Chameria - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Chameria is a term used today mostly by Albanians for parts of the coastal region of Epirus

Epirus

The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...

in southern Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

and northwestern Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

It was also used by Greeks till the mid of 20th century and is frequently found in Greek literature. Today it is obsolete in Greek, surviving mainly in Greek folk songs, and is used mostly by Albanians as it is associated with the Cham Albanians

Cham Albanians

Cham Albanians, or Chams , are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the coastal region of Epirus in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. The Chams have their own peculiar cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many...

. Most of what is called Chameria is divided between the Greek prefectures

Prefectures of Greece

During the first administrative division of independent Greece in 1833–1836 and then again from 1845 until their abolition with the Kallikratis reform in 2010, the prefectures were the country's main administrative unit...

of Thesprotia

Thesprotia

Thesprotia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the town of Igoumenitsa. It is named after the Thesprotians, an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region in antiquity.-History:...

and Preveza

Preveza Prefecture

Preveza is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the town of Preveza.-Geography:The regional unit of Preveza is located northwest of the Ambracian Gulf. The Ionian Sea lies to the west. The terrain is mostly hilly. The mountains of Xerovouni are in...

, the southern extremity of Albania's Sarandë District

Sarandë District

The District of Sarandë is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, found in southern Albania, in the County of Vlorë.The area of the district is 749 square kilometers. The population of the district was 48,474 . According to the census of January 1993, it was 53,700.The centre of the district...

and some villages in eastern Ioannina Prefecture

Ioannina Prefecture

Ioannina is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the city of Ioannina. It is the largest regional unit in Epirus, and one of the largest regional units of Greece.-Geography:...

. The term is disused in Greece due in part to its perceived connotation of Albanian irredentism

Greater Albania

Greater Albania or Ethnic Albania is an irredentist concept of lands outside the borders of the Republic of Albania that are considered part of a greater national homeland by most Albanians, based on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in those areas...

, and because the Greek toponym

Toponymy

Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...

s Epirus and Thesprotia have been established for the region since antiquity.

Etymology

Chameria was mostly used as a term for the region of modern Thesprotia, during the Ottoman rule

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

. It is of uncertain etymology. It possibly derives from the ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

name of the Thyamis river, which in the Albanian language

Albanian language

Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...

is called Cham (Çam).

Boundaries

The region of Chameria overlaps to a high degree with the ancient and modern region of Thesprotia

Thesprotia

and the medieval region known as Vagenetia, lying north of Ambracian Gulf

Ambracian Gulf

The Ambracian Gulf, also known as the Gulf of Arta or the Gulf of Actium, and in some official documents as the Amvrakikos Gulf , is a gulf of the Ionian Sea in northwestern Greece. About long and wide, it is one of the largest enclosed gulfs in Greece...

and west of the Pindus mountains. The northern boundary of the region is not precisely defined: in Antiquity, the northern boundary of Thesprotia was the Thyamis river, but in the Middle Ages, the presumed borders were pushed to the north. Vagenetia included today's Sarandë District

Sarandë District

and Delvinë District

Delvinë District

The District of Delvinë or District of Delvina is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Vlorë County. Its population of 11,985 includes a substantial Greek community. The district has an area of 348 km² . It is in the south of the country, and its capital is Delvinë...

of Southern Albania, bordering with the Llogara and Muzina mountains in the north and northeast, the same borders that Chameria had in early modern history.

In modern times, the region of Chameria was reduced to the dialectological territory of the Chams, stretching between the mouth of the Acheron river

Acheron River

The Acheron River is a river in the South Island of New Zealand, in Marlborough and flows into the Clarence River. It flows southwest and then east for a total of 60 kilometres, joining the Clarence at the southern end of the Inland Kaikoura mountains....

in the south, the area of Butrint

Butrint

Butrint was an ancient Greek and later Roman city in Epirus. In modern times it is an archeological site in Sarandë District, Albania, some 14 kilometres south of Sarandë and close to the Greek border. It was known in antiquity as Βουθρωτόν Bouthroton or Βουθρώτιος Bouthrotios in Ancient Greek...

in the north, and the Pindus in the east. After the permanent demarcation of the Greco-Albanian border, only two small municipalities were left in southern Albania (Markat

Markat

Markat is a municipality in the Sarandë District, Vlorë County, southern Albania. The municipality consists of the villages Dishat, Vërvë, Shalës, Markat, Ninat and Janjar....

and Konispol

Konispol

Konispol is the southernmost town in Albania. It sits one kilometer away from the Albanian-Greek border. The municipality consists of the town Konispol and the village Çiflik.The town's main interests are agriculture and viticulture...

