plural of ''alb''- ''arb''-, denoting the inhabitants of the plains (ÇABEJ 1976). The name passed over the boundaries of the Illyrian tribe in central Albania, and was generalised for all the Albanians. They called themselves ''arbënesh'', ''arbëresh'', the country ''Arbëni'', ''Arbëri'', and the language ''arbëneshe'', ''arbëreshe''. In the foreign languages, the Middle Ages denominations of these names survived, but for the Albanians they were substituted by ''shqiptarë'', ''Shqipëri'' and ''shqipe''. The primary root is the adverb ''shqip'', meaning "clearly, intelligibly". There is a very close semantic parallel to this in the German noun ''Deutsche'', "the Germans" and "the German language" (Lloshi 1984) Shqip spread out from the north to the south, and ''Shqipni/Shqipëri'' is probably a collective noun, following the common pattern of ''Arbëni'', ''Arbëri''. The change happened after the Ottoman conquest because of the conflict in the whole line of the political, social, economic, religious, and cultural spheres with a totally alien world of the Oriental type. A new and more generalised ethnic and linguistic consciousness of all these people responded to this."</ref>

=== Historical records ===
Little is known about the Albanian people prior to the 11th century, though a text compiled around the beginning of the 11th century in the [[Bulgarian language]] contains a possible reference to them.<ref name="Elsie3" /> It is preserved in a [[manuscript]] written in the [[Serbo-Croatian Language]] traced back to the 17th century but published in the 20th century by Radoslav Grujic. The fragmented manuscript differentiated the world into 72 languages and three religious categories including Christians, half-believers and non-believers. Grujic dated it to the early 11th century. If his assessment were correct, it would be the earliest written document referring to the Balkan Albanians as a people or language group.<ref name="Elsie3">{{harvnb|Elsie|2003|p=3}}.</ref>

<blockquote>It can be seen that there are various languages on earth. Of them, there are five Orthodox languages: [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Greek language|Greek]], Assyrian, Iberian ([[Georgian language|Georgian]]) and Russian. Three of these have Orthodox alphabets: Greek, Bulgarian and Iberian ([[Georgian script|Georgian]]). There are twelve languages of half-believers: Alamanians, [[Franks]], Magyars ([[Hungarians]]), Indians, Jacobites, [[Armenians]], [[Saxons]], Lechs ([[Polish people|Poles]]), '''Arbanasi''' (Albanians), [[Croatians]], Hizi and [[Germans]].</blockquote>

[[Michael Attaleiates]] (1022–1080) mentions the term ''Albanoi'' twice and the term ''Arbanitai'' once. The term ''Albanoi'' is used first to describe the groups which rebelled in southern Italy and Sicily against the Byzantines in 1038–40. The second use of the term ''Albanoi'' is related to groups which supported the revolt of [[George Maniakes]] in 1042 and marched with him throughout the Balkans against the Byzantine capital, [[Constantinople]]. The term ''Arvanitai'' is used to describe a revolt of [[Bulgarians]] (Boulgaroi) and ''Arbanitai'' in the theme of [[Dyrrhachium (theme)|Dyrrhachium]] in 1078–79. It is generally accepted that ''Arbanitai'' refers to the ethnonym of medieval Albanians. As such, it is considered to be the first attestation of Albanians as an ethnic group in Byzantine historiography.<ref name="Plasari41">{{harvnb|Plasari|2020|p=41}}</ref> The use of the term ''Albanoi'' in 1038–49 and 1042 as an ethnonym related to Albanians have been a subject of debate. In what has been termed the "Vranoussi-Ducellier debate", Alain Ducellier proposed that both uses of the term referred to medieval Albanians. Era Vranoussi counter-suggested that the first use referred to [[Normans]], while the second didn't have an ethnic connotation necessarily and could be a reference to the Normans as "foreigners" ([[wiktionary:aubain|aubain]]) in [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]] which Maniakes and his army traversed.<ref name="Plasari41" /> This debate has never been resolved.{{sfn|Quanrud|2021|p=1}} A newer synthesis about the second use of the term ''Albanoi'' by Pëllumb Xhufi suggests that the term ''Albanoi'' may have referred to Albanians of the specific district of [[Arbanon]], while ''Arbanitai'' to Albanians in general regardless of the specific region they inhabited.{{sfn|Plasari|2020|p=43}}

== Language ==
{{Main|Albanian language|Albanian dialects}}
{{Further|Albanoid|Proto-Albanian language}}
[[File:Albanian language map en.svg|thumb|The [[Albanian dialects|dialects]] of the [[Albanian language]] in Southern Europe]]

Albanians speak the [[Albanian language]], which is an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language and the only surviving representative of the [[Albanoid|Albanoid branch]], which belongs to the [[Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkan group]]. It had its formative core in the Western Balkans after the [[Indo-European migrations]] in the region from about 3000 to 2500 BCE.<ref name=Friedman>{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Victor|title=The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact: Volume 1: Population Movement and Language Change|series=Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics|chapter=The Balkans|editor=Salikoko Mufwene, Anna Maria Escobar|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2022|isbn=9781009115773|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jWB2EAAAQBAJ}}</ref><ref name=Lazaridis_et_al.>{{cite journal |author-last1= Lazaridis |author-first1= Iosif |author-last2= Alpaslan-Roodenberg |author-first2=Songül | display-authors = et al. | title = The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe | journal = Science | volume = 377 | issue = 6609 | date = 26 August 2022 |article-number= eabm4247 | pmid = 36007055 | pmc = 10064553| doi = 10.1126/science.abm4247 | bibcode =2022Sci...377m4247L|s2cid= 251843620 }}</ref>

The Albanian language is spoken today by approximately 5 million people throughout the [[Balkan Peninsula]] as well as by a more substantial number by [[Albanian diaspora|communities]] around the Americas, Europe and Oceania. Numerous variants and dialects of Albanian are used as an [[official language]] in Albania, [[Kosovo]] and [[North Macedonia]].<ref>{{Cite web |website=[[osce.org]] |publisher=[[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]] |title=Constitution of the Republic of Albania |date=28 November 1998 |url=https://www.osce.org/albania/41888 |language=sq, en |quote=The official language in the Republic of Albania is Albanian.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |website=kryeministri-ks.net |publisher=Kryeministria e Kosovës |title=Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo |url=http://www.kryeministri-ks.net/repository/docs/Constitution1Kosovo.pdf |page=8 |quote=The official languages in the Republic of Kosovo are Albanian and Serbian. |access-date=23 December 2018 |archive-date=27 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127002614/http://www.kryeministri-ks.net/repository/docs/Constitution1Kosovo.pdf |url-status=usurped }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA |url=https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/mk/mk014en.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/mk/mk014en.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |website=wipo.int |page=2  }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Albanian becomes the second official language in Macedonia |url=https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2019/01/15/albanian-becomes-second-official-language-macedonia/ |website=europeanwesternbalkans.com  |date=15 January 2019}}</ref> The language is also spoken in other countries whence it is officially recognised as a [[minority language]] in such countries as [[Croatia]], Italy, [[Montenegro]], [[Romania]] and [[Serbia]].<ref name="Minority language in Croatia" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=THE CONSTITUTION OF MONTENEGRO |url=https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/me/me004en.pdf |website=wipo.int |page=6  }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Linguistic diversity among foreign citizens in Italy|url=http://www.istat.it/en/archive/129304|publisher=Statistics of Italy|date=25 July 2014}}</ref>

There are two principal [[Albanian dialects|dialects]] of the Albanian language traditionally represented by [[Gheg Albanian|Gheg]] and [[Tosk Albanian|Tosk]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Tribes of Albania,: History, Society and Culture|publisher=I.B.Tauris|date=2015|isbn=978-0-85773-932-2|page=2|edition=Robert Elsie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i2IpDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author1=Robert Elsie|title=Geographical location|url=http://www.albanianlanguage.net/|website=albanianlanguage|quote=The Albanian language is divided into two basic dialect groups: Gheg in the north of the country and Tosk in the south. The Shkumbin River in central Albania, flowing past Elbasan into the Adriatic, forms the approximate boundary between the two dialect regions.}}</ref> The ethnogeographical dividing line is traditionally considered to be the [[Shkumbin]] river, with Gheg spoken in the north of it and Tosk in the south. Dialects of linguistic minorities spoken in [[Albanians of Croatia|Croatia]] ([[Arbanasi dialect|Arbanasi]] and [[Istrian Albanian|Istrian]]), [[Kosovo Albanians|Kosovo]], [[Albanians in Montenegro|Montenegro]] and northwestern [[Albanians in North Macedonia|North Macedonia]] are classified as Gheg, while those spoken in [[Albanians in Greece|Greece]], southwestern [[Albanians in North Macedonia|North Macedonia]] and Italy as Tosk.

[[File:Classification of Albanian.png|thumb|Classification of [[Albanian language|Albanian]] in the Paleo-Balkanic branch as suggested by [[Brian D. Joseph]] and Adam Hyllested in "The Indo-European Language Family" (2022)]]
The [[Arbëresh language|Arbëresh]] and [[Arvanitika]] dialects of the Albanian language, are spoken by the [[Arbëreshë people|Arbëreshë]] and [[Arvanites]] in [[Southern Italy]] and [[Southern Greece]], respectively. They retain elements of medieval Albanian vocabulary and pronunciation that are no longer used in modern Albanian; however, both varieties are classified as [[endangered language]]s in the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Red Book of Endangered Languages]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |author1=UNESCO |title=UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |url=http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/en/atlasmap.html |publisher=UNESCO |author1-link=UNESCO }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Handbook of ethnotherapies |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand, 2002 |isbn=978-3-8311-4184-5 |page=110 |edition=Christine E. Gottschalk-Batschkus; Joy C. Green |language=en|year=2002 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author1=Sarah G. Thomason |title=Endangered Languages Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics |publisher=Cambridge University Press, 2015 |isbn=978-0-521-86573-9 |page=28 |language=en|date=23 April 2015 }}</ref> The [[Cham Albanian dialect|Cham dialect]] is spoken by the [[Cham Albanians]], a community that originates from [[Chameria]] in what is currently north-western Greece and southern Albania; the use of the Cham dialect in Greece is declining rapidly, while [[Cham Albanians|Cham communities]] in Albania and the diaspora have preserved it.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Winnifrith |first=Tom J. |date=28 October 1995 |title=Southern Albania, Northern Epirus: Survey of a Disputed Ethnological Boundary |magazine=The Newsletter of the Society Farsharotu |volume=IX |issue=2 |publisher=Society Farsharotu |language=en |quote=I tried unsuccessfully in 1994 to find Albanian speakers in Filiates, Paramithia and Margariti. The coastal villages near Igoumenitsa have been turned into tourist resorts. There may be Albanian speakers in villages inland, but as in the case with the Albanian speakers in Attica and Boeotia the language is dying fast. It receives no kind of encouragement.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Vickers |first=Miranda |title=The Cham Issue – Where to Now? |date=2007 |publisher=Conflict Studies Research Centre |isbn=978-1-905962-01-3 |page=2 |language=en |quote=Whereas in Albania and the diaspora Cham communities have managed to preserve their dialect, traditions and folk songs, in Greece itself those Orthodox Chams, now numbering around 40,000, who were allowed to remain in Greece, have suffered from assimilation and the public suppression of their Albanian heritage and language.{{nbsp}}... There are roughly 14,000 Chams or their descendants living in the southern Albanian town of Saranda and the villages north of the Albanian-Greek border.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |editor-last1=Elsie |editor-first1=Robert |title=The Cham Albanians of Greece: A Documentary History |editor-last2=Destani |editor-first2=Bejtullah |editor-last3=Jasini |editor-first3=Rudina |date=2013 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-1-780760-00-1 |page=XXIX |language=en |quote=Chameria is a mountainous region of the southwestern Balkan Peninsula that now straddles the Greek-Albanian border. Most of Chameria is in the Greek Province of Epirus, corresponding largely to the prefectures of Thesprotia and Preveza, but it also includes the southernmost part of Albania, the area around Konispol. It is approximately 10,000 square kilometres in size and has a current, mostly Greek-speaking population of about 150,000.{{nbsp}}... The core or central region of Chameria, known in Greek as Thesprotia, could be said to be the basins of the Kalamas and Acheron Rivers.}}</ref>

Most of the Albanians in Albania and the [[Former Yugoslavia]] are [[Polyglotism|polyglot]] and have the ability to understand, speak, read, or write a foreign language. As defined by the [[Institute of Statistics (Albania)|Institute of Statistics of Albania]], 39.9% of the 25 to 64 years old Albanians in Albania are able to use at least one foreign language including English (40%), Italian (27.8%) and [[Greek language|Greek]] (22.9%).<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.instat.gov.al/media/4028/adult-education-survey-2017.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.instat.gov.al/media/4028/adult-education-survey-2017.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Press release of the Adult Education Survey|date=10 May 2018|work=Albanian Institute of Statistics}}</ref>

The origin of the Albanian language remains a contentious subject that has given rise to numerous [[Hypothesis|hypotheses]]. The hypothesis of Albanian being one of the descendant of the [[Illyrian languages]] ([[Messapic language]]) is based on [[Geography of Albania|geography]] where the languages were spoken however not enough archaeological evidence is left behind to come therefore to a definite conclusion. Another hypothesis associates the Albanian language with the [[Thracian language]]. This theory takes exception to the territory, since the language was spoken in an area distinct from Albania, and no significant population movements have been recorded in the period when the shift from one language to the other is supposed to have occurred.<ref name="Hock54">{{harvnb|Hock|Joseph|1996|p=54}}.</ref>

== History ==
{{See also|History of Albania}}

=== Late Antiquity ===
{{Main|Origin of the Albanians|Komani-Kruja culture}}
[[File:Glass necklace, 7th - 8th century, Shurdhah - Archeological Museum of Tirana.jpg|thumb|140px|Glass necklace, 7th – 8th century, [[Shurdhah Island|Shurdhah]]]]

The [[Komani-Kruja culture]] is an archaeological culture attested from late antiquity to the Middle Ages in central and northern Albania, southern Montenegro and similar sites in the western parts of [[North Macedonia]]. It consists of settlements usually built below hillforts along the [[Lezhë]] ([[Praevalitana]])-[[Dardania (Roman province)|Dardania]] and [[Via Egnatia]] road networks which connected the Adriatic coastline with the central Balkan Roman provinces. Its [[type site]] is Komani and its fort on the nearby Dalmace hill in the Drin river valley. [[Kruja]] and Lezha represent significant sites of the culture. The population of Komani-Kruja represents a local, western Balkan people which was linked to the Roman Justinianic military system of forts. The development of Komani-Kruja is significant for the study of the transition between the [[classical antiquity]] population of Albania to the medieval Albanians who were attested in historical records in the 11th century. Winnifrith (2020) recently described this population as the survival of a "Latin-Illyrian" culture which emerged later in historical records as Albanians and [[Vlachs]] ([[Eastern Romance languages|Eastern Romance]]-speaking people). In Winnifrith's narrative, the geographical conditions of northern Albania favored the continuation of the Albanian language in hilly and mountainous areas as opposed to lowland valleys.{{sfn|Winnifrith|2020|pp=98-99}}

=== Middle Ages ===
{{Main|Albania under the Byzantine Empire|Albanian principalities}}
[[File:Kal-1.jpg|thumb|The city of [[Krujë]] served as the royal seat of the [[Principality of Arbanon]] and later as the noble residence of the [[Kastrioti family]].]]

The Albanian people maintain a very chequered and tumultuous history behind them, a fact explained by their geographical position in the [[Southeast Europe|Southeast of Europe]] at the cultural and political crossroad between the east and west, but they also have historically inhabited a hardly accessible mountainous region, which helped them preserve their peculiar culture and language. The issue surrounding the [[Origin of the Albanians|origin of the Albanian people]] has long been debated by historians and [[linguist]]s for centuries. They have [[Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkan]] origins, and for geographic and historical reasons most scholars maintain that they descended at least partially from the [[Illyrians]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=King|first1=Russell|author-link1=Russell King (geographer)|last2=Mai|first2=Nicola|title=Out Of Albania: From Crisis Migration to Social Inclusion in Italy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PUaNmz4Uc4C&pg=PA28|date=15 January 2013|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-0-85745-390-7|page=28}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Biberaj|first=Elez|title=Albania in transition: the rocky road to democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H7yZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT34|year=1998|publisher=Westview Press|isbn=978-0-8133-3502-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bugajski |first1=Janusz |title=Political Parties of Eastern Europe: A Guide to Politics in the Post-communist Era|date=10 September 2020 |publisher=Routledge |page=81 |isbn=978-1-000-16135-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRb8DwAAQBAJ&pg=RA7-PT485}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kaser|first=Karl|title=Patriarchy After Patriarchy: Gender Relations in Turkey and in the Balkans, 1500-2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_KEW6l-stCUC|year=2008|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-8258-1119-8|page=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Ellis|first=Linda|title=The Oxford encyclopedia of ancient Greece and Rome|volume=1|editor=Michael Gagarin|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780195170726|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lNV6-HsUppsC|page=54}}</ref> but besides the Illyrians which specific Peleo-Balkan group contributed to the ethnogenesis of the Albanians is still a matter of academic debate.

