Albania
We call them Albanians, but that is not what they call themselves. Albania is the ancient name of a tribe of their Illyrian ancestors who lived on the Balkan peninsula. Since the 17th and 18th centuries, they have called their country Shqipëria, which means “Land of the Eagles,” and themselves Shqiptarë, which means “Sons/Children of the Eagles.”
The Shqiptarë struggled for a national identity, so much so that they essentially created it themselves. “Just as we are not and do not want to be Turks, so we shall oppose with all our might anyone who would like to turn us into Slavs or Austrians or Greeks, we want to be Albanians,” stated part of the memorandum to the British delegation from the Prizren League in 1878.
On November 28, 1912, they got their wish and became recognized by the world as Albania while they quietly called themselves Shqipëria. Perhaps this distinction gave them personal ownership of their country and their heritage in a way that no invaders could touch. Albania might be conquered, but not Shqipëria. The name comes with a story of a youth hunting in the mountains who rescued an eaglet and, in exchange for saving its life, was given the invincibility of an eagle with sharp eyes and powerful strength. The flag of Shqipëria has an eagle on it with two heads representing north and south. The red color of the flag stands for strength, bravery and valor. The black color represents freedom and heroism.
In 1443, Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg created the two-headed eagle emblem that became the Shqpitarë flag. He is a hero of the country for succeeding in revolts against the Ottoman Empire, holding them at bay for a number of years. There is a square named in his honor in the capital city of Tiranë.
Mother Teresa is another national hero. An ethnic Albanian and Albania’s only Nobel Laureate, she wasn’t actually born in Albania, nor did she ever live there. The international airport in Tiranë is named for Mother Teresa.
More of the Shqiptarë people live outside than within their country, an estimated 7-10 million outside and nearly 3 million within. With invasion, war, and poor economy the primary themes of the past, exile was common. The Albanian people who live outside of Albania are called the Albanian Diaspora.
Today, Albania (Shqiptëria) is bordered by four countries on the Balkan peninsula: Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Greece. Its coastland is on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. Italy and Croatia share maritime boarders.
The ancient Via Egnatia from Durrës, Albania to Istanbul, Turkey can be walked today and many of the remnants of the ancient trade route are in Albania.
Thanks to xenophobic former Prime Minister Enver Hoxha, there are over 750,000 bunkers sprinkled throughout the country.
There are at least 19 different castles and castle remnants. Most of the country is mountainous and one third of the country is forested. The southern stretch of coast on the Ionian Sea from Vlorë to Sarandë is called the Albanian Riviera and also the Riviera of Flowers.
Locals stroll in the evenings; they call it xhiro. Drinking coffee is a national pastime.
If you visit, keep in mind that the people of Shqtipëria (Albania) shake their heads when they agree and nod to mean no.
Scarecrows, and sometimes teddy bears, placed on a home or building under construction are said to bring good luck and ward off the evil of envy.
Besa is an Albanian cultural precept that literally means “to keep the promise” and binds the people to certain ethical principals, such as hospitality to strangers. It is part of the Kanun, code of honor and moral law, that was orally passed down since pre-historic times and first written down in 1913.
Besa e shqiptarit nuk shitet pazarit. (The honor of an Albanian cannot be sold or bought in a bazaar.)
Shqiptarët vdesin dhe besen nuk e shkelin. (Albanians would die rather than break honor.)
Besa e shqiptarit si purteka e arit. (The honor of an Albanian is worth more than gold.)
Albania’s celebrated writer is Ismail Kadare. Born in Gjirokastër, his novel The General of the Dead Army earned world-wide acclaim in 1963. The international community was fascinated by this new voice from a sequestered country behind the Iron Curtain. In 1981, his novel The Palace of Dreams also received critical notice. In 2005, Kadare won the inaugural International Booker Prize in honor of his body of work. “For me as a writer,” Kadare said in an interview with The Paris Review, “Albanian is simply an extraordinary means of expression—rich, malleable, adaptable. As I have said in my latest novel, Spiritus, it has modalities that exist only in classical Greek, which puts one in touch with the mentality of antiquity.”
Kadare gives the honor of founding father of Albanian literature to the writer of the country’s national motto, Naim Frashëri (1846-1900).
Gjergj Fishta (1871-1940) poet and Franciscan friar, contributed to the development of the Shqipteri language. In 1937, he wrote the epic poem Lahuta e Malcis (The Highland Flute).
Vaso Pasha, also known as Pashko Vasa, was a writer and poet who took part in the Albanian National Awakening, League of Prizen, and assisted with the creation of the Albanian alphabet. Following is an excerpt from a poem Pasha wrote in 1878 that expresses the difficult struggle for national identity:
O moj Shqypni (Oh, Albania)
Albanians, you are killing kinfolk,
You’re split in a hundred factions,
Some believe in God or Allah,
Say “I’m Turk,” or “I am Latin,”
Say “I’m Greek,” or “I am Slavic,”
But you’re brothers, hapless people!
You have been duped by priests and hodjas
To divide you, keep you wretched…
Who has the heart to let her perish,
Once a heroine, now so weakened!
Well-loved mother, dare we leave her
To fall under foreign boot heels?…
Wake, Albanian, from your slumber,
Let us, brothers, swear in common
And not look to church or mosque,
The Albanian’s faith is to be Albanian!
Follow this link to find out How to Eat Like an Albanian.
More foods and recipes.
Follow this link to listen to Albanian iso-polyphony, a group singing, usually men.
There are more than 200 different kinds of traditional clothing. Follow this link to view photographs and read about traditional Albanian clothing.
SOURCES AND MORE INFORMATION:
Guppy, Shusha. “Ismail Kadare: The Art of Fiction No. 153.” The Paris Review. Summer 1998.
Turp, Craig. “Ismail Kadare: Albania’s winner of the 2020 Neustadt Prize for Literature.” Emerging Europe: Culture. October 26, 2019.
Faith, Chelangat. “Fun Facts about Albania.” WorldAtlas. Aug. 1, 2017.
Schwandner-Sievers, Stephanie and Fischer, Bernd J. (eds.). Albanian Identities: Myth and History. 2002: Indiana University Press.
Merrill, Christopher. Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars. 1999: Roman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
The Crazy Tourist. “15 Fun & Interesting Facts About Albania.”
Anita Hendrieka. “13 Facts About Albania You Didn’t Know.” November 17, 2019.
Nations Online. “Albania.”
Travel Addicts. “Six Unexpected Highlights of a Trip to Albania.” January 10, 2020.
Albania Go Your Own Way. Where to Go: Castles. Albanian National Tourism Agency.