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Albanians
Geographical distribution Native Albania Kosovo Croatia Greece Italy Montenegro North Macedonia Serbia Diaspora Greece Italy Australia Bulgaria Denmark Egypt Finland Germany Norway Romania South America Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom United States
Albanian culture Architecture Art (Traditional tattooing) Besa Cuisine Customary law Dance Dress Epic poetry (Kângë Kreshnikësh) Folklore Gjakmarrje Gjamë/Vajtim Literature Music Oda Paganism Symbols Traditions Tribes (farefisní)
Albanian language Gheg Arbanasi Upper Reka Istrian Tosk Arbëresh Arvanitika Cham Lab
Religion Christianity Catholicism Italo-Albanian Church Albanian Greek-Catholic Church Orthodoxy Islam Sunnism Bektashism Judaism
History of Albania Origin of the Albanians
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The Albanians are an ethnic group primarily associated with Albania, Kosovo and the Albanian language. About half of today's Albanians live in the Republic of Albania, with the second largest group living in the UN administered province of Kosovo (an autonomous province of Serbia), central Serbia, Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia. There are also Albanian minorities and immigrant communities in a number of other countries.

Population

Due to the high rate of migration of various ethnic groups throughout the Balkans in the last two decades, exact figures are difficult to obtain. A tenuous breakdown of Albanians by location is as follows:

• 3,385,000 in Albania according to CIA World Factbook
• 2,179,000 in Serbia, of which 2,112,000 in the province of Kosovo (the OSCE estimates)
• 31,000 in Montenegro (according to the 2003 census; an estimated 50,000 by Albanian accounts).
• 509,000 in the Republic of Macedonia (from the 2002 census).
• more than 233,000 Albanians in Italy, the majority having arrived since 1991. See also Arbëreshë.
• In Greece, there were more waves of immigration from Albania, from the 11th century to the 1990s. As such, they are divided into different groups:
  • Cham Albanians: an unknown number reside in the Greek region of Epirus (Çamëria in Albanian) - there were thought to be around 19,000 before the end of World War II. The Muslim Cham Albanians left Greece for Albania and Turkey in 1945; the exact reasons for their departure vary depending on source. According to Greek sources, it was to avoid the impending military court sentences, a consequence of their collaboration with the Italian/German occupying forces. Albanian sources claim they were forcefully expelled by the EDES troops of the Greek resistance for having collaborated with the Italian/German occupying forces.
  • The Arvanites are the descendants of ethnic Albanian immigrants from 11th century to the 15th century. They have been largely assimilated into the dominant Greek society and generally do not self-identify as Albanians.
  • Albanian nationals who arrived during the 1990s, mainly as illegal immigrants. According to the 2001 census, there were 443,550 holders of Albanian citizenship in Greece. The Watson Institute rose this number to 600,000 in 2004 .
• In Turkey: demographers estimate up to 5 million of Albanian descent . However, many Albanians, who immigrated from their homelands to Turkey, have been assimilated and do not espouse ethnic Albanian affiliation. Turkey does not recognize any minorities other than those mentioned in the Treaty of Lausanne, and thus does not compile official census figures for ethnic Albanians.
• In Australia: by birthplace of individual, the total number of persons born in Albania is 1,451. By ancestry, the count of responses with Albanian ancestry is 10,459 according to 2001 Census of Population by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) regarding Albanians living in Australia.
• Albanians living permanently in Scandinavia:
  • in Sweden: 35,000 Albanians.
  • in Denmark: 8,000 Albanians.
  • in Norway: 7,000 Albanians.
• In Ukraine, 5,000 Albanians.
• In Egypt: 18,000 Albanians, mostly Tosk speakers. Many are descendants of the soldiers of Mehmet Ali. A large part of the former nobility of Egypt was Albanian in origin.
• In the United States: 114,000 Albanians, according to the latest 2000 US Census.
• In Canada: 14,935, Albanians from Albania as of the 2001 census.

Ethnic subgroups

There are two major dialect groups, the Ghegs, to the north of the Shkumbin River, and the Tosks, to the south. Kosovar Albanians are Ghegs. There is a large intermediate area between the two regions, which includes the capital, Tirana.

The Ghegs, who make up two-thirds of Albanians, are less intermarried with non-Albanians than the Tosks, who throughout history were more often subjected to foreign rule and other foreign influences. In the past, the Ghegs were organized in clans and the Tosks in a semifeudal society. Before World War II the Ghegs dominated Albanian politics, but after the war many Tosks came to power because the new Communist government drew most of its support from Tosks.