The first certain attestation of medieval Albanians as an ethnic group is in Byzantine historiography in the work of [[Michael Attaleiates]] (1022–1080).<ref name="Plasari41"/> Attaleiates mentions the term ''Albanoi'' twice and the term ''Arbanitai'' once. The term ''Albanoi'' is used first to describe the groups which rebelled in southern Italy and Sicily against the Byzantines in 1038–40. The second use of the term ''Albanoi'' is related to groups which supported the revolt of [[George Maniakes]] in 1042 and marched with him throughout the Balkans against the Byzantine capital, [[Constantinople]]. The term ''Arvanitai'' is used to describe a revolt of [[Bulgarians]] (Boulgaroi) and ''Arbanitai'' in the theme of [[Dyrrhachium (theme)|Dyrrhachium]] in 1078–79. It is generally accepted that ''Arbanitai'' refers to the ethnonym of medieval Albanians. The use of the term ''Albanoi'' in 1038–49 and 1042 as an ethnonym related to Albanians have been a subject of debate. In what has been termed the "Ducellier-Vrannousi" debate, Alain Ducellier proposed that both uses of the term referred to medieval Albanians. Era Vrannousi counter-suggested that the first use referred to [[Normans]], while the second didn't have an ethnic connotation necessarily and could be a reference to the Normans as "foreigners" ([[wiktionary:aubain|aubain]]) in [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]] which Maniakes and his army traversed.<ref name="Plasari41" /> The debate has never been resolved.{{sfn|Quanrud|2021|p=1}} A newer synthesis about the second use of the term ''Albanoi'' by Pëllumb Xhufi suggests that the term ''Albanoi'' may have referred to Albanians of the specific district of [[Arbanon]], while ''Arbanitai'' to Albanians in general regardless of the specific region they inhabited.{{sfn|Plasari|2020|p=43}} The name reflects the Albanian endonym Arbër/n + esh which itself derives from the same root as the name of the [[Albanoi]]{{sfn|Demiraj|2015|p=481}}

Historically known as the ''Arbër'' or ''Arbën'' by the 11th century and onwards, they traditionally inhabited the mountainous area to the west of [[Lake Ochrida]] and the upper valley of the Shkumbin river.<ref name="Norris35">{{harvnb|Norris|1993 |p=35}}.</ref><ref name="Nicol160">{{harvnb|Nicol|1986|p=160}}. "The geographical location of the mysterious 'Arbanon' has at last no doubt been settled by the researches of Alain Ducellier. In the 11th century at least it was the name given to the mountainous area to the west of Lake Ohrid and the upper valley of the river Shkumbin..."</ref> Though it was in 1190 when they established their first independent entity, the [[Principality of Arbër]] (Arbanon), with its seat based in [[Krujë]].<ref name="Ducellier780a">{{harvnb|Ducellier|1999|p=780}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Komatina|first1=Ivana|last2=Komatina|first2=Predrag|title=Nastanak &quot;Mletačke Albanije&quot; i uspomena na vizantijsku vlast u srpskom Pomorju |trans-title=The establishment of &quot;Venetian Albania&quot; and the memory of Byzantine rule in the Serbian Littoral |journal=Istorijski časopis |volume=67 |year=2018 |pages=55–28 |url=https://www.academia.edu/38237917}}</ref> Immediately after the decline of the [[House of Progon|Progon dynasty]] in 1216, the principality came under [[Gregorios Kamonas]] and next his son-in-law [[Golem of Kruja|Golem]]. Finally, the Principality was dissolved in ca. 1255 by the [[Empire of Nicea]] followed by an unsuccessful [[Rebellion of Arbanon|rebellion between 1257 and 1259]] supported by the [[Despotate of Epirus]]. In the meantime [[Manfred, King of Sicily]] profited from the situation and launched an invasion into Albania. His forces, led by [[Philippe Chinard]], captured [[Durrës]], [[Berat]], [[Vlorë]], [[Island of Zvërnec|Spinarizza]], their surroundings and the southern coastline of Albania from Vlorë to [[Butrint]].{{sfnp|Setton|1976|p=81}} In 1266 after [[Battle of Benevento|defeating Manfred's forces]] and killing him, the [[Treaty of Viterbo]] of 1267 was signed, with [[Charles I, King of Sicily]] acquiring rights on Manfred's dominions in Albania.{{sfnp|Ducellier|1999|p=793}}{{sfnp|Nicol|2010|p=12}} Local noblemen such as [[Andrea Vrana]] refused to surrender Manfred's former domains, and in 1271 negotiations were initiated.{{sfnp|Anamali|Prifti|2002|p=207}}

{{multiple image |align=left|total_width=300|image1=Map of Arbanon (Arbëria).png|caption1= The [[Principality of Arbanon]] in 1210|height1=|width1= 175|image2=Kingdom of Albania.png |height2= |width2=125|caption2=Kingdom of Albania in 1272–1274, established by [[Charles I of Naples]].}}

In 1272 the [[Kingdom of Albania (medieval)|Kingdom of Albania]] was created after a delegation of Albanian noblemen from Durrës signed a treaty declaring union with the Kingdom of Sicily under Charles.{{sfnp|Anamali|Prifti|2002|p=207}} Charles soon imposed military rule, new taxes, took sons of Albanian noblemen hostage to ensure loyalty, and confiscated lands for [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevin]] nobles. This led to discontent among Albanian noblemen, several of whom turned to Byzantine Emperor [[Michael VIII]]. In late 1274, Byzantine forces helped by local Albanian noblemen capture Berat and Butrint.{{sfnp|Anamali|Prifti|2002|p=201}} Charles' attempt to advance towards Constantinople failed at the [[Siege of Berat (1280–1281)]]. A Byzantine counteroffensive ensued, which drove the Angevins out of the interior by 1281. The [[Sicilian Vespers]] rebellion further weakened the position of Charles, who died in 1285. By the end of the 13th century, most of Albania was under Byzantine Emperor [[Andronikos II Palaiologos]]. In 1296 Serbian king [[Stephen Milutin]] captured Durrës. In 1299 Andronikos II married his daughter Simonis to Milutin and the lands he had conquered were considered as [[dowry]]. In 1302, [[Philip I, Prince of Taranto]], grandson of Charles, claimed his rights on the Albanian kingdom and gained the support of local Albanian Catholics who preferred him over the Orthodox Serbs and Greeks, as well as the support of [[Pope Benedict XI]]. In the summer of 1304, the Serbs were expelled from the city of Durrës by the locals who submitted themselves to Angevin rule.{{sfnp|Nicol|2010|pp=67–68}}

Prominent Albanian leaders during this time were the [[Thopia family]], ruling in an area between the Mat and Shkumbin rivers,{{sfnp|Norris|1993|p=36}} and the [[Muzaka family]] in the territory between the Shkumbin and Vlorë.{{sfnp|Fine|1994|p=290}} In 1279, Gjon I Muzaka, who remained loyal to the Byzantines and resisted Angevin conquest of Albania, was captured by the forces of Charles but later released following pressure from Albanian nobles. The Muzaka family continued to remain loyal to the Byzantines and resisted the expansion of the [[Serbian Kingdom (medieval)|Serbian Kingdom]]. In 1335 the head of the family, Andrea II Muzaka, gained the title of [[Despot (court title)|Despot]] and other Muzakas pursued careers in the Byzantine government in Constantinople. Andrea II soon endorsed an anti-Byzantine revolt in his domains between 1335–1341 and formed an alliance with [[Robert, Prince of Taranto]] in 1336.{{sfnp|Anamali|Prifti|2002|p=252}} In 1336, Serbian king [[Stefan Dušan]] captured Durrës, including the territory under the control of the Muzaka family. Although Angevins managed to recapture Durazzo, Dušan continued his expansion, and in the period of 1337–45 he had captured [[Kaninë|Kanina]] and [[Vlorë|Valona]] in southern Albania.<ref name="Fine1994-290-">{{harvnb|Fine|1994|pp=290–291}}</ref> Around 1340 forces of Andrea II defeated the Serbian army at the [[Pelister]] mountain.<ref name="Fine1994-290-" /> After the death of Stefan Dušan in 1355 the [[Serbian Empire]] disintegrated, and [[Karl Thopia]] captured Durrës while the Muzaka family of Berat regained control over parts of southeastern Albania and over [[Kastoria]]{{sfnp|Anamali|Prifti|2002|p=252}}<ref name="Gloyer2010">{{Cite book|author=Gillian Gloyer|title=Albania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ksDYlFPUNLwC&pg=PA103|date=1 June 2010|publisher=Alhena Media|language=es|isbn=978-84-92963-50-8|page=103|quote=Tras la muerte de Stefan Dušan en 1355, el área que se corresponde con el sureste de la actual Albania y hasta Kastoria (que hoy en día pertenece a Grecia) cayó en manos de la familia Muzaka de Berati, uno de los poderosos clanes}}</ref> that Andrea II captured from [[Prince Marko]] after the [[Battle of Marica]] in 1371.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=380|ps=: ... Andrew Musachi .... took Kastoria from Marko...}}<ref name="Barancic551" />

{{multiple image |align=right|total_width=250 |image_style=border:none;|image1=Albanian Principalities, ca. 1390 (modern Albania).png |caption1= The [[Albanian Principalities|Albanian principalities]], ca. 1390.|image1_width= 250|image2=League of Lezhë, 1448-1468.png|caption2=The League of Lezhë in 1448–1468.}}

The kingdom reinforced the influence of Catholicism and the conversion to its rite, not only in the region of Durrës but in other parts of the country.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Lala, Etleva (2008), Regnum Albaniae, the Papal Curia, and the Western Visions of a Borderline Nobility (PDF), Central European University, Department of Medieval Studies|last = Lala|first = Eleva|publisher = Central European University, Department of Medieval Studies|year = 2008|location = Budapest, Hungary|pages = 52|url = http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2009/mphlae01.pdf|access-date = 20 February 2016|archive-date = 9 October 2022|archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2009/mphlae01.pdf|url-status = dead}}</ref> A new wave of Catholic dioceses, churches and monasteries were founded, papal missionaries and a number of different religious orders began spreading into the country. Those who were not Catholic in central and northern Albania converted and a great number of Albanian clerics and monks were present in the Dalmatian Catholic institutions.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Regnum Albaiae, the Papal Curia and the Western Visions of a Borderline Nobility|last = Lala|first = Etleva|publisher = Central European Department for Medieval Studies|year = 2008|location = Budapes, Hungary|pages = 146|url = http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2009/mphlae01.pdf|access-date = 20 February 2016|archive-date = 9 October 2022|archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2009/mphlae01.pdf|url-status = dead}}</ref>

Around 1230 the two main centers of Albanian settlements were around [[Devoll (river)|Devoll river]] in what is now central Albania<ref name="Ducellier780781">{{harvnb|Ducellier|1999|pp=780–781}} "the Albanians dominated the central regions of what is now the Albanian republic, in the areas which are drained by the Devollit river"</ref> and the other around the region known as Arbanon.<ref name="Ducellier780781b">{{harvnb|Ducellier|1999|pp=780–781}}.</ref> Albanian presence in Croatia can be traced back to the beginning of the [[Late Middle Ages]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=East European Quarterly, Band 15 |publisher=University of Colorado, 1981 |page=471 |language=en}}</ref> In this period, there was a significant Albanian community in [[Dubrovnik|Ragusa]] with a number of families of Albanian origin inclusively the [[Sorgo family]] who came from the [[Cape of Rodon]] in central Albania, across [[Kotor]] in eastern Montenegro, to [[Dalmatia]].<ref name="Sorgo family">{{Cite book|author1=Oleh Havrylyshyn|author2=Nora Srzentiæ|title=Institutions Always 'Mattered': Explaining Prosperity in Mediaeval Ragusa (Dubrovnik)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-WSpBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA59|date=10 December 2014|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-33978-2|page=59}}{{Dead link|date=January 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> By the 13th century, Albanian merchants were trading directly with the peoples of the [[Republic of Ragusa]] in Dalmatia which increased familiarity between Albanians and Ragusans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Saraçi |first1=Alvin |title=Tregtia e Durrësit Dhe e Raguzës me Venedikun pas Shpërthimit të Luftës së Parë të Moresë (1684–1699) |trans-title=Trade of Durrës and Ragusa with Venice after the Outbreak of the First Morea War (1684–1699) |journal=Studime Historike |date=2015 |issue=1–2 |pages=51–67 |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=591211 |language=Albanian }}</ref> The upcoming invasion of Albania by the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the death of [[Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg|Skanderbeg]] caused many Christian Albanians to flee to Dalmatia and surrounding countries.<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Russell King, Nicola Mai |title=Out of Albania: From Crisis Migration to Social Inclusion in Italy |publisher=Berghahn Books, 2013 |isbn=978-0-85745-390-7 |pages=66–67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PUaNmz4Uc4C&q=albanian+diaspora+dalmatia+middle+ages&pg=PA67 |language=en|date=15 January 2013 }}</ref>

In the 14th century a number of [[Albanian principalities]] were created. These included [[Principality of Kastrioti]], [[Principality of Dukagjini]], [[Principality of Albania (medieval)|Princedom of Albania]], and [[Principality of Gjirokastër]]. At the beginning of the 15th century these principalities became stronger, especially because of the fall of the [[Serbian Empire]]. Some of these principalities were united in 1444 under the anti-Ottoman military alliance called [[League of Lezhë|League of Lezha]].
[[File:Stradiots.jpg|thumb|150x150px|16th century illustration of the ''Stradiots'']]
Albanians were recruited all over Europe as a light cavalry known as ''[[stratioti]]''. The stratioti were pioneers of light cavalry tactics during the 15th century. In the early 16th century heavy cavalry in the European armies was principally remodeled after Albanian stradioti of the Venetian army, Hungarian [[hussar]]s and German mercenary cavalry units (Schwarzreitern).<ref>Downing 1992, p. 66.</ref>

=== Ottoman Empire ===
{{Main|Albania under the Ottoman Empire|Albanian-Turkish Wars (1432–1479)}}
{{Further||League of Lezhë}}
{{multiple image |align=right |total_width=275 |image_style=border:none; |image1=Gjergj Kastrioti.jpg|alt1=Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg |caption1=[[Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg]] led a successful [[Skanderbeg's rebellion|rebellion]] to resist Ottoman expansion into Europe for 25 years. |image2=Ali Pascha von Janina.jpg |alt2=Ali Pasha Tepelena |caption2=[[Ali Pasha Tepelena]] was one of the most powerful autonomous Ottoman Albanian rulers and governed over the [[Pashalik of Yanina]].}}

Prior to the [[Albania under the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman conquest of Albania]], the political situation of the Albanian people was characterised by a fragmented conglomeration of scattered [[realm|kingdoms]] and [[Principalities of albania|principalities]] such as the [[Principality of Arbanon|Principalities of Arbanon]], [[Principality of Kastrioti|Kastrioti]] and [[Principality of Albania (medieval)|Thopia]]. Before and after the [[fall of Constantinople]], the [[Ottoman Empire]] continued an extended period of conquest and expansion with its borders going deep into the [[Ottoman conquest of the Balkans|Southeast Europe]]. As a consequence thousands of Albanians from [[Albania]], [[Epirus]] and [[Peloponnese]] escaped to [[Calabria]], [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]], [[Republic of Ragusa|Ragusa]] and [[Kingdom of Sicily (Medieval and Early Modern)|Sicily]], whereby others sought protection at the often inaccessible [[Geography of Albania|Mountains of Albania]].

Under the leadership of [[Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg]], a former governor of the Ottoman [[Sanjak of Dibra]], a prosperous and longstanding revolution erupted with the formation of the [[League of Lezhë]] in 1444 up until the [[Siege of Shkodra|Siege of Shkodër]] ending in 1479, multiple times defeating the mightiest power of the time led by [[Sultan]]s [[Murad II]] and [[Mehmed the Conqueror|Mehmed II]]. Skanderbeg managed to gather several of the Albanian principals, amongst them the [[Arianiti family|Arianitis]], [[Dukagjini family|Dukagjinis]], [[Zaharia family|Zaharias]] and [[Thopia family|Thopias]], and establish a centralised authority over most of the non-conquered territories and proclaiming himself the Lord of Albania (''Dominus Albaniae'' in Latin).<ref name="League of Lezhë">{{Cite book |author1=Rob Pickard |title=Analysis and Reform of Cultural Heritage Policies in South-East Europe |date=2008 |isbn=978-92-871-6265-6 |page=16 |publisher=Council of Europe |edition=Europarat |language=en}}</ref> Skanderbeg consistently pursued the aim relentlessly but rather unsuccessfully to create a European coalition against the Ottomans. His unequal fight against them won the esteem of Europe and financial and military aid from the [[Papacy]] and [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]], [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and [[Republic of Ragusa|Ragusa]].<ref name="britannica">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/12472/Albania/42646/The-decline-of-Byzantium|title=Albania :: The decline of Byzantium |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=3 October 2014}}</ref><ref>Barletius, Marinus. De obsidione Scodrensi. Venice: Bernardino de Vitabilus, 1504.</ref><ref>Licursi, Emiddio Pietro (2011). Empire of Nations: The Consolidation of Albanian and Turkish National Identities in theLate Ottoman Empire, 1878–1913. New York: Columbia University. p. 19.</ref>

The Albanians, then predominantly Christian, were initially considered as an [[Rayah|inferior class]] of people and as such were subjected to heavy [[Jizya|taxes]] such as the ''[[Devshirme]]'' system that allowed the state to collect a requisite percentage of Christian adolescents from the [[Balkans]] and elsewhere to compose the [[Janissary]].<ref>{{Cite web | author= Raymond Zickel and Walter R. Iwaskiw|year= 1994|title=Albania: A Country Study ("Albanians under Ottoman Rule")|url=http://countrystudies.us/albania/18.htm |access-date=9 April 2008}}</ref> Since the Albanians were seen as strategically important, they made up a significant proportion of the [[Ottoman military]] and bureaucracy. They were therefore to be found within the imperial services as vital military and administrative retainers from [[Egypt]] to [[Algeria]] and the rest of the [[Maghreb]].<ref name="Norris196">{{harvnb|Norris|1993|p=196}}.</ref>

[[File:Albanian Pashaliks, 1815-1821.png|thumb|left|225px|[[Albanian Pashaliks|Albanian pashaliks]] in 1815–1821]]
In the late 18th century, [[Ali Pasha Tepelena]] created the autonomous region of the [[Pashalik of Yanina]] within the [[Ottoman Empire]] which was never recognised as such by the [[High Porte]]. The territory he properly governed incorporated most of southern [[Albania]], [[Epirus]], [[Thessaly]] and southwestern [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] region. During his rule, the town of [[Janina]] blossomed into a cultural, political and economic hub for both Albanians and Greeks.

The ultimate goal of Ali Pasha Tepelena seems to have been the establishment of an independent rule in Albania and Epirus.<ref>{{harvnb|Elsie|2010|p=8}}</ref> Thus, he obtained control of [[Arta, Greece|Arta]] and took control over the ports of [[Butrint]], [[Preveza]] and [[Vonitsa]]. He also gained control of the [[pashalik]]s of [[Elbasan]], [[Sanjak of Delvina|Delvina]], [[Pashalik of Berat|Berat]] and [[Sanjak of Avlona|Vlorë]]. His relations with the High Porte were always tense though he developed and maintained relations with the [[British Empire|British]], [[First French Empire|French]] and [[Russian Empire|Russians]] and formed alliances with them at various times.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Modern Türkiye Tarihi İslam, Milliyetçilik ve Modernlik 1789–2007|last=Findley|first=Carter V.|publisher=Timaş Yayınları|year=2012|isbn=978-605-114-693-5|location=İstanbul|pages=30}}</ref>

In the 19th century, the Albanian [[wālī]] [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali]] established a [[Muhammad Ali dynasty|dynasty]] that ruled over [[Egypt under Muhammad Ali and his successors|Egypt]] and [[History of Sudan under Muhammad Ali and his successors|Sudan]] until the middle of the 20th century.<ref name="Origin of Muhammad Ali">{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J5U3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA266 | page=266 | title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam | last1=Gibb | first1=Sir Hamilton | publisher=Brill | date=1954}}</ref> After a brief [[French invasion of Egypt|French invasion]] led by [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] and the Ottomans and [[Mameluk]]s competing for power there, he managed collectively with his Albanian troops to become the Ottoman viceroy in Egypt.<ref name="Elsie 303">{{Cite book | title=A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History | author=Robert Elsie | publisher=I.B.Tauris | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-78076-431-3 | page=303 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pgf6GWJxuZgC&pg=PA303}}</ref> As he revolutionised the military and economic spheres of Egypt, his empire attracted Albanian people contributing to the emergence of the [[Albanians in Egypt|Albanian diaspora in Egypt]] initially formed by Albanian soldiers and mercenaries.

[[File:Chef Albanais, G.10376(2).jpg|thumb|''Albanian Chief'', lithography by Alphonse-Léon Noël, 1828]]

[[Islam]] arrived in the lands of the Albanian people gradually and grew widespread between at least the 17th and 18th centuries.<ref name="Clayer">{{EI3|last=Clayer|first=Nathalie|title=Albania|year=2010|url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/albania-COM_23054}}</ref> The new religion brought many transformations into Albanian society and henceforth offered them equal opportunities and advancement within the [[Ottoman Empire]].

