The Albanians or Shqiptarë are a people of the western Balkan peninsula, speaking the Albanian language and numbering today approximately seven million worldwide.

The Albanians are called "Shqipetaret" in the Albanian language, which is freely translated as "The Sons of Eagles". The flag of Albania includes a bicephalic eagle.

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:

• 3,129,000 in Albania according to the Institute of Statistics for 2002, but estimates for 2002 [1] put it at around 3,544,841
• 2,770,000 in Serbia, Kosovo (official censa where available added with OSCE estimate where no census has been carried out)
  • 2,730,000 in Kosovo. The OSCE estimates about 2,672,000 Albanians in Kosovo and the 2002 census in the remainder of Serbia gives 67,000 more. (last census, 1981: 1,303,034 Albanians in Serbia)
  • 31,000 in Montenegro according to the 2003 census; an estimated 50,000 [2] 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 [3]. See also: Arbëreshë
• In Greece, there were more waves of immigration from Albania, from the 13th century to the 1990s. As such, they are divided into different groups:
  • "Cham" Muslim Albanians; an unknown number reside in the Greek region of Epirus (Çamëria in Albanian) - there were thought to be around 100,000 before the end of World War II, during which many fled to Albania.
  • The ancestors of the Arvanites are thought to have arrived from Albania during the Middle Ages, speaking a language closely related to Tosk; today they consider themselves Greek and few speak their ancestral tongue; between 140,000 and 1,600,000.
  • Albanian nationals, including many ethnic Greeks and Greek-identifying Aromanians or Arvanitovlachs in addition to ethnic Albanians, that arrived especially during the 1990s, mostly as illegal immigrants; as many as 500,000, according to the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs. [4]
• Albanians living permanent in Scandinavia
  • Sweden; 55,000 Albanians.
  • Denmark; 8,000 Albanians.
  • Norway; ?

History

The Albanians are descendents 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 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.

Albanian Nationalism

Both Kosovo (a Serbian province though governed since June 1999 by UNMIK, backed by KFOR, a NATO-led international force) and western 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. August of 2003 was marked by renewed terrorist attacks by the ANA (Albanian National Army) both against Serb border guards and Serb civilians.

The situation in 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.

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 minorities in several European countries, as well as in the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia and Ukraine.

See also

• Çamëria
• Demographics of Albania
• History of Albania
• History of the Republic of Macedonia
• Kosovo war
• List of Albanians
• Albania and Greece

External links

• Albanian, other Illyrian dialects
• Home of Albanians Online

Source: en.wikipedia.org