{"history":[{"id":"ccff53ce-9419-44db-be4f-a370315a5c9d","wordChanged":"thier","newWord":":::summary\n![Ethnic distribution of Romanians around the world](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Map///of///the///Romanian///Diaspora///in///the///World.svg)\n**Group:** Romanians \n**Native Name:** Români \n**Native Name Lang:** ro \n**Population:** c. **22.8–24.8 million** (including Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups living abroad) \n**Popplace:** 🇷🇴 [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) 19,053,815 (2022 [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania)n census) · 🇲🇩 [moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova) 192,800 (2014 Moldovan census; additional 2,068,058 [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans)) \n**Tablehdr:** Other countries \n**Region 1:** 🇮🇹 [italy](https://bliptext.com/articles/italy) \n**Pop 1:** 1,206,938 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2:** 🇪🇸 [spain](https://bliptext.com/articles/spain) \n**Pop 2:** 630,795 Romanian citizens (2023) -1,079,726 including naturalized and second and third generation Romanians (2022) \n**Region 3:** 🇩🇪 [germany](https://bliptext.com/articles/germany) \n**Pop 3:** 866,000 (2022) migrants from Romania of all ethnic groups, including a wide range of [Romanian Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania) as well \n**Region 4:** [undefined](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n**Pop 4:** 329,000 Romanian-born residents (2022) \n**Region 5:** 🇫🇷 [france](https://bliptext.com/articles/france) \n**Pop 5:** 200,000–500,000 (2022) Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 6:** 🇺🇦 [ukraine](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukraine) \n**Pop 6:** 150,989 (additional 258,619 Moldovans) \n**Region 7:** 🇦🇹 [austria](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria) \n**Pop 7:** 131,788 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups, including many [Transylvanian Saxons](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons) as well \n**Region 8:** 🇧🇪 [belgium](https://bliptext.com/articles/belgium) \n**Pop 8:** 92,746 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 9:** 🇬🇷 [greece](https://bliptext.com/articles/greece) \n**Pop 9:** 46,523 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 0:** 🇳🇱 [netherlands](https://bliptext.com/articles/netherlands) \n**Pop 1 0:** 39,654 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 1:** 🇵🇹 [portugal](https://bliptext.com/articles/portugal) \n**Pop 1 1:** 39,000 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 2:** 🇭🇺 [hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungary) \n**Pop 1 2:** 36,506 \n**Region 1 3:** 🇩🇰 [denmark](https://bliptext.com/articles/denmark) \n**Pop 1 3:** 34,960 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 4:** 🇸🇪 [sweden](https://bliptext.com/articles/sweden) \n**Pop 1 4:** 32,294 born in Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 5:** 🇮🇪 [ireland](https://bliptext.com/articles/ireland) \n**Pop 1 5:** 29,186 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 6:** [🇨🇾](https://bliptext.com/articles/cyprus) [Cyprus](https://bliptext.com/articles/cyprus) \n**Pop 1 6:** 24,376 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 7:** 🇷🇸 [serbia](https://bliptext.com/articles/serbia) \n**Pop 1 7:** 23,044 (additional 21,013 [Timok Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs-of-serbia)) \n**Region 1 8:** 🇨🇭 [switzerland](https://bliptext.com/articles/switzerland) \n**Pop 1 8:** 21,593 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 9:** 🇳🇴 [norway](https://bliptext.com/articles/norway) \n**Pop 1 9:** 18,877 migrants of Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 0:** 🇨🇿 [czech republic](https://bliptext.com/articles/czech-republic) \n**Pop 2 0:** 14,684 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 1:** 🇹🇷 [Turkey](https://bliptext.com/articles/turkey) \n**Pop 2 1:** 14,411 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 2:** 🇱🇺 [luxembourg](https://bliptext.com/articles/luxembourg) \n**Pop 2 2:** 5,209 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 3:** 🇵🇱 [poland](https://bliptext.com/articles/poland) \n**Pop 2 3:** c. 5,000 \n**Region 2 4:** 🇸🇰 [slovakia](https://bliptext.com/articles/slovakia) \n**Pop 2 4:** 4,941 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 5:** 🇫🇮 [finland](https://bliptext.com/articles/finland) \n**Pop 2 5:** 4,902 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 6:** 🇷🇺 [russia](https://bliptext.com/articles/russia) \n**Pop 2 6:** 3,201 \n**Region 2 7:** 🇲🇹 [malta](https://bliptext.com/articles/malta) \n**Pop 2 7:** 2,000 \n**Region 2 8:** 🇮🇸 [iceland](https://bliptext.com/articles/iceland) \n**Pop 2 8:** 1,463 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 9:** 🇧🇬 [bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria) \n**Pop 2 9:** 891 \n**Region 3 0:** 🇧🇦 [bosnia and herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina) \n**Pop 3 0:** 100 \n**Region 3 1:** 🇺🇸 [united states](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states) \n**Pop 3 1:** 518,653–1,400,000 (incl. mixed origin, [Romanian Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania) and [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania)) \n**Region 