Albanians of Kosovo
Albanians in Kosovo (2011 census)
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2,5-3 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Kosovo
|
1,616,869 (2011) |
 Germany
|
300,000 |
 Switzerland
|
200,000 |
 Italy
|
43,751 |
 Austria
|
21,371 |
 Sweden
|
19,576 |
 Croatia
|
17,513 |
 United States
|
13,452 |
 France
|
12,359 |
 United Kingdom
|
10,643 |
 Belgium
|
7,891 |
 Slovenia
|
6,783 |
 Turkey
|
over 600,000 |
| Rest of the World | 39,535–100,000 |
| Languages | |
|
Albanian (Gheg dialect) |
|
| Religion | |
| Majority Sunni Muslim Roman Catholic, Bektashi, Protestant and Atheist minorities. |
|
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Albanians | |
| Year | Albanians | Serbs | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1455 | 1 % | 97 % | 2 % |
| 1871 | 31 % | 66 % | 3 % |
| 1899 | 46 % | 45 % | 9 % |
| 1921 | 61 % | 33 % | 6 % |
| 1931 | 58 % | 29 % | 13 % |
| 1948 | 65 % | 26 % | 9 % |
| 1953 | 65 % | 24 % | 10 % |
| 1961 | 67 % | 23 % | 9 % |
| 1971 | 73 % | 19 % | 7 % |
| 1981 | 76 % | 16 % | 8 % |
| 1991 | 80 % | 13 % | 7 % |
| 2000 | 87 % | 9 % | 4 % |
| 2007 | 92 % | 5 % | 3 % |
Albanians are the largest ethnic group in Kosovo, commonly called Kosovar Albanians, Kosovan Albanians or Kosovo Albanians and simply Kosovars. According to the 1991 Yugoslav census, boycotted by Albanians, there were 1,596,072 ethnic Albanians in Kosovo or 81.6% of population. By the estimation in year 2000, there were between 1,584,000 and 1,733,600 Albanians in Kosovo or 88% of population; as of today their population is 92,93%. Albanians of Kosovo are Ghegs. They speak Gheg Albanian, more specifically the Northwestern and Northeastern Gheg variants.
Kosovar Albanians are ethnic Albanians with ancestry or descent in the region, regardless of whether they live in Kosovo.
Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-group of Ghegs, who inhabit the north of Albania, north of the Shkumbin river, Kosovo, southern Serbia, and parts of western R. Macedonia.
In the 14th century in two chrysobulls or decrees by Serbian rulers, villages of Albanians alongside Vlachs are cited in the first as being in the vicinity of the White Drin (1330), and in the second (1348) a total of nine Albanian villages are cited within the vicinity of Prizren. Toponyms such as Arbanaška and Đjake shows an Albanian presence in the Toplica and Southern Morava regions (located north-east of contemporary Kosovo) since the Late Middle Ages. Significant clusters of Albanian populations also lived in Kosovo especially in the west and centre before and after the Habsburg invasion of 1689–1690, while in Eastern Kosovo they were a small minority. Due to the Ottoman-Hapsburg wars and their aftermath, Albanians from contemporary northern Albania and Western Kosovo settled in wider Kosovo and the Toplica and Morava regions in the second half of the 18th century, at times instigated by Ottoman authorities.
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