Religion in census, the 2011 Albania experience and its flaws  

The sensitive topic of religion in the Albanian 2011 census and the coming one is the focus of this study. The country majority is composed of ethnic Albanians, sharing the same nationality; blood, language, culture, territory while religion differs. It was found a flaw in categorization under the category ‘Bektashi’, one of the Albanian traditional divisions historically a sub-category of ‘Islam’. Placing it as a separate category, while the main body category ‘Islam’ is the other option creates fogginess for the inquired person. Checking on ‘Islam’ excludes s/he from the possibility to choose ‘Bektashi’ and vice versa. Data retrieved from the official INSTAT Albania online web atlas and reorganized second study objectives. Maps show a shift from traditional religious categories, Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox and Bektashi with clear geographical connotations. Traditional religious nominations range from the lowest loss of 2.9% to 56.5%. With a range 53.6%, and mean and standard deviation 23.6±13.3%, change is statistically significant p<0.001. The whole country records a fidelity to traditional categories of 75.6%. The quest of separation from the main body of a religious affiliation is a special case of separation because the sub-division always pretends to save the original message, not bringing a novelty. The case of the Albanian religious census categories superposition constitutes a technical error that needs revision.

Census 2011; Albania; religion; Islam; Muslim; Bektashi; political; ethnic

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