3 2:** 🇨🇦 [canada](https://bliptext.com/articles/canada) \n**Pop 3 2:** 204,625–400,000 (incl. mixed origin) \n**Region 3 3:** 🇲🇽 [mexico](https://bliptext.com/articles/mexico) \n**Pop 3 3:** 569 \n**Region 3 4:** 🇧🇷 [brazil](https://bliptext.com/articles/brazil) \n**Pop 3 4:** 200,000 migrants from Romania and Romanian citizens, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 3 5:** 🇻🇪 [venezuela](https://bliptext.com/articles/venezuela) \n**Pop 3 5:** 10,000 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 3 6:** 🇦🇷 [argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina) \n**Pop 3 6:** 10,000 of Romanian origin, including [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania) and [Romanian Romani](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people-in-romania) \n**Region 3 7:** 🇨🇴 [colombia](https://bliptext.com/articles/colombia) \n**Pop 3 7:** 350 \n**Region 3 8:** 🇺🇾 [uruguay](https://bliptext.com/articles/uruguay) \n**Pop 3 8:** 200 \n**Region 3 9:** 🇵🇪 [peru](https://bliptext.com/articles/peru) \n**Pop 3 9:** 174 \n**Region 4 0:** 🇦🇺 [australia](https://bliptext.com/articles/australia) \n**Pop 4 0:** 20,998 first and second generation migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 4 1:** 🇳🇿 [new zealand](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-zealand) \n**Pop 4 1:** 3,100 \n**Region 4 2:** 🇮🇱 [israel](https://bliptext.com/articles/israel) \n**Pop 4 2:** 100,823 \n**Ref 4 2:** (mostly [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania)) \n**Region 4 3:** 🇯🇵 [japan](https://bliptext.com/articles/japan) \n**Pop 4 3:** 2,708 \n**Region 4 4:** 🇰🇷 [south korea](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-korea) \n**Pop 4 4:** 661 \n**Region 4 5:** 🇰🇿 [kazakhstan](https://bliptext.com/articles/kazakhstan) \n**Pop 4 5:** 421 \n**Region 4 6:** [undefined](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n**Pop 4 6:** 100 \n**Region 4 7:** 🇿🇦 [south africa](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-africa) \n**Pop 4 7:** 2,828 \n**Region 4 8:** 🇪🇬 [egypt](https://bliptext.com/articles/egypt) \n**Pop 4 8:** 420 \n**Languages:** [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) \n**Religions:** Predominantly [**Orthodox Christianity**](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodox-church) · ([Romanian Orthodox Church](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-orthodox-church)), · also [Roman Catholic](https://bliptext.com/articles/catholic-church-in-romania), [Greek Catholic](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-greek-catholic-church), and [Protestant](https://bliptext.com/articles/protestantism) \n**Related:** Other [Eastern](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages) [Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages)-speaking peoples · (most notably [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans), [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians)) \n:::\n\n# \n**Români** (, ; dated [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/endonym-and-exonym) [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs)) are a thief ethnic group and [nation](https://bliptext.com/articles/nation) native to [Central](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe), [Eastern](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-europe), and [Southeastern Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeastern-europe).\nSharing a [common culture](https://bliptext.com/articles/culture-of-romania) and [ancestry](https://bliptext.com/articles/cultural-heritage), they speak the [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) and live primarily in [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova).\nThe [2021 Romanian census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2021-romanian-census) found that 89.3% of Romania's citizens identified themselves as ethnic Romanians.\nIn one interpretation of the 1989 census results in Moldova, the majority of [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans) were counted as ethnic Romanians as well.\nRomanians also form an ethnic minority in several nearby countries situated in Central, Southeastern, and Eastern Europe, most notably in [Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-hungary), [Serbia](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-serbia) (including [Timok](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs-of-serbia)), and [Ukraine](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-ukraine).\nEstimates of the number of Romanian people worldwide vary from minimum 24 to maximum 30 million, in part depending on whether the definition of the term \"Romanian\" includes natives of both Romania and Moldova, their respective diasporas, and native speakers of both Romanian and other [Eastern Romance languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages).\nOther speakers of the latter languages are the [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), the [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and the [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians) (native to [Istria](https://bliptext.com/articles/istria)), all of them unevenly distributed throughout the [Balkan Peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans), which may be considered either Romanian subgroups or separated but related ethnicities.