), while the remainder of the territory fell under the Greek prefectures of Thesprotia

Thesprotia

(a name revived by the Metaxas Regime in 1936) and Preveza

Preveza Prefecture

, with a few villages in Ioannina Prefecture

Ioannina Prefecture

.

Pre-War Greek sources say that Chamerian coast extentds from Acheron

Acheron

The Acheron is a river located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. It flows into the Ionian Sea in Ammoudia, near Parga.-In mythology:...

River to Buthroton (Butrint

Butrint

) and the inland reaches east till the slopes of the Mount Olytsikas (or Tomaros

Tomaros

Tomaros is a mountain in southwestern Ioannina prefecture, rising to the south of the archaeological site of Dodona. The mountain is part of the Pindus mountain range. Its maximum elevation is 1,976 m and is named the Pentalakos...

). The center of Chameria is considered to be Paramythia and other areas are Philiati, Parga and Margariti..

Geography and climate

The region is mostly mountainous, with valleys and hills concetrated in the southern part, while farmlands are in northern part. Most of them with gridded roads and ditches are within the valleys in the central, southern and the western part. There are five rivers in the region, namely Pavllo in the north, Acheron

Acheron

The Acheron is a river located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. It flows into the Ionian Sea in Ammoudia, near Parga.-In mythology:...

, Louros

Louros

Louros is a town and a former municipality in the Preveza peripheral unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Preveza, of which it is a municipal unit. The seat of the municipality was the small town of Louros . The area of the municipal unit is...

Arachthos

Arachthos is a former municipality in the Arta peripheral unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nikolaos Skoufas, of which it is a municipal unit. It is situated along the lower course of the river Arachthos, south of Arta.Population 6,011...

and Thyamis. Four of them are in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, with only the first in Albania

Albania

Mycenean Period

Late Mycenean sites have been found in the following areas of Chameria:

Nekromanteion (Oracle) of Acheron
Ephyra (Kichyro
Kichyro
Kichyros , later called Ephyra , was the capital of ancient Thesprotia, according to the myth built by the Pelasgian leader Thesprotos. Thucydides describes it as situated in the district Elaeatis in Thesprotia, away from the sea. At its site is the famous Necromanteion...

)
Dragani
Paramythia
Paramythia
Paramythia is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Souli, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. Population 7,859 .-Name:...
Giannioti

Iron Age to Roman period

There are numerous archeological sites from Iron age (10th to 7th c.) onwards. In Thesprotia, which can be considered the centre of Chameria, excavations have brought to light finds of this period in the Kokytos

Cocytus

Cocytus or Kokytos, meaning "the river of wailing" , is a river in the underworld in Greek mythology. Cocytus flows into the river Acheron, across which dwells the underworld, the mythological abode of the dead. There are five rivers encircling Hades...

valley.
The Nekromanteion of Acheron is probably the most important site of the area in antiquity, mentioned already in Homer. Archaeological findinds indicate that a sancturary existed there by 7th c. BC. It seems that it ceased to function as an oracle in Roman period.
Other important settlements are Ephyra

Kichyro

Kichyros , later called Ephyra , was the capital of ancient Thesprotia, according to the myth built by the Pelasgian leader Thesprotos. Thucydides describes it as situated in the district Elaeatis in Thesprotia, away from the sea. At its site is the famous Necromanteion...

, Buthrotum

Butrint

, the Cheimerion

Cheimerion

Cheimerion was an ancient Greek pre Hellenistic fortified settlement and port of Epirus. Its acropolis was fortified since the archaic period. It is located in modern Stikgia , 5 km from Ephyra. It is mentioned by Thucydides and Pausanias....

