Aromanians in Albania

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Aromanians in Albania
Aromanian: Rrãmãnji/Armãnji tu Arbinishii
Albanian: Arumunët në Shqipëri
Aromanians in Albania.png
Map of Aromanian settlements in Albania
Total population
8,266 (2011 census)
up to 200,000 individuals of Aromanian descent or some proficiency in Aromanian (1990s)
Regions with significant populations
Korçë County, Fier County, Gjirokastër County, Elbasan County, Vlorë County, Berat County, Durrës County, Tirana County
Languages
Aromanian (native), Albanian
Religion
Predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Aromanians

The Aromanians in Albania (Aromanian: Armãnji/Rrãmãnji tu Arbinishii; Albanian: Arumunët/Vllehët në Shqipëri) are an officially recognised ethnic minority in Albania.[1]

Ethnonyms[]

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Aromanians
Aromanian flag.svg
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The Aromanians in Albania are officially called the Minoriteti Arumun. The local population often refers to them as Vllehë, Çobenjë (from Turkish çoban, "shepherd"), Llacifacët, Xacët or Xinxarët, Gogët, and Llacifacët.[citation needed]

History[]

The Aromanians were first recognized at the London Conference of 1912–13 as a minority group within Albania. They fought the Ottoman Empire alongside the Serbians and Greeks during the Balkan Wars.

Historical settlements[]

Moscopole

Decorated exonarthex of St. Athanasius' Church in Moscopole

The city of Moscopole (Albanian: Voskopojë) was once home to the largest Aromanian population in the world. It was the cultural and commercial centre of the Aromanians with a population of over 3,500 people. The city was razed to the ground by Ali Pasha of Ioannina in 1788, causing an exodus of Aromanian people across the Balkans. Many of them ended up in what would become North Macedonia, Albania and Greece. The largest concentration of Aromanians was in the Pelister region of North Macedonia, the city of Kruševo and around the Lake Prespa. The Moscopolitans (Moscopoleanji in Aromanian), is one of the largest population of Aromanians today. They speak the Moscopolean dialect of Aromanian and are the descendants of the Moscopoleans in Krusevo (Aromanian: Crushuva, Macedonian: Крушево) are today a fully recognized minority group under the constitutional law of North Macedonia.[citation needed]

Grabova

View of Grabova

Grabova was a medieval town created in the 10th century. Aromanians have left Grabova on several occasions, although the village has never been completely deserted. The first wave of depopulation took place in the 17th century, when Grabova shared the fate of Moscopole and during the inter-war period, starting with 1931, many of Grabovars emigrated to Elbasan and Lushnjë. In 1933, 15 families from the village emigrated to Romania; they initially settled in Southern Dobruja and then, in 1940, in the village of Nisipari, Constanța County, from where they moved to the larger nearby towns (Medgidia, Ovidiu, Constanța ) Another important immigration began in 1950, when communist authorities used the craftsmen from Grabova to build the industrial units in Korçë, Pogradec, Gramsh, Elbasan, and Tirana. The people of Grabova speak the Grabovar dialect of Aromanian.[citation needed]

Culture[]

Music[]

Main article: Polyphonic song of Epirus

Religion[]

St. Mary's Church in Moscopole

Aromanians in Albania are predominantly Orthodox Christians like the rest of Aromanians. In Korçë (Aromanian: Curceauã, Curciau) they have an Aromanian-language church named Ayiu Sutir (Transfiguration of Jesus), and is the only church in Albania that is preaching in Aromanian language. Before that, they had another church also in Korçë with the same name, built in 1925 and destroyed by an earthquake in 1931.

Demographics[]

The exact presence of the Aromanian community in Albania is unknown. 8,266 people declared themselves to be Aromanians in the 2011 census.[2] On the quality of the specific data the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities stated that "the results of the census should be viewed with the utmost caution and calls on the authorities not to rely exclusively on the data on nationality collected during the census in determining its policy on the protection of national minorities.".[3] According to Tom Winnifrith in 1995, that there were about 200,000 individuals who were of Aromanian descent in Albania, regardless of proficiency in Aromanian, or spoke Aromanian without necessarily considering themselves to have a separate identity.[4][5] According to Frank Kressing and Karl Kaser in 2002, there were between 30,000 and 50,000 Aromanians in Albania.[6] In 2004 Arno Tanner pointed out Albania as the only country where Vlachs make a relatively significant percentage of population, around 2%.[4]

List of settlements[]

In Albania, Aromanian communities inhabit Moscopole, their most famous settlement, the Kolonjë District (where they are concentrated), a quarter of Fier (Aromanian Ferãcã), while Aromanian was taught, as recorded by Tom Winnifrith, at primary schools in Andon Poçi near Gjirokastër (Aromanian Ljurocastru), Shkallë (Aromanian Scarã) near Sarandë, and Borovë near Korçë (Aromanian Curceau) (1987).[7] A Romanian research team concluded in the 1960s that Albanian Aromanians migrated to Tirana, , Skrapar, Pojan, Bilisht and Korçë, and that they inhabited Karaja, Lushnjë, Moscopole, Drenovë and Boboshticë (Aromanian Bubushtitsa).[7]

