shqiptari: the origins and distribution of population in albania

SHQIPTARI:
THE ORIGINS AND
DISTRIBUTION OF
POPULATION IN ALBANIA
C. Philip Curti
Mr. Curti ;s a member 01 the Geography Facul ty at
No rth Texas State.
From a hearthland in the eastern
Caucasus, the Albanians migrated by
two routes and three waves. The Gheg
moved north of the Black Sea to the
Illyrian culture area, and the Tosc
through Anatolia. Modern censuses of
the People's Republic of Albania are
improving in content and accuracy
and population movement over the
decade 1960-1969 shows marked
trends towards urbanization concentrated in the rrathe of Vlore, Berat,
Lushnje, Durres and Tirane. The old
are left in the highlands, and despite
wartime losses, males still outnumber
females.
THE ORIGINS
Location and Topography
Cupped in the Adriatic-facing palm
of the Dinaric Range, Maryland-sized
Albania occupies a strategic location.
The Romans recognized this when
they stretched their Via Egnatia from
the trans-Otranto landing points at
Apo ll onia and Dyracchium, to Thessaloniki and Byzantium, as being the
shortest sea-land route between Brindisium and the Bosphorus. The interest of Venice's merchants in this key
location on the bottle-neck entrance
to the Adriatic, was reflected in Shakespear's siting of Prospero 's cell in Th e
Tempes t, on the Isle of Coreyra, a scant
three ki lometers from the point where
the present Greek-Albanian border
reaches the Adriatic.
The strategic value of the location
has been recognized in turn by the
military occupation of Albania by Italy,
Greece and Turkey, and in a more eco2
nomic and political form by the
U.s.S.R. and China. Each of the latter
has attempted to open a Red window
on the Mediterranean atValone. 1
The only level lowland of the eastern shoreline of the Adriatic faces
Apulia across the constriction of the
Strait of Otranto. This lowland forming
30% of the total 28,748 square kilometers of Albania,2 is isolated from the
Balkan interior by the 70% of her terrain which is over 300 meters in elevation and much of which is higher than
2000 meters along the present Albanian political boundary with Jugoslavia
and Greece, thus forming an isolated
refuge area for once migrant peoples.
The peak of Mali Korabit reaches 2751
meters, and in the highlands, rock surface is more evident than pasture.
About half the sta te is wooded with
pine, birch and oak, having tree forms
of little exploitable value.
The major rivers flow in deep gorges
bearing southeast to northwest in
their upper sections and trend more
westwards to a meandering course in
the lowlands. The 400 k.m . long Drin
has its source in Lakes Ohrit and Prespes across the Jugoslavia border and
enters Albania near earthquake-prone
Diber. The Shkumbin (a ncient Genussus), originating in Albania near Lake
Ohrit, has a 160 k.m. more westerly
course to the Adriatic near Durres. In
the south, the Vjose rises in Greek
Epirus, and funnels through northwest-trending grabens to the sea near
Vlore.
Categorizing Albania 's micro - climates into two dominant groups, one
finds a Balkan-Continental type in the
interior characterized by a 32 °F(0°C)
January to 72 °F(22 °C) July average at
Puke, and a Mediterranean regime on
the coasta l lowlands at Durres recording 46 °F(8 °C) as a winter average and
73 °F(23 °C) in summer. The wintersummer rainfall ratio is abo ut 5 :1 in
3
Peshkopi inland, and 100 :1 in Sarande
on the coast. Albania is one of the rainiest states of Europe with a total annual
average of 102 inches (2602mm) at
Narel in the interior, and 41 inches
(1047.6mm) atVlore. 4
These topographical and climatic
features are reflected in a maize-wheat
crop pattern near the Adriatic, changing toward limited livestock activities
in the upland interior. The distribution
and density of population is similarly
reflected with a low density and relatively small annual increase nea r the
Jugoslav-Greek border.
Origin of the nam e Albania
Tacit acceptance of the Albanians'
past as " Illyrian," and the separation of
the people into Ghegs and Toscs, is
usual. This provides an acceptance of
the status quo but fails to suggest a
historical raison d' etre for people or
place.
The la ck of archeological investigation is matched by the difficulty of
lingui stic research, and what anthropological data are available relating to
the origins of the Albanians are sca ttered and inconclusive.
Their name has interested many : Osborne suggests that the name 'Albania'
originated in the Middle Ages, Arbanon and Arberia being used, and reminds that Ptolemy 'mentions a tribe of
Albani .'5 Ptolemy'S Albani were probably the Caspian group near the Caucasian limits of Roman rule included in
Augustus' acquisition c. 10. A.D.,
named Albania from its capital Albana .6
Da sxura nci , the eleventh century
chronicler of th e Caucasian Albanian s/
refers to his ancient people as 'A lu nant," which brings to mind the term
used by Dominian, who notes that the
twentieth century Mohammedan Albanians are called 'Arnaut.'s
Since the eighteenth or nineteenth
century, the people of Albania have
20'
ALBANIA
MAJOR
FEATURES
'rom
SHaIPER~~'I\tlte
H."liOO~~o Tirane
Shlt.lla 1 2~.~,-:=;;;;;
1966
___
..,
Malor Cit Ie. IncI U::~t
those lor develop
under 'Ive · yea,. plana
Ele .... tlon In mete,.,
Rr6the Boundary
Stale Boundary
o
miles
50
kilometers
80
200
A O'R 19
Fig. 1
.
in AmM
p ubi
.IS ished
by Cluverlus,
. n Albania
on the west
The iddle
1682.East
Caucasla
sterdam
shore
of t h e Caspian Sea.
