Albanians

Coordinates	7°28′47″N78°49′4″N
Group	Albanians Shqiptarët
Pop	approx. 7.8-7.9 Million
Popplace	Albania approx. 3,115,000 (est.)
Region1	Balkans:
Pop1	6 Million
Region2
Pop2	1,587,000
Ref2	UN estimate, Kosovo’s population estimates range from 1.9 to 2.4 million. The last two population census conducted in 1981 and 1991 estimated Kosovo’s population at 1.6 and 1.9 million respectively, but the 1991 census probably under-counted Albanians. The latest estimate in 2001 by OSCE puts the number at 2.4 Million. The World Factbook gives an estimate of 1,804,838 persons living in Kosovo for the year 2009, 88% of them are Albanians. (see ).}}

|region3 = |pop3 = 500,000 |ref3 = }} |region4 = |pop4 = 506,083 |ref4 = }} |region5 = |pop5 = 274,390 - 600,000 |ref5 = , }} |region6 = |pop6 = 61,647 |ref6 = , pp. 12-13}} |region7 = |pop7 = 33,600 |ref7 = |region8 = |pop8 = 15,082 |ref8 = |region9 = |pop9 = 10,000 |ref9 = }} |region10 = |pop10 = 6,186 |ref10 = }} |region11 = Rest of Europe: |pop11 = 1,426,788+ |ref11 = |region12 = |pop12 = 700,000 |ref12 = }} |region13 = |pop13 = 320,000 |ref13 = |region14 = |pop14 = 200,000 |ref14 = }} |region15 = |pop15 = 8,500 |ref15 = |region16 = |pop16 = 60,000 |ref16 = |region17 = |pop17 = 30,000 |ref17 = }} |region18 = |pop18 = 10,000 |ref18 = |region19 = |pop19 = 8,000 |ref19 = }} |region20 = |pop20 = 5,000 |ref20 = |region21 = |pop21 = 2,788 |ref21 = |publisher=Statbel.fgov.be |date= |accessdate=2010-09-22}}}} |region22 = Northern America: |pop22 = 217,553+ |ref22 = |region23 = |pop23 = 201,118 |ref23 = }} |region24 = |pop24 = 16,435 |ref24 = }} |languages = Albanian (Gheg, Tosk, Arvanitika, Arbëresh, Cham) |religions = Albanians are predominantly Muslim. In Albania there is a significant Christian minority with some professing non-religious . |related= Indo-Europeans |footnotes = Albanians are not recognized as a minority in Turkey. However approximately 500,000 people are reported to profess an Albanian identity. A more accurate number is hard to obtain, as most of Albanians living in Turkey do not speak Albanian, and some of them have only partial Albanian ancestry.
The total number of Albanian immigrants is obscure due to difficulties with identifying them as Albanians from Kosovo or Albania, and because some of them are illegal. }} Albanians () are a nation and ethnic group from southeast Europe who live in Albania, Kosovo and neighboring countries. They speak the Albanian language. Less than half of all Albanians live in Albania, with other large groups residing in Kosovo, Turkey, the Republic of Macedonia, Italy, Montenegro and Greece. The Albanian diaspora also exists in a number of other countries.

Ethnonym

While the exonym Albania for the general region inhabited by the Albanians does hark back to Classical Antiquity, and possibly to an Illyrian tribe, the name was lost within the Albanian language, the Albanian endonym being shqiptar, from the term for the Albanian language, shqip, a derivation of the verb shqiptoj "to speak clearly". This theory pertains to Hahn and it holds that perhaps the word is ultimately a loan from Latin excipio. Thus, the Albanian endonym, like Slav and others, is in origin a term for "those who speak [intelligibly, the same language]". However another plausible theory has been advanced by Maximilian Lambertz to explain the endonym as derived from the Albanian noun shqype or shqiponjë (eagle), which, according to Albanian folk etymology, denoted a bird totem dating from the times of Skanderbeg, as displayed on the Albanian flag.

In the 2nd century AD, Ptolemy, the geographer and astronomer from Alexandria, drafted a map that shows the city of Albanopolis (Greek,"Ἀλβανόπολις") (located Northeast of Durrës). Ptolemy also mentions the Illyrian tribe named Albanoi, who lived around this city.

In History written in 1079–1080, the Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates referred to the Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople in 1043 and to the Arbanitai as subjects of the duke of Dyrrachium. It is disputed, however, whether that refers to Albanians in an ethnic sense. The first reference to the Albanian language dates to the later 13th century (around 1285).

The Albanians are and have been referred to by other terms as well. Some of them are:

Arbër, Arbën, Arbëreshë; the old native term denoting ancient and medieval Albanians and sharing the same root with the latter. At the time the country was called Arbër (Gheg: Arbën) and Arbëria (Gheg: Arbënia). This term is still used for the Albanians that migrated to Italy during the Middle Ages.

Arnauts (ارناود); old term used mainly from Turks and by extension by European authors during the Ottoman Empire. A derivate of the Turkish Arvanid (اروانيد), which derives from the Greek Arvanites.

