Alphabet Day (Dita e Alfabetetit)Â is an official public holiday in Albania which is celebrated on 22 November of each year. The day commemorates the standardization of the Albanian alphabet at the Congress of Manastrir (now Bitola, North-Macedonia) on this day in 1908.
The Albanian Language, also called Shqip, once consisted of six different alphabets and even more subvariants. During the Congress of Manastir, which took place between 14 and 22 November 1908, fifty prominent delegates from different Albanian-speaking regions of the Ottoman Empire gathered together and decided to standardize the Albanian alphabet based on the Latin script.
The congress and its outcome to choose the Latin script over the Turkish or Arab script was a sign of the weakening power of the Ottomans in the region, and one of the steps that ultimately led to the independence of Albania in 1912.
The event is seen as a symbol of the resilience of the Albanian people. The unification of the alphabet reinforced the importance of the Albanian language and has since formed a cornerstone of a national identity that bridges religious and regional differences.
Alphabet Day is not only celebrated in Albania but also in Kosovo and North Macedonia and by Albanian-speaking communities elsewhere.











