Albanians
For the country, see Albania.
The Albanians are an ethnicity that mainly resides in the Balkans. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, and they also live in the neighboring countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, and Serbia, as well as in Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Albanians also constitute a large diaspora with several communities established across Europe and the other continents.
Albanians are believed to have a western Paleo-Balkanic origin, and due to geographic and historical factors, many scholars agree that they are at least partially descended from the Illyrians. However, the question of which specific Paleo-Balkan groups contributed to the ethnogenesis of the Albanians remains a topic of academic debate.