Gheg Albanian language in the context of "Shqiptar"

Tirana (/tɪˈrɑːnə/ tih-RAH-nə, Albanian pronunciation: [tiˈɾana]; Gheg Albanian: Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea in the distance. It is among the wettest and sunniest cities in Europe, with 2,544 hours of sun per year.

Tirana was founded in 1614 by Ottoman Albanian general Sylejman Pasha Bargjini, centered on the Old Mosque and türbe. The site of present-day Tirana has been continuously inhabited since the Iron Age and was likely the core of the Illyrian kingdom of the Taulantii, which in classical antiquity was centred in the hinterland of Epidamnus. Following the Illyrian Wars, it was annexed by the Roman Empire. With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fourth century, most of Albania came under the control of the Eastern Roman Empire. The city was fairly unimportant until the 20th century, when the Congress of Lushnjë proclaimed it as Albania's capital after the Albanian Declaration of Independence in 1912.

Northern Albania (Albanian: Shqipëria Veriore) is one of the three NUTS-2 regions of Albania, along with Central Albania and Southern Albania (Toskeria). It consists of the counties of Dibër, Durrës, Kukës, Lezhë and Shkodër.

Historically and in ethnography, Northern Albania has been called Ghegeria (also spelled Gegeria; Albanian: Gegëria, Gheg Albanian: Gegnia), a name derived from a subgroup of Albanians known as the Ghegs.

The Albanian Kingdom (Gheg Albanian: Mbretnija Shqiptare; Tosk Albanian: Mbretëria Shqiptare) was the official name of Albania between 1928 and 1939. It was established when the Albanian parliament declared the country a monarchy, and President Ahmet Bej Zogu was proclaimed Zog I. This transition marked the end of the Albanian Republic and the beginning of a constitutional monarchy. Zog I's reign was characterized by efforts to modernize the country, including legal reforms and infrastructure development, although his government maintained his authoritarian practices as president.

The kingdom maintained close relations with Fascist Italy, which provided financial and military support. However, by the late 1930s, Albania's dependence on Italy grew, culminating in Italy's invasion of Albania on April 7, 1939. The invasion led to the establishment of an Italian protectorate, and King Zog I fled into exile. The communist Party of Labor of Albania gained control of the country toward the end of World War II, establishing a communist regime and formally deposing Zog, who lived the remainder of his life in exile.

The Albanians (Albanian: Shqiptarët) and their country Albania (Shqipëria) have been identified by many ethnonyms. The native endonym is Shqiptar. The name "Albanians" (Latin: Albanenses/Arbanenses) was used in medieval Greek and Latin documents that gradually entered European languages from which other similar derivative names emerged. Linguists believe that the alb part in the root word originates from an Indo-European term for a type of mountainous topography, meaning "hill, mountain", also present in Alps. Through the root word alban and its rhotacized equivalents arban, albar, and arbar, the term in Albanian became rendered as Arbëreshë (Gheg Albanian: Arbëneshë) for the people and Arbëria (Gheg Albanian: Arbënia) for the country.

Contemporary Albanian language employs a different ethnonym, with modern Albanians referring to themselves as Shqiptarë and to their country as Shqipëria. Two etymologies have been proposed for this ethnonym. One connects it to the verb 'pronounce' (shqiptoj), deriving from Latin excipere. In this instance, the Albanian endonym, like many others, would originally have been a term connoting "those who speak [intelligibly, the same language]"; that is, "those who speak shqip," with shqip referring to the Albanian language itself. The other one derives the name from the Albanian word for eagle (shqiponjë). The eagle was a common heraldic symbol for many Albanian dynasties in the Late Middle Ages and came to be a symbol of the Albanians in general; for example, the flag of Skanderbeg, whose family's symbol was the black double-headed eagle, as displayed on the Albanian flag.

Prende or Premte is the dawn goddess, goddess of love, beauty, fertility, health and protector of women, in the Albanian pagan mythology. She is also called Afër-dita, an Albanian phrase meaning "near day", "the day is near", or "dawn", in association with the cult of the planet Venus, the morning and evening star. She is referred to as Zoja Prenne or Zoja e Bukuris ("Goddess/Lady Prenne" or "Goddess/Lady of Beauty"). Her sacred day is Friday, named in Albanian after her: e premte, premtja (Gheg Albanian: e prende, prendja). She reflects features belonging to the original Indo-European dawn goddess. A remarkable reflection associated with the Indo-European dawn goddess is the Albanian tradition according to which Prende is the daughter of the sky god – Zojz.

Thought to have been worshiped by the Illyrians in antiquity, Prende is identified with the cult of Venus and she was worshipped in northern Albania, especially by the Albanian women, until recent times. She features attributes also belonging to Aphrodite, Iris, and Helen, as well as Persephone as shown by the etymology of her name. Describing a goddess of the underworld and at the same time a personification of springtime, the Albanian e Bukura e Dheut ("the Beauty of the Earth") is evidently an epithet of the Albanian equivalent of Persephone.

The Kanun (also Gheg Albanian: Kanû/-ja, other names include Albanian: doke, zakon, venom, usull, itifatk, adet, sharte, udhë, rrugë) is a set of Albanian traditional customary laws, which has directed all the aspects of the Albanian tribal society.

For at least the last five centuries and into the present, Albanian customary laws have been kept alive only orally by the tribal elders. The success in preserving them exclusively through oral systems is an indication of ancient origins. Strong pre-Christian motifs mixed with motifs from the Christian era reflect the stratification of the Albanian customary law across various historical ages. The Kanun has held a sacred – although secular – longstanding, unwavering, and unchallenged authority with a cross-religious effectiveness over the Albanians, attributed to an earlier pagan code common to all Albanian tribes. The Albanian Kanun is regarded as a literary monument of interest to Indo-European studies, reflecting many legal practices of great antiquity with precise echoes in law codes of other Indo-European peoples, potentially inherited from the Proto-Indo-European culture.