With the advent of increasing suppression on [[Catholicism]], the Ottomans initially focused their conversions on the Catholic Albanians of the north in the 17th century and followed suit in the 18th century on the Orthodox Albanians of the south.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Albania |publisher=Touring Club Italiano |location=Milan |page=86 |edition=Pirro Marconi, Sestilio Montanelli |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author1=August Kovačec |title=Arbanasi-Albanisch |url=http://wwwg.uni-klu.ac.at/eeo/Arbanasi.pdf |website=uni-klu.ac.at |language=de |access-date=3 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123183336/http://wwwg.uni-klu.ac.at/eeo/Arbanasi.pdf |archive-date=23 November 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> At this point, the urban centers of [[Central Albania|central]] and [[southern Albania]] had largely adopted the religion of the growing Muslim Albanian elite. Many mosques and [[takya]]s were constructed throughout those urban centers and cities such as [[Berat]], [[Gjirokastër]], [[Korçë]] and [[Shkodër]] started to flourish.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Manahasa|first1=Edmond|last2=Kolay|first2=Aktuğ|title=Observations on the existing Ottoman mosques in Albania|url=https://www.journalagent.com/itujfa/pdfs/ITUJFA-37450-DOSSIER_ARTICLE-MANAHASA.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.journalagent.com/itujfa/pdfs/ITUJFA-37450-DOSSIER_ARTICLE-MANAHASA.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=ITU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture|volume=12|issue=2|year=2015|pages=70 & 78}}</ref> In the far [[Northern Albania|north]], the spread of Islam was slower due to Catholic Albanian resistance and the inaccessible and rather remote mountainous terrain.<ref>{{harvnb|Ramet|1998|pp=209–210}}.</ref>

{{multiple image|align = left|total_width =300|image1 = Mehmedpasha.jpg|width1 = 150 |height1 =|caption1 = [[Köprülü Mehmed Pasha]] served as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century and started the [[Köprülü era]].|image2 = ModernEgypt, Muhammad Ali by Auguste Couder, BAP 17996.jpg|width2 = 150 |height2 =|caption2 = [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt]] was the governor of Egypt, Sudan, the Levant and Hejaz in the 19th century.}}

The motives for [[Religious conversion|conversion]] to Islam are subject to differing interpretations according to scholars depending on the context though the lack of sources does not help when investigating such issues.<ref name="Clayer" /> Reasons included the incentive to escape high [[Taxation in the Ottoman Empire|taxes]] levied on non-Muslims subjects, [[ecclesiastical]] decay, coercion by Ottoman authorities in times of war, and the privileged legal and social position Muslims within the Ottoman administrative and political machinery had over that of non-Muslims.<ref name="Giakoumis8687">{{harvnb|Giakoumis|2010|pp=86–87}}.</ref><ref name="Koti1617">{{harvnb|Koti|2010|pp=16–17}}.</ref><ref name="Ramet203204">{{harvnb|Ramet|1998|pp=203–204}}.</ref><ref name="Skendi1956321323">{{harvnb|Skendi|1956|pp=321–323}}.</ref><ref name="Giakoumis8788">{{harvnb|Giakoumis|2010|pp=87–88}}.</ref><ref name="Vickers2011">{{harvnb|Vickers|2011|pp=17–24}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Myhill|2006|p= 232}}</ref>

As Muslims, the Albanians attained powerful positions in the Ottoman administration including over three dozen [[List of Ottoman Grand Viziers|Grand Viziers]] of Albanian origin, among them [[Zagan Pasha]], [[Bayezid Pasha]] and members of the [[Köprülü family]], and regional rulers such as [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt]] and [[Ali Pasha of Tepelena]]. The Ottoman sultans [[Bayezid II]] and [[Mehmed III]] were both Albanian on their [[List of mothers of the Ottoman sultans|maternal side]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Babinger|first=Franz|title=Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PPxC6rO7vvsC&pg=PA175|year=1992|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=0-691-01078-1|page=51}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire|last = Peirce|first = Leslie P.|publisher = Oxford University Press, Inc.|year = 1993|isbn = 0-19-507673-7|location = New York|page=94}}</ref>

Areas such as Albania, western North Macedonia, southern Serbia, Kosovo, parts of northern Greece and southern Montenegro in Ottoman sources were referred to as ''Arnavudluk'' or Albania.<ref name="Anscombe200688">{{harvnb|Anscombe|2006|pp=88}}</ref><ref name="Anscombe772">{{harvnb|Anscombe|2006b|p=772}}</ref><ref name="Kolovos41">{{harvnb|Kolovos|2007|p=41}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

The Albanian people (both Muslim and Christian) had a great influence in the politics and events of the late 18th century and early 19th century Ottoman Empire, and in particular they played a key role in the [[Greek War of Independence]], on both sides of the war. Pursuing their own interests, they acted after their own agenda, regardless of the [[Ottoman Porte]]'s demands.<ref name=Ilıcak>{{cite journal|last=Ilıcak|first=H. Şükrü|title=An Examination of Albanian Politics during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1825)|journal=Pixels@humanitie|issn=2732-6853|doi=10.12681/pixelsh.31642|publisher=RCH Digital Library|year=2022|page=1, 4|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Albanian Renaissance ===
{{Main|Albanian Renaissance|Albanian Declaration of Independence|l1=Independence of Albania}}
{{Further|League of Prizren}}
[[File:NaumVeqilharxhi.jpg|170px|thumb|[[Naum Veqilharxhi]] was one of the earliest figures of the early [[Albanian Renaissance]].<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Robert Elsie |author-link1=Robert Elsie |title=Historical Dictionary of Albania |publisher=Scarecrow Press, 2010 |isbn=978-0-8108-7380-3 |page=469 |language=en|date=19 March 2010 }}</ref>]]

The [[Albanian Renaissance]] characterised a period wherein the Albanian people gathered both [[Spirituality|spiritual]] and intellectual strength to establish their rights for an independent political and social life, culture and education. By the late 18th century and the early 19th century, its foundation arose within the [[Albanian diaspora|Albanian communities]] in [[Albanians in Italy|Italy]] and [[Albanians in Romania|Romania]] and was frequently linked to the influences of the [[Romanticism]] and [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] principles.<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Sarah Amsler |title=Theorising Social Change in Post-Soviet Countries: Critical Approaches |publisher=Peter Lang, 2007 |isbn=978-3-03910-329-4 |pages=96105 |edition=Balihar Sanghera, Sarah Amsler, Tatiana Yarkova |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MzXP_r6oAxwC&pg=PA96 |language=en|year=2007 }}</ref>

Albania was under the rule of the [[Ottoman Empire]] for almost five centuries and the Ottoman authorities suppressed any expression of unity or national conscience by the Albanian people. A number of thoroughly intellectual Albanians, among them [[Naum Veqilharxhi]], [[Girolamo de Rada]], [[Dora d'Istria]], [[Thimi Mitko]], [[Naim Frashëri|Naim]] and [[Sami Frashëri]], made a conscious effort to awaken feelings of pride and unity among their people by working to develop [[Albanian literature]] that would call to mind the rich history and hopes for a more decent future.<ref name="Elsie6593">{{harvnb|Elsie|2005|pp=65–93}}.</ref>

The Albanians had poor or often no schools or other institutions in place to protect and preserve their [[cultural heritage]]. The need for schools was preached initially by the increasing number of Albanians educated abroad. The Albanian communities in Italy and elsewhere were particularly active in promoting the Albanian cause, especially in education which finally resulted with the foundation of the [[Mësonjëtorja]] in [[Korçë]], the first secular school in the [[Albanian language]].

[[File:Naim Frashëri.jpg|thumb|180px|left|[[Naim Frashëri]] was a well known rilindas and is considered to be the pioneer of modern [[Albanian literature]].]]

The [[Rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire|Turkish yoke]] had become fixed in the nationalist mythologies and psyches of the people in the [[Balkans]], and their march toward independence quickened. Due to the more substantial of Islamic influence, the Albanians internal social divisions, and the fear that they would lose their Albanian territories to the emerging neighbouring states, [[Serbia]], [[Montenegro]], [[Bulgaria]] and [[Greece]], were among the last peoples in the Balkans to desire division from the Ottoman Empire.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Albania, National Awakening and the Birth of Albania, 1876–1918 |url=http://motherearthtravel.com/albania/history-7.htm |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=motherearthtravel.com}}</ref>

The national awakening as a coherent political movement emerged after the [[Treaty of San Stefano]], according to which Albanian-inhabited territories were to be ceded to the neighbouring states, and focused on preventing that partition.<ref name=Kaser>Karl Kaser, Frank Kressing. [http://www.philhist.uni-augsburg.de/lehrstuehle/volkskunde/veranstaltungen/ss07/Religion_als_Bestandteil_von_Ethnizit__tskonstruktionen/Downloads/Albtrania_A_Country_In_Transition.pdf Albania – A country in transition Aspects of changing identities in a south-east European country] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613031928/http://www.philhist.uni-augsburg.de/lehrstuehle/volkskunde/veranstaltungen/ss07/Religion_als_Bestandteil_von_Ethnizit__tskonstruktionen/Downloads/Albtrania_A_Country_In_Transition.pdf |date=13 June 2007 }}. Baden-Baden: Nomos-Verlag Extracts, 2002, p. 15</ref><ref name="O'Brien">Tara Ashley O' Brien. [http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2008/obrien_tara.pdf Manufacturing Homogeneity in the Modern Albanian Nation-Building Project]. University of Budapest, 2008, p. 4-5</ref> It was the impetus for the nation-building movement, which was based more on fear of partition than national identity.<ref name="O'Brien" /> Even after the [[Declaration of independence of Albania|declaration of independence]], national identity was fragmented and possibly non-existent in much of the newly proposed country.<ref name="O'Brien" /> The state of disunity and fragmentation would remain until the communist period following [[Second World War]], when the communist nation-building project would achieve greater success in nation-building and reach more people than any previous regime, thus creating Albanian national communist identity.<ref name="O'Brien" />

=== Communism in Albania ===
{{Main|Communism in Albania|Fall of communism in Albania}}
{{Further|Bunkers in Albania}}
[[File:Partisans in Tirana.jpg|thumb|Albanian partisans, with their leader [[Enver Hoxha]] in the center, after the liberation of Tirana on 17 November 1944]]

[[Enver Hoxha]] of the Communist [[Party of Labour of Albania|Party of Labour]] took power in [[Albania]] in 1946. Albania established an alliance with the [[Eastern Bloc]] which provided Albania with many advantages in the form of economic assistance and military protection from the [[Western Bloc]] during the [[Cold War]].

The Albanians experienced a period of several beneficial political and economic changes. The [[People's Republic of Albania|government]] defended the territorial [[integrity]] and [[sovereignty]] of Albania, diversified the economy through a programme of industrialisation which led to a higher [[standard of living]] and followed improvements in areas such as health, education and infrastructure.<ref name="Albanian Nationalism">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Albanian Nationalism|url=https://www.britannica.com/pla…/Albania/Albanian-nationalism|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=22 November 2016}}</ref>

It subsequently followed a period wherein the Albanians lived within an extreme isolation from the rest of the world for the next four decades. By 1967, the established government had officially proclaimed Albania to be the first [[atheistic state]] in the world as they beforehand confiscated [[Christian Church|churches]], [[monasteries]] and mosques, and any religious expression instantly became grounds for imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-186.html|title=Albania – Hoxha's Antireligious Campaign|website=country-data.com|access-date=13 March 2019}}</ref>

Protests coinciding with the emerging [[revolutions of 1989]] began to break out in various cities throughout Albania including [[Shkodër]] and [[Tirana]] which eventually lead to the [[Fall of communism in Albania|fall of communism]]. Significant internal and external migration waves of Albanians to such countries as [[Greece]] and Italy followed.

[[Bunkerisation]] is arguably the most visible and memorable legacy of communism in Albania. Nearly 175,000 reinforced concrete [[bunker]]s were built on strategic locations across [[Geography of Albania|Albania's territory]] including near borders, within towns, on the seashores or mountains.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bunkers of Albania|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bunkers-of-albania|website=Atlas Obscura|ref=AO|access-date=21 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312044555/http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bunkers-of-albania|archive-date=12 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> These bunkers were never used for their intended purpose or for sheltering the population from attacks or an invasion by a neighbor. However, they were abandoned after the breakup of communism and have been sometimes reused for a variety of purposes.
{{Clear}}

=== Independence of Kosovo ===
{{Main|Independence of Kosovo}}
{{See also|Kosovo War}}
The overwhelming majority of [[Kosovo]]'s population [[Albanians in Kosovo|is ethnically Albanian]] with nearly 1.7&nbsp;million people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Policy Brief: Minority Communities in the 2011 Kosovo Census Results: Analysis and Recommendations |date=18 December 2012 |publisher=European Center for Minority Issues Kosovo |url=http://www.ecmikosovo.org/wp-content/Publications/Policy_briefs/2012-12_ECMI_Kosovo_Policy_Brief_-_Minority_Communities_in_the_2011_Kosovo_Census_Results_Analysis_and_Recommendations/eng.pdf |access-date=3 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103200754/http://www.ecmikosovo.org/wp-content/Publications/Policy_briefs/2012-12_ECMI_Kosovo_Policy_Brief_-_Minority_Communities_in_the_2011_Kosovo_Census_Results_Analysis_and_Recommendations/eng.pdf |archive-date=3 January 2014 }}</ref> Their presence as well as in the adjacent regions of [[Toplica District|Toplica]] and [[Moravac|Morava]] is recorded since the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name="Anscombe767774785788">{{harvnb|Anscombe|2006b|pp=767–774}}</ref> As the Serbs expelled many Albanians from the wider Toplica and Morava regions in Southern Serbia, which the 1878 [[Congress of Berlin]] had given to the [[Principality of Serbia]], many of them settled in Kosovo.<ref name="Jagodic">{{harvnb|Jagodić|1998}}. para. 1–71.</ref><ref name="Uka525354">{{harvnb|Uka|2004d|p=52}}. {{hidden||"Pra, këtu në vazhdim, pas dëbimit të tyre me 1877–1878 do të shënohen vetëm disa patronime (mbiemra) të shqiptarëve të Toplicës dhe viseve tjera shqiptare të Sanxhakut të Nishit. Kjo do të thotë se, shqiptaret e dëbuar pas shpërnguljes, marrin atributin muhaxhirë (refugjatë), në vend që për mbiemër familjar të marrin emrin e gjyshit, fisit, ose ndonjë tjetër, ato për mbiemër familjar marrin emrin e fshatit të Sanxhakut të Nishit, nga janë dëbuar."}} "So here next, after their expulsion 1877–1878 will be noted with only some patronymic (surnames) of the Albanians of Toplica and other Albanian areas of Sanjak of Nis. This means that the Albanians expelled after moving, attained the appellation muhaxhirë (refugees), which instead for the family surname to take the name of his grandfather, clan, or any other, they for their family surname take the name of the village of the Sanjak of Nis from where they were expelled from."; pp. 53–54.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Jagodić|1998}}</ref>

[[File:Gebäude der UNMIK NEW BORN SIGN PRISTINA KOSOVO Giv Owned Image 23 August 2008.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Newborn monument]] in [[Pristina]] was unveiled at the celebration of the [[Independence of Kosovo]].]]

In the 20th century, Kosovo was subsequently a part of the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]] and [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|socialist Yugoslavia]]. The former [[Yugoslav colonization of Kosovo|colonized Kosovo]] by force, a process which included mass killings and repression of ethnic Albanians.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ramet |first1=Sabrina Petra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NFMDwAAQBAJ&dq=12.000+Albanians+killed&pg=PT498 |title=Balkan Babel: The Disintegration Of Yugoslavia From The Death Of Tito To The Fall Of Milosevic, Fourth Edition |date=19 February 2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-97503-5 |quote=more than 12,000 Kosovar Albanians were killed by Serbian forces between 1918 and 1921 |language=en |access-date=19 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoare |first1=Marko Attila |title=Serbia: A Modern History |date=2024 |publisher=Hurst Publishers |isbn=9781805261575 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D43yEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT500 |quote=Albanians engaged in armed resistance to Yugoslavia in the form of the Kaçak movement, whose forces numbered around 10,000 armed rebels by 1919... Serbian troops in Kosovo killed 6,040 people and destroyed 3,873 houses in January-February 1919. One Albanian source claimed that by 1921 the figure reached 12,371 killed.}}</ref>

During the socialist era, the political situation of the Kosovars improved, although police action against all "decentralizing" forces (which included the Kosovar Albanians) was still espoused by figures such as [[Aleksandar Ranković]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Lenard J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i9UYAQAAMAAJ |title=Serpent in the Bosom: The Rise and Fall of Slobodan Milošević |publisher=Westview Press |year=2001 |page=98 |isbn=978-0-8133-2902-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bokovoy |first=Melissa K. |url=https://archive.org/details/statesocietyrela00meli |title=State-Society Relations in Yugoslavia 1945–1992 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=1997 |page=295 |isbn=978-0-312-12690-2 |location=New York, NY}}</ref> Rights to use the [[Albanian language]] were guaranteed by the constitution and it was widely used in [[Socialist Republic of Macedonia|Macedonia]] and [[Socialist Republic of Montenegro|Montenegro]] prior to the [[dissolution of Yugoslavia]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Clark|first=Howard|title=Civil Resistance in Kosovo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OTW9XKUmrxsC&pg=PA12|year=2000|publisher=[[Pluto Press]]|isbn=978-0-7453-1569-0|page=12}}</ref> However, the economical situation in Kosovo (similarly to other southern regions such as Macedonia) became more and more precarious in comparison to the richer republics such as [[Socialist Republic of Slovenia|Slovenia]] and [[Socialist Republic of Croatia|Croatia]]. This was especially the case in the aftermath of [[liberalization]] and the full embrace of [[market socialism]] after 1965.<ref name=kirn>{{Cite book|last=Kirn|first=Gal|title=Partisan Ruptures: Self-Management, Market Reform and the Spectre of Socialist Yugoslavia|year=2019|location=London|publisher=[[Pluto Press]]|isbn=9780745338941}}</ref>{{rp|168}} The mounting economic disparities contributed greatly to the rise of nationalism and ethnic tensions, both in the richer and poorer republics.<ref name=kirn/>{{rp|189-194}}

In 1989, Kosovo lost its status as a federal entity of Yugoslavia with rights similar to those of the six other republics and eventually became part of [[Serbia and Montenegro]]. Under the leadership of [[Slobodan Milošević]], state-sanctioned discrimination and inflammatory rhetoric directed against Albanians increased sharply.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Mark |title=Forging War: The Media in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina |publisher=The Bath Press |others=International Centre Against Censorship, [[Article 19]] |year=1994 |location=Avon |page=55 and 74 |author-link=Mark Thompson (historian)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gordy |first=Eric C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ccXASlIcGgC |title=The Culture of Power in Serbia: Nationalism and the Destruction of Alternatives |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |year=1999 |page=72-75 |isbn=0-271-01958-1}}</ref> In 1998, tensions between the Albanian and [[Serbs in Kosovo|Serb]] population of Kosovo culminated in the [[Kosovo War]], which led to the external and internal displacement of hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians. Serbian paramilitary forces committed war crimes in Kosovo, although the [[government of Serbia]] claims that the army was only going after suspected Albanian terrorists. [[NATO]] launched a [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|78-day air campaign]] in 1999, which eventually led to an end to the war.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nato.int/kosovo/all-frce.htm|title=Operation Allied Force|publisher=NATO|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912233627/http://www.nato.int/kosovo/all-frce.htm|archive-date=12 September 2016}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=November 2025|reason=NATO is not a neutral source on NATO operations}}
{{Clear}}

Kosovo [[Independence of Kosovo|declared independence]] from Serbia on 17 February 2008, after years of strained relations between the Serb and predominantly Albanian population of Kosovo. It has been officially recognised by [[Australia]], [[Canada]], the [[United States]] and major [[European Union]] countries, while Serbia refuse to recognise Kosovo's independence, claiming it as [[Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija]] under [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244]].

== Distribution ==

=== Balkans ===
{{See also|Albanians in Bulgaria|Albanians in Croatia|Albanians in Kosovo|Albanians in North Macedonia|Albanians in Montenegro|Albanians in Romania|Albanians in Serbia|l2=Croatia|l3=Kosovo|l4=North Macedonia|l5=Montenegro|l6=Romania|l7=Serbia}}
[[File:Balkan+Mikrasia 1914.jpg|thumb|American ethnographic map of the Balkan Peninsula, 1914; Albanian-inhabited areas are colored in light orange.]]

Approximately five million Albanians are geographically distributed across the [[Balkan Peninsula]] with about half this number living in [[Albania]], [[Kosovo]], [[North Macedonia]] and [[Montenegro]] as well as to a more lesser extent in [[Croatia]] and [[Serbia]]. There are also significant Albanian populations in [[Greece]].

