Albanians (
Albanian: ''Shqiptarët'') are defined as an
ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common
Albanian culture, speaking the
Albanian language as a mother tongue and being of
Albanian descent. Some scholars believe that the Albanians are descendants of the
Illyrians and that the Albanian language derives from the now-extinct
Illyrian language, others however dispute this asserting that it derived from a dialect of the now-extinct
Thracian language.
About half of Albanians live in
Albania, with the second largest group living in the
UN administered Serbian province of
Kosovo and the
Republic of Macedonia (
FYROM). There are also Albanian minorities and immigrant communities in a number of other countries.
History of the term
Albanians are often claimed as the direct descendants of the ancient
Illyrians, or alternatively derived of
Thracian or
Dacian stock, or from a mixture of these. The name ''Albanian'' itself was first mentioned in the 2nd century
BCE by
Polybius (''Arbanios, Arbanitai'' with their city ''Arbon''), the 1st century
CE by
Pliny (''Olbonensis''), and the 2nd century
CE by geographer and astronomer
Ptolemy (''Albanoi''), as one of the important Illyrian tribes situated where is now Central Albania with Albanopolis as their main city.
Albani (Albanoi), tribe in ancient Illyria, from Alexander G. Findlay's ''Classical Atlas to Illustrate Ancient Geography,'' New York, 1849
The ethnonym applied to the people now known as Albanians is first attested from the 11th century (e.g.
Anna Komnene, ''
Alexiad'' 4.8.4), the first reference to a ''lingua albanesca'' dates to the later 13th century.
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:
Europe
Approximately 7 million Albanians are to be found within the Balkan peninsula with only about half this number residing in
Albania and the other divided between
Serbia (of which 1,9 million in the province of
Kosovo)
Montenegro, the
Republic of Macedonia,
Greece and to a much smaller extent
Bosnia,
Croatia,
Slovenia and
Romania.
Albanians in
Greece, because of historical migration, are divided into different groupings. The first are the
Arvanites, descendants of ethnic Albanian immigrants from the 11th to the 15th century that have intermingled and been largely assimilated into the dominant Greek population and generally do not self-identify as Albanians. A second one are
Albanian nationals who migrated during the
1990s, mainly as illegal immigrants. According to the
2001 census, there were 445,000 holders of Albanian citizenship in Greece. The
Watson Institute raised this number to 600,000 in 2004
[14].
Also an unknown number of Orthodox
Cham Albanians reside in the Greek region of
Epirus (
Albanian: ''Çamëria''). There were thought to be a population of around 19,000 Muslim Chams before the end of
World War II who 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.)
Whereas approximately 1 million are dispersed throughout the rest of Europe, most of these in the
United Kingdom,
Germany,
Switzerland,
Sweden,
Italy (the majority having arrived since 1991, but also older populations of
Arbëreshë),
Austria and
France.
Rest of the world
Americas: In the
United States the number reaches 114,000 according to the latest
2000 US Census, while in
Canada approximately 15,000 as of the 2001 census.
Oceania: In
Australia and
New Zealand 12,000 in total.
Africa: In
Egypt there are 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. A small community also resides in
South Africa.
Kosovo & Republic of Macedonia
Both the Province of
Kosovo 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 political rights. Further clashes were also reported in the
Preševo Valley during the period between 2000 to 2001 (in the lead-up to the Macedonian conflict).
The fate of Kosovo remains uncertain owing to the reluctance of the Albanian majority in the province to accept the restoration of Serbian sovereignty and the reluctance of the
United Nations and NATO to separate the territory from the
Republic of Serbia in accordance with from 1999.
The conflict in the Republic of Macedonia seems to have calmed down. It was resolved by the Macedonian government giving the Albanian minority a greater role in the government and the right to use the
Albanian language in areas where the Albanians form a majority.
It is worth mentioning here that rights to use the
Albanian language in education and government were given and guaranteed by the Constitution of
SFRY and were widely utilized in Serbia, Macedonia, and in Montenegro long before
Dissolution of Yugoslavia. The only thing that changed in that matter is that before NATO intervention in 1999, there were information services and news ("Dnevnik") broadcasted in
Albanian language on the Serbian National Radio and Television, RTS.
