Albanians (Albanian: Shqiptarët) are defined as an ethnic group native to Albania and neighboring countries. The term is also used to refer to the citizens of the Republic of Albania. Ethnic Albanians speak the Albanian language and more than half of ethnic Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo. A large Albanian population lives in the Republic of Macedonia, with smaller Albanian populations located in Serbia and Montenegro. The majority of Albanians are nominally Muslim (mainly Sunni, with a smaller Shia Sufi Bektashi component), and a minority are nominally Christian (Catholic and Orthodox). Albanians produced many prominent figures such as Skanderbeg, leader of the medieval Albanian resistance to the Ottoman conquest and others during the Albanian National Awakening seeking self-determin