| Albanian | |
|---|---|
| shqip | |
| Pronunciation | [ʃcip] |
| Native speakers | 7,436,990 (date missing) |
| Language family |
Indo-European
|
| Dialects |
Arbëreshë
Arvanitika
Gheg
Tosk
|
| Writing system | Latin |
| Official status | |
| Official language in | 2 countries |
| Recognised minority language in | 5 countries |
| Regulated by | officially by the Social Sciences and Albanological Section of the Academy of Sciences of Albania |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | sq |
| ISO 639-2 |
alb (B) sqi (T) |
| ISO 639-3 | sqi |
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.4 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo, but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western FYR Macedonia, southern Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy. Centuries-old communities speaking Albanian-based dialects can be found scattered in southern Bosnia, southern Italy, Sicily, and Ukraine. As a result of a modern diaspora, there are also Albanian speakers elsewhere in those countries and in other parts of the world, including Scandinavia, Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Singapore, Brazil, Canada, and the United States.