Albanians in Greece
Encyclopedia
After the fall of communism throughout Eastern Europe
in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a large number of economic refugees and immigrants from Greece's neighboring countries, Albania
, Bulgaria
, the Republic of Macedonia
, Romania
, as well as from more distant countries such as Russia
, Ukraine
, Armenia
and Georgia
, arrived in Greece, mostly as illegal immigrants, to seek employment. The vast majority of Albanians in Greece is estimated to be between 60-65% of the total number of immigrants in Greece. According to official data (2008), there are 459,390 holders of Albanian citizenship in Greece.
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a large number of economic refugees and immigrants from Greece's neighboring countries, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, as well as from more distant countries such as Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
and Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, arrived in Greece, mostly as illegal immigrants, to seek employment. The vast majority of Albanians in Greece is estimated to be between 60-65% of the total number of immigrants in Greece. According to official data (2008), there are 459,390 holders of Albanian citizenship in Greece.