The Albanians of Kosovo

The Albanians of Kosovo, numbering approximately 1,970,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Balkan ethnic group united by Albanian language, a shared historical identity, and common cultural traditions, internally differentiated into regional subgroups such as Gheg and Tosk but maintaining a strong overarching sense of collective identity. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Gheg Albanian is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Albanian

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Kosovo
People Cluster: Albanian
Primary Language(s): Gheg Albanian (aln)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 1,970,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG033629
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Albanians of Kosovo

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

96%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gheg Albanian
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Albanian, Gheg Speakers

Media Resources in Gheg Albanian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Gheg Albanian:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Gheg Albanian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Albanians are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Albanians:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Albanians of Kosovo

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
readTitus 3:3

Pray for those who seek worldly pleasures instead of God to flee from sin and choose God’s goodness and lovingkindness by placing their faith in Jesus.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
readPsalm 25:5

Pray that the gospel will advance and that God will lead people in His truth, bringing many to salvation.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
readPsalm 51:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will quickly repent when they sin and walk with clean hearts and right spirits as they grow in their relationship with the Lord.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Albanian Across Countries (ROP3 - 115689) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

14 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
AlbaniansAlbaniansAlbania2,595,000Engaged yet UnreachedGheg AlbanianFolk Islam
AlbaniansAlbaniansKosovo1,970,000Engaged yet UnreachedGheg AlbanianFolk Islam
AlbaniansAlbaniansNorth Macedonia541,000Engaged yet UnreachedGheg AlbanianFolk Islam
AlbaniansAlbaniansItaly446,000Engaged yet UnreachedGheg AlbanianFolk Islam
AlbaniansAlbaniansGreece280,000Engaged yet UnreachedTosk AlbanianEastern Orthodox Christianity
AlbaniansAlbaniansUnited States226,000Engaged yet UnreachedGheg AlbanianFolk Islam
AlbaniansAlbaniansSwitzerland115,000Unengaged and UnreachedTosk AlbanianFolk Islam
AlbaniansAlbaniansTurkiye68,500Engaged yet UnreachedTosk AlbanianFolk Islam
AlbaniansAlbaniansGermany66,000Engaged yet UnreachedTosk AlbanianFolk Islam
AlbaniansAlbaniansMontenegro49,500Unengaged and UnreachedGheg AlbanianFolk Islam
AlbaniansAlbaniansUnited Kingdom42,500Unengaged and UnreachedTosk AlbanianFolk Islam
AlbaniansAlbaniansCanada27,500Engaged yet UnreachedTosk AlbanianFolk Islam
AlbaniansAlbaniansAustria24,000Unengaged and UnreachedTosk AlbanianFolk Islam
AlbaniansAlbaniansBelgium18,500Engaged yet UnreachedGheg AlbanianFolk Islam

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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