\n\n# History\n\n## Antiquity\nThe territories of modern-day [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova) were inhabited by the ancient [Getae](https://bliptext.com/articles/getae) and [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) tribes.\nKing [Burebista](https://bliptext.com/articles/burebista) who reigned from 82/61 BC to 45/44 BC, was the first king who successfully unified the tribes of the [Dacian kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia), which comprised the area located between the Danube, Tisza, and Dniester rivers.\nKing [Decebalus](https://bliptext.com/articles/decebalus) who reigned from 87 to 106 AD was the last king of the [Dacian kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) before it was conquered by the [Roman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) in 106, after [two wars](https://bliptext.com/articles/trajan-s-dacian-wars) between [Decebalus](https://bliptext.com/articles/decebalus)' army and [Trajan](https://bliptext.com/articles/trajan)'s army.\nPrior to the two wars, Decebalus [defeated a Roman invasion](https://bliptext.com/articles/domitian-s-dacian-war) during the reign of [Domitian](https://bliptext.com/articles/domitian) between 86 and 88 AD.\nThe [Roman administration](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-dacia) retreated from Dacia between 271 and 275 AD, during the reign of emperor [Aurelian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aurelian) under the pressure of the [Goths](https://bliptext.com/articles/goths) and the Dacian [Carpi](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpi-people) tribe.\nThe later Roman province [Dacia Aureliana](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-aureliana), was organized inside former [Moesia Superior](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia-superior).\nIt was reorganized as [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) (as a military province, devastated by an [Avars](https://bliptext.com/articles/pannonian-avars) invasion in 586) and [Dacia Mediterranea](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-mediterranea) (as a civil province, devastated by an Avar invasion in 602).\nThe [Diocese of Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/[diocese](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-diocese)-of-dacia) (circa 337–602) was a [diocese](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-diocese) of the later [Roman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire), in the area of modern-day [Balkans](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans).\nThe Diocese of Dacia was composed of five provinces, the northernmost provinces were [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) (the Danubian portion of Dacia Aureliana, one of the cities of [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) in today Romania is [Sucidava](https://bliptext.com/articles/sucidava)) and [Moesia Prima](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia-prima) (today in Serbia, near the border between Romania and Serbia).\nThe territory of the diocese was devastated by the [Huns](https://bliptext.com/articles/huns) in the middle of 5th century and finally overrun by the Avars and [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) in late 6th and early 7th century.\n[Scythia Minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/scythia-minor) (c. 290 – c. 680) was a [Roman province](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-province) corresponding to the lands between the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) and the [Black Sea](https://bliptext.com/articles/black-sea), today's [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja) divided between [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria).\nThe capital of the province was Tomis (today [Constanța](https://bliptext.com/articles/constan-a)).\nAccording to the [Laterculus Veronensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/laterculus-veronensis) of c. 314 and the [Notitia Dignitatum](https://bliptext.com/articles/notitia-dignitatum) of c. 400, Scythia belonged to the [Diocese of Thrace](https://bliptext.com/articles/diocese-of-thrace).\nThe indigenous population of Scythia Minor was [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) and their material culture is apparent archaeologically into the sixth century.\nRoman fortifications mostly date to the [Tetrarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/tetrarchy) or the [Constantinian dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantinian-dynasty).\nThe province ceased to exist around 679–681, when the region was [overrun by the Bulgars](https://bliptext.com/articles/battle-of-ongal), which the Emperor [Constantine IV](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantine-iv) was forced to recognize in 681.\n# [Map showing the area where Dacian was spoken. The blue area shows the Dacian lands conquered by the Roman Empire. The orange area was inhabited by Free Dacian tribes and others. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Romani///daci.jpg]\n# [Map showing the area where the Latin language was spoken in pink during the Roman Empire between the 4th and 7th century (including the territory of present-day Romania) | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Vatra.jpg]\n\n## Early Middle Ages to Late Middle Ages\nDuring the [Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/middle-ages) Romanians were mostly known as [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs), a blanket term ultimately of [Germanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/germanic-languages) origin, from the word [Walha](https://bliptext.com/articles/walhaz), used by ancient [Germanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/germanic-languages) peoples to refer to [Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages)-speaking and [Celtic](https://bliptext.com/articles/celts) neighbours.\nBesides the separation of some groups ([Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians)) during the [Age of Migration](https://bliptext.com/articles/early-slavs), many Vlachs could be found all over the [Balkans](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans), in [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), across [Carpathian Mountains](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpathian-mountains) as far north as Poland and as far west as the regions of [Moravia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moravia) (part of the modern Czech Republic), some went as far east as [Volhynia](https://bliptext.com/articles/volhynia) of western Ukraine, and the present-day Croatia where the [Morlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/morlachs) gradually disappeared, while the Catholic and Orthodox Vlachs took Croat and Serb national identity.\nThe first written record about a [Romance language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-language) spoken in the Middle Ages in the Balkans, near the [Haemus Mons](https://bliptext.com/articles/haemus-mons) is from 587 AD. A Vlach muleteer accompanying the Byzantine army noticed that the load was falling from one of the animals and shouted to a companion Torna, torna, fratre! (meaning \"Return, return, brother!\").\n[Theophanes the Confessor](https://bliptext.com/articles/theophanes-the-confessor) recorded it as part of a 6th-century military expedition by [Comentiolus](https://bliptext.com/articles/comentiolus) and [Priscus](https://bliptext.com/articles/priscus) against the Avars.\nHistorian [Gheorghe I. Brătianu](https://bliptext.com/articles/gheorghe-i-br-tianu) considers that these words \"represent an expression from the Romanian language, as it was formed at that time in the Balkan and Danube regions\"; \"they probably belong to one and the most significant of the substrates on which our (Romanian) language was built\".\nThe first definite document mentioning Romanians (Vlachs) is from the 8th century from the [Konstamonitou Monastery](https://bliptext.com/articles/konstamonitou-monastery) in [Mount Athos](https://bliptext.com/articles/mount-athos), in [Greece](https://bliptext.com/articles/greece) and talks about the Vlachs of the Rynchos river (present-day [North Macedonia](https://bliptext.com/articles/north-macedonia)).\nAccording to the early 13th century medieval Hungarian book [Gesta Hungarorum](https://bliptext.com/articles/gesta-hungarorum) the invading Magyars of King [Árpád](https://bliptext.com/articles/rp-d)\n(c. 845 – c. 907) waged wars against three dukes—[Glad](https://bliptext.com/articles/glad-duke), [Menumorut](https://bliptext.com/articles/menumorut) and the Vlach [Gelou](https://bliptext.com/articles/gelou)—for Banat, Crișana and Transylvania.\nGesta Hungarorum also mentions the [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs), [Bulgarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgarians), Vlachs and the [shepherds of the Romans](https://bliptext.com/articles/shepherds-of-the-romans) inhabiting the [Carpathian Basin](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpathian-basin): \"sclauij, Bulgarij et Blachij, ac pastores romanorum\".\nMost researchers identify the Blachij with the Vlachs.\nHowever the document was written between 1200 and 1230, around 300 years after the described events and some modern historians have reservations about it and find it unreliable.\nAnother important document mentioning Romanians (Vlachs) from the South\nof the Balkan Peninsula dates back to 980.\nThat year, the governor of [Servia](https://bliptext.com/articles/servia-greece), [Nikulitsa](https://bliptext.com/articles/nikulitsa) received the position of leader (archon) of the Vlachs from [Hellas](https://bliptext.com/articles/hellas-theme) from Emperor [Basil II](https://bliptext.com/articles/basil-ii).\nThe function received by Nikulitsa might have been as a commander of a Vlach army.\n[Byzantine](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine) historians usually described foreign rulers as archontes.\nThe document signed by [Basil II](https://bliptext.com/articles/basil-ii) to give the position of archon of the Vlachs to Nekulitsa is mentioned in [Strategikon of Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/strategikon-of-kekaumenos) (written between 1075 and 1078 AD).