Skipetars; the historical rendering of the ethnonym Shqiptar (or Shqyptar by French, Austrian and German authors) in use from the 18th century (but probably earlier) to the present, the literal translation of which is subject of the eagle. The term Šiptari is a derivation used by Yugoslavs which the Albanians consider derogatory, preferring Albanci instead.

History

Albanians in the Middle Ages

What is possibly the earliest written reference to the Albanians is that to be found in an old Bulgarian text compiled around the beginning of the eleventh century. It was discovered in a Serbian manuscript dated 1628 and was first published in 1934 by Radoslav Grujic. This fragment of a legend from the time of Tsar Samuel endeavours, in a catechismal 'question and answer' form, to explain the origins of peoples and languages. It divides the world into seventy-two languages and three religious categories: Orthodox, half-believers (i.e. non-Orthodox Christians) and non-believers. The Albanians find their place among the nations of half-believers. If we accept the dating of Grujic, which is based primarily upon the contents of the text as a whole, this would be the earliest written document referring to the Albanians as a people or language group.

It can be seen that there are various languages on earth. Of them, there are five Orthodox languages: Bulgarian, Greek, Syrian, Iberian (Georgian) and Russian. Three of these have Orthodox alphabets: Greek, Bulgarian and Iberian. There are twelve languages of half-believers: Alamanians, Franks, Magyars (Hungarians), Indians, Jacobites, Armenians, Saxons, Lechs (Poles), Arbanasi (Albanians), Croatians, Hizi, Germans.

The first undisputed mention of Albanians in the historical record is attested in Byzantine source for the first time in 1079-1080, in a work titled History by Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates, who referred to the Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople in 1043 and to the Arbanitai as subjects of the duke of Dyrrachium. It is disputed, however, whether the "Albanoi" of the events of 1043 refers to Albanians in an ethnic sense or whether "Albanoi" is a reference to Normans from Sicily under an archaic name (there was also tribe of Italy by the name of "Albanoi"). However a later reference to Albanians from the same Attaliates, regarding the participation of Albanians in a rebellion ingr 1078, is undisputed. At this point, they are already fully Christianized, although Albanian mythology and folklore are part of the Paleo-Balkan pagan mythology, in particular showing Greek influence.

In the beginning of the 13th century the two main centers of Albanian settlements were, one around Devoll river and the other in north, around the region which was known with the name Arbanon.

It was in 1190, when a local Albanian noble called Progon created the Principality of Arbër, with its capitaj at Krujë. After the fall of Progon Dynasty in 1216, the principality came under Grigor Kamona and Gulam of Albania. Finally the Principality was dissolved on 1255.

In 1271 Charles of Anjou after he captured Durrës from Despotate of Epirus, created the Kingdom of Albania. In 14th century a number of Albanian principalities were created.

Albanians under the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman supremacy in the Balkan region began in 1385 with the Battle of Savra but was briefly interrupted in the 15th century, when Gjergj Kastrioti, an Albanian warrior known as Skanderbeg, allied with some Albanian chiefs, formed the League of Lezhe and fought-off Turkish rule from 1443–1478 (although Kastrioti died in 1468). Kastrioti's strongholds included Kruja, Shkodra, Durres, Lezha, Petrela, Koxhaxhik and Berat.

Upon the Ottomans' return, a large number of Albanians fled to Italy, Greece and Egypt and maintained their Arbëresh identity.

Albanian national awakening

By the 1870s, the Sublime Porte's reforms aimed at checking the Ottoman Empire's disintegration had clearly failed. The image of the "Turkish yoke" had become fixed in the nationalist mythologies and psyches of the empire's Balkan peoples, and their march toward independence quickened. The Albanians, because of the higher degree of Islamic influence, their internal social divisions, and the fear that they would lose their Albanian-populated lands to the emerging Balkan states—Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Greece—were the last of the Balkan peoples to desire division from the Ottoman Empire.

Distribution

Balkans

Approximately 6 million Albanians are to be found within the Balkan peninsula with only about half this number residing in Albania and the other divided between Kosovo, Montenegro, the Republic of Macedonia, Greece and to a much smaller extent Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia.

Albania

Albania has an estimated 3.2 million inhabitants, of which Albanians amounting to 98.6% of the country's total population, making Albania one of the ethnically most homogenous states of Europe.

Former Yugoslavia

An estimated 2.5 million Albanians live in the territory of Former Yugoslavia, the greater part (close to two million) in Kosovo.

Rights to use the Albanian language in education and government were given and guaranteed by the 1974 Constitution of SFRY and were widely utilized in Macedonia and in Montenegro before the Dissolution of Yugoslavia.

Greece

Due to different waves of migration, Albanians and groups of Albanian descent are generally divided into three distinct groups.

The first group is that of Arvanites and Albanian-speakers of Western Thrace, who retain a distinct ethnic identity, but self-identify nationally as Greeks. The Arvanites are descended from Tosk Albanians that migrated to Greece during the Middle Ages. 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 with the modern Albanian nation. They reportedly resent the designation "Albanians". 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 second group is that of the Cham Albanians and their descendants, in Epirus, in northwestern Greece. Muslim Chams were expelled from Epirus during World War II, by an anti-communist resistance group, as a result of their participation in a communist resistance group and the collaboration with the Axis occupation.