4
been self-styled as Shqiptari , and their
language as Shqip. The etymology of
this term is as obscure as most things
Albanian. Derivation of the term from
'clea r-spoken ' and 'son of the eagle'9
should probably succumb to the more
simple linguistic connection with the
Albanian word 'S hqahu' (pi : Shquei-t),
meaning Slav.10 or possibly 'shoqeri'
meaning society or association. 11
Illyrians and Albanians
The Illyrians had cultural and racial
links with post-pleistocene groups that
inhabited the Caucasian foothills in
early Bronze Age. Bearers of Hallstatt
culture, c. 1000 B.C., spread and spoke
Illyrian .12 The Illyrians seem to have
descended from the Aunjetitz people
and their iron metallurgy probably diffused from northern Anatolia and the
Caucasus.13
At the terminus of the proto-Albanian migratory route one is confronted
with the Tosc-Gheg differentiation in
present Albania, and the possibility of
the interface point of migrant peoples
originating in a single culture hearth,
travelling at different times by differing routes, cannot be excluded .
During the Bronze Age, groups from
the Caucasus taking a northern route
westward through the Scythian realm
abo ut 1000 B.C. 14 along the Black Sea
shore filtered into the Pannonian plain
and followed the Danube upstream to
the Hall statt center, thus they could
well have been contributors to the
Aunjetitz peoples who later moved
so uth and east along the Dinaric mountain spi ne. (Gheg 1). Here they could
have encountered Caucasian Albanians
who had moved directly through the
Pontic Realm of the western Buxine
shore through Thrace,15 (G heg 2) , to
reflect Coon 's observation that
" As Illyrians spread into the Dinaric
Alps into Montenegro and Albania
they blended with indigenous bra5
chycephalic mountain populations
which may have been more numerous than the invaders. "16
This numerical assumption would
seem reasonable for the migrants travelling by the shorter and more direct
route, omitting the sojourn into central
Europe.
Chegs
These melded peoples of northern
Albania would be the Dinaric hybrids
that we name Ghegs. Their stature
tends to decrease southward from Crna
Gora (174-173 c.m.) to the Mati-Mirdita biarak south of the Orin . (169-167
c.m.). With nasal measurements of 58
x 38 mm and marked convexity, the
Gheghi are the most leptorrhine in
Europe. The isolation in the refuge area
of the Albanian Alps would explain the
persistence of racial characteristics.
Toses
The Tosc, on the other hand, who
have their racial interface with the
Gheghi along the Skumbi River, have a
cephalic index of 90.8 which is the
highest in Europe. Stature, about 165
mm is markedly less than the Gheg average, 170 mm Y The Tosc lacks the
high-bridged nose of the Gheg, yet displays leptorrhinity.
The evidence seems to emphasize
the probability of a common hearthland of origin with two groups of
migrants travelling via different routeways and anthropometrically influenced by varying peoples with whom
they come into contact. The Ghegi
contact with the Hallstatt folk emphasizes the brachycephality and highbridged nose which are less marked in
the Tosc, whose ancestors probably
moved directly through Anatolia. Hittites and Aryans traversed southwards
through the Caucasus to blend with
Caspian peoples moving west between
the Caspian shore and the Iranian highlands. 18 (Tosc 1)
1i.
PARS
Fig. 2 Prolo-Gheg 1 : m igralion period circa 2000--500
B.C.
As early as 2000 B.C. ' the hawknosed' Cappadocians appeared in
Anatolia, and in their westward movement, combining with Armenoid types,
used the Marmorian straits to penetrate southeastern Europe. Thu s the
Ghegs evidence a greater influence of
Alpine - Mediterranean, whereas the
Tosc, Mediterranean-Cappadocian.
Th e Caucasian hearth/and
The point of origin for the Albanians
would seem to be in the Caucasus
where the differences between the Albanian Dinarics and the Armenian
nasal indices is entirely in breadth, although leptorrhinity is marked in each.
The Armenians are metrically like the
Albanians, especially the Gheg, in most
anthropological characteristics. 19
The Caucasus mountain area, with
its marked relief and isolated valleys,
today shelters racial and ethnic elements of a variety of peoples. The Caucasic language speakers include Lesgh ians, Chechen, Cherkesses (Ci rcassians) and Georgians, mostly on the
north slopes, while Armenians and
Azerbaijans dominate the Caucausian
South.
The mean stature of the Georgians
is 164 c.m., the Chechen, 168, Lesghians 166, and Cherknes, 165. The
Lesghian cepha lic index is the highest
of these groups at 86-87: they are the
most leptorrhine with a nasa l index of
65-68 and are markedly brachycephalic. 20 The Lehghians presently occupy the mountain area of the Caucasus fringing the ancient core of the
Albanian kingdom now partly occupied by Azerbaijani , between the Apsheron peninsula and Lake Oz Sevan.