During Enver Hoxha’s regime in Albania, the cultural and economic differences between the Ghegs and the Tosks were suppressed. The 1997 civil disturbances in Albania largely followed these ethnic lines, with Ghegs supporting Berisha and Tosks opposing him.

Culture

Contribution to humanity

Prominent individuals from Albania have included the defender of Albania during the mid-15th century Skenderbeg, the writer Ismail Kadare, the painter Ibrahim Kodra, the composer Simon Gjoni, the Nobel Prize winner Ferid Murad, the Olympic athlete Klodiana Shala, the Roman Catholic missionary Mother Teresa and Pope Clement XI.Other well known individuals include the prime minister of the Ottoman Empire Ferhat Pasha and Mehemet Ali the viceroy of Egypt. John Belushi and his brother Jim Belushi were of Albanian parents who immigrated in the USA after WWII. Also the American actress Eliza Dushku is born of an Albanian father and a Danish mother.

Language

Most Albanians speak the Albanian language, a member of the Indo-European language family. There are several variants of Albanian. The two main Albanian variants are Tosk and Gheg. Some members of the Albanian diaspora do not speak the language (mostly in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom) but are still considered Albanian by ethnic origin or descent. Non-Albanians who studied the Albanian language include prominent individuals such as Franz Bopp, Norbert Jokl and Robert Elsie.

Religion

Since Ottoman rule, the majority of Albanians have been Muslim. Most of these are Sunni Muslims, and a minority (20% of total Muslims) are Bektashi. Significant numbers of Albanians are Albanian Orthodox or Roman Catholic, and some have no formal religious affiliation. This rich blend of religions has rarely caused religious strife and fanaticism; today people of different religions are freely intermarrying. For most of its history, Albania has had a noticeable Jewish community. Most of this community was saved by the Albanian people during the Nazi occupation . According to Yad Vashem's database, 67 Jews lost their lives in Albania. The German test for Jewish identification was circumcision (ie. if men were circumcised, then they were Jews). However, Muslims were also circumcised and due to the large population of Muslims in Albania this test was not valid. Furthermore, Germans remained for only 14 months in Albania, from September 1943 to November 1944. By that time, news on the Holocaust began spreading, causing more Jews to flee. The majority of Albanian Jews have left to settle in Israel, but a small number still remain..

Symbolism

The flag of Albania depicts a double-headed eagle on a red background, which was raised by the Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg in his Albanian rebellion against the Ottoman Turks and which bore Skanderbeg's heraldic emblem. The Albanians are called Shqiptarët (originally Shqyptarët) in the Albanian language, which freely translates as "The Sons of Eagles".

History

The Albanians are descendants of ancient Balkan people, but the exact identification is still under debate, see Origin of Albanians. Most historians and linguists support either an Illyrian or Daco-Thracian origin. They were first mentioned in the Balkans in 1043 AD. Islam replaced Christianity as the majority religion during the period of Ottoman Turkish rule from the 15th century until 1912, though Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism are also practiced. Among the poorest of Europe's nationalities, in the latter half of the 20th century Albanians experienced the highest rate of natural population growth of any of Europe's major indigenous ethnic groups, increasing their numbers from 1.5 million around 1900 and fewer than 2.5 million in 1950.

Ethnic Albanians

Albanian is also a term often given to what would otherwise be called an ethnic Albanian. This is usually someone who is considered by himself or others to be Albanian or of Albanian descent. Several distinguishing characteristics might be:

• Cultural connection with Albanian culture
• Speaking the Albanian language
• Having ancestors who lived in Albania or an area out of which the current Albanian state was formed (i.e. the occupied lands that were part of the Ottoman Empire)

There are ethnic Albanian communities in several European countries, as well as in the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia and Ukraine.

Albanians outside Republic of Albania

Both Kosovo (a Serbian province) and the western regions of the Republic of Macedonia have in recent years seen armed movements (Kosovo Liberation Army, UCPMB, Macedonian NLA) aiming either for independence, greater autonomy, or increased human and political rights.

The fate of Kosovo remains uncertain owing to the reluctance of the Albanian majority to contemplate a restoration of Serbian sovereignty and of the United Nations and NATO to separate the territory definitively from Serbia in contravention of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 from 1999.

The situation in the Republic of Macedonia seems to have been resolved by giving the Albanian minority greater government representation and the right to use the Albanian language in education and government.

