Albanian is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group. It is the native language of the Albanian people. Standard Albanian is the official language of Albania and Kosovo, and a co-official language in North Macedonia and Montenegro, where it is the primary language of significant Albanian minority communities. Albanian is recognized as a minority language in Italy, Croatia, Romania, and Serbia. It is also spoken by long-established communities in Greece, and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. Albanian is estimated to have as many as 7.5 million native speakers.