Alongside these two indigenous groups, about 10 percent of the population of Albania entered Greece after the fall of Communism, forming the third community of Albanian origin in Greece, the largest single expatriate group in the country today and the country's largest population group after the ethnic Greek majority. Their numbers are thought to range between 200,000 and 500,000.

Diaspora

The largest Albanian diasporic communities outside of the Balkans are found in Turkey (about 1.3 million, 13% of Albanians, 1.7% of host population), Italy (260,000), the United States (201,118; 0.09% of the total US population), Switzerland (ca. 200,000; about 2.5% of the total Swiss population), and Germany (over 300,000).

Europe

Approximately 3 million are dispersed throughout the rest of Europe, most of these in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and France.

Italy has a historical Albanian minority known as the Arbëreshë which are scattered across Southern Italy, but the majority of Italo-Albanians have arrived since 1991 to surpass that of the older populations of Arbëreshë.

Turkey

According to a 2008 report prepared for the National Security Council of Turkey by academics of three Turkish universities in eastern Anatolia, there were approximately 1,300,000 people of Albanian descent living in Turkey. A part of these people have assimilated to the culture of Turkey, and consider themselves more Turkish than Albanian. Nonetheless, more than 500,000 families of Albanian descents still recognize their ancestry like their languages, culture and traditions.

Egypt

In Egypt there are 18,000 Albanians, mostly Tosk speakers. Many are descendants of the soldiers of Mehmet Ali, founder of modern Egypt. A large part of the former nobility of Egypt was Albanian in origin.

Overseas

According to data from the 2008 Census of the United States Government, there are 201,118 Albanian Americans (US citizens of full or partial Albanian descent).

In Australia and New Zealand 22,000 in total. Albanians are also known to reside in China, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore, but the numbers are generally small. 200,000 in all these countries. Albanians have been present in Arab countries such as Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria for about 5 centuries as a legacy of Ottoman Turkish rule.

Language

The Albanian language forms a separate branch of Indo-European languages family tree. A traditional view links the origin of Albanian with Illyrian, though this theory is broadly contested and challenged.

Unattested prior to the second half of the 15th century, the Albanian language is one of the youngest languages of Europe in terms of first written account.

Albanian in a revised form of the Tosk dialect is the official language of Albania and Kosovo; and is official in the municipalities where there are more than 20% ethnic Albanian inhabitants in the Republic of Macedonia. It is also an official language of Montenegro where it is spoken in the municipalities with ethnic Albanian populations.

Religion

The Albanians first appear in the historical record in Byzantine sources of the late 11th century. At this point, they were already fully Christianized. Christianity was later overtaken by Islam, which kept the scepter of the major religion during the period of Ottoman Turkish rule from the 15th century until year 1912. Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism continued to be practiced with less frequency.

During the 20th century the monarchy and later the totalitarian state followed a systematic secularization of the nation and the national culture. This policy was chiefly applied within the borders of the current Albanian state. It produced a secular majority in the 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 lunar Spring festival () held yearly on March 14 in the city of Elbasan. It is a national holiday.

A recent Pew Research Center demographic study put the percentage of Muslims in Albania at 79.9%. Most of the Muslims in Albania are Sunni Muslims and Bektashi Shi'a Muslims There are also Orthodox Christians, predominantly in Southern Albania, bordering Greece, and Roman Catholics is the main religion among those Albanians living predominantly in northern Albania, bordering the Republic of Montenegro. After 1992 an influx of foreign missionaries has brought more religious diversity with groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Hindus, Bahá'í, a variety of Christian denominations and others. This rich blend of religions has however rarely caused religious strife. People of different religions freely intermarry. For part of its history, Albania has also had a Jewish community. Some of the members of the Jewish community were saved by a group of Albanians during the Nazi occupation. Many left for Israel circa 1990-1992 after borders were open due to fall of communist regime in Albania, while in modern times about 200 Albanian Jews still live in Albania.

Culture

Albanian music displays a variety of influences. Albanian folk music traditions differ by region, with major stylistic differences between the traditional music of the Ghegs in the north and Tosks in the south. Modern popular music has developed around the centers of Korca, Shkodër and Tirana. Since the 1920s, some composers such as Fan S. Noli have also produced works of Albanian classical music.

Notable Albanians

Gallery

Notes

Footnotes

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Citations

External links

Albanians in Turkey

Albanian Canadian League Information Service (ACLIS)

Albanians in the Balkans U.S. Institute of Peace Report, November 2001

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, etc. Public domain books, fully accessible online.

* Category:Ethnic groups in Europe Category:Ethnic groups in Albania Category:Ethnic groups in Kosovo Category:Ethnic groups in the Republic of Macedonia Category:Ethnic groups in Montenegro Category:Ethnic groups in Serbia Category:Ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina Category:Ethnic groups in Greece Category:Ethnic groups in Italy Category:Ethnic groups in Turkey Category:Indo-European peoples Category:Muslim communities Category:Ethnic groups in the Balkans

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