Global InformationAlbanians in Greece information
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| ca. 480,000–670,000 Albanians[1][2][3][4][5][6] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Athens · Attica · Thessaloniki · Peloponnese · Boeotia · Epirus · Thessaly | |
| Languages | |
| Albanian, Greek | |
| Religion | |
| Islam (Sunnism, Bektashism), Christianity (Orthodoxy, Catholicism), Irreligion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
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Albanians in Greece (Albanian: Shqiptarët në Greqi; Greek: Αλβανοί στην Ελλάδα, romanized: Alvanoí stin Elláda) are people of Albanian ethnicity or ancestry who live in or originate from areas within modern Greece. They are divided into distinct communities as a result of different waves of migration. Albanians first migrated into Greece during the late 13th century. The descendants of populations of Albanian origin who settled in Greece during the Middle Ages are the Arvanites, who have been fully assimilated into the Greek nation and self-identify as Greeks. Today, they still maintain their distinct subdialect of Tosk Albanian, known as Arvanitika, although it is endangered as the younger generations no longer speak it due to language attrition.
The Chams are an Albanian group from the coastal parts of Epirus, in northwestern Greece and the southernmost part of Albania. The Chams of Muslim faith were expelled from Epirus during World War II after large parts of their population collaborated with the Axis occupation forces.[7] Greek Orthodox Albanian communities have been assimilated into the Greek nation.[8]
Alongside these two groups, a large wave of economic migrants from Albania entered Greece after the fall of Communism (1991) and forms the largest expatriate community in the country. They form the largest migrant group in Greece. A portion of these immigrants avoid declaring as Albanian in order to avoid prejudices and exclusion. These Albanian newcomers may resort to self-assimilation tactics such as changing their Albanian name to Greek ones, and if they are Muslim, their religion from Islam to Orthodoxy.[9] Through this, they hope to attain easier access to visas and naturalisation.[10] After migration to Greece, most are baptized and integrated.
While Greece does not record ethnicity on censuses, Albanians form the largest non-Greek ethnic community and the top immigrant population in the country.[11] As of 2019, Greece was the second top destination for Albanians, as movement to Greece constituted 35.3% of total Albanian immigration. Albanian immigrants are the largest immigrant community in Greece.[5] In recent years many Albanian workers and their families have left Greece for other countries in Europe in search of better prospects. In 2022, the number of Albanian citizens in Greece with a valid residency permit was 291,868; down from 422,954 in 2021. As of 2022[update], in total, there might have been more than 500,000 Albanian immigrants and their children who received Greek citizenship over the years.[12][13]
- ^ Vathi, Zana. Migrating and settling in a mobile world: Albanian migrants and their children in Europe. Springer Nature, 2015.
- ^ Managing Migration: The Promise of Cooperation. By Philip L. Martin, Susan Forbes Martin, Patrick Weil
- ^ Iosifides, Theodoros, Mari Lavrentiadou, Electra Petracou, and Antonios Kontis. "Forms of social capital and the incorporation of Albanian immigrants in Greece." Journal of ethnic and migration studies 33, no. 8 (2007): 1343-1361.
- ^ Lazaridis, Gabriella, and Iordanis Psimmenos. "Migrant flows from Albania to Greece: economic, social and spatial exclusion." In Eldorado or Fortress? Migration in Southern Europe, pp. 170-185. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2000.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
SpeedAlikajwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Vullnetariwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Hermann Frank Meyer. Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86153-447-1, p. 702
- ^ Hart, Laurie Kain (1999). "Culture, Civilization, and Demarcation at the Northwest Borders of Greece". American Ethnologist. 26: 196. doi:10.1525/ae.1999.26.1.196.
- ^ Armand Feka (2013-07-16). "Griechenlands verborgene Albaner". Wiener Zeitung. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
Er lächelt und antwortet in einwandfreiem Griechisch: ‚Ich bin eigentlich auch ein Albaner.'
- ^ Lars Brügger; Karl Kaser; Robert Pichler; Stephanie Schwander-Sievers (2002). "Umstrittene Identitäten. Grenzüberschreitungen zuhause und in der Fremde". Die weite Welt und das Dorf. Albanische Emigration am Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts = Zur Kunde Südosteuropas: Albanologische Studien. Vienna: Böhlau-Verlag. p. Bd. 3. ISBN 3-205-99413-2.
- ^ Lazaridis, Gabriella, and Iordanis Psimmenos. "Migrant flows from Albania to Greece: economic, social and spatial exclusion." In Eldorado or Fortress? Migration in Southern Europe, pp. 170-185. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2000.
- ^ "Ulet numri i emigrantëve shqiptarë në punët sezonale të Greqisë, pronarët rrisin pagat" [The number of Albanian immigrants in seasonal jobs in Greece decreases, the owners increase wages]. politiko.al (in Albanian). Retrieved 25 April 2023. [The official data published by the Greek government for September of this year [2022] show that there are 291 thousand 868 Albanian emigrants with valid residence permits in Greece, which make up about 61.4 per cent of the legal migrants. The data on the number of Albanians with legal residence permits for this year's September, show a significantly lower number compared to last year's [2021] September, where 425 thousand and 740 Albanians were in Greece with valid legal residences, which constituted about 63 per cent of foreigners in this country.]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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