The anthropometric data are not
6
conclusive, yet the evidence cannot
exclude the probability of the A lbanian-Illyrian hearth land being in the
Black-Caspian Isthmus.
Caucasian Albania: the cultural
evidence
Movses Dusxuranc;i is noted as an
11 th century author of Albanian history,21 but the first mention of a History of the Alunak (A lbanoi) occurs
about 958 A.D.22 Although many hands
contributed to the work, the probability is that the written collection, biblical in style had been amassing for
severa l centuries.
The foreword to the History commences
'The first man created by God, our
father Adam, lived 230 years and
begat Seth ... '
and proceeds through a series of generations to conclude the genealogical
list with
'Noah lived 500 years and begat three
sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And
a hundred years after the birth of
Shem came the Flood in the six-hundredth year of Noah, and from
Adam to the Flood there were 2,242
years and ten generations.'
Noah allotted Japheth much of the
original hearth land 'from Media to
Gadiron in the north, and down to the
River Tigris which separates Media and
Babylon.'
After some fifteen generations
'there arose and broke away the isles
of the heathens who are the Cypriots ... and those who are in the
north ... from whom the Albanians
(Aluank) are descended.'
The distribution was that Shem received the east of Noah's world, Ham
the south, and Japheth the west and
north, the last being between the Caspian Sea and Pamir mountains and included the area of the Caucasian
Albanians. 23
7
Dasxuranc;i describes his land as
'Situa ted among the towering mountains of the Caucasus, the land of
Albania is fair and alluring, with
many natural advantages. The great
river Kur flows gently through it
bearing fish great and small, and it
throws itself into the Caspian Sea.
In the plains about there is to be
found much bread and wine. Naphtha and salt and ochre are found in
the mountains. As for wild animals,
there are the lion, the leopard, the
panther and the wild ass, and among
many birds, the eagle and the hawk.
It has great Partaw as capital.'24
One feels impelled to equate Kur
with ancient Cyprus (Kyrus)2S which
once flowed into the Araxes, and that
the site of Partaw, originally Perozapat26 was close to the junction of the
Araxes and the Kur near the Caspian
shore. There is similarity in the geographical milieux of the Caucasian Albania and the Adriatic Albania and the
migrants found much environmental
compatibility in the terminal refuge
area on the Otranto Straits.
Japhetism
Ephraim Speiser suggested the term
'Japhetic' to encompass a series of extinct tongues of the Fertile Crescent
group. The Semitic and Hamitic speech
groups are accepted by most authorities, and Japhetic would complete the
Noah trilogy. The Japhetic tongues
would include such languages as Georgian, Ci rcassian and probably Basque. 27
It could well have been in the circum-Caspian area that the mixing of
languages occurred which resulted in
I ndo-Eu ropean speech. Illyrian speech
antedated the linguistic separation into
Indo-Europe;tn Centum and Satum.
The spread of Hallstatt cultures in the
Iron Age is more likely to be coincident with the differentiation of dialect
that led the Satem group through Thra-
Eleva t Ion in Meters ,dJ""
PA. R 197
Fig. 3 Proto-Gheg 2: migration pe riod circa 1SQ0--800
S.c.
cian to modern Albanian. 28 From about
1000 B.C. Indo - European speakers
have been associated with the dissemination of Iron cultures seemingly
originating from a center in the Anatolian-Armenian highlands.
Summation
The conclusion would seem to be
that positive evidence of the original
hearthland for pre-Illyrian - Albanian
people is unlikely to be found. Albania
is almost unknown archaelogically.
This Balkan refuge area has been a
meeting place of many previously migrant folk and most sources seem satisfied with the ' 1IIyrian' origin.
Yet we have two peoples with an associated but different language within
the current political state; each probably originated in the Caucasian isthmus. The Gheg could well have tra-
versed two routes, each north of the
ancient Euxine, the shorter, more direct route providing Albania 's first
occupants, while the second migrated
initially to central Europe to provide
the Aunjetitz-Hallstatt culture source
for the second wave of prototype
Gheg and Atlanto-Mediterranean characteristics.
The second exodus route from the
Caucasian hearth land, led the Caucasian Albani through Anatolia to generate the Tosc influence with their more
Cappadocian - Mediterranean characteristics.
However, by the time of Christ, the
initial penetration to the Kossovo plain
had been accomplished from the north
and south, and the ' llyrian ' origin
seems bipartite. It would not seem unreasonable to assume an entry from
the Pannonian plain from a culture
8
hearth farther east, the Scythian plains
being relatively easy to traverse. Similarly, an ingress from the plain of
Macedonia, mainly along the route
way of the Roman Via Egnatia from
the Anatolian peninsula, would be apposite.
The hearthland source of the two
route ways would appear to be between the Black and Caspian Seas, and
groping for threads in the tangled
skein of the origins of the Albanians,
there is evidence which supports the
Caucasian nidus.
THE DISTRIBUTION AND MOVEMENT OF POPULATION
Administrative Development
Albania's Independence Day was
first celebrated on the 29th November
1944, but the military and political
viscissitudes prior to unification
through which this troubled land
passed, are scarcely matched by any
other state. This territory has been
overrun by Greeks (a ncient and modern), Romans, Serbs, Normans, Bulgars,
Venetians, Austro-Hungarians, Italians,
Germans and Turks, the last making
the predominant cultural impress with
their 400 year occupance.
