SHQIPTARI: THE ORIGINS AND DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION IN ALBANIA

C. Philip Curti

Mr. Curti ;s a member 01 the Geography Facul ty at North 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 llonia 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 Tempest, 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 eco-

2

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 (ancient 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 about 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 name 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 lack of archeological investiga­tion is matched by the difficulty of linguistic research, and what anthro­pological data are available relating to the origins of the Albanians are scat­tered 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

Dasxuranci , the eleventh century chronicler of the Caucasian Albanians/ 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

Fig. 1

Malor Cit Ie. IncI U::~t those lor develop

under 'Ive · yea,. plana

Ele .... tlon In mete,.,

Rr6the Boundary

Stale Boundary

o miles

kilometers

50

80

20'

200

. ubi ished in Am-Cluverlus, p . the west Middle East by . n Albania IS on The 1682. Caucasla sterdam h Caspian Sea. shore of t e

ALBANIA FEATURES MAJOR

'rom

SHaIPER~~'I\tlte H."liOO~~o Tirane 1966

Shlt.lla 1 2~.~,-:=;;;;; ___ ..,

A O'R 19

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 'clear-spoken ' and 'son of the eagle'9 should probably succumb to the more simple linguistic connection with the Albanian word 'Shqahu' (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 about 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 south 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 (Gheg 2) , to reflect Coon's observation that

5

" As Illyrians spread into the Dinaric Alps into Montenegro and Albania they blended with indigenous bra-

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)

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. Thus 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,

1i. PARS

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 com-mences

'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 Cypri-ots ... and those who are in the north ... from whom the Albanians (Aluank) are descended.' The distribution was that Shem re­

ceived 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-

Fig. 3 Proto-Gheg 2: migration period 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-

Elevat Ion in Meters ,dJ""

PA. R 197

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 (ancient 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-war 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 Pesh­kopi 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. The 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 '"

-0 Gender O ccupati on o .Q~ 00 Oor

~u .~ E c~ . c ..c (l) , (I)

~ o . ~ . - - CT (1). - :0 IJ') n; "'~ "' ::Jv> Q) c.n :-= (I) '" , ::J >-~ (I) • C Q. ~ ::J E "'~ -;u E . ~ -.J ..c ~ '" (I) 0 (I) ~ o '" ..c c 00 3 00 ~ CT .E !9 ~

(I) 6 <V> o Cl. Q. 0 Iu... u... <u

'" Kruje 2373 22 8236 9149 51790 26052 25738 48891 2899 .'!! 0 Puke 2107 16 4778 4836 32504 16954 15550 32375 129 00 Shkoder 2897 29 12537 15016 84509 42603 41906 59593 24916 c

-0 Tirane N. 2838 39 20161 21425 111088 54654 56434 82083 29005 ::J u

Zhuri 3800 28 16534 ~ 18746 99187 50186 49001 96381 2806 '" Berati 4480 25 11351 u '" Tirane S. 1601 20 5467 6279 31588 14884 16704 31465 123 0 - TOTAL 20096 26 524217

Durres 955 1054 41 75 2047 2128 159 4016 Elbasani 2056 2192 10102 4967 5135 343 9759

'" Kavaje 979 1233 5453 2730 2723 875 4578 u '5 Kruje 787 831 3861 1954 1907 442 2419 '" 0

Shkoder 3243 5522 23099 11519 11580 691 22408 c 0 Tirane 1848 2204 10251 5090 5161 1916 8335 = Berati 1930 9006 4424 4582 1123 7883

TOTAL 14966 65947 32731 33216 6549 59398

~

0

...l

...l

TABLE 1. 1920 NATIONAL SUMMARY (Civilians only) cont.

Nationality Religion

E u (; .~ ~ c::=

~ 6 .I: .I:

, ~ >- Q; CI)

'" 0 Q; , VI ~ '" VI VI >-~ '" c U .D::l co CI)

0 E -E CI) .I: . ~ ~ VI

.D '" '" ~ '" :; ~ a. .£ CI) ~ X .I:

00 <'c 5> CI) ~ >-

0 2: o '" ~ ~ 0 ~ 0 Vl:':: co LJ LJ o:: U LJ O"

VI Kruje 51311 40 435 4 40506 11105 179 CI)

0 Puke 32486 18 6936 25541 co

Shkoder 81997 2 1675 5 15 673 142 34706 47810 1983 10 c

" Tirane N. 106737 1 562 2 14 3724 48 103863 514 6699 10 2 ::l U E Zhuri 90833 109 26 206 1 718 7294 98792 4500 835 VI

Berati 85052 28499 u '5 Tirane S. 31367 107 220 1 27237 4351 VI

0 - TOTAL 392119 89470 42606 20 2

Durres 3436 75 14 627 23 2457 175 1539 2 2 Elbasani 9231 869 2 8409 1 1692

VI

U Kavaje 5141 1 308 3 4342 1111 'E VI Kruje 3824 37 3855 1 5 0 c Shkoder 21493 1049 5 10 415 127 15266 7091 732 10 0 Tirane = 9336 23 1 876 15 9468 18 757 8

Berati 5125 3881

TOTAL 48922 7286 9717 20 2

Source : W . M . Oberhummer, " Die erst Volkszah lung im A lbanien," Sonderabdruck an dem Anzeiger der phil. hi s!. Klasse der A Academi e der Wissenschaften Nr. XXI (Wi en, 1920).