Notes and references

1. CIA Factbook
2. ^ http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/kosovo/SoE/popullat.htm
3. 2002 census
4. 2001 census
5. 2000 census
6. 2001 census
7. medienmitteilungen.Document.24786
8. http://www.destatis.de/basis/e/bevoe/bevoetab10.htm
9. 2001 census
10. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=TRE

See also

Part of a series on
Indo-European topics
Languages List of Indo-European languages Extant Albanoid Albanian Armenian Balto-Slavic Baltic Slavic Celtic Germanic Hellenic Greek Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Nuristani Italic Romance Extinct Anatolian Tocharian Paleo-Balkan Dacian Illyrian Liburnian Messapic Mysian Paeonian Phrygian Thracian Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language Phonology: Sound laws, Accent, Ablaut Hypothetical Balkanic Daco-Thracian Graeco-Albanian Graeco-Armenian Graeco-Aryan Graeco-Phrygian Indo-Hittite Italo-Celtic Thraco-Illyrian Grammar Vocabulary Root Verbs Nouns Pronouns Numerals Particles Other Proto-Albanian Proto-Anatolian Proto-Armenian Proto-Germanic (Proto-Norse) Proto-Italo-Celtic (Proto-Celtic · Proto-Italic) Proto-Greek Proto-Balto-Slavic (Proto-Slavic · Proto-Baltic) Proto-Indo-Iranian (Proto-Iranian)
Philology Hittite inscriptions Hieroglyphic Luwian Linear B Rigveda Avesta Homer Behistun Greek epigraphy Phrygian epigraphy Messapic epigraphy Latin epigraphy Gaulish epigraphy Runic epigraphy Ogham Gothic Bible Bible translations into Armenian Tocharian script Old Irish glosses Albanian Kanun
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Peoples and societies Bronze Age Anatolian peoples (Hittites) Armenians Mycenaean Greeks Indo-Iranians Iron Age Indo-Aryans Indo-Aryans Iranians Iranians East Asia Wusun Yuezhi Europe Celts Gauls Celtiberians Insular Celts Cimmerians Hellenic peoples Italic peoples Germanic peoples Paleo-Balkan/Anatolia Thracians Dacians Illyrians Paeonians Phrygians Scythians Middle Ages East Asia Tocharians Europe Albanians Balts Slavs Norsemen/Medieval Scandinavians Middle Ages Indo-Aryan Medieval India Iranian Greater Iran
Religion and mythology Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European mythology Proto-Indo-Iranian paganism Historical Vedic religion Ancient Iranian religion Historical Hittite Indo-Aryan Vedic Hinduism Buddhism Jainism Sikhism Iranian Persian Zoroastrianism Kurdish Yazidism Yarsanism Scythian Ossetian Others Armenian European Paleo-Balkan (Albanian · Illyrian · Thracian · Dacian) Greek Roman Celtic Irish Scottish Breton Welsh Cornish Germanic Anglo-Saxon Continental Norse Baltic Latvian Lithuanian Slavic Practices Fire rituals Horse sacrifice Sati Winter solstice/Yule
Indo-European studies Scholars Marija Gimbutas J. P. Mallory Institutes Copenhagen Studies in Indo-European Publications Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture The Horse, the Wheel, and Language Journal of Indo-European Studies Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch Indo-European Etymological Dictionary
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• Albanoi
• Albanians in Kosovo
• Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia
• Albanians in Greece
• Albanians of Romania
• Cham Albanians
• Arvanites
• Albanians in Montenegro
• Albanians in Serbia proper
• Demographics of Albania
• History of Albania
• History of the Republic of Macedonia
• Kosovo war
• List of Albanians
• List of Albanian-Americans
• Albanian American

External links

• Home of Albanians Online
• www.Arnavut.com - Albanians in Turkey
• www.arnavutum.com - Albanians in Turkey
• www.arnavutweb.info - Albanians in Turkey (index)
• www.ArnavutHaber.com - Albanians in Turkey(News)
• Albanian Canadian League Information Service (ACLIS)
• Albanians in the Balkans U.S. Institute of Peace Report, November 2001

• Ethnic groups in Albania
• Ethnic groups in Europe
• Ethnic groups in Kosovo
• Ethnic groups in Macedonia
• Ethnic groups in Montenegro
• Ethnic groups in Serbia
• Ethnic groups in Greece
• Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom
• Indo-European peoples
• Ethnic groups in the Republic of Macedonia