Because of the highly restrictive policies of the Communist regime, migration into and out of the country had a negligible influence on the size and composition of the population. Internal migration was controlled by requiring approval for persons to move from one location to another. Specific data on the scale and character of population movements were not available.
The pattern of sustained high birth rates and declining death rates resulted in high rates of natural increase. Total population increased by 71 percent from 1950 to 1969, whereas the average increase for all other East European Communist countries, excluding the Soviet Union, was 18 percent. The growth rate for 1970 was estimated at 2.7 percent.
Government and Party leaders, voicing the need for greater numbers of people for the building of socialism, supported a continuing high level of population growth. They were undeterred, in the face of persistent shortages of food and the requirement for foreign assistance, in their encouragement of a sustained high birth rate and the payment of an allowance for each child.
Table 3. Albanian Vital Statistics for Selected Years, 1950-68 (per thousand population)
| Natural | |||
| Year | Birth | Death | increase |
| 1950 | 38.5 | 14.0 | 24.5 |
| 1960 | 43.3 | 10.4 | 32.9 |
| 1968 | 35.5 | 8.0 | 27.5 |
| Source: Adapted from U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Technical Services, Joint Publications Research Service (Washington), "Protection of Mother and Child Health, the High Expression of Socialist Humanism, Realized by the Party During the 25 Years of People's Power," by Vera Ngjela et al., in Shendetesia Popullore (People's Health), Tirana, 1969 (JPRS: 50,302, Translations on Eastern Europe, Political Sociological, and Military Affairs, Nos. 204, 1970). | |||
ETHNIC GROUPS
Persons of non-Albanian ethnic origin—Greeks, Vlachs, Bulgars, Serbs, and Gypsies—constitute only about 3 percent of the population. Among the Albanians, the natural dividing line between the Gegs and the Tosks is the Shkumbin River, but there is some spillover on both sides. Numerically, the Gegs predominate, making up slightly over one-half of the Albanians within the country ([see ch. 2], Historical Setting).
Despite successive foreign invasions and centuries of occupation, a distinctive ethnic identity was preserved. Mountains and the lack of communication routes provided isolation and opportunity to evade intruders. Nevertheless, the imprints of foreign influences were considerable. Additions and modifications to the language were made from the Latin, Greek, Slavic, and Turkish contacts. Lacking an organized religion as part of their Illyrian heritage, Albanians embraced the Muslim, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic faiths brought to them by their conquerors ([see ch. 5], Social System).
Individual Albanians distinguished themselves in the service of the Roman and Turkish empires and were noted for their ability as soldiers. It was not until the nineteenth century when they began to seek autonomy that their history was recorded in writing. Kinship and tribal affiliations, a common spoken language, and folk customs served to provide continuity and common identity through the many centuries of relative obscurity.
There are marked differences in the physical appearance of the typical Geg and the typical Tosk, but until World War II the greatest contrast was in their social systems. The Geg and Tosk dialects differ, and there are also variations within subgroups. Some progress was made under the Zog regime in bringing the clans, whose authority prevailed particularly in the north, under government control and in eliminating blood feuds ([see ch. 5], Social System).