(5 Km west of Ephyra), Photike (some identify it with Paramythia), the port of Sybota, the city of Thesprotia, the port city of Elea (in the region of Thesprotia) which is believed to be a Corinthian colony, Pandosia

Pandosia (Epirus)

Pandosia was an ancient Greek city of Epirus. It was a colony of Elis, and a town of the Cassopaei in the district of Thesprotia in Epirus, situated upon the river Acheron....

, a colony of Elis, Tarone, near the mouth of river Thyamis, and others, depending on the definition of Chameria.

Middle Ages

In Medieval Ages the region was under the jurisdiction of the Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

and later Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

. In 1205, Michael Komnenos Doukas

Michael I Komnenos Doukas

Michael I Komnenos Doukas or Comnenus Ducas , often inaccurately called Michael Angelos , was the founder and first ruler of the principality of Epirus from 1205 until his death in 1215.-Life:...

, a cousin of the Byzantine emperors Isaac II Angelos

Isaac II Angelos

Isaac II Angelos was Byzantine emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204....

and Alexios III Angelos

Alexios III Angelos

Alexios III Angelos was Byzantine Emperor from 1195 to 1203.- Early life:Alexios III Angelos was the second son of Andronikos Angelos and Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa. Andronicus was himself a son of Theodora Komnene, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina. Thus...

, founded the Despotate of Epiros, which ruled the region until the 15th century. Vagenetia as the whole of Epirus soon became the new home of many Greek refugee

Refugee

A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...

s from Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, Thessaly

Thessaly

Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....

, and the Peloponnese

Peloponnese

The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...

, and Michael was described as a second Noah

Noah

Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...

, rescuing men from the Latin

Latin Empire

The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261...

flood.

During this period, are documented the first migration of Albanians

Albanians

Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

and Aromanians

Aromanians

Aromanians are a Latin people native throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Serbia and Romania . An older term is Macedo-Romanians...

into the region. In the 1340s, taking advantage of a Byzantine civil war

Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347

The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 was a conflict between supporters of designated regent John VI Kantakouzenos and guardians acting for John V Palaiologos, Emperor Andronikos III's nine-year-old son, in the persons of the Empress-dowager Anna of Savoy, the Patriarch of Constantinople John XIV...

, the Serbian King Stefan Uroš IV Dušan conquered Epirus and incorporated it in his Serbian Empire

Serbian Empire

The Serbian Empire was a short-lived medieval empire in the Balkans that emerged from the Serbian Kingdom. Stephen Uroš IV Dušan was crowned Emperor of Serbs and Greeks on 16 April, 1346, a title signifying a successorship to the Eastern Roman Empire...

. During this time, two Albanian states were formed in the region. In the summer of 1358, Nikephoros II Orsini

Nikephoros II Orsini

Nikephoros II Orsini - Doukas , was the ruler of Epirus from 1335 to 1338 and from 1356 until his death in 1359.-Life:...

, the last despot of Epirus

Despotate of Epirus

The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...

of the Orsini dynasty, was defeated in battle against Albanian chieftains. Following the approval of the Serbian Tsar, these chieftains established two new states in the region, the Despotate of Arta

Despotate of Arta

The Despotate of Arta was a despotate established by Albanian rulers during the 14th century, when Albanian tribes moved into Epirus and founded two short-lived principalities there...

and Principality of Gjirokastër

Principality of Gjirokastër

The Principality of Gjirokastër was an Albanian principality created by Gjon Zenebishi in 1386, encompassing the area around Gjirokastër...

. Internal dissension and successive conflicts with their neighbours, including the rising power of the Ottoman Turks

Ottoman Turks

The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...

, led to the downfall of these Albanian principalities to the Tocco family

Tocco family

The family of Tocco was a noble house from Benevento of Longobard origins, which in the late 14th and 15th centuries came to prominence in western Greece as rulers of the Ionian Islands and the Despotate of Epirus.-History:...

