Before its use as the official name of the state recognised by the Great Powers in 1913, Albania referred to an area situated in the western part of the Balkans. The name Albania is derived from Arbanon or Arvanon, a region in today's central Albania, which was a term used by Byzantine authors who refer to the Arvanites (Gr.), groups of people living in this area. The Ottomans, too, used this term in their earliest designation of the territory (sancaq-i arvanid). Later they used arnavūt to refer to the inhabitants, and arnavūtluk for the region. The term now used by the Albanians them…