Albanian diaspora

The Albanian diaspora encompasses Albanians outside of Albania, Kosovo, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. The greatest concentrations are found in Italy, Greece, Germany, Switzerland and Turkey. There are also growing communities in Argentina, Austria, Canada, France, Romania, Belgium, Russia, Scandinavia, Ukraine, UK, and the USA. The Albanian diaspora is present throughout the world and is large in numbers.

The Albanian exodus, caused by the collapse of the communist regime in 1991 and the ensuing economic crisis, has been the largest emigration movement in Europe since the population movements after World War II. Between 1989 and 2001, roughly 800,000 people have migrated out of Albania, about 440,000 of them settling in Greece, where Albanians make up 60% of immigrants. This number has grown and Greek and Albanian estimates the number of immigrants to be as high as 700,000. 350,000 Albanians have migrated to Italy over the 1990s to 2000s, however the number has increased substantially. The situation in Kosovo is similar. More than a million Albanians have left Kosovo since the late 1980s permanently, not counting those fleeing the Kosovo War who have subsequently returned. Important destinations for emigrating Albanians from Kosovo have been Switzerland and Germany.

In Albania, emigration dates back to the 15th century when many Albanians emigrated to Calabria in Southern Italy and Greece after the defeat of the country by Ottoman forces. Other popular destinations were Turkey, Bulgaria, and later the United States and South America. Following the communist take over after World War II, emigration was outlawed and violations severely punished. At the same time, Albanian birth rates in both Albania and Kosovo were among the highest in Europe (see Demographics of Albania and Kosovo), and the economies were among the weakest (especially under the Hoxha regime), leading to a huge young population in both regions and a consequently huge demand for emigration once the borders were opened in the 1990s. Two major emigration waves in the 1990s were:

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