The vast majority of them live in the southern part of the country that borders Kosovo and North Macedonia, called the Preševo Valley.

[6] The Torlak Slavic dialects are influenced by the features which emerged in the Albanian and Eastern Romance spoken in southeastern Serbia.

[10] Toponyms such as Arbanaška and Đjake shows an Albanian presence in the Toplica and Southern Morava regions (located north-east of contemporary Kosovo) since the Late Middle Ages.

[12] By 1477, part of the Albanian Mataruge tribe lived in the kaza of Prijepolje, where they formed their own distinct community (nahiye) with 10 villages (katund).

[13] In Ottoman records on the regions of Toplica, Kruševac and Leskovac (today located in southern Serbia) that date between 1444 and 1446, a village by the name of Tanuš (derived from the Albanian anthroponym Tanush) appears.

In the region of Toplica specifically, several settlements of Albanian toponomy were recorded during the first half of the 15th century, such as Gonzi, Castrat, Spanzi, Zur, Katun and Kriva Feja.

[14] In 1700, after the Great Serb Migration, the Kelmendi and Kuçi and other tribes like the Shkreli of Rugova established themselves in the region of Rožaje and the neighboring town of Tutin, Serbia.

[15][16][17] Starting in the 18th century many people originating from the Hoti tribe have migrated to and live in Sandžak, mainly in the Tutin area, but also in Sjenica.

[18] In the era of trade development in the Ottoman Balkans, Albanian merchants from Shkodra, Pristina and Prizren had settled in the sanjak of Smederevo (Belgrade Pashalik).

In the cities, a part of the Muslim population which were identified as Turks were in fact Albanians who had adopted an Ottoman urban culture.

In April 1844, rebels from the Preševo valley, Gjilan, Leskovac, Tetovo, Gostivar, Kumanovo defeated Huseyin pasha and took Vranje.

Local Albanians were led by Sulejman Tola of Veliki Trnovac/Tërrnoc, Selman Rogaçica, Ymer Aga of Presheva and Dervish Cara.

In the war Albanians from Kuršumlja, Prokuplje and Leskovac formed units which operated independently from the Ottoman army for the self-defense of villages against the Serbian troops.

Serbian forces in the Morava Valley continued to head for Vranje, with the intention of then turning west and entering Kosovo proper.

The Serbian advance in the southwest was slow, due to the hilly terrain and much resistance by local Albanians who were defending their villages and also sheltering in the nearby Radan and Majdan mountain ranges.

Albanian refugees continued to retreat toward Kosovo and their march was halted at the Goljak Mountains when an armistice was declared.

[29] As a result of the territorial expansion of the Principality of Serbia in 1877–78, massive and violent expulsion of Albanians occurred from the newly occupied regions in the sanjak of Niš.

In the new areas (present-day Jablanica, Toplica and parts of Nišava District) an estimated 50,000–60,000 Albanians were expelled and settled mainly in Kosovo.

A part of the Serb settlers came from nearby eastern Kosovo and had been driven out in interethnic violence by the muhaxhirs who had settled just across the new border.

The large depopulation and economic devaluation of the new territories couldn't be balanced by any means so the Serbian government attempted to attract some of the Albanians who had been expelled to settle again in Serbia.

Milan Obrenović, future King of Serbia since 1882, struck a deal directly with Shahid Pasha, a local Albanian military officer from Jablanica.

[35] Some historians suggest that Austro-Hungarian emissaries were active in areas where Serbs and Albanians coexisted, deliberately stirring conflicts and divisions between the two nations to advance their state's political interests and influence.

[43] From 1998 onwards, the group was involved in open conflict with an increasing number of Yugoslav security forces, and the escalating tensions eventually led to the Kosovo War in February 1998.

[47][48] In June 1999, a new Albanian militant insurgent group - the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (UÇPMB) - was formed and began training.

[53] Unlike in the case of the KLA in Kosovo, western countries condemned the attacks of the UÇPMB and described them as examples of "extremism" and the use of "illegal terrorist actions" by the group.

[54] Since then, the Albanian Coalition from Preševo Valley has gained representation in the National Assembly of Serbia where it holds two seats.

[55] On 7 March 2017, the President of Albania, Bujar Nishani, made a historical visit to the municipalities of Preševo and Bujanovac, in which Albanians form the ethnic majority.

[56] On 26 November 2017, the President of Albania Ilir Meta made a historical visit to Medveđa, municipality with Albanian ethnic minority.

[58] In 2021 the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia released a report which stated that the Serbian administration was undertaking a "passivation of residence of Albanians" resulting in Albanians living in Southern Serbia losing the right to vote, their property, health insurance, pension and employment.

[70] In the 21st century, there still is a small community which identifies as Albanian in the Pešter region of Sandžak living in villages such as Boroštica, Doliće and Ugao.