Illyrian tribe in the context of "Great Illyrian Revolt"

Albanian culture or the culture of Albanians (Albanian: kultura shqiptare [kultuˈɾa ʃcipˈtaɾɛ]) is a term that embodies the artistic, culinary, literary, musical, political and social elements that are representative of ethnic Albanians, which implies not just Albanians of the country of Albania but also Albanians of Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro, where ethnic Albanians are a native population. Albanian culture has been considerably shaped by the geography and history of Albania, Kosovo, parts of Montenegro, parts of North Macedonia, and parts of Northern Greece, traditional homeland of Albanians. It evolved since ancient times in the western Balkans, with its peculiar language, pagan beliefs and practices, way of life and traditions. Albanian culture has also been influenced by the Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans.

The name 'Albanian' derived from the Illyrian tribe of the Albanoi and their capital in Albanopolis that was noted by Ptolemy in ancient times. Previously, Albanians called their country Arbëri or Arbëni and referred to themselves as Arbëreshë or Arbëneshë until the sixteenth century as the toponym Shqipëria or Shqypnia and the endonym Shqiptarë or Shqyptarë gradually replaced Arbëria and Arbëresh. The terms Shqipëria and Shqiptarë are popularly interpreted respectively as the "Land of Eagles" and "Children of Eagles" / "Eagle-Men".

The origin of the Albanians has been the subject of historical, linguistic, archaeological and genetic studies. The first mention of the ethnonym Albanoi occurred in the 2nd century AD by Ptolemy describing an Illyrian tribe who lived around present-day central Albania. The first attestation of Albanians as an ethnic group in literary sources is in the 11th century.

Albanians have a western Paleo-Balkan origin. Besides the Illyrians, theories regarding which specific ancient Paleo-Balkan group had participated in the origin of the Albanians vary between attributing Thracian, Dacian, or another Paleo-Balkan component whose language was unattested. Among those scholars who support an exclusively Illyrian origin, there is a distinction between those who propose a direct continuity from Illyrian times, and those who propose an in-migration of a different Illyrian population. However, these propositions are not mutually exclusive.

The Albanoi (also Albani; Ancient Greek: Ἀλβανοί, Albanoi; Latin: Albani) were an Illyrian tribe. They were possibly first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (550-476 BCE) under the name Abroi. Ptolemy (100–170 CE) is the first author who mentions them under the name Albanoi. Their central settlement was called Albanopolis (Ἀλβανόπολις) and was located roughly between the Mat and Shkumbin rivers, in central Albania. The archaeological site of Zgërdhesh has been identified as the likely location of Albanopolis. Stephanus of Byzantium who reproduced Hecataeus added an entry for another settlement named Arbon in Illyria whose inhabitants were called Arbonioi or Arbonites. Another Arbon was recorded by Polybius. John of Nikiû wrote in the 7th century CE about a people known as Arbanitai in the Greek translation of the manuscript.

In the Middle Ages, the names Albanoi and Arbanitai/Albanitai referred to medieval Albanians as an ethnic group. The equivalent terms in Latin are Albanenses/Arbanenses, in Slavic Arbanasi and later in Turkish Arnaut. These names reflect the Albanian ethnic endonym Arbëreshë/Arbëneshë, which itself derives from Albanoi. In the archaeological record, the Albanoi are mentioned on a funeral inscription in Stobi and Albanopolis is mentioned on another funeral inscription near Scupi. Another ethnonym, Arbaios found in Phoenice is likely linked to them.