Arbëresh

Arbëresh refers to the Italo-Albanian communities in southern Italy descended from Albanians who migrated there in the 15th and 16th centuries to escape Ottoman conquest. The communities are concentrated in Calabria, Basilicata, and Apulia, with smaller groups in other regions and in diaspora communities abroad.

The Arbëresh trace their origins to Albanian groups who arrived under the protection of rulers in the Kingdom of Naples between roughly the 1440s and 1530s. They maintained their language, religious rites, and traditions, often forming semi-autonomous villages within the Neapolitan state. Most Arbëresh settled as Catholics and established churches within the Italo-Albanian Catholic tradition, preserving liturgical Albanian and distinctive cultural practices. The term Arbëresh refers to both the people and their language, Arbërisht, a variety of Albanian that preserves archaisms and includes loanwords from Italian, Greek, and Turkish. Two broad dialect groups are commonly noted: varieties spoken in Calabria and in Basilicata.

Culturally, Arbëresh communities are known for distinctive religious and folk customs, music, dress, and annual processions in towns such as San Demetrio Corone and other local centers. They have historically maintained bilingualism, with Albanian used at home and in community life, while Italian dominates in education and administration. In the modern era, Arbëresh populations number in the tens of thousands in Italy, with additional diaspora networks in North America and Australia; there are ongoing efforts to preserve language and heritage through associations, schools, and cultural events.