During the First World War, the Albanian battle arena was occupied by
the battles between the Austro-Hungarian armies fighting the French and
Italians. The Second World War saw
the land controlled by Axis troops until post-wa r political expediency by
the great powers supported the establishment of the People's Republic in
January 1946.
The Austro-Hungarian military governors of the territory during years of
the First World War endeavored to
assess the population of the areas under their control, and the first Albanian
census was a product of their accounting, and the accumulated figures were
published on the 17th November 1920
9
by the Academy of Science in Vienna.29
(Table 1) The national summary of the
first census of Albania is shown: at best
it provides a guide to population patterns at the end of World War I. Since
then, the country has been divided and
redivided into various administrative
districts, with the related difficulty of
accurately establishing census data .
The most recent changes of boundaries and titles of administrative districts (1949, 1953, 1958),30 have resulted in these data shown in Table 2.31
There are some differences between
district titles given in the Albanian Statistical Yearbook32 and the Statesman's
Yearbook.33 In the Tirane-Durres region, the Albanian Statistica l Yearbook
lists Diber as a rreth, but the town of
Diber, often earthquake-stricken, is in
Jugoslavian Macedonija. The Albanian
rreth (ex. Diber), is now named Pesh kopi from the town 25 kilometers north
of Diber, but on the Drin in Albania.
In the Korc;e region , whereas the
Statesman's Yearbook lists Erseke, a
town in the region of Kolonje, the Albanian Statistical Yearbook uses the
region named Kolonje for the rreth.
The distinction between regions,
districts, rreth (pI. rrathe) localitets,
towns and vil lages is loosely numerical
and also subjective in terms of function. The region (or province) is the
major admi nistrative area, arranged
principally for economic purposes, and
comprises a group of several rrathe.
Present allocation is shown on Table 2.
Th e rrathe are subdivided into minor
administrative localities (Iocalitets),
Within a local itet there may be a town,
some village clusters or isolated villages. The village is general ly a rural
self-sufficient settlement in an agricu ltural area. The inhabitants rely closely
on their immediate environs, and rarely make contact with the 'outside
world '. The town exhibits a market
function with contacts with other
~
l V
-~
t V
tlJ
\.0
TABLE 1. 1920 NATIONAL SUMMARY (Civilians only)
~cE
o . Q~
~u
o
.~
>-~
~
'"
00
'"
.'!!
0
c00
-0
::J
u
~
u'"
0'"
-
u'"
'5
0'"
c
0
=
Kruje
Puke
Shkoder
Tirane N.
Zhuri
Berati
Tirane S.
TOTAL
Durres
Elbasani
Kavaje
Kruje
Shkoder
Tirane
Berati
TOTAL
~
0
.~
E
"'~•
(I)
~
CT
<V>
c~
.- -
.
CT
"' ::Jv>
C
Q. ~
(I)
0
(I)
Cl.
Q.
o
2373
2107
2897
2838
3800
4480
1601
22
16
29
39
28
25
20
20096
26
'"00
c
Q)
~
-0
Oor
Gender
..c (l)
,
c.n :-=
:0
(1). -
::J
E
0
o '"
Iu...
8236
4778
12537
20161
16534
9149
4836
15016
21425
18746
5467
6279
O cc upati o n
(I)
IJ')
"'~
..c
c
.E !9
51790
32504
84509
111088
99187
11351
31588
,
~
::J
n;
-;u
'"E
~
u...
<u
6
26052
16954
42603
54654
50186
25738
15550
41906
56434
49001
48891
32375
59593
82083
96381
2899
129
24916
29005
2806
14884
16704
31465
123
(I)
(I)
. ~
-.J
00 3
..c
524217
955
2056
979
787
3243
1848
1054
2192
1233
831
5522
2204
1930
41 75
10102
5453
3861
23099
10251
9006
2047
4967
2730
1954
11519
5090
4424
2128
5135
2723
1907
11580
5161
4582
159
343
875
442
691
1916
1123
4016
9759
4578
2419
22408
8335
7883
14966
65947
32731
33216
6549
59398
...l
...l
TABLE 1. 1920 NATIONAL SUMMARY (Civilians only) cont.
Nationality
(; .~
>-~
~
VI
00
VI
CI)
0
co
c
"U
::l
E
VI
u
'5
VI
0
-
VI
U
'E
VI
0
c
0
=
Kruje
Puke
Shkoder
Tirane N.
Zhuri
Berati
Tirane S.
,
'" c
.I:
U
<'c
5>'"
51311
32486
81997
106737
90833
40
2
1
109
31367
107
.D '"
,
VI
~
~
.D::l
'"
Vl:'::
CI)
~
~
1675
562
26
'"
co
:;
co
5
2
206
Religion
~
CI)
>VI
Q;
.£
LJ
a.