. The Tocco in turn gradually gave way to the Ottomans, who took Ioannina

Ioannina

Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...

in 1430, Arta

Arta, Greece

Arta is a city with a rich history in northwestern Greece, capital of the peripheral unit of Arta, which is part of Epirus region. The city was known in ancient times as Ambracia . Arta is famous for its old bridge located over the Arachthos River, situated west of downtown...

in 1449, Angelokastron in 1460, and finally Vonitsa

Vonitsa

Vonitsa is a town in the northwestern part of Aetolia-Acarnania in Greece, seat of the municipality of Aktio-Vonitsa. Population 4,081 . The town is situated in the bay overlooking the Ambracian Gulf and has a small forested peninsula, the peninsula and its narrow strait is in the northwest of...

in 1479.

Ottoman rule

During the Ottoman rule, the region was under the Vilayet of Ioannina, and later under the Pashalik of Yanina

Pashalik of Janina

The Pashalik of Yanina or Janina was a subdivision in the Ottoman Empire, created in 1430. It had some degree of autonomy in the early 19th century under Ali Pasha, but it was never recognized as such by the Ottoman empire...

. During this time, the region was known as Chameria (also spelled Tsamouria, Tzamouria) and became a district in the Vilayet of Yanina.

In the 18th century, as the power of the Ottomans declined, the region came under the semi-independent state

Pashalik of Janina

of Ali Pasha

Ali Pasha

Ali Pasha of Tepelena or of Yannina, surnamed Aslan, "the Lion", or the "Lion of Yannina", Ali Pashë Tepelena was an Ottoman Albanian ruler of the western part of Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territory which was also called Pashalik of Yanina. His court was in Ioannina...

Tepelena, an Albania

Albania

n brigand who became the provincial governor of Ioannina in 1788. Ali Pasha started campaigns to subjugate the confederation of the Souli

Souli

Souli is a municipality in Epirus, northwestern Greece. It was originally settled by both Greek and Albanian refugees who were hunted by the Ottomans in Thesprotia, Greece and Laberia, Albania. In early modern times, it was inhabited by about 12,000 Souliotes. After their expulsion the population...

settlements in this region. His forces met fierce resistance by the Souliotes

Souliotes

Souliotes were a warlike community from the area of Souli, in Greece, who became famous across Greece for their resistance against the local Ottoman Pashalik of Yanina ruled by the Muslim Albanian Ali Pasha...

warriors. After numerous failed attempts to defeat the Souliotes, his troops succeeded in conquering the area in 1803.

After the fall of the Pashalik, the region remained under the control of the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

, while Greece and Albania declared that their goal was to include in their states the whole region of Epirus, including Thesprotia or Chameria. Finally, following the Balkan Wars

Balkan Wars

The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...

, Epirus was divided in 1913, in the London Peace Conference

London Conference of 1913

The London Conference of 1912-1913 was an international summit to discuss issues arising from the declaration of independence by Albania during the First Balkan War.-History:...

, and the region came under the control of Kingdom of Greece

Kingdom of Greece

The Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 in the Convention of London by the Great Powers...

, with only a small portion being integrated into the newly formed State of Albania

Provisional Government of Albania

The Provisional Government of Albania is the first Government created by Assembly of Vlorë in 4 December 1912. It was a paternal government, led by Ismail Qemali, until his resignation in 22 January 1914 and by Fejzi Bej Alizoti, until the coronation of William, Prince of Albania.- Government...

.

During the Turkish occupation Chameria had a feudal system of administration. The most important and older feudal clan was that of Proniati of Paramythia (Drandakis).

Modern history

When the region came under Greek control, its population included speakers of Greek, Albanian, Aromanian

Aromanian language

Aromanian , also known as Macedo-Romanian, Arumanian or Vlach is an Eastern Romance language spoken in Southeastern Europe...

and Romani

Romani language

Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....

.
In 1930's the population was approximately 70.000, the muslim Albanian speakers estimated around 18.000-20.000. All the population, independently of religion of ethnicity, are called Chams (Drandakis, p. 405)
(According to the 1928 census the total muslim population in Greece was 126.017 ).

In the aftermath of the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey

Population exchange between Greece and Turkey

The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey was based upon religious identity, and involved the Greek Orthodox citizens of Turkey and the Muslim citizens of Greece...

