Shqip(ë)tar (
plural:
Shqip(ë)tarët,
feminine:
Shqip(ë)tare);
Shqiptar), is an
Albanian language ethnonym (
autonym), by which
Albanians call themselves. They call their country
Shqipëria and or
Shqypnia/Shqipnia (in northern Albanian dialects). During the Middle Ages, the Albanians called their country
Arbëri/Arbëni and referred to themselves as
Arbëresh/Arbënesh while known through
derivative terms by neighbouring peoples as
Arbines,
Arbanas(i),
Arvanites,
Arnaut and so on. At the end of 17th and beginning of the early 18th centuries, the placename
Shqipëria and the ethnic demonym
Shqiptarë gradually replaced
Arbëria/Arbënia and
Arbëresh/Arbënesh amongst Albanian speakers. This was due to socio-political, cultural, economic and religious complexities that Albanians experienced during the Ottoman era.