>LJ
15
14
1
435
18
673
3724
718
142
48
7294
220
1
~
TOTA L
3436
9231
5141
3824
21493
9336
75
14
1
1049
23
5
1
10
627
869
308
37
415
876
0
E -E
o U'"
o::
2:
0
4
TOTAL
Durres
Elbasani
Kavaje
Kruje
Shkoder
Tirane
Berati
E
CI)
u
c::=
23
2
3
127
15
40506
6936
34706
103863
98792
85052
27237
392119
2457
8409
4342
3855
15266
9468
5125
48922
'" 0
11105
25541
47810
514
4500
89470
175
1
1
7091
18
7286
~ 6
CI) .I:
CI)
~
~
~
.I:
Q;
VI
X
0
LJ O"
.~
.I:
~
0
179
1983
6699
835
28499
4351
42606
10
10
2
20
2
1539
1692
1111
5
732
757
3881
9717
2
2
10
8
20
2
Source : W . M . Oberhummer, " Die erst Volkszah lung im A lbanien," Sonderabdruck an dem Anzeiger der phil. hi s!. Kla sse der A Academi e der
Wissenschaften Nr. XXI (Wi en, 1920).
Towns & Cities
towns : the vi Ilage may even have more
population than the town : the function is the controlling factor of nomenclature. Towns are usually residential settlements with 5000-2000 inhabitants although most town dwellers
must also be engaged in agriculture.
Settlements such as Tepeline, with
fewer than 2000 inhabitants, by their
position in the future economic development are included in the town category, by virtue of their potential as
centers of industry.34
Recent censuses are becoming more
accurate : partly by the demands of increasing contact with other states,
partly through the needs of accurate
assessment of the state of the nation
for the Five Year Plans. Yet minor
boundary changes, even between the
1960 and 1968 Albanian Statistical
Yearbooks prove a hazard for accuracy, but some observations might be
made.
The towns in the interior of Albania,
compared to the towns of the coastal
lands, have developed slowly. In the
30 year period, 1938-1967, major interior foci such as Gjinokaster grew
from 8,820 to 15,590, mainly because
of remoteness from communication
centers, whereas the Adriatic lowland
towns increased rapidly. Durres as a
major harbor, from 10,506 to 53,160
and Lushnje, a coastal agricultural center from 4,258 to 17,545 in the same
period .35
Over a quarter of the towns have
fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, about
50% have between 2,000 and 10,000,
20% have been 10,000 and 50,000.
Only Tirane exceeds this figure with a
1969 population of 169,300.
Albanian towns are few, but increasing in number and size while the villages are many and increasing slowly
in number.
TABLE 2. DENSITY OF POPULATION AND RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION, 1929
Religion
c
Prefecture
E
"'~
Q)
~u
«V)
Argi rocastro
Berat
Dibra
Durazzo
Elbasan
Corizza
Scutari
Cossovo
Valona
TOTALS
.g
'"
-::J
~Q.
00
f-"-
x
E
V>
::J
0
"
~o
Q) ~
Q)~
~
~
~
LJO
4,142
3,932
2,386
2,446
2,955
3,312
4,870
2,135
1,360
123,634
115,298
93,976
992,521
81,144
120,659
106,350
39,944
43,852
60,578
83,926
84,167
82,424
74,454
73,317
36,618
36,292
28,572
63,056
31,372
1,166
5,910
6,690
47,342
1,803
27,538
817,378
560,348
u
c=
'" 0
E-E
o '"
o<:U
E
~
.q &
V)
V>
C
Q)
~
Q)
0,,-
15,277
67,929
3,652
3
30
29
39
38
27
36
22
18
32
172,610
84,420
Av: 30
3,649
4,187
Source : Encyclopaedia italiana, Institute Giovannie, Vol. 2 (Treccani , 1929) p . 102.
12
D
The census of 1955 showed the urban population (residential centers
recognized as towns) represented
27.6% of the total population. In 1967,
the proportion of Urban to Rural
(Town-Village) dwellers was 33.3% to
66 .7%.36
Town growth (remembering that
there have been alterations in the categorization through the years) is demonstrated by these figures :
1923 19 towns with 127,595 inhabi tants
1957 40 towns with 412,100 inhabitants
compared to the village (rural community) statistics of
1923 2,542 villages with 676,364
people
1957 2,655 villages with 1,050,000
people 37
Thus the relative increase over a
quarter-century amounts to 155% for
rural communities compared to 322 %
for urban centers.
It must be made clear that the administrative function is one of the criteria that categorize a town : thus, even
though an urban focus may have more
than 2,000 inhabitants, the predominant farming function might categorize the town within the village group.
Even towns which have over 5,000 inhabitants will be considerably supported by loca l agriculture, emphasizing the dominance of the agricultural
support over industry. Furthermore,
sett lement foci which have the
planned potential for becoming regional centers may receive the town
classification even with fewer than
2,000 inhabitants ; e.g. Cerovode, Pepelin e, Bulqize, Maliq.38 Other places
which have been selected as regional
growth centers are Bajram Curr, Kam ,
Kurbnesh , Ulez, Puke, Rogozhine, Cerrik, Pishkash, Alarup, Patos, Memaliaj
with the Tirane Industrial District.
13
The planned focus on industrialization and complementary urbanization
may be exemplified by the data which
show that in 1923 85 % of the populace was classified as rural , whereas
the comparative figure for 1967 was
67 %.
