Albanians

This article is about the Albanians as an ethnic group. For information about the residents or nationals of Albania, see demographics of Albania.
**in Norway: 7,000 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.

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 souther Tosks opposing him.

Culture

Contribution to humanity

Albanians have played a prominent role in the development of the arts and sciences as well as in religion and sport. Prominent individuals have included the defender of Europe 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 though 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 [1]. According to Yad Vashem's database, 67 Jews lost their lives in Albania. It is worth noting that Yad Vashem has collected data for only half of all Jewish deaths. Consequently, the death toll is closer to 134. 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, mostly from 1944 to 1945. 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.[2].

Symbolism

Albanian flag

The flag of Albania depicts a double-headed eagle on a red backgound, 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.

Albanian Population figures, as estimated by the Albanians

Although the worldwide population of Albanians is believed to be around 8 million, it is believed by Albanians that that figure is closer to 13-15 million around the world, comprising;
*3,400,000 in Albania;
*2,100,000 in Kosovo;
*500,000 to 800,000 in the Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) (though that number is disputed);
*60,000 in Montenegro;
*500,000 in Greece (excluding Cham and Arvanites};[3]
*2,000,000 in Italy, including Arbereshe ;
*5,000,000 (estimated) in Turkey ;;
*1,000,000 in Germanic countries including Germany, Denmark, and Switzerland ;.
*1,000,000 in far western Europe including the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Belgium & the Netherlands ;;
*1,200,000 million in North America (with large communities in Toronto & Windsor in Canada; in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Hartford, Cleveland, suburban Detroit, Tampa, Chicago, Las Vegas, Dallas, and Sacramento in the US);
*100,000 elsewhere, including Africa (Egypt and South Africa), Australia, Russia, Slovenia, Croatia etc ;.

Albanian Nationalism

Both Kosovo (a Serbian province outside the control of Belgrade and governed since June 1999 by UNMIK, backed by KFOR, a NATO-led international force) 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.

External links

*Home of Albanians Online
*Albanian Canadian League Information Service (ACLIS)
*Albanians in the Balkans U.S. Institute of Peace Report, November 2001

Albanians: Encyclopedia BETA

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