Albanians in Greece (; ) are people of Albanian ethnicity or ancestry who live in or originate from areas within modern Greece. They are divided into distinct communities as a result of different waves of migration. Albanians first migrated into Greece during the late 13th century. The descendants of populations of Albanian origin who settled in Greece during the Middle Ages are the Arvanites, who have been fully assimilated into the Greek nation and self-identify as Greeks. Today, they still maintain their distinct subdialect of Tosk Albanian, known as Arvanitika, although it is endangered as the younger generations no longer speak it due to language attrition.
The Chams are an Albanian group from the coastal parts of Epirus, in northwestern Greece and the southernmost part of Albania. The Chams of Muslim faith were expelled from Epirus during World War II after large parts of their population collaborated with the Axis occupation forces.Hermann Frank Meyer. Blutiges Edelweiß: Die 1. Gebirgs-division im zweiten Weltkrieg Bloodstained Edelweiss. The 1st Mountain-Division in WWII Ch. Links Verlag, 2008. , p. 702 Greek Orthodox Albanian communities have been assimilated into the Greek nation.
Alongside these two groups, a large wave of economic migrants from Albania entered Greece after the fall of Communism (1991) and forms the largest expatriate community in the country. They form the largest migrant group in Greece. A portion of these immigrants avoid declaring as Albanian in order to avoid prejudices and exclusion. These Albanian newcomers may resort to self-assimilation tactics such as changing their Albanian name to Greek ones, and if they are Muslim, their religion from Islam to Orthodoxy. Through this, they hope to attain easier access to visas and naturalisation. After migration to Greece, most are baptized and integrated.
While Greece does not record ethnicity on censuses, Albanians form the largest non-Greek ethnic community and the top immigrant population in the country.Lazaridis, Gabriella, and Iordanis Psimmenos. "Migrant flows from Albania to Greece: economic, social and spatial exclusion." In Eldorado or Fortress? Migration in Southern Europe, pp. 170–185. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2000. As of 2019, Greece was the second top destination for Albanians, as movement to Greece constituted 35.3% of total Albanian immigration. Albanian immigrants are the largest immigrant community in Greece. In recent years many Albanian workers and their families have left Greece for other countries in Europe in search of better prospects. In 2022, the number of Albanian citizens in Greece with a valid residency permit was 291,868; down from 422,954 in 2021. , in total, there might have been more than 500,000 Albanian immigrants and their children who received Greek citizenship over the years.
History
Middle ages
In the late spring of 1359, Nikephoros II Orsini, the last despot of Epirus of the Orsini dynasty, fought against the Albanians near river Acheloos, Aetolia. The victory of the Albanian tribes in the Battle of Achelous left Epirus open to increasing Albanian migration. Albanian tribes soon conquered most of the region, except for Ioannina. Arta was captured in 1367 or shortly after, becoming the centre of the Despotate of Arta, which lasted until 1416.
Rise of the Despotate of Arta By the late 1360s, two Albanian principalities in the territories of modern-day Greece had emerged: the first with its capital in Arta under Pjetër Losha, and the second, centered in Angelokastron, under Gjin Bua Shpata.
The Despot of Ioannina, Thomas Preljubović, had betrothed his daughter to Losha's son in 1370, satisfying the Albanians and ending the conflict between them. In 1374, however, Pjetër Losha died of the plague in Arta, after which Shpata took the city. At this time he was not bound by agreement to Thomas, and so he laid siege to Ioannina and ravaged the countryside by defeating the forces of Preljubović. Thomas brought peace when he betrothed his sister Helena to Shpata the following year. Attacks on Ioannina continued, however, by the Malakasioi, who didn't succeed to take Ioannina in 1377 and 1379. This tribe acted independently and nor under the order of Shpata.
In 1376 or 1377, Shpata conquered Nafpaktos; by this time he controlled Arta and much of southern Epirus and Acarnania. The Achaean Knights Hospitallers of Juan Fernández de Heredia began their invasion of Epirus, moving onto Shpata, capturing Nafpaktos, and then Vonitsa in Acarnania (April 1378). However, Shpata managed to defeat and capture Heredia as a hostage, ending their campaign; he was again master of Nafpaktos by 1380. In May 1379, Shpata again devastated the countryside of Ioannina.
In 1380, Thomas made an offensive with the help of Turks reaching up to the upper Kalamas River, where however, the Albanians, in particular, the tribe of Mazaraki held their defensive position and defeated Thomas again.
In 1384 Thomas Preljubović was killed by some of his bodyguards. Gjin Bua Shpata attacked Ioannina but was unsuccessful in cracking the defense set up by Esau de' Buondelmonti. The two made peace but soon returned to the conflict. In 1386, Esau gained Ottoman military help. The Ottomans were, after the Battle of Kosovo (1389), unable to assist Esau, thus, the Albanians seized the opportunity and raided the environs of Ioannina in the summer by defeating Esau and forcing him to stay inside the city. The Malakasioi then raided into the territory, after which they concluded alliance with Shpata. Esau then allied himself with the caesar of Thessaly (either Alexios Angelos or Manuel), who defeated the Albanians, presumably the Malakasioi, later that year, but not Shpata. In January 1396, Esau married Shpata's only daughter, Irene. The marriage was part of a deal which the archons of Ioannina enforced on Esau in order to make peace with the Albanians.
