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.
History
The first mention of the ethnonym Albanoi occurred in the 2nd century AD by 
Ptolemy describing an Illyrian tribe who lived around present-day central Albania.