Approximately 1.8 million Albanians are concentrated in [[Kosovo]]. They are geographically distributed south of the [[Municipalities of Kosovo|municipality]] of [[North Mitrovica]] and constitute the overall majority ethnic group of the country.

In [[Montenegro]], the Albanian population is currently estimated to be around 30,000 forming one of the constituent ethnic [[minority group]]s of the country.<ref name="Monstat" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=THE CONSTITUTION OF MONTENEGRO |url=https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/me/me004en.pdf |website=wipo.int |page=1  |quote=The determination that we, as free and equal citizens, members of peoples and national minorities who live in Montenegro: Montenegrins, Serbs, Bosniacs, Albanians, Muslims, Croats and the others, are committed to democratic and civic Montenegro}}</ref> They predominantly live in the [[List of regions of Montenegro#Coastal Region|coastal region]] of Montenegro around the municipalities of [[Ulcinj Municipality|Ulcinj]] and [[Bar Municipality|Bar]] but also Tuz and around [[Plav Municipality|Plav]] in the [[List of regions of Montenegro#Northern Region|northern region]] as well as in the capital city of [[Podgorica]] in the [[List of regions of Montenegro#Central Region|central region]].<ref name="Monstat" />

[[File:Aerial view of the historical center of Zadar, Croatia (48607312728).jpg|thumb|The historical settlement of the [[Arbanasi people]] is presently a neighborhood of [[Zadar]] in Croatia.<ref>{{Cite book| title=Povijest Arbanasa kod Zadra| author=Mijo Čurković| publisher=E. Vitaliani| year=1922}}</ref>]]

In [[North Macedonia]], there are more than approximately 500,000 Albanians constituting the largest ethnic minority group in the country.<ref name="FYROMAlb1">{{Cite web |website=stat.gov.mk |publisher=State Statistical Office of the Republic of Macedonia |title=Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Macedonia, 2002 final data |url=http://www.stat.gov.mk/Publikacii/knigaIX.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.stat.gov.mk/Publikacii/knigaIX.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |page=591 |language=en, mk }}</ref><ref name="FYROMAlb2">{{Cite web |website=stat.gov.mk |publisher=State Statistical Office of the Republic of Macedonia |title=Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Macedonia, 2002 final data |url=http://www.stat.gov.mk/Publikacii/knigaX.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.stat.gov.mk/Publikacii/knigaX.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |page=62 |language=en, mk }}</ref> The vast majority of the Albanians are chiefly concentrated around the [[Municipalities of the Republic of Macedonia|municipalities]] of [[Tetovo Municipality|Tetovo]] and [[Gostivar Municipality|Gostivar]] in the [[Polog Statistical Region|northwestern region]], [[Struga Municipality|Struga]] and [[Debar Municipality|Debar]] in the [[Southwestern Statistical Region|southwestern region]] as well as around the capital of [[Skopje]] in the [[Skopje Statistical Region|central region]].

In [[Croatia]], the number of Albanians stands at approximately 17.500 mostly concentrated in the [[Counties of Croatia|counties]] of [[Istria County|Istria]], [[Split-Dalmatia County|Split-Dalmatia]] and most notably in the capital city of [[Zagreb]].<ref>{{Croatian Census 2011 | url = http://web.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/census2011/results/htm/E01_01_12/E01_01_12.html | title = 4. Population by ethnicity and religion }}</ref><ref name="Minority language in Croatia">{{Cite web |title=CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA (consolidated text) |url=http://www.sabor.hr/fgs.axd?id=17074 |website=sabor.hr |page=2 |access-date=12 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628140805/http://www.sabor.hr/fgs.axd?id=17074 |archive-date=28 June 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Arbanasi people]] who historically migrated to [[Bulgaria]], Croatia and [[Ukraine]] live in scattered communities across Bulgaria, Croatia and [[Southern Ukraine]].<ref name="Novik261262" />

In [[Serbia]], the Albanians are an officially recognised ethnic minority group with a population of around 70,000.<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Republic Statistical Office |title=FINAL RESULTS OF THE CENSUS 2002 |url=http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/axd/Zip/eSn31.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306111312/http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/axd/Zip/eSn31.pdf |archive-date=6 March 2009 }}</ref> They are significantly concentrated in the [[Municipalities and cities of Serbia|municipalities]] of [[Bujanovac]] and [[Preševo]] in the [[Pčinja District]]. In [[Romania]], the number of Albanians is unofficially estimated from 500 to 10,000 mainly distributed in [[Bucharest]]. They are recognised as an ethnic minority group and are respectively represented in [[Parliament of Romania]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Reservations and Declarations for Treaty No.148 – European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages|url=http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/148/declarations?p_auth=63PpH3zN|website=Council of Europe|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208122308/http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/148/declarations?p_auth=63PpH3zN|archive-date=8 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Constitution of Romania |url=https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ro/ro021en.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ro/ro021en.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |website=wipo.int/ |page=2  |quote=The State recognizes and guarantees the right of persons belonging to national minorities to the preservation, development and expression of their ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity.}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

=== Italy ===
{{See also|Albanians in Italy}}
{{Further|Arbëreshë people|Stratioti|l1=Arbëreshë}}
[[File:CLEMENS XI.PNG|thumb|150px|right|[[Giovanni Francesco Albani]] was of Albanian origin and served as the [[Pope]] from 1700 to 1721.]]

The [[Italian Peninsula]] across the [[Adriatic Sea]] has attracted Albanian people for more than half a millennium often due to its immediate proximity. Albanians in Italy later became important in establishing the fundamentals of the [[Albanian Renaissance]] and maintaining the [[Albanian culture]]. The [[Arbëreshë people]] came sporadically in several small and large cycles initially as ''[[Stratioti]]'' mercenaries in service of the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]] and [[Kingdom of Sicily (Medieval and Early Modern)|Sicily]] and the [[Republic of Venice]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Giornale enciclopedico di Napoli |date=1807 |publisher=Orsiniana |pages=152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtEAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA300  |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Gli arbëreshë e la Basilicata |url=http://distoriadistorie.blogspot.it/2013/03/gli-arbereshe-e-la-basilicata.html |website=distoriadistorie.blogspot.it |date=18 March 2013 |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author1=Detrez Raymond, Plas Pieter |title=Developing Cultural Identity in the Balkans: Convergence vs Divergence |isbn=978-90-5201-297-1 |edition=Peter Lang |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TRttHdXjP14C|page=134|year=2005 |publisher=Peter Lang }}</ref> Larger migration waves occurred after the death of [[Skanderbeg]] and the capture of [[Siege of Krujë (1478)|Krujë]] and [[Siege of Shkodra|Shkodër]] by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] to escape the forthcoming political and religious changes.<ref>{{Cite web|title = LE MIGRAZIONI DEGLI ARBERESHE|url = http://www.arbitalia.it/storia/migrazioni.htm|website = arbitalia.it|access-date = 17 January 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Pasqua Piana degli Albanesi.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Arbëreshë in traditional costume in the [[Piana degli Albanesi]]]]

Today, ''Arbëreshë'' constitute one of the largest [[Ethnolinguistic group|ethnolinguistic]] minority groups and their language is recognized and protected constitutionally under the provisions of the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Shkodra, arbëreshët dhe lidhjet italo-shqiptare|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=EQAunwEACAAJ|publisher = Universiteti i Shkodrës "Luigj Gurakuqi"|date = 1 January 2013|isbn = 9789928413536|language = sq}}</ref><ref name="lang">{{Cite web|title=Legge 15 Dicembre 1999, n. 482 "Norme in materia di tutela delle minoranze linguistiche storiche" pubblicata nella Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 297 del 20 dicembre 1999|url=http://www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/99482l.htm|publisher=[[Italian Parliament]]|access-date=2 December 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512051856/http://www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/99482l.htm|archive-date=12 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Norme in materia di tutela delle minoranze linguistiche storiche |url=https://www.senato.it/application/xmanager/projects/leg18/file/lavori_preparat_n_8.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.senato.it/application/xmanager/projects/leg18/file/lavori_preparat_n_8.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |website=senato.it |language=it |date=15 December 2009}}</ref> The total number of [[Arbëreshë people|Arbëreshës]] is approximately 260,000 scattered across [[Sicily]], Calabria and [[Apulia]].<ref name="Nasse2426">{{harvnb|Nasse|1964|pp=24–26}}.</ref> There are Italian Albanians in the Americas especially in such countries as [[Argentina]], Chile, [[Uruguay]], Canada and the United States.

After 1991, a mass migration of Albanians towards Italy occurred.<ref name="AlbCominIta">{{Cite web |title=The Albanian Community |url=http://www.integrazionemigranti.gov.it/Areetematiche/PaesiComunitari-e-associazioniMigranti/Documents/ES_ALBANIA_en.pdf |website=integrazionemigranti.gov.it |pages=2–7 |year=2016 |access-date=30 November 2018 |archive-date=30 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130202119/http://www.integrazionemigranti.gov.it/Areetematiche/PaesiComunitari-e-associazioniMigranti/Documents/ES_ALBANIA_en.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Between 2015 and 2016, the number of Albanian migrants who held legal permits of residence in Italy was numbered to be around 480,000 and 500,000.<ref name="AlbCominIta" /><ref>{{Cite web |website=istat.it |publisher=[[Istituto Nazionale di Statistica]] |title=CITTADINI NON COMUNITARI: PRESENZA, NUOVI INGRESSI E ACQUISIZIONI DI CITTADINANZA Anni 2014–2015 |url=https://www.istat.it/it/files//2015/10/CITTADINI-NON-COMUNITARI.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.istat.it/it/files//2015/10/CITTADINI-NON-COMUNITARI.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |page=2 |language=it }}</ref> [[Tuscany]], Lombardy and [[Emilia-Romagna]] represent the [[Regions of Italy|regions]] with the strongest presence of the modern Albanian population in Italy.<ref name="AlbCominIta" /> As of 2022, 433,000 Albanian migrants who held legal permits of residence lived in Italy and were the second largest migrant community in Italy after Romanians.<ref>{{cite web |title=Italy: 2022 IDOS statistical dossier on immigration |date=25 January 2024 |url=https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/library-document/italy-2022-idos-statistical-dossier-immigration_en |publisher=European Website on Integration |page=5}}</ref> As of 2018, an additional ca. 200,000 Albanian migrants have obtained Italian citizenship (children born in Italy not included).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Biçoku |first1=Keti |title=Cittadini italo-albanesi: la carica dei 200 mila |url=https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/aree/Albania/Cittadini-italo-albanesi-la-carica-dei-200-mila-185685 |publisher=Osservatorio balcani e caucaso transeuropa |date=2018}}</ref>

As of 2012, 41.5% of the Albanian in Italy population were counted as [[Muslim]], 38.9% as [[Christians|Christian]] including 27.7% as [[Roman Catholic]] and 11% as [[Eastern Orthodox]] and 17.8% as [[Irreligion|Irreligious]].<ref>{{Cite web |website=istat.it|publisher=[[Istituto Nazionale di Statistica]] |url=http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/169710|title=Appartenenza e pratica religiosa tra i cittadini stranieri|date=30 October 2014|language=it}}</ref>

=== Greece ===
{{See also|Albanians in Greece}}
{{Further|Arvanites|Cham Albanians|l2=Chams}}
[[File:Albanian Palikars in pursuit of an enemy -- Charles Robert Cockerell, 1813-1814 -- British Museum, inv. 1923,0113.30.jpg|thumb|Painting of Albanian palikars displayed in the [[British Museum]], London]]

The [[Arvanites]] and [[Albanians of Western Thrace]] are a group descended from [[Tosks]] who migrated to southern and central Greece between the 13th and 16th centuries.<ref name="Gogonas3">{{harvnb|Gogonas|2010|p=3}}. "Arvanites originate from Albanian settlers who moved south at different times between the 14th and the 16th centuries from areas in what is today southern Albania The reasons for this migration are not entirely clear and may be manifold. In many instances the Arvanites were invited by the Byzantine and Latin rulers of the time. They were employed to resettle areas that had been largely depopulated through wars, epidemics and other reasons, and they were employed as soldiers. Some later movements are also believed to have been motivated to evade Islamisation after the Ottoman conquest. The main waves of the Arvanite migration into southern Greece started around 1300, reached a peak some time during the 14th century, and ended around 1600. Arvanites first reached Thessaly, then Attica and finally the Peloponnese (Clogg. 2002). Regarding the number of Arvanites in Greece, the 1951 census (the last census in Greece that included a question about language) gives a figure of 23,000 Arvaiithka speakers. Sociohinguistic research in the 1970s in the villages of Attica and Biotia alone indicated a figure of at least 30,000 speakers (Trudgill and Tzavaras 1977), while Lunden (1993) suggests 50,000 for Greece as a whole."</ref> They are Greek Orthodox Christians, and though they traditionally speak a dialect of [[Tosk Albanian]] known as [[Arvanitika]], they have fully assimilated into the Greek nation and do not identify as Albanians.<ref name="Hall2829">{{harvnb|Hall|1997|pp=28–29}}. "The permeability of ethnic boundaries is also demonstrated in many of the Greek villages of Attiki and Viotia (ancient Attika and Boiotia), where Arvanites often form a majority. These Arvanites are descended from Albanians who first entered Greece between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries (though there was a subsequent wave of immigration in the second half of the eighteenth century). Although still regarded as ethnically distinct in the nineteenth century, their participation in the Greek War of Independence and the Civil War has led to increasing assimilation: in a survey conducted in the 1970s, 97 per crnt of Arvanite informants despite regularly speaking in Arvanitika, considered themselves to be Greek. A similar concern with being identified as Greek is exhibited by the bilingual Arvanites of the Eastern Argolid."</ref><ref name="Bintliff137138">{{harvnb|Bintliff|2003|pp=137–138}}. "First, we can explain the astonishing persistence of Albanian village culture from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries through the ethnic and religious tolerance characteristic of Islamic empires and so lacking in their Christian equivalents. Ottoman control rested upon allowing local communities to keep their religion, language, local laws, and representatives, provided that taxes were paid (the millet system). There was no pressure for Greeks and Albanians to conform to each other's language or other behavior.
Clear signs of change are revealed in the travel diaries of the German scholar Ludwig Ross (1851), when he accompanied the Bavarian Otto, whom the Allies had foisted as king upon the newly freed Greek nation in the aftermath of the War of Independence in the 1830s. Ross praises the well-built Greek villages of central Greece with their healthy, happy, dancing inhabitants, and contrasts them specifically with the hovels and sickly inhabitants of Albanian villages. In fact, recent scholarship has underlined how far it was the West that built modem Greece in its own fanciful image as the land of a long-oppressed people who were the direct descendants of Pericles. Thus from the late nineteenth century onward the children of the inhabitants of the new "nation-state" were taught in Greek, history confined itself to the episodes of pure Greekness, and the tolerant Ottoman attitude to cultural diversity yielded to a deliberate policy of total Hellenization of the populace—effective enough to fool the casual observer. One is rather amazed at the persistence today of such dual-speaking populations in much of the Albanian colonization zone. However, apart from the provinciality of this essentially agricultural province, a high rate of illiteracy until well into this century has also helped to preserve Arvanitika in the Boeotian villagers (Meijs 1993)."; p. 140. "In contrast therefore to the more openly problematic issue of Slav speakers in northern Greece, Arvanitic speakers in central Greece lack any signs of an assertive ethnicity. I would like to suggest that they possess what we might term a ''passive ethnicity''. As a result of a number of historical factors, much of the rural population in central Greece was Albanian-speaking by the time of the creation of the modern Greek state in the 1830s. Until this century, most of these people were illiterate and unschooled, yet there existed sufficient knowledge of Greek to communicate with officials and townspeople, itinerant traders, and so on, to limit the need to transform rural language usage. Life was extremely provincial, with just one major carriage-road passing through the center of the large province of Boeotia even in the 1930s (beyond which horseback and cart took over; van Effenterre 1989). Even in the 1960s, Arvanitic village children could be figures of fun for their Greek peers in the schools of Thebes (One of the two regional towns) (K. Sarri, personal communication, 2000). It was not a matter of cultural resistance but simple conservatism and provinciality, the extreme narrowness of rural life, that allowed Arvanitic language and local historic memories to survive so effectively to the very recent period."</ref><ref name="VeremisKolipoulos2425">{{harvnb|Veremis|Kolipoulos|2003|pp=24–25}}. "For the time being, the Greeks of free Greece could indulge in defining their brethren of unredeemed Greece, primarily the Slav Macedonians and secondarily the Orthodox Albanians and the Vlachs. Primary school students were taught, in the 1880s, that 'Greeks [are] our kinsmen, of common descent, speaking the language we speak and professing the religion we profess'." But this definition, it seems, was reserved for small children who could not possibly understand the intricate arguments of their parents on the question of Greek identity. What was essential to understand at that tender age was that modern Greeks descended from the ancient Greeks. Grown up children, however, must have been no less confused than adults on the criteria for defining modern Greek identity. Did the Greeks constitute a 'race' apart from the Albanians, the Slavs and the Vlachs? Yes and no. High school students were told that the 'other races', i.e. the Slavs, the Albanians and the Vlachs, 'having been Hellenized with the years in terms of mores and customs, are now being assimilated into the Greeks'. On the Slavs of Macedonia there seems to have been no consensus. Were they Bulgars, Slavicized Greeks or early Slavs? They 'were' Bulgars until the 1870s and Slavicized Greeks, or Hellenized Slavs subsequently, according to the needs of the dominant theory. There was no consensus, either, on the Vlachs. Were they Latinized Greek mountaineers of late immigrants from Vlachia? As in the case of the Slavs of Macedonia, Vlach descent shifted from the southern Balkans to the Danube, until the Romanians claimed the Vlachs for their brethren; which made the latter irrevocably indigenous to the southern Balkan mountains. The Albanians or 'Arvanites', were readily 'adopted' as brethren of common descent for at least three reasons. Firstly, the Albanians had been living in southern Greece, as far south as the Peloponnese, in considerable numbers. Secondly, Christian Albanians had fought with distinction and in considerable numbers in the War of Independence. Thirdly, credible Albanian claims for the establishment of an Albanian nation state materialized too Late for Greek national theorists to abandon well-entrenched positions. Commenting on a geography textbook for primary schools in 1901, a state committee found it inadequate and misleading. One of its principal shortcomings concerned the Albanians, who were described as 'close kinsmen of the Greeks'. 'These are unacceptable from the point of view of our national claims and as far as historical truth is concerned', commented the committee. 'it must have been maintained that they are of common descent with the Greeks (Pelasgians), that they speak a language akin to that of the Greeks and that they participated in all struggles for national liberation of the common fatherland.'"</ref> Arvanitika is in a state of attrition due to language shift towards Greek and large-scale internal migration to the cities and subsequent intermingling of the population during the 20th century.