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.

Towns & Cities

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 x E .g 0 u ~

E '" E " c= .q& Prefecture ~o '" 0 "'~ -::J V> Q) ~ E-E

V> V) Q) ~Q. ::J Q)~ C ~ ~u 00

~ ~ ~

o '" Q) Q)

«V) f-"- LJO o<:U 0,,-

Argi rocastro 4,142 123,634 60,578 63,056 30 Berat 3,932 115,298 83,926 31,372 29 Dibra 2,386 93,976 84,167 1,166 3,649 39 Durazzo 2,446 992,521 82,424 5,910 4,187 38 Elbasan 2,955 81,144 74,454 6,690 27 Corizza 3,312 120,659 73,317 47,342 36 Scutari 4,870 106,350 36,618 1,803 67,929 22 Cossovo 2,135 39,944 36,292 3,652 18 Valona 1,360 43,852 28,572 15,277 3 32

TOTALS 27,538 817,378 560,348 172,610 84,420 Av: 30

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 people37

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, Pepe­line, 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

Natura l Annual Birth Deaths Increase Average (10005) (10005) (10005)

1939-42 30.1 15.7 14.4 1947-50 37.3 15.5 21.8 1951-54 38.9 14.4 24.5 1955-57 41.1 12.6 28.539

1967 35.3 8.4 26.940

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.

)".

" ';0:>

":>-

'""" (">

t.I'

~

....

PERSONS PER SQUARE K I LOMETER

R,.ithe

Rrithe Boundary

Stata Boundary

0 miles

0 kilometers

Fig. 4

PUK~

50

eo

Proto-lose: S.c.

Y

20'

POPULATION DENSITY

V ALBAN IA G 0 1959

<Y

~

"7 L

.....

~

20'

P.A 'R 1 n

migrati on period circa 1000-500

14

..

TABLE 3. DISTRIBUTION OF TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION FOR THE YEAR 1967.

Area in Local- Village Region Rrathe Sq. Km. Towns iti es Clusters Villages

Shkoder Shkoder 2533 1 5 37 178 Lezhe 472 2 2 11 50 Puke 969 2 4 66 Kukes 1564 1 9 5 115 Tropoje 1043 1 4 5 55

Tirane- Durres 861 4 3 27 110 Durres Tirane 1186 2 20 148

Kruje 611 3 3 9 61 Mat 1028 2 4 11 60 Mirdite 698 3 4 49 Diber* 1569 2 12 9 169

Elbasan- Librazhd 1013 2 6 1 58 Berat Elbasan 1505 3 5 26 176

Lushnje 712 1 1 20 115 Fier 1191 2 4 21 137 Berat 1066 2 3 20 120 Skrapar 720 1 4 6 80 Gramsh 699 1 4 8 72

Vlore Vlore 1069 3 4 11 75 Sarande 1097 2 23 95 Gjirokaster 1137 1 5 8 81 Tepelene 817 2 4 6 61 Permet 938 2 1 18 85

Kon;:e Korc;:e 2181 3 8 12 170 Kolonje** 804 2 4 8 69 Pogradec 725 1 2 9 60

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 the district of which Erseke is the administrative center.

15

PERSONS PEA SQUARE KILOMETER

5.083 200 100 S9 47 29

Arathe

Arithe Boundary State Boundary

PUK~

miles 50

kilometers 80

POPULATION DENSITY

ALBANIA 1 9 6 8

'9

20'

P.A. 'R

Fig. 5 Data (rom Anuari 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 density 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-

