Incorporation of Bulgarian ethnic communities from the district of Debar in the Albanian nation-state 1912–1938

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Pages: -
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/PSVB1373

Abstract:

In the process of formation of the Albanian state on the territory it occupies until today, starting in 1912, three relatively autonomous districts - Debar, Gora, and Korcha, include compact groups of people of Bulgarian ethnic origin. In the Debar areas of Golo Brdo and Pole, the Albanian state incorporates 28 villages with a population of about 11,000 people who use the Bulgarian language in their daily communication and self-identify as Bulgarians. During the period under examination, there is a rapid out migration of Bulgarian Christians from the Golo Brdo and Pole. In the 35-year period, the number of Christians decreases from about 3,000 to 733 people. At the same time, Albania becomes the new homeland of a significant Bulgarian Muslim community, including over 7,752 people, who are a constituent part of Albanian society. To this day, individual representatives of this community manage to do well in local politics, economics, and culture, enriching it further and bringing color and variety to it. An important although not surprising finding is the tendency of Muslim Bulgarians to identify as Albanians, given the fact that they live in an Albanian Muslim environment and have been bilingual for many years. Another finding is the decrease in the total number of Bulgarian villages, indicating a completed process of Albanization and their assimilation into the forming Albanian nation.

Keywords:

Albania, Bulgarians, Bulgarian villages, Debar, Golo Brdo, Pole, religion, ethnic assimilation.

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