Population Movement
Censuses by armies of occupation
prior to 1923 are unreliable : the first
official census by the Government of
Albania in that yea r, compared with
the 1955 census showed tha t the population within the state borders increased nearly 74%, the highest in
Europe for that period.
Natural increase may be shown as
Annual
Avera ge
Birth
Deaths
Natura l
In crease
(10005)
(10005)
(10005)
1939-42
1947-50
1951-54
1955-57
1967
30.1
37.3
38.9
41.1
35.3
15.7
15.5
14.4
12.6
8.4
14.4
21.8
24.5
28.5 39
26.9 40
Whereas population growth has exhibited a marked rise during the past
quarter-century, there are signs, indicated by the high birth rate and the
lowering death rate, that the growth
curve is smoothing. Where the impress
of urbanization has not yet been
realized , natural increase, and birth
rates are less than in the coastal plain
areas. Infant mortality remains at c. 51
per 1000 births with a higher proportion in the mountain regions.
The division between the genders in
the Albanian populace is marked by a
preponderance of males over females
desp ite losses during wars: of a total
population in 1945 of 1,122,004, males
outnumbered females by 570,361 to
561 ,683, and in the 1967 census the
pattern is maintained with 1,009,865
males and 954,865 females: only in the
, g.
20'
Y V
POPULATION
DENSITY
ALBAN IA
G
0
1959
<Y
~
"7
L
.....
~
)".
"
';0:>
":>-
'"""
(">
t.I'
~
....
PERSONS
PER
SQUARE
K I LOMETER
PUK~
R,.ithe
Rrithe Boundary
Stata Boundary
0
miles
50
0
kilometers
eo
20'
P.A
Fig. 4 Proto-lose:
'R 1
n
mi grati on period circa 1000-500
S.c.
14
..
TABLE 3. DISTRIBUTION OF TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION
FOR THE YEAR 1967.
Region
Rrathe
Area in
Sq. Km .
Town s
Local iti es
Village
Clusters
Shkoder
Shkoder
Lezhe
Puke
Kukes
Tropoje
2533
472
969
1564
1043
1
2
2
1
1
5
2
4
9
4
37
11
Durres
Tirane
Kruje
Mat
Mirdite
Diber*
861
1186
611
1028
698
1569
4
2
3
2
3
2
3
20
3
4
4
12
27
9
11
9
110
148
61
60
49
169
ElbasanBerat
Librazhd
Elbasan
Lushnje
Fier
Berat
Skrapar
Gramsh
1013
1505
712
1191
1066
720
699
2
3
1
2
2
1
1
6
5
1
4
3
4
4
1
26
20
21
20
6
8
58
176
115
137
120
80
72
Vlore
Vlore
Sarande
Gjirokaster
Tepe lene
Permet
1069
1097
1137
817
938
3
2
1
2
2
4
11
23
8
6
18
75
95
81
61
85
Korc;:e
Kolonje**
Pogradec
2181
804
725
3
2
1
8
4
2
12
170
69
60
TiraneDurres
Kon;:e
5
4
1
5
5
8
9
Villages
178
50
66
115
55
Source: Vjetari Statistikor Republika Popullore e Shqiperise, Drejtoria e Statistikes, (Tirane 1968),
p. 5.
*Diber in Albanian Statistical Yearbook refers to Peskopi in the Statesman's Yearbook. Diber
town, which gave its name to the rreth, is now in Yugoslavia. The rreth of Diber now has its
administrative town at Peskopi .
** Kolonje is the name of th e district of which Erseke is the administrative center.
15
POPULATION
DENSITY
ALBANIA
19 6 8
PERSONS
5.083
200
PEA
SQUARE
100
S9
KILOMETER
47
29
'9
PUK~
Arathe
Arithe Boundary
State Boundary
miles
50
kilometers
80
20'
P.A. 'R
Fig. 5
Data (rom An uari Sialistikor, Republika Popullore
e Shqiperise, Drejtoria e Statistikes (Tirane, 1960).
16
,
rrathe of Oibres, Gjirocaster, Kurjes,
Lezhes and Skraparit were there more
women than men. About half the population is below the age of 20 years,
and more female than male deaths
occur in this age group.
The overall increase of population
from 1,626,315 in 1959 to 1,964,730 in
1968 is reflected in the density maps
by a strong tendency for the new populace to be concentrated in the Vlore,
Berat, Lushnje and Ourres rrathe . A
comparatively static situation regarding population density occurs elsewhere. The rate of change between
1959 and 1969 shows a dominating
increase in the central zone focussed
on the Skumbi River between Fier and
Librazho. In the north, Bajram Curr, a
planned industrial center in an agriculture valley of the Valbone tributary of
the Orin, shows a 20% increase, as
does Sarande in the extreme south,
where Mediterranean products thrive.
It may be a coincidence that each of
the latter occupy militarily strategic
sites : Bajram Curr controls the low
passway between the Gjakove Mountains and the Albanian Alps to the PejeGjakove plain of Yogoslavia, Sarande
being on the coastal route from
Greece's northwest port of Igumenice
on the strait of Korfuz . The rugged
mountain lands of the upper Osum valley around Erseke and the upper Oevoil near Corovode, are the only rrathe
which show a population den sity decrease for the decade.
