Cham Albanians or Chams (Albanian: Çamë; Greek: Τσάμηδες, Tsámidhes), are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the western part of the region of Epirus in Northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. The Chams have their own particular cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many specifically Cham elements. A number of Chams contributed to the Albanian national identity and played an important role in starting the renaissance of the Albanian culture in the 19th century. The Chams speak their own dialect of the Albanian language, the Cham Albanian dialect, which is a Southern Tosk Albanian dialect and one of the two most conservative ones; the other being Arvanitika.