The [[Cham Albanians]] were a group that formerly inhabited a region of [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]] known as [[Chameria]], nowadays [[Thesprotia]] in northwestern Greece. Many Cham Albanians converted to Islam during the Ottoman era. Muslim Chams were [[Expulsion of Cham Albanians|expelled]] from Greece during [[World War II]], by an [[EDES|anti-communist resistance group]] (EDES). The causes of the expulsion were multifaceted and remain a matter of debate among historians. Different narratives in historiography argue that the causes involved pre-existing Greek policies which targeted the minority and sought its elimination, the Cham [[Axis-Cham Albanian collaboration|collaboration]] with the Axis forces and local property disputes which were instrumentalized after WWII.{{sfn|Baltsiotis|2011|loc=Paragraph 56, Note 95}}{{sfn|Tsoutsoumpis|2015|pp=119-120}}  The estimated number of Cham Albanians expelled from Epirus to Albania and [[Turkey]] varies: figures include 14,000, 19,000, 20,000, 25,000 and 30,000.{{sfn|Tsitselikis|2012|p=311}}<ref>M. Mazower (ed.), ''After The War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation and State in Greece, 1943–1960'', Princeton University Press, 1960, {{ISBN|9780691058412}}, p.&nbsp;25.</ref><ref name="Victor Roudometof p. 158">Victor Roudometof, Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict. {{ISBN|0-275-97648-3}}. p. 158</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Close|first=David H. |title=The Origins of the Greek Civil War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HfocAAAAYAAJ&q=%22300+of+the+Cham+population%22 |access-date=2008-03-29 |year=1995|isbn=978-0-582-06471-3|quote=p. 161 "EDES gangs massacred 200–300 of the Cham population, who during the occupation totalled about 19,000 and forced all the rest to flee to Albania"|pages=248|publisher=Longman }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first1=Aytaç |last1=Gizem Bilgin |title=Conflict areas in the Balkans |date=2020 |publisher=Lexington Books |location=Lanham |isbn=978-1-4985-9920-7 |page=112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_v_DwAAQBAJ}}</ref> According to Cham reports this number should be raised to c.&nbsp;35,000.<ref name="Vickers, Miranda 2002">Vickers, Miranda. The Cham Issue – Albanian National & Property Claims in Greece. Paper prepared for the British MoD, Defence Academy, 2002. {{ISBN|1-903584-76-0}}</ref>

Large-scale migration from Albania to Greece occurred after 1991. During this period, at least 500,000 Albanians have migrated and relocated to Greece. Despite the lack of exact statistics, it is estimated that at least 700,000 Albanians have moved to Greece during the last 25 years. The Albanian government estimates 500,000 Albanians in Greece at the very least without accounting for their children.<ref name="auto"/> The 2011 Greece census indicated that Albanians consisted the biggest group of migrants in Greece, numbered roughly 480,000, but taking into consideration the current population of Greece (11 million) and the fact that the census failed to account for illegal foreigners, it was estimated that Albanians consist of 5% of the population (at least 550,000).<ref name="ssoar.info"/> By 2005, around 600,000 Albanians lived in Greece, forming the largest immigrant community in the country.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Vathi|first=Zana|title=Migrating and Settling in a Mobile World: Albanian Migrants and Their Children in Europe|url=https://archive.org/details/springer_10.1007-978-3-319-13024-8|date=18 May 2015|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-13024-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/springer_10.1007-978-3-319-13024-8/page/n32 22] |quote=Albanians in Greece constitute the largest Albanian migrant community in Europe (600,000; Government of Albania 2005). They are also by far the largest immigrant group in Greece.}}</ref> They are economic migrants whose migration began in 1991, following the collapse of the [[Socialist People's Republic of Albania]]. {{As of|2022}}, in total, there might have been more than 500,000 Albanian-born migrants and their children who received Greek citizenship over the years.<ref name="albanianresidents">{{cite web |url=https://greekreporter.com/2022/09/29/albanian-residents-leaving-greece-wealthier-countries/ |title=Albanian Residents Leaving Greece for Wealthier Countries |format= |accessdate= |quote=In total, there could potentially be more than half a million Albanian-born individuals in Greece who along with their children have been granted Greek citizenship over the years.}}</ref> In recent years, many Albanian workers and their families have left Greece in search of better opportunities elsewhere in Europe.<ref name="albanianresidents"/> As of 2022, there c. 292,000 Albanian immigrants are holders of legal permits to live and work in Greece, down from c. 423,000 in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ulet numri i emigrantëve shqiptarë në punët sezonale të Greqisë, pronarët rrisin pagat|trans-title=The number of Albanian immigrants in seasonal jobs in Greece decreases, the owners increase wages |url=https://politiko.al/e-tjera/ulet-numri-i-emigranteve-shqiptare-ne-punet-sezonale-te-greqise-pronaret-i469730 |website=politiko.al|trans-quote=The official data published by the Greek government for September of this year [2022] show that there are 291 thousand 868 Albanian emigrants with valid residence permits in Greece, which make up about 61.4 per cent of the legal migrants. The data on the number of Albanians with legal residence permits for this year's September, show a significantly lower number compared to last year's [2021] September, where 425 thousand and 740 Albanians were in Greece with valid legal residences, which constituted about 63 per cent of foreigners in this country.|language=Albanian|access-date=25 April 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Chams on Filiates 1915.jpg|thumb|left|[[Cham Albanians]] in [[Filiates]] in 1915, by Fred Boissonas]]

Albanians in Greece have a long history of [[Hellenisation]], assimilation and integration.<ref>Gogonas, Nikos. "Language shift in second generation Albanian immigrants in Greece." Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 30, no. 2 (2009): 95-110.</ref><ref>Lazaridis, Gabriella, and Iordanis Psimmenos. "Migrant flows from Albania to Greece: economic, social and spatial exclusion." In Eldorado or Fortress? Migration in Southern Europe, pp. 170-185. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2000.</ref> Many ethnic Albanians have been naturalised as Greek nationals, others have self-declared as Greek since arrival and a considerable number live and work across both countries seasonally hence the number of Albanians in the country has often fluctuated.<ref>Labrianidis, Lois, and Antigone Lyberaki. "Back and forth and in between: returning Albanian migrants from Greece and Italy." ''Journal of International Migration and Integration/Revue de l'integration et de la migration internationale'' 5, no. 1 (2004): 77-106.</ref>

== Diaspora ==
{{Main|Albanian diaspora}}

Diaspora based Albanians may self identify as Albanian, use hybrid identification or identify with their nationality, often creating an obstacle in establishing a total figure of the population.<ref>Mai, Nicola, and Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers. "Albanian migration and new transnationalisms." Journal of ethnic and migration studies 29, no. 6 (2003): 939-948.</ref>

=== Europe ===
{{See also|Albanians in Austria|Albanians in Belgium|Albanians in France|Albanians in Germany|Albanians in Hungary|Albanians in the Netherlands|Albanians in the Nordic countries|Albanians in Spain|Albanians in Switzerland|Albanians in the United Kingdom|l2=Belgium|l3=France|l4=Germany|l5=Hungary|l6=Netherlands|l7=Nordic countries|l8=Spain|l9=Switzerland|l10=the United Kingdom}}
[[File:Kosova independence Vienna 17-02-2008 b.jpg|thumb|Albanians in [[Vienna]] celebrating the declaration of independence of Kosovo]]

During the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries, the [[Yugoslav Wars|conflicts in the Balkans]] and the [[Kosovo War]] set in motion large population movements of Albanians to [[Central Europe|Central]], [[Western Europe|Western]] and Northern Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Migration Waves in Eastern Europe [1990–2015]: A Selection from 16 Years of SEER |publisher=Nomos Verlag, 2017 |isbn=978-3-8452-7939-8 |page=307 |edition=European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Zd4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA307 |language=en|date=5 April 2017 }}</ref> The gradual [[Fall of communism in Albania|collapse of communism]] in Albania triggered as well a new wave of migration and contributed to the emergence of a new diaspora, mainly in Southern Europe, in such countries as [[Greece]] and Italy.<ref name="foc">{{Cite book |author1=Clarissa De Waal |title=Albania: Portrait of a Country in Transition |publisher=I.B.Tauris, 2005 |isbn=978-0-85771-023-9 |pages=5–7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aGoAAwAAQBAJ&q=albanian+mass+exodus&pg=PA6 |language=en|date=24 June 2005 }}</ref><ref name="Bari">{{Cite web |author1=Giovama Campani |title=Albanian Refugees in Italy |url=https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/viewFile/21669/20342 |website=refuge.journals.yorku.ca |pages=1–4 }}</ref><ref name="90s Greece and Italy">{{Cite web |title=The Integration of Albanian Immigrants in Greece. A comparative approach in three specific regions: Thessaloniki, Chalkidiki and Crete |url=http://digitalarchive.maastrichtuniversity.nl/fedora/get/guid:f8acd55b-7a25-4a48-b8b2-566ea7db10ed/ASSET1 |website=digitalarchive.maastrichtuniversity.nl |pages=7–12 |access-date=10 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110200201/http://digitalarchive.maastrichtuniversity.nl/fedora/get/guid:f8acd55b-7a25-4a48-b8b2-566ea7db10ed/ASSET1 |archive-date=10 November 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In Central Europe, there are approximately 200,000 Albanians in [[Switzerland]] with the particular concentration in the [[Cantons of Switzerland|cantons]] of [[Canton of Zürich|Zürich]], [[Canton of Basel-Stadt|Basel]], [[Canton of Lucerne|Lucerne]], [[Canton of Bern|Bern]] and [[Canton of St. Gallen|St. Gallen]].<ref name="albsuisse" /><ref name="cantons">{{Cite web |title=Die kosovarische Bevölkerung in der Schweiz |url=https://www.sem.admin.ch/dam/data/sem/publiservice/publikationen/diaspora/diasporastudie-kosovo-d.pdf |website=sem.admin.ch |page=25 |language=de |quote=Der grösste Teil der kosovarischen Bevölkerung lebt in der Deutschschweiz, vor allem in den städtischen Agglomerationen Zürich, Basel und Luzern, aber auch in den Kantonen Aargau, St. Gallen, Bern und Waadt.}}</ref> The neighbouring Germany is home to around 250,000 to 300,000 Albanians while in [[Austria]] there are around 40,000 to 80,000 Albanians concentrated in the [[States of Austria|states]] of [[Vienna]], [[Styria]], [[State of Salzburg|Salzburg]], [[Lower Austria|Lower]] and [[Upper Austria]].<ref name="SB1">{{Cite web |author1=Statistisches Bundesamt |title=Ausländische Bevölkerung Ergebnisse des Ausländerzentralregisters |url=https://www.destatis.de/DE/Publikationen/Thematisch/Bevoelkerung/MigrationIntegration/AuslaendBevoelkerung2010200167004.pdf?__blob=publicationFile |website=destatis.de |pages=47–50 |language=de|year=2016|author1-link=Statistisches Bundesamt }}</ref><ref name="SB2">{{Cite web |author1=Statistisches Bundesamt |title=Bevölkerung, Familien, Lebensformen |url=https://www.destatis.de/DE/Publikationen/StatistischesJahrbuch/Bevoelkerung.pdf?__blob=publicationFile |website=destatis.de |page=25 |language=de|author1-link=Statistisches Bundesamt }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Albanische Community in Österreich |url=http://medienservicestelle.at/migration_bewegt/2012/11/26/albanische-community-in-osterreich/ |website=medienservicestelle.at |language=de |access-date=8 November 2018 |archive-date=4 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504203711/http://medienservicestelle.at/migration_bewegt/2012/11/26/albanische-community-in-osterreich/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author1=Statistik Austria |title=Bevölkerung am 1 January 2018 nach detailliertem Geburtsland und Bundesland |url=http://www.statistik.at/wcm/idc/idcplg?IdcService=GET_PDF_FILE&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased&dDocName=023841 |website=statistik.at |language=de|author1-link=Statistik Austria }}</ref>

In [[Western Europe#CIA classification|Western Europe]], the Albanian population of approximately 10,000 people living in the [[Benelux countries]] is in comparison to other regions relatively limited. There are more than 6,000 Albanian people living in [[Belgium]] and 2,800 in the nearby [[Netherlands]]. The most lesser number of Albanian people in the Benelux region is to be found in [[Luxembourg]] with a population of 2,100.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stemplicht vreemdelingen 187 nationaliteiten in België |url=http://www.npdata.be/BuG/159-Verkiezingen-2012/Verkiezingen-2012.htm |website=npdata.be |language=nl}}</ref><ref name="Netherlands" /><ref name="Luxembourg" />

Within Northern Europe, Sweden possesses the most sizeable population of Albanians in [[Scandinavia]] however there is no exact answer to their number in the country. The populations also tend to be lower in [[Norway]], [[Finland]] and [[Denmark]] with more than 18,000, 10,000 and 8,000 Albanians respectively.<ref name="Norway" /><ref name="Finland" /><ref name="Denmark">{{Cite web|url=http://www.dst.dk |title=National statistics of Denmark |publisher=Dst.dk |access-date=22 September 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100926003207/http://www.dst.dk/| archive-date= 26 September 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> The population of Albanians in the [[Albanians in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]] is officially estimated to be around 39,000 whiles in Ireland there are less than 2,500 Albanians.<ref name="United Kingdom 2017-2018">{{Cite web |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |title=July 2017 to June 2018 |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/datasets/populationoftheunitedkingdombycountryofbirthandnationality }}</ref><ref name="Mother Tongue" />
{{Clear}}

=== Asia and Africa ===
{{See also|Albanians in Egypt|Albanians in Syria|Albanians in Turkey|l2=Syria|l3=Turkey}}
[[File:Jean-Leon Gerome - An Arnaut N08542-8-lr-1.jpg|thumb|Painting of an [[Arnaut]] by [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]], 1870s]]

The Albanian diaspora in Africa and Asia, in such countries as [[Egypt]], [[Syria]] or [[Turkey]], was predominantly formed during the Ottoman period through economic [[Human migration|migration]] and early years of the [[Republic of Turkey]] through migration due to sociopolitical discrimination and violence experienced by Albanians in [[Balkans]].<ref name="GenisMaynard553555">{{harvnb|Geniş|Maynard|2009|pp=553–555}}</ref>
In [[Turkey]], the exact numbers of the Albanian population of the country are difficult to correctly estimate. According to a 2008 report, there were approximately 1.300,000 people of Albanian descent living in Turkey.<ref>Milliyet, Türkiyedeki Kürtlerin Sayısı. 6 June 2008.</ref> As of that report, more than 500,000 Albanian descendants still recognise their [[ancestry]] and or their language, culture and traditions.<ref name="Zamanheritage">"[http://www.todayszaman.com/national_albanians-in-turkey-celebrate-their-cultural-heritage_254383.html Albanians in Turkey celebrate their cultural heritage] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031102644/http://www.todayszaman.com/national_albanians-in-turkey-celebrate-their-cultural-heritage_254383.html |date=31 October 2015 }}". ''Today's Zaman''. 21 August 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2015.</ref>

[[File:Charles Bargue – La sentinelle albanaise en Caire, 1877.jpg|200px|thumb|left|''The Albanian [[Security guard|Sentinel]] in Cairo'' by [[Charles Bargue]], 1877]]

There are also other estimates that range from being 3 to 4 million people up to a total of 5&nbsp;million in number, although most of these are Turkish citizens of either full or partial Albanian ancestry being no longer fluent in Albanian, comparable to the [[German Americans]].<ref name="Zamanheritage" /><ref name="Deliso38">{{harvnb|Deliso|2007|p=38}}.</ref><ref name="Saunders98" /> This was due to various degrees of either linguistic and or [[cultural assimilation]] occurring amongst the Albanian diaspora in Turkey.<ref name="Saunders98" /> Albanians are active in the civic life of Turkey.<ref name="Zamanheritage" /><ref name=Tabak>Tabak, Hüsrev (3 March 2013). "[http://www.todayszaman.com/op-ed_albanian-awakening-the-worm-has-turnedby-husrev-tabak-_308705.html Albanian awakening: The worm has turned!] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717210057/http://www.todayszaman.com/op-ed_albanian-awakening-the-worm-has-turnedby-husrev-tabak-_308705.html |date=17 July 2015 }}". ''Today's Zaman''. Retrieved 17 July 2015.</ref>

In [[Egypt]] there are 18,000 Albanians, mostly [[Tosk]] speakers.<ref name="Saunders98" /> Many are descendants of the [[Janissaries]] of [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali Pasha]], an Albanian who became [[Wāli]], and self-declared [[Khedive]] of Egypt and [[Sudan]].<ref name="Saunders98" /> In addition to the [[Muhammad Ali Dynasty|dynasty]] that he established, a large part of the former Egyptian and Sudanese [[aristocracy]] was of Albanian origin.<ref name="Saunders98">{{harvnb|Saunders|2011|p=98}}. "In addition to the recent emigrants, there are older diasporic communities around the world. There are upwards of 5 million ethnic Albanians in the Turkish Republic; however, the vast majority of this population is assimilated and no longer possesses fluency in the language, though a vibrant Albanian community maintains its distinct identity in Istanbul to this day. Egypt also lays claim to some 18,000 Albanians, supposedly lingering remnants of Mohammad Ali's army."</ref> Albanian Sunnis, Bektashis and Orthodox Christians were all represented in this diaspora, whose members at some point included major [[Renaissance]] figures (''Rilindasit''), including Thimi Mitko, Spiro Dine, Andon Zako Çajupi, Milo Duçi, Fan Noli and others who lived in Egypt for a time.<ref name="Norris209210" /> With the ascension of [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] in Egypt and rise of [[Arab nationalism]], the last remnants of Albanian community there were forced to leave.<ref name="Elsie125126">{{harvnb|Elsie|2010|pp=125–126}}. "With the advent of Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Arab nationalization of Egypt, not only the royal family but also the entire Albanian community- some 4,000 families- were forced to leave the country, thus bringing the chapter of Albanians on the Nile to a swift close".</ref> Albanians have been present in [[Arab world|Arab]] countries such as Syria, Lebanon,<ref name="Norris209210">{{harvnb|Norris|1993|pp=209–210}}; 244–245.</ref> Iraq, Jordan, and for about five centuries as a legacy of [[Ottoman Turk]]ish rule.
{{Clear}}

=== Americas and Oceania ===
{{Main|Albanian Canadians|Albanian Americans|Albanians in Australia|Albanians in New Zealand|l1=Albanians in Canada|l2=the United States|l3=Australia}}
{{See also|Albanians in South America}}
[[File:Cathedral of St. George Historic District South Boston MA.jpg|thumb|180px|The [[Albanian Orthodox Church|Albanian Orthodox]] [[Cathedral of St. George Historic District]] in South Boston, Massachusetts]]

The first Albanian migration to North America began in the 19th and 20th centuries not long after gaining [[Declaration of independence of Albania|independence]] from the [[Ottoman Empire]]. However the [[Arbëreshë people]] from [[Southern Italy]] were the first Albanian people to arrive in the [[New World]], many of them migrating after the wars that accompanied the [[Risorgimento]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Towns of Our Italian Ancestors Our ancestors Italo-Albanian history |url=http://www.vatrarberesh.it/bibliot…/ebooks/italoalbanian.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.vatrarberesh.it/bibliot…/ebooks/italoalbanian.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |website=vatrarberesh.it |page=1  }}{{dead link|date=September 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author1=Stefano Fiorini |author2=Giuseppe Tagarelli |author3=Alessio Boattini |author4=Donata Luiselli |author5=Anna Piro |author6=Antonio Tagarelli |author7=Davide Pettener |title=Ethnicity and Evolution of the Biodemographic Structure of Arbëreshe and Italian Populations of the Pollino Area, southern Italy (1820–1984) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249423568 |website=researchgate.net  |date=December 2007}}</ref>

Since then several Albanian migration waves have occurred throughout the 20th century as for instance after the [[Second World War]] with Albanians mostly from [[Yugoslavia]] rather than from [[Communist Albania]], then after the [[Fall of communism in Albania|Breakup of Communist Albania]] in 1990 and finally following the [[Kosovo War]] in 1998.<ref name="Canadian Encyclopedia">[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/albanians/ "Albanians"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820072428/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/albanians |date=20 August 2019 }}. ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Published by Vladislav A. Tomovic. Retrieved 29 November 2011</ref><ref name=th24>{{Cite book |title=Harvard encyclopedia of American ethnic groups |publisher=Belknap Press |last=Thernstrom |first=Stephan  |year=1980 |isbn= 978-0-674-37512-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/harvardencyclope00ther/page/24 24] |url= https://archive.org/details/harvardencyclope00ther |url-access=registration |access-date=23 June 2010 }}</ref>

