Aromanians in Albania

The Aromanians in Albania (Rrãmãnji/Armãnji tu Arbinishii; Arumunët/Vllehët në Shqipëri) are an officially recognised ethnic minority in Albania.

Ethnonyms
The Aromanians in Albania are officially called the Minoriteti Vllah/Arumun. The local population often refers to them as Vllehë, Çobenjë (from Turkish çoban, "shepherd"), Xacët or Xinxarët, Gogët, and Llacifacët.

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.

During the communist regime in Albania, the Aromanians were not recognised as a separate minority group. Following the fall of communism in Albania, there was a revival of ethnic Aromanian identity in the country. Assimilation and identification have been and continue to be a complex issue relating to the Aromanians of Albania and the wider Balkans.

Historical settlements
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 Grabovean/Moscopolean dialect of Aromanian and are the descendants of the Graboveans/Moscopoleans in Krusevo (Aromanian: Crushuva, Macedonian: Крушево) are today a fully recognized minority group under the constitutional law of North Macedonia.

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 Grabovean/Moscopolean dialect of Aromanian.

Religion
Aromanians in Albania are predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christians like the rest of Aromanians. In Korçë (Curceaua, Curceauã, Curceau or Curciau), they have an Aromanian-language church named St. Sotir (Ayiu Sutir). First built in 1925, the church was demolished by the Albanian communist authorities in 1959. It was reconstructed from 1995 to 2005. The St. Sotir Church in Korçë is one of the few churches in Albania serving the Aromanian minority of the country.

Media
Aromanian-language media include the newspapers Popullorë and Ta Néa tis Omónias, both being pro-Greek. There are also the newspapers Frația Vëllazëria and Fratsilia which appear only irregularly, and also Fãrshãrotu and Arumunët/Vllehtë, as well as RTSH 2 and RTSH Gjirokastra. RTSH 2 broadcasts from Monday to Friday news and programms in Aromanian, while RTSH Gjirokastra broadcasts only once a week. Beside TV media is also the internet radio RTV Armakedon.

Education
In the University of Tirana, the Aromanian language is covered by the Faculty of Foreign Languages.

Demographics
In the 2023 census, 2,459 people declared themselves as Aromanians in Albania. 8,266 people declared themselves to be Aromanians in the 2011 census. 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.". In the context of the census conducted in 2011 in Albania, representatives of the Aromanian community in the country stated that the results do not reflect the real number of the Aromanian population of Albania.

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. According to Frank Kressing and Karl Kaser in 2002, there were between 30,000 and 50,000 Aromanians in Albania. In 2004 Arno Tanner pointed out Albania as the only country where Vlachs make a relatively significant percentage of population, around 2%.

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, Shkallë (Aromanian Scarã) near Sarandë, and Borovë near Korçë (Curceaua, Curceauã, Curceau or Curciau) (1987). A Romanian research team concluded in the 1960s that Albanian Aromanians migrated to Tirana, Stan Karbunarë, Skrapar, Pojan, Bilisht and Korçë, and that they inhabited Karaja, Lushnjë, Moscopole, Drenovë and Boboshticë (Aromanian Bubushtitsa).

Central Albania
The Myzeqe (Muzachia) is an area in southwestern-central Albania which encompasses parts of the county of Fier (Ferãcã). It has a large Aromanian population spread across many villages. The Aromanian inhabitants of Myzeqe are referred to as Muzachiars or Muzachirenji in Aromanian.
 * Grabovë e Sipërme  (Greãva, Grabuva) 

Berat County

 * Vanë

Vlorë County

 * Selenicë (Selenitsa, Selenitsã/Selenitse) 
 * Xarrë  (Dzara) 
 * Kardhikaq


 * Zvërnec

Gjirokastër Country

 * Gjirokastër
 * Humelicë (Umelitsa, Umelitse) 
 * Labovë
 * Qestorat (Chiãsturat, Chiãsturata)
 * Stegopul (Stãgopul) 
 * Saraqinisht
 * Selckë
 * Zagoria (Zaguria, Zagurii)
 * Frashër (Farshar)
 * Përmet
 * Çarshovë (Ciarshova)
 * Leusë

