Venetian Albania

Venetian Albania (Italian: Albania Veneta) was the name for the possessions of the Venetian Republic in southern Dalmatia that existed from 1420 to 1797. It originally covered the coastal area of what is now northern Albania and the coast of Montenegro, but the Albanian and southern Montenegrin parts were lost to the Ottomans in 1571.The word "Veneta" in the Italian name of Venetian Albania (Albania Veneta) was used to differentiate the area from the Ottoman Albania (Albania Ottomana), an area stretching from Kosovo to southern Albania.These Venetian possessions stretched from the southern borders of the Republic of Dubrovnik to Durrës in coastal Albania. The Venetian territories never reached more than 20 km from the Adriatic Sea. After 1573 the southern limit was moved to the village of Kufin) near Budva, because of the Ottoman conquests of Bar, and Ulcinj in the Balkans.The Venetian territory was centered around the area of the Bay of Kotor and included the towns of Kotor, Risan, Perast, Tivat, Herceg Novi, Budva, and Sutomore.

History
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Venice periodically controlled the small southern Dalmatian villages around in the 10th century, but did not permanently assume control until 1420. The Venetians assimilated the Dalmatian language into the Venetian dialect quickly. The Venetian territories around Kotor lasted from 1420 to 1797 and were called Venetian Albania, a province of the Venetian Republic.When the Turks started to conquer the Balkans in 15th century, the population of Christian Slavs in Dalmatia increased greatly. By the end of 17th century the Romance speaking population of the historical Venetian Albania was a minority, according to Oscar Randi in his book Dalmazia etnica, incontri e fusioni.After the French Empire conquered and dissolved the Venetian Republic in 1797, the area of Venetian Albania became part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy,and then in 1809 it was included in the French Illyrian Provinces. In 1814 it was included in the Austrian Empire.


Population
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The majority of population was Albanian.They lived in the south of the Venetian Albania around Ulcinj and Durrës. The area around Kotor was populated by Slavs and Romance-speakers and was fully Catholic.