, the region was settled by Greek refugees

Greek refugees

Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the Greeks from Asia Minor who were evacuated or relocated in Greece following the Treaty of Lausanne and the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey...

from Asia Minor

Asia Minor

Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...

. In 1936 the Ioannina prefecture where the area was included, divided into two parts and the new prefecture took the name Thesprotia

Thesprotia

which was its ancient name. Cham Albanians were given religious, but no ethnic minority status and there was little evidence of direct state persecution at this time.

Muslim Chams were counted as a religious minority, and some of them were transferred to Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, during the 1923 population exchange, while their property was alienated

Alienated

Alienated may refer to:* Alienated , a 2003 Canadian science fiction TV series* "Alienated" , an episode of the sixth season of Diagnosis Murder...

by the Greek government as part of the relevant agreement between Greece and Turkey. Orthodox Cham Albanians were counted as Greeks, and their language and Albanian heritage were under pressure of assimilation.

During the Axis occupation of Greece (1941–1944), large parts of the Muslim Cham community collaborated with the Italian and German forces

Axis-Cham Albanian collaboration

During the Axis occupation of Greece between 1941 and 1944, large parts of the Albanian minority in the Thesprotia prefecture in Epirus, northwestern Greece, known as Chams collaborated with the occupation forces. Fascist Italian as well as Nazi German propaganda promised that the region would be...

committing a number of war crimes. At the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, nearly all Muslim Chams in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

were expelled to Albania

Albania

, because of that activity. However, another part of Muslim Chams provided military support to the resistance forces of the Greek People's Liberation Army, while the rest were civilians uninvolved in the war. Led by Zervas' former officer, Col. Zotos, a loose paramilitary grouping of former guerrillas and local men went on a rampage. In the worst massacre, in the town of Filiates on 13 March, some sixty to seventy Chams were killed.

Demographics

Since the Medieval Ages, the population of the region of Chameria was of mixed and complex ethnicity, with a blurring of group identities such as Albanian and Greek, along with many other ethnic groups. Information on the ethnic composition of the region over several centuries is almost entirely absent, with the strong likelihood that they did not fit into standard "national" patterns, as the 19th century revolutionary nationalist movements wanted.

Historical

In Greek censuses, only Muslims of the region were counted as Albanians. According to the 1913 Greek census, 25,000 Muslims were living at the time in the Chameria region who had Albanian as their mother tongue, from a total population of about 60,000, while in 1923 there were 20,319 Muslim Chams. In the Greek census of 1928, there were 17,008 Muslims who had it as their mother tongue.

The only census that counted Orthodox

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

population of the region of Albanian ethnicity, was an unreliable one made by fascist Italy in 1941. This census found that in the region lived 54,000 Albanians, of whom 26,000 Orthodox and 28,000 Muslim and 20,000 Greeks. After the war, according to Greek censuses where ethno-linguistic groups were counted, Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

Chams were 113 in 1947 and 127 in 1951.

Current

With the exception of the part of Chameria lying in Albania, the area comprising Chameria is nowadays inhabited mostly by Greeks as a result of the Cham exodus following World War 2 and subsequent assimilation of remaining Chams. The exact number of ethnic Albanians still residing in the Chameria region is uncertain, since the Greek government does not include ethnic and linguistic categories in any official census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

. According to the pro-Albanian author Miranda Vickers, Orthodox

Eastern Orthodox Church

Chams today are approximately 40,000. Albanian is still spoken by a minority of inhabitants in Igoumenitsa

Igoumenitsa

Igoumenitsa , is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit Thesprotia. Its original ancient name used to be Titani....

. According to Ethnologue

Ethnologue

Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...

, Albanian language is spoken as a mother-tongue by about 10,000 Albanians in Epirus and the village of Lechovo, in Florina

Florina

Florina is a town and municipality in mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. It is also the Metropolitan seat for the region. It lies in the central part of Florina peripheral unit, of which it is the capital. Florina belongs to the periphery of West...

According to a survey conducted in 1994 the Albanian language in the region is dying fast, because it receives no kind of encouragement.

Etymology

Boundaries

Geography and climate

Mycenean Period

Iron Age to Roman period

Middle Ages

Ottoman rule

Modern history

Demographics

Historical

Current

Further reading