The most sizeable Albanian population in the Americas is predominantly to be found in the United States. [[New York metropolitan area]] in the [[New York (state)|State of New York]] is home to the most sizeable Albanian population of the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/LPR11.shtm|title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2011 Supplemental Table 2|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|access-date=11 July 2012}}</ref> As of 2017, there are approximately 205,000 Albanians in the country with the main concentration in the [[States of the United States|states]] of New York, [[Michigan]], [[Massachusetts]] and [[Illinois]].<ref>{{Cite web |website=[[United States Census Bureau]] |title=Table S0201 – SELECTED POPULATION PROFILE IN THE UNITED STATES 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates |url=https://www.census.gov  |access-date=17 September 2019 }}</ref><ref name="United States Census Bureau" /> The number could be higher counting the [[Arbëreshë people]] as well; they are often distinguishable from other Albanian Americans with regard to their [[Italianization|Italianized]] names, nationality and a common [[Roman Catholicism|religion]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Name Statistics|url=https://www.name-statistics.org/it/prenumecomune.php|publisher=Name Statistics Italia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412001119/https://www.name-statistics.org/it/prenumecomune.php|access-date=11 April 2018|archive-date=12 April 2018|quote=This archived page of Name Statistics Italia shows the common name of most Italians. So, it is supposed to be reliable source.}}</ref>

In Canada, there are approximately 39,000 Albanians in the country, including 36,185 Albanians from [[Albania]] and 2,870 Albanians from [[Kosovo]], predominantly distributed in a multitude of [[Provinces and territories of Canada|provinces]] such as [[Ontario]], Quebec, [[Alberta]] and [[British Columbia]].<ref name="Statistics Canada" /> Canada's largest cities such as [[Toronto]], Montreal and [[Edmonton]] were besides the United States a major centre of Albanian migration to North America. Toronto is home to around 17,000 Albanians.<ref name="Toronto">{{Cite web|publisher=[[Statistics Canada]]|title=Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?TABID=2&LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=110528&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2017&THEME=120&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=}}</ref>

Albanian immigration to Australia began in the late 19th century and most took place during the 20th century.<ref name="Jupp166167" />
People who planned to immigrate chose Australia after the US introduced immigration quotas on southern Europeans.<ref name="Jupp166167" /> Most were from southern Albania, of Muslim and Orthodox backgrounds and tended to live in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] and [[Queensland, Australia|Queensland]], with smaller numbers in [[Western Australia|Western]] and Northern Australia.<ref name="Jupp166167" /><ref name="Ahmeti44233">{{harvnb|Ahmeti|2017|pp=44, 233.}}</ref>

[[File:Orthodox Albanian wedding in Bagnoo, New South Wales, 1944.jpg|thumb|Orthodox Albanian wedding in Bagnoo, New South Wales (1944)]]

Italy's [[Italian invasion of Albania|annexation]] of Albania marked a difficult time for Albanian Australians as many were thought by Australian authorities to pose a fascist threat.<ref name="Amath99100">{{Cite book|last=Amath|first=Nora|chapter='We're serving the community, in whichever form it may be': Muslim Community Building in Australia|editor1-last=Peucker|editor1-first=Mario|editor2-last=Ceylan|editor2-first=Rauf|title=Muslim Community Organizations in the West: History, Developments and Future Perspectives|year=2017|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-658-13889-9|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FgynDgAAQBAJ&dq=Albanian+Australians&pg=PA99|pages=99–100}}</ref> Post-war, the numbers of Albanian immigrants slowed due to immigration restrictions placed by the [[Communism in Albania|communist government]] in Albania.<ref name="Ahmeti36">{{harvnb|Ahmeti|2017|p=36.}}</ref>

Albanians from southwestern Yugoslavia (modern North Macedonia) arrived and settled in Melbourne in the 1960s-1970s.<ref name="ImmMuswii">{{Cite web|title=After World War II|url=http://museumsvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/whatson/past-exhibitions/kurbet/after-world-war-ii/|publisher=Immigration Museum|access-date=16 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304135044/http://museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/whatson/past-exhibitions/kurbet/after-world-war-ii/|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="Ahmeti38">{{harvnb|Ahmeti|2017|p=38.}}</ref> Other Albanian immigrants from Yugoslavia came from [[Montenegro]] and [[Serbia]]. The immigrants were mostly Muslims, but also Catholics among them including the relatives of the Albanian nun and missionary [[Mother Teresa]].<ref name="Jupp166167" /> Albanian refugees from Kosovo settled in Australia following the aftermath of the Kosovo conflict.<ref name="Jupp166167">{{Cite book|last=Jupp|first=James|title=The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, its People and their Origins|year=2001|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgoFxfSTfYAC&q=Albanians|isbn=978-0-521-80789-0|pages=166–167}}</ref><ref name="Ahmeti39">{{harvnb|Ahmeti|2017|p=39.}}</ref>

In the early twenty first century, Victoria has the highest concentration of Albanians and smaller Albanian communities exist in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory.<ref name="Ahmeti4142445556202213232233260263267">{{Cite thesis|last=Ahmeti|first=Sharon|date=2017|title=Albanian Muslims in Secular, Multicultural Australia|type=Ph.D.|publisher=University of Aberdeen|url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.723248|access-date=25 August 2020|pages=41-42, 44, 55-56, 202, 213, 232-233, 260, 263, 267|archive-date=23 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123170344/https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.723248|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Haveric27126139144153154159160199">{{Cite book|last=Haveric|first=Dzavid|title=Muslims making Australia home: Immigration and Community Building|year=2019|publisher=Melbourne University Publishing|isbn=978-0-522-87582-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QBemDwAAQBAJ&dq=Albanian+Australians&pg=PT133|pages=27, 126, 139, 144, 153–154, 159–160, 199}}</ref> In 2016, approximately 4,041 persons resident in Australia identified themselves as having been born in [[Albania]] and [[Kosovo]], while 15,901 persons identified themselves as having Albanian ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry.<ref>{{Cite web| url = http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/ViewData?breadcrumb=POLTD&method=Place%20of%20Usual%20Residence&subaction=-1&issue=2006&producttype=Census%20Tables&documentproductno=0&textversion=false&documenttype=Details&collection=Census&javascript=true&topic=Ancestry&action=404&productlabel=Ancestry%20(full%20classification%20list)%20by%20Sex&order=1&period=2006&tabname=Details&areacode=0&navmapdisplayed=true&| title = 20680-Ancestry (full classification list) by Sex – Australia| format = Microsoft Excel download| publisher = [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]]| work = {{CensusAU|2006}}| access-date = 2 June 2008| archive-date = 10 March 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080310121707/http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/ViewData?breadcrumb=POLTD&method=Place%20of%20Usual%20Residence&subaction=-1&issue=2006&producttype=Census%20Tables&documentproductno=0&textversion=false&documenttype=Details&collection=Census&javascript=true&topic=Ancestry&action=404&productlabel=Ancestry%20(full%20classification%20list)%20by%20Sex&order=1&period=2006&tabname=Details&areacode=0&navmapdisplayed=true&| url-status = dead}} Total responses: 25,451,383 for total count of persons: 19,855,288.</ref>

Albanian migration to New Zealand occurred mid twentieth century following the [[Second World War]].<ref name="Pratt744">{{Cite journal|last=Pratt|first=Douglas|title=Antipodean Ummah: Islam and Muslims in Australia and New Zealand|journal=Religion Compass|volume=5|issue=12|year=2011|pages=744|doi=10.1111/j.1749-8171.2011.00322.x}}</ref><ref name="Kolig23">{{Cite book|last=Kolig|first=Erich|title=New Zealand's Muslims and multiculturalism|year=2010|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789047440703|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yu15DwAAQBAJ&dq=Albanians+New+Zealand&pg=PA23|page=23}}</ref><ref name="Dru7">{{harvnb|Drury|2020|p=7.}}</ref> A small group of Albanian refugees originating mainly from Albania and the rest from Yugoslavian Kosovo and Macedonia settled in Auckland.<ref name="Dru7" /><ref name="Dru89">{{harvnb|Drury|2020|pp=8–9}}</ref><ref name="AbdSa" /> During the [[Kosovo crisis]] (1999), up to 400 Kosovo Albanian refugees settled in New Zealand.<ref name="Miller653">{{Cite book|last=Miller|first=Raymond|title=New Zealand Government & Politics|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-558492-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K6oHAQAAMAAJ&q=New+Zealand+responded+by+accepting+for+resettlement+over+four+hundred+Kosovars+who+had+family+in+New+Zealand|page=653}}</ref><ref name="DruAbd165">{{Cite journal|last1=Drury|first1=Abdullah|last2=Pratt|first2=Douglas|title=Islam in New Zealand – A Mixed Reception: Historical Overview and Contemporary Challenges|url=https://journals.qu.edu.qa/index.php/sharia/article/download/1851/1346|journal=Journal of College of Sharia and Islamic Studies|volume=39|issue=1|year=2021|pages=165|doi=10.29117/jcsis.2021.0290|s2cid=237845218 |doi-access=free|hdl=10576/22316|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="DeMcVe343353">{{harvnb|Devere|McDermott|Verbitsky|2006|pp=343, 353.}}</ref> In the twenty first century, Albanian New Zealanders number 400-500 people and are mainly concentrated in [[Auckland]].<ref name="Dru718">{{Cite journal|last=Drury|first=Abdullah|title=Mazharbeg: An Albanian in Exile|url=https://www.waikato.ac.nz/fass/UWISG/review/Waikato-Islamic-Studies-Review-Vol-6-No-1.pdf#page=4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.waikato.ac.nz/fass/UWISG/review/Waikato-Islamic-Studies-Review-Vol-6-No-1.pdf#page=4 |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=Waikato Islamic Studies Review|volume=6|issue=1|year=2020|pages=7, 18|doi=}}</ref><ref name="AbdSa">{{Cite news|last=Abdyli|first=Sabit|title=Si u vendosën shqiptarët në Zelandën e Re|trans-title=How Albanians settled in New Zealand|url=https://diasporashqiptare.al/2021/07/20/historia-si-u-vendosen-shqiptaret-ne-zelanden-e-re/|agency=Diaspora Shqiptare|date=20 July 2021|access-date=12 December 2021|df=dmy-all|language=sq|archive-date=6 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106121349/https://diasporashqiptare.al/2021/07/20/historia-si-u-vendosen-shqiptaret-ne-zelanden-e-re/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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== Culture ==
{{Main|Albanian culture}}

=== Traditions ===
==== Tribal social structure ====
[[File:Northern Albanian Tribal Regions.png|thumb|Map of the northern Albanian tribal regions in the mid-20th century]]

The [[Albanian tribes]] ({{langx|sq|fiset shqiptare}}) form a historical mode of social organization ('''''farefisní''''') in [[Albania]] and the southwestern [[Balkans]] characterized by a common [[cultur]]e, often common patrilineal kinship ties tracing back to one progenitor and shared [[social ties]]. The '''''fis''''' ({{lang-sq-definite|fisi}}; commonly translated as "tribe", also as "clan" or "kin" community) stands at the center of Albanian organization based on [[kinship]] relations, a concept which can be found among southern Albanians also with the term '''''farë''''' ({{lang-sq-definite|fara}}). Inherited from ancient [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] social structures, Albanian tribal society emerged in the early Middle Ages as the dominant form of social organization among Albanians.{{sfn|Galaty|2002|pp=109–121}}{{sfn|Villar|1996|p=316}} It also remained in a less developed system in [[southern Albania]]{{sfn|Elsie|2015|p=1}} where large feudal estates and later trade and urban centres began to develop at the expense of tribal organization. One of the most particular elements of the Albanian tribal structure is its dependence on the ''[[Kanun (Albania)|Kanun]]'', a code of Albanian oral [[customary law]]s.{{sfn|Galaty|2002|pp=109–121}} Most tribes engaged in warfare against external forces like the Ottoman Empire. Some also engaged in limited inter-tribal struggle for the control of resources.{{sfn|Elsie|2015|p=1}}
[[File:Ad061.jpg|thumb|left|Picture of members of the Albanian [[Shkreli tribe]], 1890s]]
Until the early years of the 20th century, the Albanian tribal society remained largely intact until the rise to power of [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|communist regime]] in 1944, and is considered as the only example of a tribal social system structured with tribal chiefs and councils, [[Gjakmarrja|blood feuds]] and [[Kanun (Albania)|oral customary laws]], surviving in [[Europe]] until the middle of the 20th century.{{sfn|Elsie|2015|p=1}}{{sfn|De Rapper|2012|p=1}}{{sfn|Galaty|2011|p=118}} Members of the tribes of northern Albania believe their history is based on the notions of resistance and isolationism.<ref>{{harvnb|Galaty|2011|pp=119–120|ps=:... northern Albanians' belief about their own history, based on notions of isolationism and resistance}}</ref> Some scholars connect this belief with the concept of "negotiated peripherality". Throughout history the territory northern Albanian tribes occupy has been contested and peripheral so northern Albanian tribes often exploited their position and negotiated their peripherality in profitable ways. This peripheral position also affected their national program which significance and challenges are different from those in southern Albania.<ref>{{harvnb|Galaty|2011|pp=119–120|ps=:... "negotiated peripherality"... the idea that people living in peripheral regions exploit their... position in important, often profitable ways... The implications and challenges of their national program.... in the Albanian Alps .. are very different from those that obtain in the south}}</ref>

==== Kanun ====
[[File:Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit.jpg|thumb|The Kanun of [[Lekë Dukagjini]], a Medieval Albanian lord, transcribed by [[Shtjefën Gjeçovi]]]]

The [[Kanun (Albania)|Kanun]] is a set of Albanian traditional [[customary law]]s, which has directed all the aspects of the [[Albanian tribes|Albanian tribal society]].<ref name="Co22">{{harvnb|Cook|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ox_gXq2jpdYC&pg=PA22 22]}}.</ref>{{sfn|Galaty|2002|pp=113–114}} For at least the last five centuries and until today, Albanian customary laws have been kept alive only orally by the tribal elders. The success in preserving them exclusively through [[Oral tradition|oral systems]] highlights their universal resilience and provides evidence of their likely ancient origins.{{sfn|Galaty|2018|pp=101–102}} Strong pre-Christian motifs mixed with motifs from the Christian era reflect the stratification of the Albanian customary law across various historical ages.{{sfn|Trnavci|2010|p=205}} Over time, Albanian customary laws have undergone their historical development, they have been changed and supplemented with new [[Social norm|norms]], in accordance with certain requirements of socio-economic development.<ref name="Elezi">{{Cite web|last=Elezi|first=Ismet|title=Zhvillimi historik i Kanunit të Labërisë, in ''Mbledhja e Normave të Kanunit të Labërisë''|url=https://kanunilaberise.tripod.com/id12.html|accessdate=12 November 2021|website=kanunilaberise.tripod.com|language=sq|archive-date=8 July 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250708140245/https://kanunilaberise.tripod.com/id12.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[Besa (Albanian culture)|Besa]]'' and ''nderi'' ([[honour]]) are of major importance in Albanian customary law as the cornerstone of personal and social conduct.{{sfn|Gawrych|2006|p=115}} The Kanun is based on four pillars – Honour ({{langx|sq|Nderi}}), Hospitality ({{langx|sq|Mikpritja}}), Right Conduct ({{langx|sq|Sjellja}}) and Kin Loyalty ({{langx|sq|Fis}}).

==== Besa ====
{{Pull quote|text=An Albanian who says besa once cannot in any way break [his] promise and cannot be unfaithful [to it].|author=[[Mehmed Ferid Pasha]], Ottoman-Albanian grand vizier, 1903<ref name="Gawrych132">{{harvnb|Gawrych|2006|p=132.}}</ref> }}

[[Besa (Albanian culture)|Besa]] (pledge of honor)<ref name="Gawrych19">{{harvnb|Gawrych|2006|pp=1, 9.}}</ref> is an Albanian cultural [[precept]], usually translated as "[[faith]]" or "[[oath]]", that means "to keep the promise" and "word of honor".<ref name="wordorigin">{{Cite web|url=http://www.opendemocracy.net/arts/article_2114.jsp|title=Besa|last=Kushova|first=Alma|date=July 21, 2004|publisher=Open Democracy|access-date=2009-11-08|archive-date=24 May 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060524054039/http://www.opendemocracy.net/arts/article_2114.jsp|url-status=dead}}</ref> The concept is based upon faithfulness toward one's word in the form of loyalty or as an allegiance guarantee.<ref name="DiLellioSchwandersSievers519520" /> Besa contains mores toward obligations to the family and a friend, the demand to have internal commitment, loyalty and solidarity when conducting oneself with others and secrecy in relation to outsiders.<ref name="DiLellioSchwandersSievers519520" /> The besa is also the main element within the concept of the ancestor's will or pledge (''amanet'') where a demand for faithfulness to a cause is expected in situations that relate to unity, national liberation and independence that transcend a person and generations.<ref name="DiLellioSchwandersSievers519520" />

The concept of besa is included in the [[Kanun (Albania)|Kanun]], the [[customary law]] of the Albanian people.<ref name="DiLellioSchwandersSievers519520">{{Cite journal|last1=Di Lellio|first1=Anna|last2=Schwanders-Sievers|first2=Stephanie|title=The Legendary Commander: The construction of an Albanian master-narrative in post-war Kosovo|url=http://www.annadilellio.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Adem-Jashari-NN.pdf|journal= Nations and Nationalism|volume=12|issue=3|year=2006|pages=519–520|doi=10.1111/j.1469-8129.2006.00252.x}}</ref> The besa was an important institution within the tribal society of the [[Albanian tribes]],{{sfn|Gawrych|2006|p=36}} who swore oaths to jointly fight against invaders, and in this aspect the besa served to uphold tribal autonomy.{{sfn|Gawrych|2006|p=36}} The besa was used toward regulating tribal affairs between and within the Albanian tribes.{{sfn|Gawrych|2006|pp=36, 128}}

=== Cuisine ===
{{Main|Albanian cuisine|Kosovan cuisine}}
{{See also|Arbëreshë cuisine}}
[[File:Bukë kollomoqe, bukë misri.JPG|thumb|[[Bread and salt|''Bukë, kripë e zemër'']] is a traditional welcoming custom traced back to medieval [[Kanun (Albania)|Albanian law]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rapsodë dhe rapsodi të alpeve shqiptare |url=http://bukinist.al/kapitullipare/tek9e7.6Cj3Aw.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://bukinist.al/kapitullipare/tek9e7.6Cj3Aw.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |publisher=bukinist.al |pages=2 |language=sq |quote=Miku nderohet duke i nxjerrë përpara bukë, kripë e zemër}}</ref> The Albanian [[Kanun (Albania)|code of honour]], called ''[[Besa (Albanian culture)|Besa]]'', resulted to look after guests as an act of hospitality.<ref>{{Cite web|author1=Mirjona SADIKU|title=Page 1 A Tradition of Honor, Hospitality and Blood Feuds: Exploring the Kanun Customary Law inContemporary Albania.|url=http://js.ugd.edu.mk/index.php/BSSR/article/download/861/833/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705074108/http://js.ugd.edu.mk/index.php/BSSR/article/download/861/833/|url-status=live|archive-date=5 July 2017|website=js.ugd.edu.mk|pages=11–14}}</ref>]]

The traditional [[Albanian cuisine|cuisine]] of the Albanians is diverse and has been greatly influenced by traditions and their varied [[Biophysical environment|environment]] in the [[Balkans]] and turbulent history throughout the course of the centuries.<ref name="Kanun">{{Cite journal|author1=Mirjona SADIKU |title=Page 1 A Tradition of Honor, Hospitality and Blood Feuds:Exploring the Kanun Customary Law in Contemporary Albania |url=http://js.ugd.edu.mk/index.php/BSSR/article/view/861/833|journal=Balkan Social Science Review|date=10 July 2014 |volume=3 |pages=11–14}}</ref> There is a considerable diversity between the [[Mediterranean cuisine|Mediterranean]] and [[Balkan cuisine|Balkan]]-influenced cuisines of Albanians in the Western Balkan nations and the [[Italian cuisine|Italian]] and [[Greek cuisine|Greek]]-influenced cuisines of the [[Arbëreshë people#Cuisine|Arbëreshës]] and [[Cham Albanians#Cuisine|Chams]]. The enjoyment of food has a high priority in the lives of Albanian peoples especially when celebrating [[religious festival]]s such as [[Ramadan]], [[Eid al-Fitr|Eid]], Christmas, Easter, [[Hanukkah]] or [[Novruz]]

Ingredients include many varieties of fruits such as [[Lemon (fruit)|lemons]], oranges, [[Figs (fruit)|figs]] and [[Olive (fruit)|olives]], herbs such as [[Basil (herb)|basil]], [[lavender]], [[Spearmint|mint]], [[oregano]], [[rosemary]] and [[thyme]] and vegetables such as garlic, onion, [[Bell pepper|peppers]], potatoes and tomatoes. Albanian peoples who live closer to the [[Mediterranean Sea]], [[Prespa Lake]] and [[Ohrid Lake]] are able to complement their diet with fish, [[shellfish]] and other seafood. Otherwise, [[Lamb (food)|lamb]] is often considered the traditional meat for different [[religious festival]]s. Poultry, beef and pork are also in plentiful supply.

