What Languages Are Spoken In Albania? (Answered!)

Albanian is by far the most common language in Albania, with over 98% of the population able to speak and understand the language. Albanian is the only official language of Albania. There are still several minority languages spoken, including Greek, Aromanian, Romani, Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian, Italian, and English.

Albania is a small country located on the Mediterranean Sea with a mostly monolingual population.

Nearly 60% of Albanians can only speak one language, making it quite difficult for those from other countries to integrate into the local culture without learning Albanian.

Even so, there are people from neighboring countries who have formed small minority groups in Albania.

Many foreign languages have had a big impact on both Albanian and the country’s culture as it was occupied over the centuries.

In This Article

What are the Albanian dialects?

The Albanian language has two dialects that are geographically divided by the central Shkumbin River.

Gheg is the second major Albanian dialects spoken in the north of the country and several neighboring countries such as Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia, and North Macedonia.

Linguists divide Gheg into four sub-dialects: Northwest Gheg, Northeast Gheg, Central Gheg, and Southern Gheg.

Tosk is the Albanian dialect considered standard Albanian.

Tosk is spoken throughout much of the south and east of the country, as well as in some parts of Greece and North Macedonia.

Tosk is divided into five sub-dialects called Northern Tosk, Labërisht, Çam, Arvanitika, and Arbëresh.

While these two Albanian dialects are distinct, speakers of both dialects can easily understand each other, as most features are similar of the same.

Istrian Albanian is a now-extinct dialect that was spoken in parts of Istria, Croatia, until the late 19^th century.

What foreign languages are spoken in Albania?

There are several minority groups residing in Albania that have kept their native tongues.

Other languages were brought into the country through occupation or because of education system changes.

Over the years, Albania has been an Ottoman vassal, an Italian protectorate, a communist state, and now a constitutional republic.

Albania has never been a strong country, although it put up a good fight against invaders like the Ottomans.

Even during the 400 years of Ottoman occupation, many areas of Albania remained free from foreign rule.

The following foreign languages are spoken in Albania:

Albania saw a proliferation of the Italian language when it was an Italian protectorate. Italian was an official language of Albania and was taught in schools during this time. Italian media is still popular in the country, with many Albanians learning the language through television.

The Romani people, also known as Gypsies, are a nomadic people group scattered across Europe and the Americas. Around 10,000 Romani live in Albania and are committed to continuing to practice their culture and language.

Because it is now being taught in Albanian schools, English has recently found much popularity among young people in the country. Over 65% of Albanian youth can speak English. As it’s already a common lingua franca in many countries across Europe, English is expected to soon take on the same role in Albania.

The Aromanians are a group of people found in the southern Balkans and are officially recognized as a minority group in Albania. Aromanian is spoken by between 100,000 and 200,000 Aromanians in Albania.

Macedonian is the third most common native tongue in Albania after Greek. Between 120,000 to 350,000 Macedonians reside in the country, especially in the east where the country borders North Macedonia.

Many Greeks live in Albania, most along its border with Greece in the south. Greek is second in the total number of people with the language as their mother tongue after Albanian, although they only make up around half a percent of the population. The true number of native Greek speakers in the country is unknown.

Serbo-Croatian. As the primary language of the countries north of Albania (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia), Serbo-Croatian is commonly spoken across northern Albania.

It’s essential to understand the influence of Arabic on the Albanian language.

During the Ottoman occupation from around 1400 until the early 1900s, both the Ottomans’ religion and language seeped into Albanian culture.

As a result, almost 60% of Albanians are Muslim.

Other major religions in Albania are Roman Catholic (10%) and Orthodox (7%).

The communist state banned all religions, and many Albanians today are only nominally religious because of this.

The Albanian language has over 1,400 Arabic and 1,700 Turkish words in its alphabet.

This is why Albanian is a unique language with such a distinct language fingerprint, formed as a result of centuries of imported languages and diaspora.

How many people in the world speak Albanian?

5.3 million people in the world speak Albanian as their mother tongue.

Only half of this number reside in Albania, with the rest living in Kosovo, North Macedonia, Italy, Switzerland, Montenegro, and Croatia.

Over 7.5 million people speak Albanian across the world. Many Albanians live in other countries in Europe, Oceania, and the Americas and form the large Albanian diaspora.

What language family is Albanian part of?

Albanian is considered part of the Indo-European language family.

Nevertheless, it is still quite distinct because it doesn’t share many common characteristics with other languages in the same family.

Albanian is very unique, finding its roots in an independent branch of the Indo-European family. It was first documented as a language of its own in the 1500s.

Linguists differ over the specific origins of Albanian. Most agree that it is a descendant of the ancient Paleo-Balkan languages.

It is believed to be either a Thracian, Daco-Moesian, or Illyrian dialect, but it is difficult to know for sure because of how little we know about these languages.

Albanian is a unique language, celebrated and preserved by the people of Albania.

With a rich history of Italian, Ottoman, and Greek influence, the country has become culturally rich in both its dominant language and the minority languages spoken near its borders with other countries.

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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