Albanian diaspora

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The Albanian diaspora (Albanian: Mërgata Shqiptare or Diaspora Shqiptare) are the ethnic Albanians and their descendants living outside of Albania, Kosovo, southeastern Montenegro, western North Macedonia, southeastern Serbia, northwestern Greece and Southern Italy.

The largest communities of the Albanian diaspora are particularly found in Italy, Argentina, Greece, Romania, Croatia, Turkey, Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland and the United States. Other important and increasing communities are located in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Belgium, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The Albanian diaspora is large and continues to grow, with Albanians now present in significant numbers in numerous countries.

The phenomenon of migration from Albania is recorded since the early Middle Ages, when numerous Albanians immigrated to southern Italy and Greece to escape various socio-political difficulties and the Ottoman conquest. The modern Albanian diaspora has been largely formed since 1991, following the end of communism in Albania. Over 800,000 Albanians have left the country, mostly settling in Greece and Italy either permanently or as temporary workforce.^[1][2]

In regard to the Kosovo-Albanian diaspora, more than one million Albanians have left Kosovo since the late 1980s permanently, excluding those fleeing the Kosovo War, who have subsequently returned.^[3] Further, important destinations for emigrating Albanians from Kosovo have been mostly Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the Nordic countries.^[4]

The Albanian diaspora constitutes one of Europe's largest contemporary diasporas, with emigration constantly growing.^[5] Those of Albanian descent may choose to self-identify as Albanian, adopt hybrid identities or opt to not identify with their Albanian ancestry.^[6] Many contemporary Albanians who belong to the diaspora opt to declare their ethnicity as their nationality, as seen in census underreporting of ethnic Albanians primarily in North America, South America and Oceania. Due to the Albanian diaspora being large, old and complex, many Albanians abroad have intermarried, assimilated or formed transnational identities and communities.^[7] These reasons, among others, serve as obstacles to identifying the true extent of the Albanian diaspora and population totals.