Since the ' liberation ' (1923), and in
particular si nce the assumption of control by the Albanian Labor Party in
1941 , there have been established FiveYear plans for economic development
to increase industrial production emphasizing plants serving the needs for
agriculture and power. The number of
industrial workers has increased from
82,642 in 1950 to 312,372 in 1967. Increased urbanization will ensure in the
17
planned industrial communities, and
the development of hydro-electricity
including two dams on the Mat downstream from the 10 km. long Ulez
reservoir, will augment this trend.
No town has developed so rapidly
as Tirane : its population in 1957 of
116,000, represented 8 % of the total
population and 30% of the total town
population of Albania. In 1967 the figure was 169,300 for the city, representing 26% of the state's urban population.41 The administrative capital has
supported itself with much industrial
development including the Stalin Textile Combine, Enver Mechanical Workshop, the Lenin Hydro-electric plant
and the largest woodworking factory
in the state. 42
The U.S.A. has no diplomatic representation for the P.R.A. The Albanian
question will ever be a thorny one: the
present political boundaries exclude
from Albanian territory some 500,000
Albanians in Jugo-slavia. To the south
the conflagration of the Greek-Albanian vendetta seems to have flickered
out as the Albanian economic mission
to Greece has met with some hospitality and success in improving neighboring relations.
Albania 's fear of submersion in an
invading tide was fermented though a
multitude of invasions, military and
political , and their economic poverty
and militarily untenable situation
amidst unfriendly states, engendered
the only freely associated communistic
' bloc' in the world, with the People's
Republic of China.
The geography of Albania is not
without its redeeming qualities, in particular its location at the bottle-neck
entrance to the Adriatic Sea, its control
of Korfu roadstead , and its occupance
of the only level land on the eastern
Adriatic seaboard. Thus the interest of
China in Albania is primarily to pro-
POPULATION
o
OENSITY
ALBANIA
RATE
OF
CHANGE
1959 - 1968
PERSONS
Decrease
PEA
SQUARE
KILOMETER
Increase
~~~~gd::::::lmmimmmi
10'
5
0
5
10
1S
2~
R.. ' the
A,,6the Boundarv
,S tatl! Boundary
a
milliS
50
Itllometers
80
21'
A. 'A. 1 71
Fig . 6
Data from Vielari Slalistikor Republika Popullore e Shqiperise, Drejtoria e Statistikes (Tirane,
1968) .
18
TABLE 4. POPULATION BY RRATHE, DENSITY AND SEX
Albania
Rrathe
Census
Yea rs
Area
in KM
Density
Per KM
Population
Mal es
Females
1945
1950
1955
1960
1965
1966
1967
28,748
28,748
28,748
28,748
28,748
28,748
28,748
39
42
48
56
65
66
68
570,361
625,935
713,316
835,294
959,020
984,080
1,009,865
561,683
593,008
678,183
791,021
906,280
930,050
954,865
1,032,044
1,218,943
1,391 ,499
1,626,315
1,865 ,300
1,914,130
1,964,730
1,066
1,569
861
1,505
1,191
699
1,137
804
2,181
611
1,564
472
1,013
712
1,028
698
938
725
969
1,097
720
2,533
817
1,186
1,043
1,609
98
60
181
87
117
34
43
23
73
90
37
70
42
115
44
32
32
59
28
53
32
59
38
204
24
75
52,787
46,887
79,624
67,135
70,560
12,480
24,397
9,770
82,055
27,580
30,558
16,408
22,358
41,930
22,836
11 ,433
15,720
21,899
14,518
30,060
11,217
76,797
15,714
128,892
13,540
62,710
51 ,603
46,925
76,156
63,295
68,615
11 ,615
24,773
8,915
77,060
27,745
28,322
16,817
20,372
39,665
22,504
11 ,302
14,620
20,876
13,050
28,075
11,818
73,553
15,136
113,008
12,030
57,285
104,390
93,812
155,780
130,430
139,175
24,095
49,170
18,685
159,115
55,325
58,880
33,225
42,730
81,595
45,340
22,465
30,340
42,775
27,568
58,135
23,035
150,350
30,850
241 ,900
25,570
119,995
1967
Berat
Dibres
Durres
Elbasan
Fier
Gramsh
Gjirokaster
Kolonje
Kor\=e
Kruje
Kukes
Lezhe
Librazhd
Lushnje
Mati
Mirdite
Permet
Pogradec
Puke
Sarande
Skrapar
Shkoder
Tepelene
Tirane
Tropoje
Vlore
Source: Vielari SlaLisLikor, Repub/ika Popullo re e Shqiperise,
Drejtoria e Slati tike (Tirane 1968) , p. 30.
19
To tal
vide a Red window on the Mediterranean to offset any increase in tension
in the steppe-borderland between the
Soviet Union and China. Albania's past
has been one of turmoil based on fear
of her neighbors, and a proud populace.
Tirane's intellectual attitude is now
one of intense importance to the
world's greater powers. The most backward state in Europe is enlarging its
economic resources from a dependence upon subsistence agricultural
production to a broader based exportimport trade, largely with China, that
will increase the industrial occupation
of the people.
