Albanians in Montenegro (; ) are ethnic Albanians who constitute 4.97% of Montenegro's total population. They are the largest non-Slavic ethnic group in Montenegro.
Albanians are particularly concentrated in southeastern and eastern Montenegro alongside the border with Albania in the following municipalities including Ulcinj (73.5% of total population), Tuzi (62.6%), Gusinje (34.4%), Plav (9.4%), Rožaje (5.1%) Bar (4.19%) and Podgorica (0.99%).
The largest Montenegrin town with significant Albanian population is Ulcinj, where the Albanian National Council is located. In 2022, Dritan Abazović became the first ethnic Albanian to hold the office of Prime Minister of Montenegro.
Geography Albanians in Montenegro are concentrated along the Albania-Montenegro border in areas that were incorporated in Montenegro after the Congress of Berlin (1878) and the Balkan Wars (1912-13). Coastally, they live in the Ulcinj (Ulqin) and Bar (Tivar) municipalities which formed part of Venetian Albania. Within the Municipality of Bar, Albanians are also found in the regions of Krajë, Mërkot and Shestan. Albanian tribes and regions are located in the transboundary mountainous region of Malësia in Tuzi Municipality, south of Montenegrin capital Podgorica, as well as historically populating much of the Brda region, including as the Zeta and Bjelopavlići plain. Albanian communities in the past were also found in Old Herzegovina, Old Montenegro and the Littoral. In eastern and northeastern Montenegro, Albanians are concentrated in municipalities of Plav (Plavë) and Gusinje (Gucia) and a smaller community is located in Rožaje Municipality (Rozhajë). The Slavic dialect of Gusinje and Plav shows very high structural influence from Albanian. Its uniqueness in terms of language contact between Albanian and Slavic is explained by the fact that most Slavic-speakers in today's Plav and Gusinje are of Albanian origin.
In the past Albanians were present in significant numbers in Bar, Podgorica, Spuž, Nikšić, Kolašin as well as in Žabljak. These communities were largely expelled in different waves during the late 19th century.Albania: From Anarchy to a Balkan Identity; by Miranda Vickers & James Pettifer, 1999 ; p. 181
A mixture of Slavic and Albanian speakers made up the Muslim population of Sandžak (today divided between Serbia and Montenegro) at the end of the nineteenth century. Many Albanian speakers gradually migrated or were relocated to Kosovo and Macedonia, leaving a primarily Slavic-speaking population in the rest of the region (except in a southeastern corner of Sandžak that ended up as a part of Kosovo).
Toponymy A number of placenames in Montenegro are considered to be ultimately derived from or through Albanian. Some cases include: Budva, being ultimately derived from the Albanian word butë. Ulcinj is considered to be connected with the Albanian word ujk or ulk (meaning wolf in English) "Names of individuals peoples may have been formed in a similar fashion, Taulantii from ‘swallow’ (cf. the Albanian tallandushe) or Erchelei the ‘eel-men’ and Chelidoni the ‘snail-men’. The name of the Delmatae appears connected with the Albanian word for ‘sheep’ delmë) and the Dardanians with for ‘pear’ (dardhë). Some place names appear to have similar derivations, including Olcinium (Ulcinj from ‘wolf’ (ukas), although the ancients preferred a connection with Cholchis." from Proto-Albanian *(w)ulka. Nikšić appears to have developed from the diminutive Albanian name Niksh plus the Slavic suffix ić. Kolašin which according to author Rebecca West was originally named Kol I Shen, being Albanian for 'St. Nicholas'. Ceklin has been connected to Albanian ceklinë or cektinë which means shallow ground. Crmnica first appears in the 13th century under two different names, Crmnica and Kučevo, which is the slavicized variant of an Albanian toponym that meant "red place" (kuq). Lješanska nahija, whose toponym derives from a Slavicized variant of the Albanian masculine name Lesh (Lješ). Bojana, a river in southeastern Montenegro, emerged via the Albanian Bunë, and is often seen as indication that Albanian was spoken in the pre-Slavic era in southern Montenegro.
