Shqiptar

Shqip(ë)tar (plural: Shqip(ë)tarët, feminine: Shqip(ë)tare); Gheg Albanian:Shqyptar, Shqiptar), is an Albanian language ethnonym (autonym), by which Albanians call themselves. They call their country Shqipëria and or Shqypnia/Shqipnia (in northern Albanian dialects). During the Middle Ages, the Albanians called their country Arbëri/Arbëni and referred to themselves as Arbëresh/Arbënesh while known through derivative terms by neighbouring peoples as Arbineş, Arbanas(i), Arvanites, Arnaut and so on. At the end of 17th and beginning of the early 18th centuries, the placename Shqipëria and the ethnic demonym Shqiptarë gradually replaced Arbëria/Arbënia and Arbëresh/Arbënesh amongst Albanian speakers. This was due to socio-political, cultural, economic and religious complexities that Albanians experienced during the Ottoman era.