Chameria (bahasa Albania:Çamëria; bahasa Yunani:ΤσαμουριάTsamouriá; bahasa Turki:Çamlık)[1] adalah istilah yang digunakan oleh orang-orang Albania untuk menyebut wilayah pesisir Epiros di Albania selatan serta wilayah Epiros di Yunani. Wilayah ini terkait dengan penduduk yang menuturkan bahasa Albania yang disebut orang Cham.[2][3] Selain memiliki makna geografis, di Albania istilah ini juga mengandung konotasiiredentis.[4][5]
Wilayah Chameria
Wilayah yang disebut Chameria kini terbagi menjadi wilayah Thesprotia dan Preveza di Yunani serta ujung selatan Distrik Sarandë di Albania dan beberapa desa di satuan wilayah Ioannina timur.
Gawrych, George (2006). The Crescent and the Eagle: Ottoman rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874–1913. London: IB Tauris. hlm.23. ISBN9781845112875. "According to the Ottoman administrative system of the 1880s, Albanians claimed Toskalık or Toskland as encompassing the sancaks of Ergiri, Preveze, Berat and Yanya in the province of Yanya and the sancaks of Görice, Manastir, and Elbasan in the province of Manastir. Toskalık also divided into three parts, Toskalık, Laplık and Çamlık... Chamland (Çamlık) encompassed Margalic, Aydonat, and Filat."
Elsie, Robert and Bejtullah D. Destani (2012). The Cham Albanians of Greece: A Documentary History. IB Tauris. ISBN978-1-780760-00-1. hlm. XXIX. "Chameria is a mountainous region of the southwestern Balkan Peninsula that now straddles the Greek-Albanian border. Most of Chameria is in the Greek Province of Epirus, corresponding largely to the prefectures of Thesprotia and Preveza, but it also includes the southern-most part of Albania, the area around Konispol. It is approximately 10,000 square kilometres in size and has a current, mostly Greek-speaking population of about 150,000. As an historical region, Chameria, also spelled Chamuria, Chamouria or Tsiamouria, is sometimes confused with Epirus which is in fact a much larger area that includes more inland territory in northwestern Greece, for example, the town of Janina/loannina, and also much of southern Albania. Geographically speaking, Chameria begins to the north at the rivers Pavlle and Shalës in the southern part of Albania. It stretches southwards along the Ionian coastline in Greece down to Preveza and the Gulf of Arta, which in the nineteenth century formed the border between Albania and Greece. It does not include the island of Corfu or the region of Janina to the east. The core or central region of Chameria, known in Greek as Thesprotia, could be said to be the basins of the Kalamas and Acheron Rivers. It was the Kalamas River, known in ancient times as the 'Thyamis, that gave Chameria its name."
Baltsiotis, Lambros (2011). The Muslim Chams of Northwestern Greece: The grounds for the expulsion of a "non-existent" minority community. European Journal of Turkish Studies. para. 5-6. "During the beginning of the 20th Century, the northwestern part of the Greek region of Epirus was mostly populated by an Albanian-speaking population, known under the ethnonyme "Chams" [Çamë, Çam (singular)in Albanian, Τσ(ι)άμηδες, Τσ(ι)άμης in Greek]. The Chams are a distinct ethno-cultural group which consisted of two integral religious groups: Orthodox Christians and Sunni Muslims. This group lived in a geographically wide area, expanding to the north of what is today the Preveza prefecture, the western part of which is known as Fanari [Frar in Albanian], covering the western part of what is today the prefecture of Thesprotia, and including a relatively small part of the region which today constitutes Albanian territory. These Albanian speaking areas were known under the name Chamouria [Çamëri in Albanian, Τσ(ι)αμουριά or Τσ(ι)άμικο in Greek]."