[[Tavë Kosi]] is a national dish in Albania consisting of garlic lamb and rice baked under a thick, tart veil of [[yogurt]]. [[Fërgesë]] is another national dish and is made with peppers, tomatoes and [[cottage cheese]]. Pite is a baked pastry with a filling of a mixture of [[spinach]] and [[curd|gjizë]] or [[Ground meat|mish]]. Desserts include [[Flia]], consisting of multiple crepe-like layers brushed with crea; petulla, a traditionally fried dough, and Krofne, similar to [[Berliner (doughnut)|Berliner]].
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=== Visual arts ===
==== Painting ====
{{Main|Albanian art}}
[[File:Kolë Idromeno (i ri).jpg|170px|thumb|[[Kolë Idromeno]] is considered the most renowned painter of the [[Albanian Renaissance]].]]

The earliest preserved relics of visual arts of the Albanian people are [[Sacred art|sacred]] in nature and represented by numerous [[fresco]]es, [[mural]]s and [[icon]]s which has been created with an admirable use of color and gold. They reveal a wealth of various influences and traditions that converged in the historical lands of the Albanian people throughout the course of the centuries.<ref name="medieval">{{Cite web |author1=Ferid Hudhri |title=Page 1 95 VISUAL ARTS 2.10. FINE /VISUAL ARTS |url=http://www.seda.org.al/download/i/mark_dl/u/4012653116/4611166610/2.10-VisualArts.pdf |website=seda.org.al |pages=3–4 |access-date=2 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306043355/http://www.seda.org.al/download/i/mark_dl/u/4012653116/4611166610/2.10-VisualArts.pdf |archive-date=6 March 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The rise of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] during the [[Middle Ages]] was accompanied by a corresponding growth in [[Christian art|Christian]] and [[Islamic art]] often apparent in examples of architecture and mosaics throughout Albania.<ref name="www.albanianart.net index_al">{{Cite web|title = Robert Elsie: Arti Shqiptar|url = http://www.albanianart.net/index_al.html|website = albanianart.net|access-date = 22 November 2015}}</ref> The [[Albanian Renaissance]] proved crucial to the emancipation of the modern Albanian culture and saw unprecedented developments in all fields of literature and arts whereas artists sought to return to the ideals of [[Impressionism]] and [[Romanticism (art)|Romanticism]].<ref>{{Cite book|author1=MaryLee Knowlton|title=Albania – Band 23 von Cultures of the world|publisher=Marshall Cavendish, 2004|isbn=978-0-7614-1852-8|pages=102–103|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=alNsb0fpX9IC&q=impressionism+in+albania&pg=PA102|language=en|year=2005}}</ref><ref name="19th century">{{Cite web |author1=Ferid Hudhri |title=Page 1 95 VISUAL ARTS 2.10. FINE /VISUAL ARTS |url=http://www.seda.org.al/download/i/mark_dl/u/4012653116/4611166610/2.10-VisualArts.pdf |website=seda.org.al |pages=5–9 |access-date=2 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306043355/http://www.seda.org.al/download/i/mark_dl/u/4012653116/4611166610/2.10-VisualArts.pdf |archive-date=6 March 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Sv Sedmočislenici with Jovan Kukuzel in Ardenica.jpg|thumb|left|Medieval [[icon]] by [[Zografi Brothers|Kostandin and Athanas Zografi]] in the [[Ardenica Monastery|Monastery of Ardenica]]. It illustrates the seven saints [[Clement of Ohrid|Clement]], [[Saint Naum|Naum]], [[Saint Sava|Sava]], [[Saint Angelar|Angelar]], Gorazd, [[Saints Cyril and Methodius|Cyril, Method]] and the Albanian [[Jan Kukuzeli]].]]

[[Onufri]], founder of the Berat School, [[Kolë Idromeno]], [[David Selenica]], [[Kostandin Shpataraku]] and the [[Zografi Brothers]] are the most eminent representatives of Albanian art. Albanians in Italy and Croatia have been also active among others the [[Renaissance]] influenced artists such as [[Marco Basaiti]], [[Vittore Carpaccio|Viktor Karpaçi]] and [[Andrea Nikollë Aleksi]]. In Greece, [[Eleni Boukouras]] is noted as being the first great female painter of post [[Greek War of Independence|independence Greece]].

In 1856, [[Pjetër Marubi]] arrived in [[Shkodër]] and established the first photography museum in Albania and probably the entire [[Balkans]], the [[National Museum of Photography "Marubi"|Marubi Museum]]. The collection of 150,000 photographs, captured by the Albanian-Italian Marubi dynasty, offers an ensemble of photographs depicting social rituals, traditional costumes, portraits of Albanian history.

The Kulla, a traditional Albanian [[Tower house|dwelling]] constructed completely from natural materials, is a cultural relic from the medieval period particularly widespread in the southwestern region of [[Kosovo]] and northern region of [[Albania]]. The rectangular shape of a Kulla is produced with irregular [[stone]] ashlars, river pebbles and [[chestnut]] woods, however, the size and number of floors depends on the size of the family and their financial resources.
{{Clear}}

==== Literature ====
{{Main|Albanian literature}}
{{See also|Arbëreshë people#Literature 2|Cham Albanians#Literature and Media|Kosovan literature|l1=Arbëreshë literature|l2=Cham literature}}
[[File:Meshari.jpg|thumb|The [[Meshari]] is currently the earliest published book in the [[Albanian language]] written by [[Gjon Buzuku]].]]

The roots of [[Albanian literature|literature of the Albanian people]] can be traced to the [[Middle Ages]] with surviving works about history, theology and philosophy dating from the [[Renaissance]].<ref name="Elsie332">{{Cite book|author1=Robert Elsie|title=Albanian Literature: A Short History|publisher=I.B.Tauris, 2005|isbn=978-1-84511-031-4|pages=3–32|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ox3Wx1Nl_2MC&q=Theodor+of+Shkodra&pg=PA5|language=en|date=29 July 2005|author1-link=Robert Elsie}}</ref>

The earliest known use of written Albanian is a [[Formula e pagëzimit|baptismal formula]] (1462) written by the Archbishop of Durrës [[Paulus Angelus]].<ref name="Elsie5">{{harvnb|Elsie|2005|p=5}}.</ref> In 1555, a Catholic clergyman [[Gjon Buzuku]] from the Shestan region published the earliest known book written in Albanian titled ''[[Meshari]]'' (The Missal) regarding Catholic prayers and rites containing archaic medieval language, lexemes and expressions obsolete in contemporary Albanian.<ref name="Elsie914">{{harvnb|Elsie|2005|pp=9–14}}.</ref> Other Christian clergy such as [[Luca Matranga]] in the Arbëresh diaspora published (1592) in the Tosk dialect while other notable authors were from northern Albanian lands and included [[Pjetër Budi]], [[Frang Bardhi]], and [[Pjetër Bogdani]].<ref name="Elsie1417212430">{{harvnb|Elsie|2005|pp=14–21, 24–30}}.</ref>

In the 17th century and onwards, important contributions were made by the [[Arbëreshë people]] of [[Southern Italy]] who played an influential role in encouraging the [[Albanian Renaissance]]. Notable among them was figures such as [[Demetrio Camarda]], [[Gabriele Dara]], [[Girolamo de Rada]], [[Giulio Variboba]] and [[Giuseppe Serembe]] who produced inspiring nationalist literature and worked to systematise the [[Albanian language]].<ref name="Elsie4464">{{harvnb|Elsie|2005|pp=44–64}}.</ref>

[[File:Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi, Epirotarum principis.jpg|170px|thumb|left|The biography of [[Marin Barleti]] on [[Skanderbeg]] in [[Latin]] was translated into many different [[Languages of Europe|European languages]].]]

The [[Bejtexhinj]] in the 18th century emerged as the result of the influences of [[Islam]] and particularly [[Bektashi Order|Sufism]] orders moving towards [[Orientalism]].<ref name="Elsie3643" /> Individuals such as [[Nezim Frakulla]], [[Hasan Zyko Kamberi]], [[Shahin Frashëri|Shahin]] and [[Dalip Frashëri]] compiled literature infused with expressions, language and themes on the circumstances of the time, the insecurities of the future and their discontent at the conditions of the feudal system.<ref name="Elsie3643">{{harvnb|Elsie|2005|pp=36–43}}.</ref>

The Albanian Renaissance in the 19th century is important both for its valuable poetic achievement and for its variety within the Albanian literature. It drew on the ideas of [[Romanticism]] and [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] characterised by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as the interaction between nature and mankind. [[Dora d'Istria]], [[Girolamo de Rada]], [[Naim Frashëri]], [[Naum Veqilharxhi]], [[Sami Frashëri]] and [[Pashko Vasa]] maintained this movement and are remembered today for composing series of prominent works.

The 20th century was centred on the principles of [[Modernism]] and [[Realist literature|Realism]] and characterised by the development to a more distinctive and expressive form of Albanian literature.<ref name="Elsie94161" /> Pioneers of the time include [[Asdreni]], [[Faik Konica]], [[Fan Noli]], [[Lasgush Poradeci]], [[Migjeni]] who chose to portray themes of contemporary life and most notably [[Gjergj Fishta]] who created the epic masterpiece {{lang|sq|[[Lahuta e Malcís]]}}.<ref name="Elsie94161">{{harvnb|Elsie|2005|pp=94–161}}.</ref>

After World War II, Albania emerged as a communist state and Socialist realism became part of the literary scene.<ref name="Elsie162196" /> Authors and poets emerged such as [[Sejfulla Malëshova]], [[Dritero Agolli]] and [[Ismail Kadare]] who has become an internationally acclaimed novelist and others who challenged the regime through various sociopolitical and historic themes in their works.<ref name="Elsie162196">{{harvnb|Elsie|2005|pp=162–196}}.</ref> [[Martin Camaj]] wrote in the diaspora while in neighbouring Yugoslavia, the emergence of Albanian cultural expression resulted in sociopolitical and poetic literature by notable authors like [[Adem Demaçi]], [[Rexhep Qosja]], [[Jusuf Buxhovi]].<ref name="Elsie185186199205">{{harvnb|Elsie|2005|pp=185–186, 199–205}}.</ref> The literary scene of the 21st century remains vibrant producing new novelists, authors, poets and other writers.<ref name="Elsie19208211">{{harvnb|Elsie|2005|pp=196, 208–211}}.</ref>
{{Clear}}

=== Performing arts ===
==== Apparel ====
{{Main|Albanian national clothing|l1=Albanian clothing}}
{{See also|Cham Albanians#Dress|Traditional clothing of Kosovo|l1=Cham clothing|l2=Kosovan clothing}}
[[File:Lord Byron in Albanian Dress by Phillips, 1813.jpg|thumb|170px|[[Lord Byron]] dressed in the [[Albanian national clothing|traditional Albanian costume]] traditionally consisting of the [[Fustanella]] and a Dollama decorated with [[filigree]]. ''[[Lord Byron in Albanian Dress]]'' by [[Thomas Phillips]], 1813.]]

The Albanian people have incorporated various natural materials from their local agriculture and livestock as a source of [[attire]], clothing and fabrics. Their [[Albanian national clothing|traditional apparel]] was primarily influenced by [[nature]], the [[Lifestyle (sociology)|lifestyle]] and has continuously changed since ancient times.<ref>{{Citation| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lazWAQAAQBAJ&q=brez+clothing&pg=PA15| page=16| title=Encyclopedia of National Dress: Traditional Clothing Around the World| chapter=Albania| publisher=ABC-CLIO| year=2013|isbn= 978-0-313-37636-8}}</ref> Different regions possesses their own exceptional clothing traditions and peculiarities varied occasionally in colour, material and shape.

The [[traditional costume]] of Albanian men includes a white [[Skirt (garment)|skirt]] called [[Fustanella]], a white shirt with wide [[sleeve]]s, and a thin black jacket or vest such as the [[Xhamadan]] or Xhurdia. In winter, they add a warm [[woolen]] or [[fur]] coat known as Flokata or Dollama made from [[sheepskin]] or goat fur. Another authentic piece is called Tirq which is a tight pair of felt [[trousers]] mostly white, sometimes dark brown or black.

The Albanian women's costumes are much more elaborate, colorful and richer in ornamentation. In all the Albanian regions the women's clothing often has been decorated with [[filigree]] [[ironwork]], colorful embroidery, a lot of symbols and vivid accessories. A unique and ancient dress is called [[Xhubleta]], a bell shaped skirt reaching down to the calves and worn from the shoulders with two shoulder straps at the upper part.<ref name="dtk.rks-gov.net">{{Cite web |url=http://dtk.rks-gov.net/tkk_objekti_en.aspx?id=9827 |title=Database of Cultural Heritage of Kosovo |access-date=21 September 2019 |archive-date=21 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921144438/https://dtk.rks-gov.net/tkk_objekti_en.aspx?id=9827 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="PulahaMansaku1982">{{Cite book|author1=Selami Pulaha|author2=Seit Mansaku|author3-link=Andromaqi Gjergji|author3=Andromaqi Gjergji|title=Shqiptarët dhe trojet e tyre|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZ9IAQAAIAAJ|year=1982|publisher=8 Nëntori|pages=136–138}}</ref>

Different traditional handmade shoes and socks were worn by the Albanian people. [[Opinga]], leather shoes made from rough animal skin, were worn with [[Çorape]], knitted woolen or cotton socks. [[Headdress]]es remain a contrasting and recognisable feature of Albanian traditional clothing. Albanian men wore hats of various designs, shape and size. A common headgear is a [[Qeleshe|Plis]] and Qylafë, in contrast, Albanian women wore a Kapica adorned with jewels or embroidery on the forehead, and a Lëvere or Kryqe which usually covers the head, shoulders and neck. Wealthy Albanian women wore headdresses embellished with gems, gold or silver.

==== Music ====
{{Main|Albanian music|Traditional music in Kosovo}}
[[File:Dua Lipa with Warner Music 2.jpg|150px|thumb|[[Dua Lipa]] is the first Albanian to ever win a [[Grammy Award]].<ref>{{Cite web |publisher=[[Radio Televizioni Shqiptar]] (RTSH) |title=Shqiptarja nga Kosova Dua Lipa, fiton për herë të parë në "Grammy Awards" |work=RTSH-Radio Televizioni Shqiptar |url=https://www.rtsh.al/lajme/shqiptarja-nga-kosova-dua-lipa-fiton-per-here-te-pare-ne-grammy-awards/ |access-date=7 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007085639/https://www.rtsh.al/lajme/shqiptarja-nga-kosova-dua-lipa-fiton-per-here-te-pare-ne-grammy-awards/ |archive-date=7 October 2020 |language=sq |date=11 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |publisher=Telegrafi |title=Dua Lipa shkruan historinë, bëhet shqiptarja e parë që fiton dy çmime 'Grammy' |url=https://telegrafi.com/dua-lipa-shkruan-historine-behet-shqiptarja-e-pare-qe-fiton-nje-cmim-grammy/ |access-date=7 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007085845/https://telegrafi.com/dua-lipa-shkruan-historine-behet-shqiptarja-e-pare-qe-fiton-nje-cmim-grammy/ |archive-date=7 October 2020 |language=sq |date=10 February 2019}}</ref>]]

For the Albanian people, [[Albanian music|music]] is a vital component to their [[Albanian culture|culture]] and characterised by its own peculiar features and diverse melodic pattern reflecting the [[Albanian history|history]], [[Albanian language|language]] and [[Lifestyle (sociology)|way of life]].<ref>{{Cite web|author1=SPIRO J. SHETUNI|title=Albanian Traditional Music – An Introduction, with Sheet Music and Lyrics for 48 Songs|url=https://www.galabri.com/foto/vallekeng/pdf/musicshetuni.pdf|website=galabri.com|access-date=21 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226021850/https://www.galabri.com/foto/vallekeng/pdf/musicshetuni.pdf|archive-date=26 December 2017|url-status=usurped}}</ref> It rather varies from region to another with two essential stylistic differences between the music of the [[Gheg Albanian|Ghegs]] and [[Tosk Albanian|Tosks]]. Hence, their geographic position in Southeast Europe in combination with cultural, political and social issues is frequently expressed through music along with the accompanying [[Musical instrument|instruments]] and dances.

[[File:Fustanela 001.jpg|170px|thumb|left|Southern [[Albanian iso-polyphony|Albanian polyphonic]] singers]]
[[File:Jean-Léon Gérôme - Bashi-Bazouk Singing - Walters 37883.jpg|thumb|An Albanian [[bashi-bazouk]] singing and playing an [[oud]]. Painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1868.]]

Albanian folk music is contrasted by the heroic tone of the Ghegs and the relaxed sounds of the Tosks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gazetadita.al/muzika-tradicionale-shqiptare-origjina/|title=Muzika tradicionale shqiptare|last=Shetuni|first=Spiro J.|date=21 January 2018|website=gazeradita.al|publisher=Gazeta Dita|access-date=6 October 2019|archive-date=6 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006190302/http://www.gazetadita.al/muzika-tradicionale-shqiptare-origjina/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Traditional [[Albanian iso-polyphony|iso-polyphony]] perhaps represents the most noble and essential genre of the Tosks which was proclaimed a [[UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists|Masterpiece of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity]] by [[UNESCO]].<ref>{{Cite web|author1=[[UNESCO]] [[Intangible cultural heritage]]|title=Albanian folk iso-polyphony|url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/albanian-folk-iso-polyphony-00155|publisher=UNESCO}}</ref> Ghegs in contrast have a reputation for a distinctive variety of sung [[epic poetry]] often about the tumultuous history of the Albanian people.

There are a number of internationally acclaimed singers of ethnic Albanian origin such as [[Ava Max]], [[Bebe Rexha]], [[Dua Lipa]], [[Era Istrefi]], [[Rita Ora]], and rappers such as [[Action Bronson]], [[Dardan (rapper)|Dardan]], [[Gashi (rapper)|Gashi]] and [[Loredana Zefi]]. Notable singers of Albanian origin from the former [[Yugoslavia]] include [[Selma Bajrami]] and [[Zana Nimani]].

In international competitions, [[Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest|Albania]] participated in the [[Eurovision Song Contest]] for the first time in 2004. Albanians have also represented other countries in the contest: [[Anna Oxa]] for [[Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989|Italy]] in 1989, [[Adrian Gaxha]] for [[Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008|North Macedonia]] in 2008, [[Ermal Meta]] for [[Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018|Italy]] in 2018, [[Eleni Foureira]] for [[Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018|Cyprus]] in 2018, as well as [[Gjon's Tears|Gjon Muharremaj]] for [[Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021|Switzerland]] in 2020 and 2021. Kosovo has never participated, but is currently applying to become a member of the [[European Broadcasting Union|EBU]] and therefore debut in the contest.

