Albanians in Italy in the context of "Ethnic Albanians"

The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, and they also live in the neighboring countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, and Serbia, as well as in Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Albanians also constitute a large diaspora with several communities established across Europe and the other continents.

The language of the Albanians is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group. Albanians have a western Paleo-Balkanic origin, and, for geographic and historical reasons, most scholars maintain that they descend at least partially from the Illyrians, but the question of which other Paleo-Balkan group(s) contributed to the ethnogenesis of the Albanians is still a subject of academic debate.

The Albanian language is composed of many dialects, divided into two major groups: Gheg and Tosk. The Shkumbin river is roughly the geographical dividing line, with Gheg spoken north of the Shkumbin and Tosk south of it.

There is a large population of Moroccans in Italy. are Italians citizens and nationals ethnic group, of the Italy with Italian citizenship and an Italian passport of Moroccan descent, immigrants from Morocco to Italy and their descendants are the third largest ethnic group in Italy after Romanians in Italy and Albanians in Italy. who come from various ethnic groups, form a distinct community in Italy and part of the wider Moroccan diaspora. They represent the largest non-European immigrant population in Italy and are widely referred to as Italiano-Marocchini in Italian. According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics, the country was home to 420,650 Moroccan immigrants in 2017. The equivalent figure in 2014 was 454,773.

The traditional Albanian clothing (Albanian: Veshjet Tradicionale Shqiptare; Veshjet Kombëtare; Veshjet Popullore or Kostumet Kombëtare) includes more than 500 different varieties of clothing in all Albania and the Albanian-speaking territories and communities (including the Arbëreshë in Italy, Arvanites in Greece and Arbanasi in Croatia). Albania's recorded history of clothing goes back to classical times. It is one of the factors that has differentiated this nation from other European countries, dating back to the Illyrian period.

Almost every cultural and geographical region in the country has its own specific variety of costume that varies in detail, material, color, shape, and form. Albanian folk dress is often decorated with symbolic elements of Illyrian antique pagan origin, like suns, eagles, moons, stars, and snakes. Fabrics are traditionally made by weaving clothes using looms. To this day, some conservative old men and women mainly from the North wear traditional clothing in their daily lives. Instead, older women from the South usually wear all-black outfits. Men and boys are usually seen wearing long, white skirts and long socks that are similar to tights.