\nAfter the [Avar Khaganate](https://bliptext.com/articles/avar-khaganate) collapsed in the 790s, the [First Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-bulgarian-empire) became the dominant power of the region, occupying lands as far as the river [Tisa](https://bliptext.com/articles/tisa).\nThe [First Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-bulgarian-empire) had a mixed population consisting of the Bulgar conquerors, [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) and Vlachs (Romanians) but the [Slavicisation](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavicisation) of the Bulgar elite had already begun in the 9th century.\nFollowing the conquest of Southern and Central [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) around 830, people from the Bulgar Empire mined salt from mines in [Turda](https://bliptext.com/articles/turda), [Ocna Mureș](https://bliptext.com/articles/ocna-mure), Sărățeni and Ocnița.\nThey traded and transported salt throughout the Bulgar Empire.\nA series of [Arab](https://bliptext.com/articles/arab) historians from the 10th century are some of the first to mention Vlachs in Eastern/South Eastern [Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/europe): [Mutahhar al-Maqdisi](https://bliptext.com/articles/al-muqaddasi) (c.945-991) writes: \"They say that in the Turkic neighbourhood there are the Khazars, Russians, Slavs, Waladj (Vlachs), Alans, Greeks and many other peoples\".\n[Ibn al-Nadīm](https://bliptext.com/articles/ibn-al-nad-m) (early 932–998) published in 998 the work [Kitāb al-Fihrist](https://bliptext.com/articles/kit-b-al-fihrist) mentioning \"Turks, Bulgars and Vlahs\" (using Blagha for Vlachs).\nA series of Byzantine historians, such as [George Kedrenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-kedrenos) (circa 1000), [Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos) (circa 1000), [John Skylitzes](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-skylitzes) (early 1040s – after 1101), [Anna Komnene](https://bliptext.com/articles/anna-komnene) (1083-1153), [John Kinnamos](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-kinnamos) (1143-1185) and [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) (1155-1217) were some of the first to write about the Vlachs.\n[John Skylitzes](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-skylitzes) mentions the Vlachs around 976 AD, as guides and guards of Byzantine caravans in the Balkans.\nBetween [Prespa](https://bliptext.com/articles/prespa) and [Kastoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/kastoria), they met and fought with a Bulgarian rebel named David.\nThe Vlachs killed David in their first documented battle.\n[Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos)'s father-in-law was [Nikulitzas Delphinas](https://bliptext.com/articles/nikulitzas-delphinas), a lord of [Larissa](https://bliptext.com/articles/larissa) who took part in the revolt of [Bulgarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgarians) and Vlachs in [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) in 1066 AD. The 11th-century scholar [Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos) wrote of a Vlach homeland situated \"near the Danube and [...] the Sava, where the Serbians lived more recently\".\nHe associated the Vlachs with the [Dacians](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) and the [Bessi](https://bliptext.com/articles/bessi).\nAccordingly, historians have located this homeland in several places, including [Pannonia Inferior](https://bliptext.com/articles/pannonia-inferior) ([Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu](https://bliptext.com/articles/bogdan-petriceicu-hasdeu)) and [Dacia Aureliana](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-aureliana) (Mátyás Gyóni).\nThe princess and chronicler Anna Komnene reports that in April 1091, on the eve of the decisive [Byzantine](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine-greeks)-[Pecheneg](https://bliptext.com/articles/pechenegs) [Battle of Levounion](https://bliptext.com/articles/battle-of-levounion), Emperor [Alexios I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexios-i-komnenos) (1057-1118) was assisted by \"a number of 5,000 brave mountaineers and ready to attack, passed by his side, to fight alongside him\".\nMost of the specialists who have addressed these aspects have identified those \" bold mountaineers \", with the 'Vlachs.\nAnna Komnene reports that in 1094, on the occasion of the [Cumans](https://bliptext.com/articles/cumans)' campaign south of the Danube, Emperor [Alexios I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexios-i-komnenos) was informed about the movements of the \"Turanians\", who had crossed the Danube by \"a certain Pudilos, a Vlach noble\".\nThe Byzantine chronicler [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) writes that in 1164, [Andronikos I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/andronikos-i-komnenos), the emperor [Manuel I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/manuel-i-komnenos)'s cousin, tried without success, to usurp the throne.\nFailing in his attempt, the Byzantine prince sought refuge in [Halych](https://bliptext.com/articles/halych) but [Andronikos I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/andronikos-i-komnenos) was \"captured by the Vlachs, to whom the rumor of his escape had reached, he was taken back to the emperor\".