== Religion ==
{{Main|Religion in Albania|Religion in Kosovo|l2=Kosovo}}
{{See also|Christianity in Albania|Christianity in Kosovo|l2=and Kosovo|Islam in Albania|Islam in Kosovo|l4=and Kosovo|Judaism in Albania|Judaism in Kosovo|l6=Kosovo}}
{{Further|Albanian folk beliefs|Bektashism in Albania}}
[[File:Great Mosque of Tirana (2020).jpg|thumb|right|[[Namazgah Mosque|The Great Mosque of Tirana]], Albania]]

Many different [[Spirituality|spiritual]] traditions, religious [[faith]]s and [[belief]]s are practised by the Albanian people who historically have succeeded to coexist peacefully over the centuries in Southeast Europe.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}} They are traditionally both Christians and [[Muslims]]; [[Catholicism|Catholics]] and [[Orthodoxy|Orthodox]], [[Sunnism|Sunnis]] and  [[Bektashism|Bektashis]], and – to a lesser extent – [[Evangelicalism|Evangelicals]], other [[Protestants]], and [[Judaism|Jews]], constituting one of the most religiously diverse peoples of Europe.<ref name="BogdaniLoughlin2007">{{Cite book|last1=Bogdani|first1=Mirela|last2=Loughlin|first2=John|author-link2=John Loughlin (political scientist)|title=Albania and the European Union: The Tumultuous Journey Towards Integration and Accession|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32Wu8H7t8MwC&pg=PA34|year=2007|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-84511-308-7|page=34}}</ref>

Christianity in Albania was under the jurisdiction of the [[Bishop of Rome]] until the 8th century. Then, dioceses in Albania were transferred to the [[patriarchate of Constantinople]]. In 1054 after the schism, the north became identified with the [[Roman Catholic Church]].<ref name="Ramet1989">{{Cite book|last=Ramet|first=Sabrina P.|title=Religion and Nationalism in Soviet and East European Politics|url=https://archive.org/details/religionnational01rame|year=1989|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=0-8223-0891-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/religionnational01rame/page/381 381]|quote=Albanian Christianity lay within the orbit of the bishop of Rome from the first century to the eighth. But in the eighth century Albanian Christians were transferred to the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Constantinople. With the schism of 1054, however, Albania was divided between a Catholic north and an Orthodox south. [..] Prior to the Turkish conquest, the ghegs (the chief tribal group in northern Albania) had found in Roman Catholicism a means of resisting the Slavs, and though Albanian Orthodoxy remained important among the tosks (the chief tribal group in southern Albania)}}</ref> Since that time all churches north of the Shkumbin river were Catholic and under the jurisdiction of the Pope.<ref name="Murzaku">{{Cite book |last1=Murzaku |first1=Ines |title=Monasticism in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Republics |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-39104-3 |page=352 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNdzCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT352 |access-date=14 March 2020 |ref=Murzaku |quote= The Albanian church north of Shkumbin River was entirely Latin and under the pope's jurisdiction. During the twelfth century, the Catholic church in Albania intensified efforts to strengthen its position in middle and southern Albania. The Catholic Church was organized in 20 dioceses.}}</ref> Various reasons have been put forward for the spread of Catholicism among northern Albanians. Traditional affiliation with the [[Latin Church]] and Catholic missions in central Albania in the 12th century fortified the Catholic Church against Orthodoxy, while local leaders found an ally in Catholicism against Slavic Orthodox states.<ref name="Lala">{{Citation | title=Regnum Albaniae, the Papal Curia, and the Western Visions of a Borderline Nobility | first=Etleva | last=Lala | publisher=Central European University, Department of Medieval Studies | year=2008 | page=1 | url=http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2009/mphlae01.pdf | access-date=20 February 2016 | archive-date=9 October 2022 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2009/mphlae01.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Murzaku" /> After the [[Ottoman conquest of the Balkans]], Christianity began to be overtaken by Islam, and Catholicism and Orthodoxy continued to be practiced with less frequency.

[[File:Saint Mother Teresa Cathedral Prishtina8.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The [[Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa, Pristina|Catholic Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa]] in [[Pristina]], Kosovo]]

During the [[modern era]], the monarchy and [[communism]] in Albania as well as the [[socialism]] in Kosovo, historically part of [[Yugoslavia]], followed a systematic [[secularisation]] of its people. This policy was chiefly applied within the borders of both territories and produced a secular majority of its population.

All forms of Christianity, [[Islam]] and other religious practices were prohibited except for old non-institutional [[pagan]] practices in the rural areas, which were seen as identifying with the national culture. The current Albanian state has revived some pagan festivals, such as the [[Spring Day|Spring]] festival ({{langx|sq|Dita e Verës}}) held yearly on 14 March in the city of [[Elbasan]]. It is a national holiday.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://theculturetrip.com/europe/albania/articles/how-to-celebrate-dita-e-veres-in-albania-like-a-local/|website = Culture Trip|title = How to Celebrate Dita e Verës in Albania Like a Local|last = Masotti|first = Francesca|date = 9 March 2018|access-date = 29 September 2018|archive-date = 30 September 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180930033536/https://theculturetrip.com/europe/albania/articles/how-to-celebrate-dita-e-veres-in-albania-like-a-local/|url-status = dead}}</ref>

[[File:Arabati Baba Tekke.jpg|thumb|Bektashi [[Arabati Baba Teḱe|Tekke]] in [[Tetovo]], North Macedonia]]

The communist regime which ruled Albania after World War II persecuted and suppressed religious observance and institutions, and entirely banned religion to the point where Albania was officially declared to be the world's first [[state atheism|atheist state]]. Religious freedom returned to Albania following the regime's change in 1992. Albanian Sunni Muslims are found throughout the country, [[Albanian Orthodox Church|Albanian Orthodox Christians]] as well as [[Bektashi]]s are concentrated in the south, while Roman Catholics are found primarily in the north of the country.<ref name="International Religious Freedom Report 2007">{{Cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90160.htm |title=Albania: International Religious Freedom Report 2007 |publisher=State.gov|date=14 September 2007}}</ref>

According to the 2011 Census, which has been recognised as unreliable by the [[Council of Europe]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://rm.coe.int/09000016805cb496 |title=CM(2012)36, 16 February 2012: Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities: Third opinion of the Advisory Committee on Albania, adopted on 23 November 2011, For initial consideration by the Rapporteur Group on Human Rights (GR-H) |website=[[Council of Europe]]}}</ref> in Albania, 58.79% of the population adheres to Islam, making it the largest religion in the country. Christianity is practiced by 16.99% of the population, making it the second largest religion in the country. The remaining population is either [[irreligious]] or belongs to other religious groups.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.instat.gov.al/media/177358/njoftim_per_media_-_fjala_e_drejtorit_te_instat_ines_nurja_per_rezultatet_finale_te_census_2011.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326091156/http://www.instat.gov.al/media/177358/njoftim_per_media_-_fjala_e_drejtorit_te_instat_ines_nurja_per_rezultatet_finale_te_census_2011.pdf|url-status=dead|title=2011 Albanian Census|archive-date=26 March 2017}}</ref> Before World War II, there was given a distribution of 70% Muslims, 20% Eastern Orthodox, and 10% Roman Catholics.<ref name="cia">{{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=Albania|access-date=21 June 2013|year=2013}}</ref> Today, Gallup Global Reports 2010 shows that religion plays a role in the lives of only 39% of Albanians, and ranks Albania the thirteenth least religious country in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/128210/Gallup-Global-Reports.aspx |title=Gallup Global Reports |publisher=Gallup.com |access-date=25 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014034457/http://www.gallup.com/poll/128210/Gallup-Global-Reports.aspx |archive-date=14 October 2013}}</ref>

For part of its history, [[History of the Jews in Albania|Albania has also had a Jewish community]]. Members of the Jewish community were saved by a group of Albanians during the Nazi occupation.<ref name="Sarner1997">{{harvnb|Sarner|1997}}.</ref> Many left for Israel {{Circa|1990}}–1992 when the borders were opened after the fall of the communist regime, but about 200 Jews still live in Albania.

{| class="wikitable"
! Religion
! {{flagicon|Albania}} Albanians in Albania{{#tag:ref|Widely fluctuating numbers for groups in Albania are due to various overlapping definitions based on how groups can be defined, as religion can be defined in Albania either by family background, belief or practice|group=lower-alpha}}
! {{flagicon|Kosovo}} Albanians in Kosovo
! {{flagicon|North Macedonia}} Albanians in North Macedonia
! {{flagicon|Montenegro}} Albanians in Montenegro
! {{flagicon|Serbia}} Albanians in Serbia<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/SRB/INT_CERD_ADR_SRB_24619_E.doc|title=Population by national affiliation and religion, Census 2011|access-date=1 June 2020|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308091439/https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/SRB/INT_CERD_ADR_SRB_24619_E.doc|url-status=dead}}</ref>
! {{flagicon|Croatia}} Albanians in Croatia
! {{flagicon|Italy}} Albanians in Italy<ref name="ISTATreligion">{{Cite web|url=http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/169710|title=Appartenenza e pratica religiosa tra i cittadini stranieri|date=30 October 2014|website=istat.it|language=it}}</ref>
|-
|'''[[Islam]]'''
|''' 21%<ref name=AutreRegard>{{Cite web|title=Instantanés d'Albaníe, un autre regard sur les Balkans|year=2005|quotation=Etudiants en Tourisme et Actions Patrimoniales. (plus de 72% irréligieux ou non-pratiquants. 28% se répartissent en 21% musulmans, 6% orthodoxes, 3% catholiques. )|url=http://www.membres.lycos.fr/instantanesdalbanie/image/dossierdepresse.pdf|access-date=20 July 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614121944/http://www.membres.lycos.fr/instantanesdalbanie/image/dossierdepresse.pdf|archive-date=14 June 2007}}</ref> to 82%<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/table-muslim-population-by-country/|agency=Pew Research Center|title=Table: Muslim Population by Country|date=27 January 2011}}</ref>'''
|'''88.8''' to  '''95.60'''<ref name=SMRE>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smre-data.ch/en/data_exploring/region_cockpit#/mode/dataset_comparison/region/-99/period/2010/presentation/bar|title=SMRE|website=smre-data.ch|access-date=7 February 2019}}</ref>
|'''98.62'''<ref name="SMRE" />
|'''73.15'''
|'''71.06'''
|'''54.78'''
|'''41.49'''
|-
|''[[Sunni]]''
|''56.70''
|—
|—
|—
|—
|—
|—
|-
|''[[Bektashi]]''
|''2.09'' to ''7.5''<ref name="UNDP31" />
| —
| —
| —
| -
| —
| -
|-
|'''Christians'''
|'''9<ref name="AutreRegard" /> to 28.64'''<ref name="UNDP31" />
|'''3.69''' to '''6.20'''<ref name="SMRE" />
|'''1.37'''
|'''26.37'''
|'''19.54'''
|'''40.69'''
|'''38.85'''
|-
|''[[Catholic]]''
|''3%''<ref name="AutreRegard" /> to ''13.82''<ref name="UNDP31" />
|''2.20'' to ''5.80''<ref name="SMRE" />
|''1.37''
|''26.13''
|''16.84''
|''40.59''
|''27.67''
|-
|''[[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox]]''
|''6''<ref name="AutreRegard" /> to ''13.08''<ref name="UNDP31" />
|''1.48''
|—
|''0.12''
|''2.60''
|''0.01''
|''11.02''
|-
|''[[Protestants]]''
|''0.14''<!--census--> to ''1.74''<ref name=UNDP31>{{Cite news|url=http://www.al.undp.org/content/dam/albania/docs/religious%20tolerance%20albanian.pdf|title=TOLERANCA FETARE NË SHQIPËRI|page=31|publisher=UNDP|author=Institute of Democracy and Mediation|year=2018|access-date=20 March 2019|archive-date=19 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619164358/http://www.al.undp.org/content/dam/albania/docs/religious%20tolerance%20albanian.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|''0.16''
| —
| -
|''0.03''
| —
| —
|-
|''Other Christians''
|''0.07''
|—
|—
|''0.12''
|''0.07''
|''0.09''
|—
|-
|'''Unaffiliated''' or '''Irreligious'''
|'''24.21% to 62.7%'''<ref name=UNDP32>{{Cite news|url=http://www.al.undp.org/content/dam/albania/docs/religious%20tolerance%20albanian.pdf|title=TOLERANCA FETARE NË SHQIPËRI|page=32|publisher=UNDP|author=Institute of Democracy and Mediation|year=2018|access-date=20 March 2019|archive-date=19 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619164358/http://www.al.undp.org/content/dam/albania/docs/religious%20tolerance%20albanian.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
|[[Atheist]]
|''2.50% to 9%''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.diken.com.tr/arastirma-turkiyenin-yuzde-95i-tanriya-inaniyor-yuzde-74u-dindar/|title=Araştırma: Türkiye'nin yüzde 95'i tanrıya inanıyor, yüzde 74'ü 'dindar'|date=19 April 2017|website=Diken}}</ref>
|''0.07'' to  ''2.9''<ref name="SMRE" />
|—
|''0.11''
|''2.95''
|''1.80''
|''17.81''
|-
|Prefer to not answer
|''1%<ref name="UNDP31" /> to 13.79%''
|0.55
|0.19
|2.36
|1.58
|—
|—
|-
|Agnostic
|''5.58''<ref name="UNDP32" />
|
|
|
|0.02
|
|
|-
|Believers without denomination
|5.49
|—
|—
|—
|—
|—
|-
|Not relevant/not stated
|2.43
|0.06
|0.16
|0.36
|4.82
|—
|-
|'''Other religion'''
|'''1.19'''<ref name="UNDP31" />
|
|
|
|0.03
|
|1.85
|}
{{Clear}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Society}}
* [[Culture of Albania]]
* [[Geography of Albania]]
* [[History of Albania]]
* [[Lists of Albanians]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Cited sources ===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
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* {{Cite journal|last=Jagodić|first=Miloš|title=The Emigration of Muslims from the New Serbian Regions 1877/1878|url=http://balkanologie.revues.org/265|journal=Balkanologie|volume=2|issue=2|year=1998|doi=10.4000/balkanologie.265|s2cid=140637086 |url-access=subscription}}
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* {{Cite book|last=Riehl|first=Claudia Maria|chapter=Discontinious language spaces (Sprachinseln)|pages=332–354|editor1-last=Auer|editor1-first=Peter|editor2-last=Schmidt|editor2-first=Jürgen Erich|title=Language and Space: An International Handbook of Linguistic Variation. Theories and Methods|year=2010|location=Berlin|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-022027-8|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zuL5fCldNS4C&q=Arvanites+feudal}}
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* {{Cite book|last=Sarner|first=Harvey|title=Rescue in Albania: One Hundred Percent of Jews in Albania Rescued from Holocaust|year=1997|location=Cathedral City|publisher=Brunswick Press|url=http://www.juedisches-archiv-chfrank.de/kehilot/albania/alban-resc.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510075852/http://www.juedisches-archiv-chfrank.de/kehilot/albania/alban-resc.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 May 2008|isbn=978-1-888521-11-5}}
* {{Cite book|last=Saunders|first=Robert A.|title=Ethnopolitics in Cyberspace: The Internet, Minority Nationalism, and the Web of Identity|year=2011|location=Lanham|publisher=Lexington Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vM5hZEsdz94C&pg=PA98|isbn=978-0-7391-4194-6}}
* {{The Papacy and the Levant|volume=1}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Skendi|first=Stavro|title=Religion in Albania during the Ottoman rule|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/69374b2aeb4f4380ae1364da4d940882/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1817218|journal=Südost Forschungen|volume=15|year=1956|pages=311–327}}←
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*{{Cite book|last= Trnavci|first=Genc|editor-last1=Sellers|editor-first1=Mortimer|editor-last2=Tomaszewski|editor-first2=Tadeusz|title=The Rule of Law in Comparative Perspective|chapter=The Interaction of Customary Law with the Modern Rule of Law in Albania and Kosova|year=2010|publisher=Springer Verlag|isbn=978-90-481-3748-0|pages=201–215|volume=3|series=Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Rx7_KyUp7cC}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tsitselikis |first=Konstantinos |title=Old and New Islam in Greece: From historical minorities to immigrant newcomers |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |isbn=9789004221529 |year=2012 |page=311}}
* {{Cite journal|last1=Tsoutsoumpis|first1=Spyros|title=Violence, resistance and collaboration in a Greek borderland: the case of the Muslim Chams of Epirus |journal=Qualestoria |number=2 |date=December 2015 |pages=119–138 |url=https://www.academia.edu/24269752|access-date=14 June 2016}}
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* {{Cite book|last=Uka|first=Sabit|title=E drejta mbi vatrat dhe pasuritë reale dhe autoktone nuk vjetërohet: Të dhëna në formë rezimeje [The rights of homes and assets, real and autochthonous that does not disappear with time: Data given in the form of estate portions regarding inheritance]|year=2004d|location=Prishtina|publisher=Shoqata e Muhaxhirëvë të Kosovës|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R8tSGQAACAAJ&q=E+drejta+mbi+vatrat+dhe+pasurit%C3%AB+reale+dhe+autoktone+nuk+vjet%C3%ABrohet|isbn=9789951408097}}
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* {{Cite book|last=Vasiliev|first=Alexander A.|title=History of the Byzantine Empire, 324–1453|year=1958|location=Madison|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6PnAwAAQBAJ&q=History+of+the+Byzantine+Empire+Albanians+Greece+Advance+of+the+Albanians+to+the+south&pg=PA613|isbn=978-0-299-80926-3}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Veremis|first1=Thanos|last2=Kolipoulos|first2=John|chapter=The evolving Content of the Greek Nation|editor1-last=Couloumbis|editor1-first=Theodore A. |editor2-last=Kariotis|editor2-first=Theodore C.|editor3-last=Bello|editor3-first=Fotini|title=Greece in the twentieth century|year=2003|location=Portland|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-1-136-34652-1|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xYMsBgAAQBAJ&q=Assimilation+Arvanites&pg=PA24}}
* {{Cite book|last=Vickers|first=Miranda|title=The Albanians: a modern history|year=2011|location=London|publisher=IB Tauris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtQABAAAQBAJ&q=The+Albanians:+A+Modern+History+hapless&pg=PA83|isbn=978-0-85773-655-0}}
*{{Cite book|last=Villar|first=Francisco|title=Los indoeuropeos y los orígenes de Europa|language=es|publisher=Gredos|place=Madrid|year=1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5NbPAAACAAJ|isbn=84-249-1787-1}}
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*{{Cite book |last=Winnifrith |first= Tom |title= Nobody's Kingdom: A History of Northern Albania |year= 2020 |publisher = Signal Books }}
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{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* [https://www.scribd.com/doc/11444724/Books-about-Albania-and-the-Albanian-people Books about Albania and the Albanian people] (scribd.com)—Reference of books (and some journal articles) about Albania and the Albanian people; their history, language, origin, culture, literature, and so on public domain books, fully accessible online.
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060706152233/https://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr77.html Albanians in the Balkans]}}—[[U.S. Institute of Peace]] Report, November 2001
* [https://archive.org/details/TheAlbaniansAndTheirTerritories ''The Albanians and Their Territories''] by The Academy of Sciences of the PSR of Albania]

{{Albania topics}}{{Kosovo topics}}{{Ethnic groups in Albania}}
{{European Muslims}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Albanian people| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups divided by international borders]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Albania]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Croatia]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Greece]]
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[[Category:Ethnic groups in Kosovo]]
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[[Category:Ethnic groups in the Balkans]]
[[Category:History of the Albanians]]
[[Category:Indo-European peoples]]
[[Category:Muslim communities in Europe]]