Serbs in Albania

Serbs constitute an ethnic minority in Albania. According to the latest national minority census in Albania (2000), there were around 2000 Serbs and Montenegrins (they are listed together as one ethnic group) in the country. [ [http://www.osce.org/publications/hcnm/2004/10/10605_14_en.pdf untitled ] ] Domestic Serb-Montenegrin community claims the figure is around 25,000, while independent sources placed the figure at 10,000 in 1994. [ [http://www.eurominority.org/version/eng/minority-detail.asp?id_states=1&id_minorities=219 Eurominority - Serbs - Stateless Nations, national, cultural and linguistic minorities, native peoples, ethnic groups in Europe ] ] Serbian sources estimate up to 30,000. Vraka nearby the northern city of Shkoder is (or was before 1990) mainly Serbian and Montenegrin.

History

When the Serbs arrived in the Balkans, immediate contact with Albanians occurred, although they did not understand each other. In Northern Albania, Malesia, Slav presence was known, and intermingling between the two took place, however, religion made the two further differentiate. The Serb clans were Orthodox Christian, the Albanian clans were Catholic and, later, Muslim.

The Albanian clans of Hoti, Gruda and Kelmendi are known to have mixed Serb-Albanian origin, that started in the medieval Montenegro and Northern Albania.

Following the liberation of the Balkan states, Serbs from outside Serbia began to populate the North. With the Yugoslav wars, many Serb-Montenegrins moved back to Yugoslavia, and finally with the Kosovo war.

References

See also

*Demographics of Albania

External links

* [http://www.rastko.org.yu/rastko-al/index_l.php Projekat Rastko - Skadar]
* [http://www.moraca-rozafa.org/ Association of the Serbo-Montenegrin minority in the Republic of Albania "MORAČA-ROZAFA"]