  Aromanians are the exclusive population in the settlement
  Aromanians form a majority or a substantial minority in the settlement
Percentage of Aromanians in Albanian counties, c.1900

Central Albania[]

The Myzeqe (Aromanian: Muzachia) is an area in southwestern-central Albania which encompasses parts of the Fier (Aromanian: Ferãcã), Tirana and Durrës counties. It has a large Aromanian population spread across many villages. The Aromanian inhabitants of Myzeqe are referred to as Muzachiars or Muzachirenji in Aromanian.

Southern Albania[]

In Southern Albania.

Southeastern Albania[]

A large portion of Aromanians can be found in Southeastern Albania.

Minority status[]

The Aromanians were first recognized at the London Conference of 1912–1913 as a minority group until the communist era (1967). From 1967 until 1992, they were known as simple Albanians, and from 1992 until 2017, they were known as a cultural and linguistic minority. Since 2017, the Aromanians are an officially recognized ethnic minority in Albania.

The recognition of the Aromanians as an Albanian minority has provoked negative reactions from Greece, claiming that Albania, along with Romania, are "colluded in an anti-Greek action". Supposedly, Albania would do this with the intention of weakening the Greek minority in Northern Epirus, while Romania would do this with the intention of "Romanianizing" the "Latin-speaking Greeks" of Albania with the goal of gaining more population.[8]

Education[]

University of Tirana, Faculty of Foreign Languages

In the state University of Tirana Aromanian language is present in the Faculty of Foreign Languages.

Media[]

Aromanian-language media in Albania are RTSH 2, RTSH Gjirokastra and Korça. RTSH 2 broadcasts from Monday to Friday news and programms in Aromanian Language, while the other two only once a week. Beside TV media are also the internet radio , newspaper Fratia, magazine Fãrshãrotu and Arumunët/Vllehtë

Notable people from Albania[]

Education:

Finance:

Arts/Music:

Politics:

Religion:

Gallery[]

  • National Aromanian festival in Moscopole, 15 August 2010

  • Sign in Aromanian language in Moscopole

  • Moscopole at 1742

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Project, Joshua. "Aromanian in Albania". Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  2. ^ Population and Housing Census (Main Results) – 2011 (PDF) (Report). Institute of Statistics (Albania). 2012. p. 71. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Third Opinion on Albania adopted on 23 November 2011". Advisory Committee on the Framework for the Protection of National Minorities. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Tanner 2004, p. 209.
  5. ^ Schwandner-Sievers, Stephanie (March 1999). "The Albanian Aromanians' Awakening: Identity Politics and Conflicts in Post-Communist Albania". www.ecmi.de. European Centre for Minority Issues. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 17 August 2021. Winnifrith increased these figures after repeated travels through Southern Albania. In his most recent estimate of 200,000 he includes all those who think of themselves as Vlachs / Aromanians in terms of descent with or without knowledge of the language as well as those who speak the language but do not refer to a distinct identity.
  6. ^ Kressing, Frank; Kaser, Karl (2002). Albania--a Country in Transition: Aspects of Changing Identities in a South-East European Country. Nomos. p. 12. between 5,000 and 15,000 Macedonians and Montenegrins in the north and east ; between 30,000 and 50,000 Vlahs or Aromanians
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Winnifrith 1987, p. 35.
  8. ^ Antonopoulos, Paul (7 May 2020). "Albania and Romania collude to weaken Greeks in Northern Epirus". Greek City Times.
  9. ^ Bizhyti, Jovan (4 October 2015). "Vllehtë në hapësirat myzeqare".
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c Gusho, Jani (February 2011). "Fratia – VËLLAZËRIA" (in Romanian). p. 7. ...cu origina armână: Sandër Prosi, Prokop Mima și Margarita Xhepa, și compozitorlu mari Nikolla Zoraqi.
  11. ^ Minga, Mikaela (2012). Këngë Korçare: Song Making and Musical Culture in the City of Korçë during the Twentieth Century (PDF) (Thesis). p. 266. Eli Fara (b. 1967) is a singer of Aromanian descent.
  12. ^ Government, Albanian (n.d.). "Armënët ose Vllehët e Shqipërisë". Albanian Government.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Bizhyti, Jovan (4 October 2015). "Vllehtë në hapësirat myzeqare".
  14. ^ Channel, TV1 (11 July 2018). "Dorëshkrimet e rralla të Rita Markos për luftën: Si e njoha Qemalin dhe Enverin".

Works cited[]

External links[]

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