Shpata died on 29 October 1399, under the continuous pressure of Tocco. Shpata's son would become the next despot of Arta and Angelokastron for the next decade.
Reign of Paul Boua Shpata Another powerful Albanian noble, Paul Boua Spata, came into political power in Greece after his father Skurra Bua Shpata had died in 1403 during warfare in a civil war. After his father's death, Paul thus became the lord of Angelokastron and Naupaktos. His father previously tried to claim the city of Arta after the death of Paul's uncle Gjin Bua Shpata around 1399–1400. However, he was forced out by a local figure named Vango, who styled himself as a "Serbo-Albano-Bulgaro-Vlach." Although Vango was eventually expelled from the city, it was not restored to Paul's father, Skurra, but instead passed to Muriq Shpata, Gjin's grandson.
Paul's leadership began under difficult circumstances. The Spata and Boua clans were divided, and members of each family held scattered territories in the region. These divisions worked in favor of Carlo I Tocco, who used both diplomacy and military force to break Albanian resistance. He drew in local lords with offers of land and titles, secured alliances through marriage (including one between his cousin and Dimo Boua), and bribed Muriki Boua, Dimo's brother and a rival of Paul Spata, to join his cause. Throughout the early 1400s, Tocco led a series of campaigns across Aetolia and Acarnania. His forces captured or raided key sites such as Katochi, Barnako, and Kandeles, tightening their hold on the region. Paul, isolated and outmatched, struggled to defend Angelokastron as more coastal towns fell. One of the final blows came with the loss of Dragameston and Anatoliko. Dragameston, commanded by Lalthi who was Paul's brother-in-law through his sister's marriage, was also taken. While Lalthi escaped, Paul's sister was captured and sent to Leukas to be held for ransom. Both these cities are critical to maintaining connections with the outside world.
Paul persuaded the Ottomans to support him but were defeated near Vonitsa by Carlo I Tocco. Due to this, Paul handed over Angelocastron to the Ottomans and started negotiating with Venice to purchase Naupaktos and its port for 1,500 ducats.
Other Albanian principalities Other Albanian principalities had also governed significant parts of modern-day Greece. The Albanian Lordship of Berat under the direct control of Andrea II Muzaka, a member of the Muzaka family, had taken control of Kastoria from the Serbian monarch Marko Mrnjavcevic in 1372.Braudel, Fernand (1995). The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II Volume 2. p. 664. His son Stoya Muzaka later inherited the city from his father Andrea, and he, alongside Teodor II Muzaka, constructed Church of St. Athanasius of Mouzaki in Kastoria.
In 1412, Muriq Shpata and Zenebishi (who was the leader of the most powerful tribe in the vicinity of Ioannina) formed an alliance against Carlo Tocco. They won an open-field battle against Tocco in 1412, but were unable to take over Ioannina. Tocco relied on support from the local Greeks. In 1414, Muriq Shpata died, and Zenebishi was defeated by the Ottomans and fled to the Venetian island of Corfu where he died in 1418.Fine, John V. A. Jr. (1994) . The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. . p. 356
Morean revolt
The Byzantine Empire had ruled over the Morea for centuries before the rebellion. During the second half of the 14th century, several thousand Albanians had settled in the area.Liakopoulos, Georgios C. (2019). The Early Ottoman Peloponnese: A study in the light of an annotated editio princeps of the TT10-1/14662 Ottoman taxation cadastre (ca. 1460–1463). Gingko. . p. 213 After the Battle of Varna in 1444, the Ottoman Turks had a free hand in dealing with the remnants of the Byzantine Empire, which had been in decline for over a century. In 1446, the Ottomans invaded the Byzantine Morea which was then jointly administrated by the two brothers, the despots Constantine and Thomas Palaiologos. The brothers successfully resisted the invasion, but at the cost of devastating the countryside of the Morea, and the Turks carrying off 60,000 Greek civilians back to their territory.Cheetham, pp. 215–216 Murad II, the Ottoman Sultan, concluded a peace treaty which resulted in the brothers paying a heavy tribute to the Turks, accepting vassalage to them, and promising not to oppose them in the future, for Murad had to deal with his own internal conflicts elsewhere.Ostrogorsky, p. 567
Shortly after the fall of Constantinople and the death of the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI, a large-scale revolt broke out among the Moreote Albanians against the two brothers, Thomas and Demetrios, due to the chronic insecurity and tribute payment to the Turks.Cheetham, pp. 217–218 Some 30,000 Albanians participated in the revolt, having been aroused by Pjetër Bua, who was one of their chieftains, and quickly sent envoys to the Venetians, promising to place themselves under the Republic, as well as raising the banner of Saint Mark. The Venetian Senate quickly resolved to support this plea and send an ambassador to the rebels, but for reasons that are not fully clear this was not done; perhaps the Venetians feared that their interference in the Morea would result in war with the Ottomans. In the summer of 1454, another Venetian ambassador, Vettore Capello, was instead sent to the Morea to negotiate with all parties and try to purchase strategically important port cities for the Republic.Setton, Kenneth M. (1978). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571), Volume II: The Fifteenth Century . Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. . pp. 147–148