Albanians in Kosovo

Albanians are the largest ethnic group in Kosovo . According to the 1991 Serbian census, boycotted by Albanians, there were 1,596,072 ethnic Albanians in Kosovo or 81.6% of population. By the estimation in year 2000, there were between 1,584,000 and 1,733,600 Albanians in Kosovo or 88% of population, as of today their population is over 92%.Albanians in Kosovo speak Gheg Albanian, more specifically the Northern and Northeastern Gheg variants.

Kosovar Albanians are ethnic Albanians with of Kosovan ancestry or descent, regardless of whether they live in Kosovo. A large Kosovan diaspora has formed since the Kosovo War, mostly in Germany and Switzerland.An estimated 500,000 Kosovar Albanians live in either Switzerland or Germany (about 300,000 in Germany and 200,000 in Switzerland), accounting for roughly one fifth of the total number of Kosovar Albanians.

According to the 1991 census, Albanians were a majority in 23 of the 29 present municipalities of Kosovo (in the remaining 6 municipalities, the majority was Serb or Gorani).

History

Before World War I

Albanian presence in Kosovo is recorded since the medieval period.Following a Serbian migration out of the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century, Albanians grew to a substantial minority, and further to the absolute majority population in Kosovo by the mid 19th century.

As the Serbs expelled a large number of Albanians from the regions of Niš, Pirot, Leskovac and Vranje in southern Serbia, which the Congress of Berlin of 1878...
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