The Albanians of Kosovo (Albanian: Shqiptarët e Kosovës, pronounced[ʃcipˈtaɾətɛkɔˈsɔvəs]), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars (Albanian: Kosovarët), constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo.
Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-group of Ghegs,[10] who inhabit the north of Albania, north of the Shkumbin river, Kosovo, southern Serbia, and western parts of North Macedonia. They speak Gheg Albanian, more specifically the Northwestern and Northeastern Gheg variants.
According to the 1991 Yugoslav census, boycotted by Albanians, there were 1,596,072 ethnic Albanians in Kosovo or 81.6% of population. By the estimation in the year 2000, there were between 1,584,000 and 1,733,600 Albanians in Kosovo or 88% of population; as of 2011,[11] their population share is 92.93%.
^Simon Broughton; Mark Ellingham; Richard Trillo (1999). World music: the rough guide. Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Rough Guides. p. 5. ISBN978-1-85828-635-8. Retrieved 13 July 2013. Most of the ethnic Albanians that live outside the country are Ghegs, although there is a small Tosk population clustered around the shores of lakes Presp and Ohrid in the south of Macedonia.