Rionero in Vulture (Arbëreshë Albanian: Arrionero) is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata.

The village was founded and historically inhabited by the Arbëreshë minority, who no longer retain the language and the cultural Arbëreshe heritage.

In 1316 the inhabitants of Rionero abandoned their hamlet and took part in the construction of the village of Atella which had received tax concessions.

The hamlet remained unpopulated during most of the 14th and 15th centuries until the influx of refugees from Albania (i.e. from Scutari and Corona) and several groups taking advantage of tax exemptions promulgated in those years.

Later on the Caracciolo, princes of Torella, to whom belonged the feudal rights, granted permission for the deforestation, the tillage, and the cultivation of lands occupied from the forests of the locality "Gaudo" and as a result of the consequent economic development the population endured a strong growth: in the year 1735 the inhabitants had grown to approximately 3,000, in 1752 to approximately 9,000 and by 1811 they had exceeded 11,000.