page_title: Arbëreshë people
section_title: Distribution
hierarchical_section_title: Arbëreshë people / Distribution
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Civita - Panorama
context_page_description: The Arbëreshë, also known as Albanians of Italy or Italo-Albanians, are an Albanian ethnolinguistic group in Southern Italy, mostly concentrated in scattered villages in the regions of Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise and Sicily. They are the descendants of mostly Tosk Albanian refugees, who fled from Albania between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries in consequence of the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans.
  During the Middle Ages, the Arbëreshë settled in Southern Italy in several waves of migration, following the establishment of the Kingdom of Albania, the death of the Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu and the gradual conquest of Albania and the Byzantine Empire by the Ottomans.
  Their culture is determined by the main features that are found in language, religion, traditions, customs, art and gastronomy, still zealously preserved, with the awareness of belonging to a specific ethnic group.
context_section_description: The Arbëresh villages contains two or three names, an Italian one as well as one or two native Arbëresh names by which villagers know the place. The Arbëreshë communities are divided into numerous ethnic islands corresponding to different areas of southern Italy. However, some places have already lost their original characteristics and the language, and others have totally disappeared. Today, Italy has 50 communities of Arbëreshë origin and culture, 41 municipalities and 9 villages, spread across seven regions of southern Italy, forming a population of about 100,000. Some cultural islands survive in the metropolitan areas of Milan, Chieri, Turin, Rome, Naples, Bari, Cosenza, Crotone and Palermo. In the rest of the world, following the migrations of the twentieth century to countries such as Germany, Canada, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Uruguay and the United States, there are strong communities that keep Arbëreshë traditions alive.
  The full list of the Arbëresh Communities in Italy is:
  Abruzzo
  Province of Pescara
  Villa Badessa (frazione of Rosciano): Badhesa
  Molise
  Province of Campobasso
  Campomarino: Këmarini
  Montecilfone: Munxhufuni
  Portocannone: Portkanuni
  Ururi: Rùri
  Campania
  Province of Avellino
  Greci: Katundi
  Apulia
  Province of Foggia
  Casalvecchio di Puglia: Kazallveqi
  Chieuti: Qefti
  Provincia di Taranto
  San Marzano di San Giuseppe: Shën Marcani
  Basilicata
  Province of Potenza
  Barile: Barilli
  Ginestra: Zhura
  Maschito: Mashqiti
  Rionero in Vulture: A-Rionero
  San Costantino Albanese: Shën Kostandini Arbëresh
  San Paolo Albanese: Shën Pali Arbëresh
  Calabria
  Province of Catanzaro
  Andali: Andalli
  Caraffa di Catanzaro: Garafa
  Marcedusa: Marçëdhuza
  Vena di Maida (frazione of Maida): Vina
  Province of Cosenza
  Acquaformosa: Firmoza
  Cantinella (frazione of Corigliano-Rossano): Kantinela
  Cerzeto (in the commune of Cerzeto): Qana
  Castroregio: Kastërnexhi
  Cavallerizzo (frazione of Cerzeto): Kajverici
  Civita: Çifti
  Eianina (frazione of Frascineto): Purçìll
  Falconara Albanese: Fullkunara
  Farneta (frazione of Castroregio): Farneta
  Firmo: Ferma
  Frascineto: Frasnita
  Lungro: Ungra
  Macchia Albanese (frazione of San Demetrio Corone): Maqi
  Malito
  Marri (frazione of San Benedetto Ulolano): Allimarri
  Mongrassano: Mungrasana
  Plataci: Pllatëni
  San Basile: Shën Vasili
  San Benedetto Ullano: Shën Benedhiti
  Santa Caterina Albanese: Picilia
  San Cosmo Albanese Strihàri
  San Demetrio Corone: Shën Mitri
  San Giorgio Albanese: Mbuzati
  San Giacomo di Cerzeto (frazione of Cerzeto): Shën Japku
  San Martino di Finita: Shën Mërtiri
  Santa Sofia d'Epiro: Shën Sofia
  Spezzano Albanese: Spixana
  Vaccarizzo Albanese: Vakarici
  Province of Crotone
  Carfizzi: Karfici
  Pallagorio: Puhëriu
  San Nicola dell'Alto Shën Kolli
  Sicilia
  Province of Palermo
  Contessa Entellina: Kundisa
  Piana degli Albanesi: Hora e Arbëreshëvet
  Santa Cristina Gela: Sëndahstina
caption: Civita (Çifti) in Calabria
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