The cultural patterns will change
FOOTNOTES-SHQIPTARI
Many place names in Albania have two or more
linguistic forms : 'VI one' is Gheg, 'VI ore' is Tosc,
and 'Va lona' is Italia n. In this monograp h, th e form
fo r the modern place-name spellin g is taken from
the Albanian Government's map of Albania : Shq iperi a, Hart e Fiziko-Po li tske, sca le 1 :200,000, 1 vii
65 . An exception is made where th e English term
IA lbania ' and its derivatives are used.
121 Sta lesman's Year Book, (London: St. Martin 's Press,
1969), p. 723.
13) Albania, A Physical and Economic Survey (Was hington : U.S. joi nt Publication Research Se rv ice,
1961) No. 9945, p. 35, tr. by Pandi Geco from
Shqiperia, Pamie Fiziko-Ekonomike (Tirane, 1959).
14, Albania, op, cit. footnote 3, p. 36.
IS, R. H. Osborne, East Centra l Europe (New Yo rk :
Praeger, 1967) , p. 72.
16, G. Westermann , At las Zur Wellgeschichte (Berlin :
1967), p . 34.
111 Movses Dasxu ran ci, Th e History 01 the Caucasian
Albanians London Oriental Series Vol. 8 (Oxford:
1961) p. xv.
18) Leon Domini an, The Frontiers 01 Language and Nationality in Europe (New Yo rk : Henry Holt , 191 7), p.
194.
19) Osborne, op. cit. , lootnote 5, p. 72.
10, Ne lo Drizari , Albanian (New York: Un gar, 1957), p.
110.
11 ) Drizari , op. ci t. , footnote 10, p . l OB.
12, Carleton Coon , Races 01 Europe (New York: M acmillan, 1954), p. 181.
13) V. Gordon Chi Ide, Prehistory 0 1 European Society
(London: Cassell , 1962); pp. 138-140.
14) Westermann, op. cit. , foolnote 6, p. 4 (V) .
IS ) Westermann , op . ci t. , (oot note 6, p. 24 (I).
16, Coon, op. cit. , footnote 12, p. 185.
17) Coon, op. cit. , (ootnote 12, p. 602.
18) Bedrich Hrozny, Ancient History 01 Western Asia,
India and Cret e (Prague: Orbi s, 1951), map p. 262.
(I )
towards the European norm: Europe's
emergent state will exhibit the 'western ' cultural attributes of a lower birth
rate, and an increasing proportion of
females, that is shown in more mature
European lands.
The population of the state of Albania will continue to increase in numbers and over-all density. However,
therewill be a decline in the peripheral
highland areas of the Albanian Alps
and the Pindus region . Folk will come
down from the hills: the young will
find employment in the new industrial
plants, especially on the coast and at
Tirane, and the old will live out their
span in the remoter parts of the Land
of the Eagle.
Coon, op. cit. , (ootnole 12, p. 527.
Coon, op. cit. , foot note 12, p. 631.
Drasxuranci, op. cit. , footnote 7, p. XX.
H. Aca rean, Hayeren armatakan bararan (E reva n,
1935), cited by D asx ura n ~ i , op. cit. , footnote 7, p.
xiii.
123 ) Ephraim Speise r, Mesopotamian Origins (London,
1930) ci led by Coon, op . cit. , footnote 12, p. 175.
P9 ,
120)
121)
122 ,
t24 ) Dasxuran~i , op. cit., footnote 7, p. 4.
125 ) William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas (New York :
Henry Ho lt, 1911), p. 18 and Westermann , op. cit. ,
(oot note 6, p. 34 .
126) Dasxuran~i , op. cit., (ootnote 7, p. 25 .
127) Coon, op . cit. , footnote 12, p. 179.
128) Coon, op . ci t. , footnote 12, p. 182.
129 ) W. M. Oberhumm er, " Die erst Volkszahun g im AIbanien ," So nderabdruck an dem Anzeiger der phil
hist. Klasse der A Akademie der Wissen schallen Nr.
XXI (Wien, 1920).
130 )
13 1,
Statesma n's Yearbook (Londo n : SI. Marlin's Press,
1962) , p. 780 and Anuari Statistikor, Republika Popu/lore e Shqiperise (Tirane, 1960) pp. 47-90.
Vietari Statistikor, Republika Popu/lore e Shqiperise
(Tirane, 1968) , pp. 27-43.
(32) Vietari Statistikor, op. cit., footnot e 31.
13 3) Stalesma n's Yearbook, op. cit. , foo tn ote 30.
13 4 ) Albania, op. cit. , footnote 3, p . 65.
135 ) Vie la,; Stalistiko r R.P.S.H., op. cit., (ootnote 31, p.
28.
136) Albania, op. cil., footnote 3, p. 60.
t37) Albania, op. cit. , (oot note 3, p. 67.
13 8'
139)
140 )
Albania , op. cit. , footnote 3, p. 65.
Albania , op. cit. , (ootnote 3, p. 59.
Vietari Statistiko r R.P.S. H., op. cit., (ootnote 31, p.
32.
t41 ) Vieta,; Statistikor R.P.S.H. , op. cit., (oat note 31 ,
p.43.
14 2 ,
Albania, op . cit., footnote 34, p. 70.
20
d