Religion
Main articles: Religion in Albania
=Ancient Illyrian Religion=
The two main
Illyrian cults were the
Cult of the Sun and the
Cult of the Snake.
[Aleksandar Stipčević - Iliri: povijest, život, kultura, Zagreb, Školska knjiga, 1989][2] The main festivals were the seasonal summer and winter festivals during the solstices and the spring and autumn festivals during the equinoxes. An organic system of assigning human personifications to natural phenomena was culturally developed and remnants of these still appear in everyday Albanian folklore and tradition.
=Development of Modern Albanian Religious Affiliation=
The original culture continued until the Roman and Byzantine Empires crowned
Christianity as official religion of the regime, thus suffusing
Paganism, until both were later overshadowed 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,
Roman Catholicism and
Paganism kept being practiced in a lower scale. During the 20th century the
monarchy and later the
totalitarian state followed a systematic
dereligionization of the nation and the national culture. This policy was mainly applied and felt within the borders of the present Albanian state, thus producing a
nonreligious 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. As a result of this the current Albanian state has also brought pagan festivals to life, like the lunar
Spring festival (
Albanian: ''Dita e Verës'') held yearly on
March 14th in the city of
Elbasan, which is a national holiday.
Most Albanians are
Muslims[3][4] (
Sunni Muslims and
Bektashis). It is estimated thet 70% of Albanians in the Republic of Albania are Muslim, 99% in the Province of Kosovo and 90% in the Republic of Macedonia are believed to be Muslim.(CIA Factbook 2007). Although there are also
Orthodox Christians(predominantly in Southern Albania, bordering
Greece) and
Roman Catholics(predominantly in Northern Albania, bordering the
Republic of Montenegro). After
1992 an influx of foreign missionaries has brought more religious diversity with groupings such as
Jehova Witnesses,
Mormons,
Hindus,
Bahá'í,
Scientologists, a variety of
Christian denominations and many others. This rich blend of religions has rarely caused religious strife and fanaticism and 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,
[15] they left for Israel circa 1990-1992.
Other terms used
The Albanians are and have been referred to by other terms as well. Some of them are:
★
Illyrians; old term used during antiquity up to the
Byzantine Empire.
★
Macedonians; old term used by local and other European authors during the Middle Ages.
★
Epirotes; old term widely used during the Middle Ages by local and foreign authors.
★
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; old term used mainly from Turks and by extension by European authors during the Ottoman Empire. A derivate of Arbër, Albanian.
★
Skipetars; the historical rendering of the ethnonym Shqiptar, or Shqyptar by French, Austrian and German authors, mainly during the 18th-20th century.
Misnaming
Because of confounding nationality with religious affiliation many authors from Byzantine times have also called and registered Albanians with the following names:
★
Latins; term used during the Middle Ages from Venetian and other European authors to denote Albanians of Catholic faith mainly in the Northern regions up to the 19th century.
★
Greeks; old term used generically from Byzantine times up to the 20th century by other European authors to denote Albanians of Orthodox faith in the Southern regions, as also those migrating, during the Ottoman Occupation, from Epirus and Peloponnese to Italy. Toponyms reflecting this historical misnaming began being corrected in Italy during the 1930s.
★
Serbs; old term as above, used by authors to denote Albanians of Orthodox faith in the Northern regions up to the 19th century.
★
Turks; old term used by ecclesiastical writings and embraced by other European authors to denote Albanians of Muslim faith, and generally all Albanian legions of the Ottoman army.
Historical individuals
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 half-Danish mother.
Notes and references
1. statcan.ca
2. Mark Tirta, "Mitologjia ndër shqiptarë", Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë, Tirana, 2004
3. ''The World Factbook'' - Albania
4. ''BBC'' - Muslims in Europe: Country guide: Albania
Reading
Edith Durham, ''
The Burden of the Balkans'' (1905)
See also
External links
★
Albanians in Turkey
★
Albanian Canadian League Information Service (ACLIS)
★
Albanians in the Balkans U.S. Institute of Peace Report, November 2001
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