A number of microtoponyms and names of clans in Old Montenegro are originally derived from Albanian onomastics, such as Gjin, Gjon, Progon, Lesh, Mal and others, with some of them being: Đinov Do village in Cuce, Đinovo Brdo in Cetinje, Đinova Glavica in Pješivci, the village of Đinovići in Kosijeri, the Đonovići brotherhood in Brčeli of Crmnica, Lješanska nahija, along with its villages Liješnje, Štitari, Goljemadi and Progonovići, the village of Lješev Stup and the toponym Malošin do in Bjelice, the village of Arbanas in Ceklin.
History
Antiquity The name of the Labeatae tribe, first attested in the 2nd century BCE, is formed by the Lab- particle which is frequently found in the southern Illyrian onomastic area and the common Illyrian suffix -at(ae). The Lab- particle represents a metathesis from Alb- > Lab-, which itself could be related to the appearance of the ethnonym of the Albanians in the same area.
Medieval era
A document believed to be from 1202, mentions a ruler named Vladislav who gave the Vranjina Monastery land and other concessions, among which was forbidding Albanians from using these lands for grazing or settling. A 1220 document issued by the nun Jelena, bestows the Vranjina monastery certain gifts, and forbids the usage of church land by nobility, be they Serbs, Latins, Albanians or Vlachs. Various Albanian pastoral migrant communities (katun), which included groups like the Mataruge, Mugoša, Macure, Maine, Malonsići, Kriči and possibly the Lužani, starting around the 12th and 13th centuries immigrated across the Zeta, settling in Montenegro and as far as the Neretva river. Albanian katuns are documented in the Tara region in 1278. In the area of modern Ceklin the settlement of Arbanas is mentioned in 1296 in a letter by King Milutin. In the same year a document issued by Stefan Milutin gives the Kuči village of Orahovo and 100 sheep to the Vranjina Monastery. In it Milutin also orders the locals, be they Slavs, Latins, Albanians or Vlachs to pay a tribute to it of 100 perpers.
In the Middle Ages, Albanians in present-day Montenegro lived in the highlands of Malësia-Brda (both terms mean highlands), around Lake Scodra and coastally in the area known as Albania Veneta. Tuzi, a key Albanian settlement today, is mentioned in 1330 in the Dečani chrysobulls as part of the Albanian (arbanas) katun (semi-nomadic pastoral community) of Llesh Tuzi (Ljesa Tuzi in the original), in an area stretching southwards from modern Tuzi Municipality along the Lake Skadar to a village near modern Koplik. This katund included many communities that later formed their own separate communities: Reçi and his sons, Matagushi, Bushati and his sons, Pjetër Suma and Pjetër Kuçi, first known ancestor of Kuči. In the 1330 chrysobulls, the Hoti tribe is mentioned for first time in Hotina Gora (mountains of Hoti) in the Plav and Gusinje regions on the Lim river basin. Among the people of Lužani, Albanian anthroponyms such as Gjon, Lesh, Progon and Muriq are mentioned in the 1330 Dečani chrysobulls.
A certain Nicholas Zakarija is first mentioned in 1385 as a Balšić family commander and governor of Budva in 1363. This is considered the first attestation of a member of the noble Albanian Zaharia family. After more than twenty years of loyalty, Nicholas Zakarija revolted in 1386 and became ruler of Budva. However, by 1389 Đurađ II Balšić had recaptured the city.