\nThe Byzantine chronicler [John Kinnamos](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-kinnamos), presenting the campaign of [Manuel I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/manuel-i-komnenos) against Hungary in 1166, reports that General Leon Vatatzes had under his command \"a great multitude of Vlachs, who are said to be ancient colonies of those in Italy\", an army that attacked the Hungarian possessions \"about the lands near the Pontus called the Euxine\", respectively the southeastern regions of [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), \"destroyed everything without sparing and trampled everything it encountered in its passage\".\nBy the 9th and 10th centuries, the nomadic [Pechenegs](https://bliptext.com/articles/pechenegs) conquered much of the steppes of [Southeast Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeast-europe) and the [Crimean Peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/crimean-peninsula).The Pecheneg wars against the [Kievan Rus'](https://bliptext.com/articles/kievan-rus) caused some of the [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) and Vlachs from North of the Danube to gradually migrate north of the [Dniestr](https://bliptext.com/articles/dniestr) in the 10th and 11th centuries.\nThe [Second Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-bulgarian-empire) founded by the [Asen dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/asen-dynasty) consisting of Bulgarians and Vlachs was founded in 1185 and lasted until 1396.\nEarly rulers from the Asen dynasty (particularly [Kaloyan](https://bliptext.com/articles/kaloyan)) referred to themselves as \"Emperors of Bulgarians and Vlachs\".\nLater rulers, especially [Ivan Asen II](https://bliptext.com/articles/ivan-asen-ii), styled themselves \"Tsars (Emperors) of Bulgarians and Romans\".\nAn alternative name used in connection with the pre-mid [Second Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-bulgarian-empire) 13th century period is the Empire of Vlachs and Bulgarians; variant names include the \"Vlach–Bulgarian Empire\", the \"Bulgarian–Wallachian Empire\".\nRoyal charters wrote of the \"Vlachs' land\" in southern [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) in the early 13th century, indicating the existence of [autonomous Romanian communities](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-district).\nPapal correspondence mentions the activities of Orthodox prelates among the Romanians in [Muntenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/muntenia) in the 1230s.\n[Béla IV of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/b-la-iv-of-hungary)'s land grant to the [Knights Hospitallers](https://bliptext.com/articles/knights-hospitallers) in [Oltenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/oltenia) and [Muntenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/muntenia) shows that the local Vlach rulers were subject to the king's authority in 1247.\nThe late 13th-century Hungarian chronicler [Simon of Kéza](https://bliptext.com/articles/simon-of-k-za) states that the Vlachs were \"shepherds and husbandmen\" who \"remained in Pannonia\".\nAn unknown author's Description of Eastern Europe from 1308 likewise states that the Vlachs \"were once the [shepherds of the Romans](https://bliptext.com/articles/shepherds-of-the-romans)\" who \"had over them ten powerful kings in the entire [Messia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia) and Pannonia\".\nAdditionally, in medieval times there were other lands known by the name 'Vlach' such as [Great Vlachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/great-vlachia), situated between [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) and the western [Pindus](https://bliptext.com/articles/pindus) mountains, of the [Despotate of Epirus](https://bliptext.com/articles/despotate-of-epirus) between the 12th-15th century.\nOriginally within the [Byzantine Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine-empire), but after the 13th century autonomous or semi-independent.\nIn the 12th century, the Jewish traveller [Benjamin of Tudela](https://bliptext.com/articles/benjamin-of-tudela), who toured the area in 1166 called the region of [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) \"Vlachia\".\nThe contemporary Byzantine historian [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) however distinguishes \"Great Vlachia\" as a district near [Meteora](https://bliptext.com/articles/meteora).\n\"Vlachia\", \"Great Vlachia\", and the other variants began to fall out of use for Thessaly at the turn of the 14th century, and with the emergence of the Principality of [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) north of the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) in the 14th century, from the 15th century the name was reserved for it.\n[White Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/white-wallachia), a Byzantine denomination for the region between the Danube River and the Balkans; [Moravian Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moravian-wallachia), a region in south-eastern Czech Republic). The names derive from the Vlachs, who had lived across much of these regions.