Northern Epirus - Demographics

Demographics

In Albania, Greeks are considered a "national minority". There are no reliable statistics on the size of any ethnic minorities in Albania, as the Albanian government does not include them on the census. The Albanian government is not going to conduct an official census on ethnicity. Some commentators allege that this is out of fear that a considerable part of the population will register themselves as Greek.

According to data presented to the 1919 Paris Conference, by the Greek side, the Greek minority numbered 120,000, and the last census to include data on ethnic minorities conducted in 1989 under the communist regime cites only 58,785 Greeks although the total population of Albania had tripled in the meantime. More recent estimations by the Albanian government raise the number to 80,000.

However, the area studied was confined to the southern border, and this estimate is considered to be low. Under this definition, minority status was limited to those who lived in 99 villages in the southern border areas, thereby excluding important concentrations of Greek settlement and making the minority seem smaller than it is. Sources from the Greek minority have claimed that there are up to 400,000 Greeks in Albania, or 12% of the total population at the time (from the "Epirot lobby" of Greeks with family roots in Albania). Most western estimates of the minority's size put it at around 200,000, or ~6% of the population, though a large number, possibly two thirds, has migrated to Greece in recent years.

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization estimates the Greek minority at approximately 70,000 people. Other independent sources estimate that the number of Greeks in Northern Epirus is 117,000 (about 3.5% of the total population), a figure close to the estimate provided by The World Factbook (2006) (about 3%). But this number was 8% by the same agency a year before. A 2003 survey conducted by Greek scholars estimate the size of the Greek minority at around 60.000. The total population of Northern Epirus is estimated to be around 577,000 (2002), with main ethnic groups being Albanians, Greeks and Vlachs.