PERSONS PEA SQUARE KILOMETER Decrease Increase

~~~~gd::::::lmmimmmi 10' 5 0 5 10 1S 2~

R .. ' the

A,,6the Boundarv

,S tatl! Boundary

milliS 50

a Itllometers 80

POPULATION OENSITY

ALBANIA o RATE OF CHANGE

1959 - 1968

21'

Fig . 6 Data from Vielari Slalistikor Republika Popul­lore e Shqiperise, Drejtoria e Statistikes (Tirane, 1968) .

A. 'A. 1 71

18

TABLE 4. POPULATION BY RRATHE, DENSITY AND SEX

Census Area Density Population Yea rs in KM Per KM Males Females To tal

1945 28,748 39 570,361 561,683 1,032,044 1950 28,748 42 625,935 593,008 1,218,943

Albania 1955 28,748 48 713,316 678,183 1,391 ,499 1960 28,748 56 835,294 791,021 1,626,315 1965 28,748 65 959,020 906,280 1,865 ,300 1966 28,748 66 984,080 930,050 1,914,130 1967 28,748 68 1,009,865 954,865 1,964,730

Rrathe 1967 Berat 1,066 98 52,787 51 ,603 104,390 Dibres 1,569 60 46,887 46,925 93,812 Durres 861 181 79,624 76,156 155,780 Elbasan 1,505 87 67,135 63,295 130,430 Fier 1,191 117 70,560 68,615 139,175 Gramsh 699 34 12,480 11 ,615 24,095 Gjirokaster 1,137 43 24,397 24,773 49,170 Kolonje 804 23 9,770 8,915 18,685 Kor\=e 2,181 73 82,055 77,060 159,115 Kruje 611 90 27,580 27,745 55,325 Kukes 1,564 37 30,558 28,322 58,880 Lezhe 472 70 16,408 16,817 33,225 Librazhd 1,013 42 22,358 20,372 42,730 Lushnje 712 115 41,930 39,665 81,595 Mati 1,028 44 22,836 22,504 45,340 Mirdite 698 32 11 ,433 11 ,302 22,465 Permet 938 32 15,720 14,620 30,340 Pogradec 725 59 21,899 20,876 42,775 Puke 969 28 14,518 13,050 27,568 Sarande 1,097 53 30,060 28,075 58,135 Skrapar 720 32 11,217 11,818 23,035 Shkoder 2,533 59 76,797 73,553 150,350 Tepelene 817 38 15,714 15,136 30,850 Tirane 1,186 204 128,892 113,008 241 ,900 Tropoje 1,043 24 13,540 12,030 25,570 Vlore 1,609 75 62,710 57,285 119,995

Source: Vielari SlaLisLikor, Repub/ika Popullo re e Shqiperise, Drejtoria e Slati tike (Tirane 1968) , p. 30.

19

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

(I ) Many place names in Albania have two or more linguistic forms : 'VI one' is Gheg, 'VI ore' is Tosc, and 'Va lona' is Italian. In this monograph, th e form for the modern place-name spelling is taken from the Albanian Government's map of Albania : Shqi­peri a, Harte Fiziko-Poli tske, sca le 1 :200,000, 1 vii 65 . An exception is made where the English term IA lbania' and its derivatives are used.

121 Stalesman's Year Book, (London: St. Martin 's Press, 1969), p. 723.

13) Albania, A Physical and Economic Survey (Wash­ington : U.S. joi nt Publication Research Service, 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 York : Praeger, 1967) , p. 72.

16, G. Westermann, At las Zur Wellgeschichte (Berlin : 1967), p . 34.

111 Movses Dasxu ranci, The History 01 the Caucasian Albanians London Oriental Series Vol. 8 (Oxford: 1961) p. xv.

18) Leon Dominian, 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, Nelo Drizari , Albanian (New York: Ungar, 1957), p.

110. 11 ) Drizari , op. ci t. , footnote 10, p . l OB.

12, Carleton Coon, Races 01 Europe (New York: Mac­millan, 1954), p. 181.

13) V. Gordon Chi Ide, Prehistory 01 European Society (London: Cassell , 1962); pp. 138-140.

14) Westermann, op. cit. , foolnote 6, p. 4 (V) .

IS ) Westermann, op . ci t. , (ootnote 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 Crete (Prague: Orbi s, 1951), map p. 262.

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.

P9, Coon, op. cit. , (ootnole 12, p. 527.

120) Coon, op. cit. , footnote 12, p. 631.

121) Drasxuranci, op. cit. , footnote 7, p. XX.

122 , H. Aca rean, Hayeren armatakan bararan (E revan, 1935), cited by Dasxuran~ i , op. cit. , footnote 7, p. xiii.

123) Ephraim Speiser, Mesopotamian Origins (London, 1930) ci led by Coon, op . cit. , footnote 12, p. 175.

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. , (ootnote 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. Oberhummer, " Die erst Volkszahung im AI­banien," Sonderabdruck an dem Anzeiger der phil hist. Klasse der A Akademie der Wissenschallen Nr. XXI (Wien, 1920).

130) Statesman's Yearbook (London : SI. Marlin's Press, 1962) , p. 780 and Anuari Statistikor, Republika Pop­u/lore e Shqiperise (Tirane, 1960) pp. 47-90.

13 1, Vietari Statistikor, Republika Popu/lore e Shqiperise (Tirane, 1968) , pp. 27-43.

(32) Vietari Statistikor, op. cit., footnote 31.

133) Stalesman's Yearbook, op. cit. , foo tnote 30.

134 ) Albania, op. cit. , footnote 3, p . 65.

135) Vie la,; Stalistikor R.P.S.H., op. cit., (ootnote 31, p. 28.

136) Albania, op. cil., footnote 3, p. 60.

t37) Albania, op. cit. , (ootnote 3, p. 67.

13 8' Albania , op. cit. , footnote 3, p. 65. 139) Albania , op. cit. , (ootnote 3, p. 59.

140) Vietari Statistikor 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