[1] The Albanian minority is concentrated mostly in the western, north-western and partially middle area of the country with small communities located in the south-west.

The largest Albanian communities are in the cities and surrounding regions of Tetovo, Gostivar, Debar, Struga, Kičevo, Kumanovo and Skopje.

[16] The toponym Albanopolis has been found on a funeral inscription in Gorno Sonje, near the city of Skopje (ancient Scupi), present-day North Macedonia.

[18] The ethnonym Albanos was found on a funeral inscription from ancient Stobi in present-day North Macedonia, near Gradsko about 90 km to the southeast of Gorno Sonje.

It is likely that Albanians took refuge in the mountainous areas of northern and central Albania, eastern Montenegro, western North Macedonia and Kosovo.

Long-standing contact between Slavs and Albanians might have been common in mountain passages and agriculture or fishing areas, in particular in the valleys of the White and Black branches of the Drin and around the Shkodër and Ohrid lakes.

[22] Likewise, in a charter issued by the same ruler in 1300, it is noted that whoever visited the market of Skopje - be they Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, Latin, Albanian, or Vlach - must pay the dues in both Tetovo and Gračanica.

He joined the Albanian ruler and noble Andrea II Muzaka, and managed to take Kostur, Prilep and all Dibër region from Marko by that year.

[26] Albanian noble families controlled swathes of land in North Macedonia during different historical periods within the Middle Ages.

Between 1348 and 1353, Albanians are mentioned by Stefan Dušan as farmers and soldiers in the district of Tetovo and frequenters of the Fair of Saint George held in the vicinity of Skopje.

[31] The revolt began in Üsküb in July 1843 and several Ottoman-controlled towns and regions were captured over the next two years - in North Macedonia, these territories included Gostivar, Tetova, Skopje, Kumanova, Ohrid and Manastir.

[35] In a 1903 document by the Cartographic Society of Sofia, the villages of Struga Malesia were all registered with Albanian Orthodox majorities, but nowadays they have assimilated and identify as Macedonians.

[40] During the Balkan wars Serbia took control of cities in northern and western Ottoman Macedonia, lands inhabited by a large Albanian population.

In this state of war, large numbers of Albanians fearing persecution by the Serbian army fled to Anatolia, mostly from Kumanovo and Skopje but also from Veles, Prilep, Krushevo, Tetovo, Gostivar, Kichevo, Ohrid and Bitola.

[41] After the Battle of Kumanovo, Chetnik paramilitary groups supported by the Serbian Army attacked and expelled the Albanian populations of Kratovo, Štip, Veles, Kruševo and Bitola.

[42] Shortly after the defeat of Turkey by the Balkan allies, a conference of ambassadors of the Great Powers (Britain, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Italy) convened in London in December 1912 to settle the outstanding issues raised by the conflict.

A commission was created to tour Albanian communities in Macedonia, visiting Tetovo, Gostivar, Debar, Kičevo, Struga, Kumanovo, Gjorče Petrov and Resen.

In 1952, on the night of Eid al-Adha, the local Tetovo political leader Mehmet Riza Gega distributed flyers imploring Albanian parents from sending their children to Turkish speaking schools.

"[47] In the late 1980s when the autonomy of the province of Kosovo was revoked, and the repression of the Albanian population significantly increased, these developments also took place in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia.

[49] In 1994 the US Department of State's Report on Human Rights in Macedonia reported that the following forms of discrimination against ethnic Albanians existed in Macedonia: limited access to Albanian-language media and education; poor representation in public sector jobs; poor representation in the police corps; poor representation in the military officer corps; denial of citizenship to many long-time ethnic Albanian residents of Macedonia as well as discrimination in the process of citizenship applications; and unfair drawing of voting districts which dilutes their voting strength.

[55] Since the end of World War II, the Socialist Republic of Macedonia's population has grown steadily, with the greatest increases occurring in the ethnic Albanian community.

From 1953 through the time of the latest census in 2002 (initial results were released December 2003), the percentage of Albanians living in North Macedonia rose 25.2%.

[73] Ethnic tensions have simmered in North Macedonia since the end of an armed conflict in 2001, where in July 2001, former NLA fighters created the Albanian National Army (ANA, AKSh),[74] and announced itself on 3 August 2001.

[83] The protest turned violent when the mob started hurling stones and also attacking Albanian bystanders and police officers alike.

[86] According to the United States' Country Report on Human Rights 2012 for Macedonia, "certain ministries declined to share information about ethnic makeup of employees".

The same report also added: "...ethnic Albanians and other national minorities, with the exception of ethnic Serbs and Vlachs, were underrepresented in the civil service and other state institutions, including the military, the police force, and the intelligence services, as well as the courts, the national bank, customs, and public enterprises, in spite of efforts to recruit qualified candidates from these communities.

The main religion among Albanians in North Macedonia is Islam, though there are some who are Roman Catholic, with the most prominent member Agnes (Anjeza) Bojaxhiu, also known as Mother Teresa.

[88][37][38][89] In the 18th century, Orthodox Albanian refugees fleeing the socio-political and economic crises in what is now southern Albania, settled in Krusevo, often in groups of families and led by a priest.

[94] During the Ottoman period, besides the ethnic Turks and the majority Slavic population, Prilep was also home to both a Sunni Muslim and Orthodox Christian Albanian community, which lived alongside .

Born in Gur i Hasit, Has, near Kukës district, Albania about 1630, Bogdani was educated in the traditions of the Catholic Church to which he devoted all his energy.