Albanians () are a nation and ethnic group, native to Albania, Kosovo and other countries who share a common culture, ancestry and speak the Albanian language as a native tongue. Legally, the term is 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 Greece, Italy, the Republic of Macedonia, with smaller Albanian populations located in Serbia and Montenegro. 

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-determination. During the 17th and 18th century Albanians in large numbers converted to Islam, often to escape higher taxes levied on Christian subjects as well as a plethora of other reasons including ecclesiastical decay, coercion by Ottoman authorities in times of war, and the privileged legal and social position of Muslims. As Muslims, some Albanians attained important political and military positions within the Ottoman Empire and culturally contributed to the wider Muslim world. Albania gained its independence in 1912 and between 1945–1992, Albanians lived under a repressive communist regime. Albanians within Yugoslavia underwent periods of discrimination and eventual self-determination that concluded with the breakup of that state in the early 1990s culminating with Albanians living in new countries and Kosovo. Outside the southwestern Balkans of where Albanians have traditionally been located, Albanian populations through the course of history have formed new communities contributing to the cultural, economic, social and political life of their host populations and countries while also at times assimilating too.
during what centuries did they convert to Islam?
During the 17th and 18th century 