Beginning in the 15th century, a period of Albanian piracy occurred lasting until the 19th century. These pirates were based mainly in Ulcinj, but were also found in Bar. During this period, Albanian pirates plundered and raided ships, including both Venetian and Ottoman vessels, disrupting the Mediterranean economy and forcing the Ottoman and European powers to intervene. Some of the pirate leaders from Ulcinj, such as Lika Ceni and Hadji Alia, were well known during this period. The Porte had such a problem with the Albanian pirates that they were given the "name-i hümayun" ("imperial letters"),Maria Pia Pedani. The Ottoman-Venetian Border (15th-18th Centuries). p. 46 bilateral agreements to settle armed conflicts. The pirates of Ulcinj, known in Italian as lupi di mare Dulcignotti (Alb. ujqit detarë Ulqinakë, 'Ulcinian sea wolves'), were considered the most dangerous pirates in the Adriatic.
In the Middle Ages, the areas of Crmnica (Kuqeva) and Mrkojevići (Mërkoti) shows a strong symbiosis of Slavic and Albanian populations. In the second half of 15th century, the Slavic anthroponymy of Crmnica and Mrkojević was frequently followed by the Albanian suffix -za. This phenomenon doesn't appear in such widespread form in any other area of Montenegro. It has been interpreted as the result of gradual, centuries-long adoption of Slavic culture by an Albanian-speaking population. The Mrkojevići in particular may present a case of an Albanian-speaking population shifting to a Slavic-speaking one.: In 1496 Đurađ Crnojević mentions the nobleman Radovan Lъšević (Lješević) in the area of Lješanska nahija, while its inhabitants as Lьšnane (Lešnane).
Ottoman period
Meshari (Albanian for "Missal") the oldest published book in Albanian was written by Gjon Buzuku, a Catholic Albanian cleric in 1555. Gjon Buzuku was born in the village of Livari in Krajina (Krajë in Albanian) in the Bar region.
In 1565 the Kelmendi rose up against the Ottomans and appear to have done so together with the Kuči and Piperi. In 1597, the tribes of the Kelmendi, Kuči, Piperi and Bjelopavlići and the Nikšiči rose in rebellion, headed under the latters leader, voivoda Grdan.
In 1613, the Ottomans launched a campaign against the rebel tribes of Montenegro. In response, the tribes of the Vasojevići, Kuči, Bjelopavlići, Piperi, Kastrati, Kelmendi, Shkreli andi Hoti formed a political and military union known as “The Union of the Mountains” or “The Albanian Mountains” . The leaders swore an oath of besa to resist with all their might any upcoming Ottoman expeditions, thereby protecting their self-government and disallowing the establishment of the authority of the Ottoman Spahis in the northern highlands. Their uprising had a liberating character. With the aim of getting rid of the Ottomans from the Albanian territories
In the 1614 Convention of Kuçi, 44 leaders mostly from northern Albania and Montenegro took part to organize an insurrection against the Ottomans and ask for assistance by the Papacy. That same year, the Kelmendi along with the tribes of Kuči, Piperi and Bjelopavlići, sent a letter to the kings of Spain and France claiming they were independent from Ottoman rule and did not pay tribute to the empire.
In 1658, the seven tribes of Kuči, Vasojevići, Bratonožići, Piperi, Klimenti, Hoti and Gruda allied themselves with the Republic of Venice, establishing the so-called "Seven-fold banner" or "alaj-barjak", against the Ottomans.
A Franciscan report of the 17th century illustrates the final stages of the acculturation of some Albanian tribes in Brda. Its author writes that the Bratonožići (Bratonishi), Piperi (Pipri), Bjelopavlići (Palabardhi) and Kuči (Kuçi):" nulla di meno essegno quasi tutti del rito serviano, e di lingua Illrica ponno piu presto dirsi Schiavoni, ch' Albanesi " (since almost all of them use the Serbian rite and the Illyric (Slavic) language, soon they should be called Slavs, rather than Albanians)
In 1685 the Mainjani tribe participated in the Battle of Vrtijeljka on the side of the Venetians. The battle resulted in defeat. The news of the battle was recorded in Rome on 27 May 1685: "two courageous leaders, one named Bajo, friend of captain Janko, and the other, captain Vuković the Arbanas, died"; the source states that the defeat was due to betrayal of Montenegrins in the battle.