Carnara 1,284 metres (4,213 ft) above sea level, San Paolo is the smallest commune in Basilicata with an area of 29.9 square kilometres (11.5 sq mi).

The village is bordered by the towns of Alessandria del Carretto (CS), Cersosimo, Noepoli, San Costantino Albanese and Terranova di Pollino.

[6] San Paolo Albanese was founded in approximately 1534 by ethnic Albanians refugees or Arbëreshë, from Corone, Morea in Greece which was occupied by the Ottoman Turks.

Numerous Albanian intellectuals, for example, played an active part in the cultural renaissance of the southern regions of Italy and in the political movement of the Italian Risorgimento.

[9] The late 1950s marked the start of a certain cultural revival of Albanian, thanks to the founding of the Associazione Italiana per i Rapporti Culturali Italo-Albanesi, which published the journal Rassegna di Studi Albanesi from 1961 to 1963.