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


 * Moscopole (Moscopole)  once a prosperous Aromanian center and today's village of Voskopojë.
 * Korçë  (Curceaua, Curceauã, Curceau or Curciau) 
 * Vithkuq (Bitcuchi) 
 * Drenovë  (Dãrnova) 
 * Boboshticë  (Bubushtitsa) 
 * Dardhë
 * Leskovik

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 existing political divisions among the Aromanian population in Albania are the pro-Greek and Aromanian-only factions, which are the most numerous groups, as well as the pro-Romanian faction, the latter being less numerous. All of them promote their Aromanian ethnic background but differ on how they define their national identity. Namely, the pro-Greek group would concur with the majority of Aromanians in Greece that they are nationally Greek with Aromanian linguistic and cultural traits. On the other hand those supporting a completely distinct Aromanian identity claim that they are both nationally and ethnically Aromanians and would deny having Greek or Romanian national consciousness.

Politics
The Aromanians have their own political party in Albania. It is known as the Alliance for Equality and European Justice (ABDE), it was founded in 2011 and aims for the unification of all the Albanian Aromanians. There are only two other Aromanian political parties in the world, the Democratic Union of the Vlachs of Macedonia (DSVM) and the Party of the Vlachs of Macedonia (PVM), both in North Macedonia.

Notable people from Albania
Education: Finance: Arts/Music:
 * Daniel Moscopolites (1754–1825) - Aromanian scholar from modern-day Albania
 * Aurel Plasari - Albanian intellectual
 * Ilo Mitkë Qafëzezi - Albanian intellectual
 * Mitrush Kuteli - Albanian writer, literary critic and translator
 * Mocioni Family - Austro-Hungarian banking and philanthropist family.
 * Albert Vërria (1936-2015) - Albanian actor
 * Sandër Prosi (1924-1985) - Albanian actor
 * Nikolla Zoraqi (1928–1991) - composer
 * Violeta Manushi (1926-2007) - actress
 * Margarita Xhepa (1932-) - actress
 * Ndricim Xhepa (Aromanian mother) (1957-) - actor
 * Eli Fara (1968-) - Singer and songwriter
 * Janaq Paço (1914-1991) - Albanian sculptor
 * Jakov Xoxa (1923-1979) - Albanian author and writer
 * Parashqevi Simaku (1966-) - Albanian former musician.
 * Prokop Mima (1920–1986) - Albanian actor

Politics: Religion:
 * Apostol Arsache (1789-1869) Greek-Romanian politician and philanthropist
 * Dhimitër Tutulani (19 March 1857 – 1937), Albanian lawyer and politician
 * Rita Marko (1920-2018) - Chairman of the Albanian Politburo.
 * Liri Gero (1926-1944) - Albanian World War II martyr and heroine.
 * Teodor Heba (1914-2001) - Albanian chairman of the Politburo from 1950 to 1951.
 * Nako Spiru (1918-1947) - Albanian communist politician
 * Llazar Fundo (1899-1944) - Albanian communist, former member of the Balkan communist federation, purged in 1944.
 * Athanas Shundi (1892-1940) - Albanian politician, pharmacist, and early supporter of the Albanian Orthodox Church
 * Haralambie Balamaci (1850-1914) - Aromanian priest
 * Damian of Albania (1886-1973) - Archbishop of the Albanian Orthodox Church from 1966 to 1967
 * Nektarios Terpos (end 17th–18th century) priest and author
 * Theodore Kavalliotis (1718–1789) - Greek priest and teacher
 * Ioakeim Martianos (1875-1955) - Greek priest and teacher

Other:
 * Margarita Tutulani (1925 – 6 July 1943) anti-fascist
 * Vasil Trasha (1926-1958), Albanian partisan and pilot