Islam by country · Europe
Islam in Albania: history and Muslim population data
Explore CoMPS research on the historical journey of Islam in Albania, alongside population data and an interactive timeline.
Open Albania in the interactive map
History of Islam in Albania
Islam entered Albania when the Ottoman Empire conquered the lands in 1478 during the reign of Sultan Mohammed II el Fatih ben Murad II. Eventually the majority of Albanians chose Islam as their religion. Albania then declared its independence from the weak Ottoman Empire in 1912. It was then attacked by neighboring countries, which swallowed more than 60% of the new country. Today, historical Albania is contained in Kosovo, and parts of Greece, Serbia, Macedonia, and Montenegro. Currently, the Republic of Albania has an area of 28,748 sq km
According to census data, the Muslim population changed from 0.58 million or 70.3% in 1921, to 0.56 million or 68.6% in 1923, to 0.69 million or 68.6% in 1930, to 0.78 million or 69.1% in 1942, to 1.65 million or 70.2% in 2011. Thus, assuming that the percentage of Muslims will increase by one percentage point per decade; then the Muslim population is expected to decrease to 1.8 million or 74% by 2050 and 0.9 million or 79% by 2100.
Historical Muslim population dataset for Albania
The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.
| Year | Total population (thousands) | Muslim population (thousands) | Muslim share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 800.0 | 562.2 | 70.28% |
| 2000 | 3,196 | 2,240 | 70.10% |
| 2100 | 1,110 | 877.2 | 79.00% |
For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.