\nIn the 14th century the [Danubian Principalities](https://bliptext.com/articles/danubian-principalities) of [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) and [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) emerged to fight the [Ottoman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/ottoman-empire).\nDuring the [late Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/late-middle-ages), prominent medieval Romanian monarchs such as [Bogdan of Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/bogdan-i-of-moldavia), [Stephen the Great](https://bliptext.com/articles/stephen-iii-of-moldavia), [Mircea the Elder](https://bliptext.com/articles/mircea-the-elder), [Michael the Brave](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-the-brave), or [Vlad the Impaler](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlad-the-impaler) took part actively in the history of [Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe) by waging tumultuous wars and leading noteworthy crusades against the then continuously expanding Ottoman Empire, at times allied with either the [Kingdom of Poland](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-poland) or the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary) in these causes.\n# [First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018) around 850 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Balkans850.png]\n# [Map depicting historical Romanian/Vlach pastoral transhumance (a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures) in Eastern and Southeastern Europe (including the territory of Romania today) during the 18th and 19th centuries | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Transhumance///ways///of///the///Vlachs.jpeg]\n\n## Early Modern Age to Late Modern Age\nEventually the entire [Balkan peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans) was annexed by the Ottoman Empire.\nHowever, Moldavia and Wallachia (extending to Dobruja and Bulgaria) were not entirely subdued by the Ottomans as both principalities became autonomous (which was not the case of other Ottoman territorial possessions in Europe).\nTransylvania, a third region inhabited by an important majority of Romanian speakers, was a vassal state of the Ottomans until 1687, when the principality became part of the Habsburg possessions.\nThe three principalities were united for several months in 1600 under the authority of Wallachian [Prince](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-princes-of-wallachia) [Michael the Brave](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-the-brave).\nUp until 1541, Transylvania was part of the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary), later (due to the conquest of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire) was a self-governed Principality governed by the Hungarian nobility.\nIn 1699 it became a part of the [Habsburg lands](https://bliptext.com/articles/habsburg-monarchy).\nBy the end of the 18th century, the [Austrian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/austrian-empire) was awarded by the Ottomans with the region of [Bukovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bukovina) and, in 1812, the Russians occupied the eastern half of Moldavia, known as [Bessarabia](https://bliptext.com/articles/bessarabia) through the [Treaty of Bucharest](https://bliptext.com/articles/treaty-of-bucharest-1812) of 1812.\nIn the context of the [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/revolutions-of-1848) [Romanticist](https://bliptext.com/articles/romantic-nationalism) and [liberal](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberalism) revolutions across Europe, the events that took place in the [Grand Principality of Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/principality-of-transylvania-1711-1867) were the first of their kind to unfold in the Romanian-speaking territories.\nOn the one hand, the [Transylvanian Saxons](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons) and the Transylvanian Romanians (with consistent support on behalf of the [Austrian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/austrian-empire)) successfully managed to oppose the goals of the [Hungarian Revolution of 1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarian-revolution-of-1848), with the two noteworthy historical figures leading the common Romanian-Saxon side at the time being [Avram Iancu](https://bliptext.com/articles/avram-iancu) and [Stephan Ludwig Roth](https://bliptext.com/articles/stephan-ludwig-roth).\nOn the other hand, the Wallachian revolutions of [1821](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-uprising-of-1821) and [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-revolution-of-1848) as well as the Moldavian Revolution of [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-revolution-of-1848), which aimed for independence from Ottoman and Russian foreign rulership, represented important impacts in the process of spreading the [liberal ideology](https://bliptext.com/articles/liberalism-and-radicalism-in-romania) in the eastern and southern Romanian lands, in spite of the fact that all three eventually failed.\nNonetheless, in 1859, [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) and [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) elected the same ruler, namely [Alexander John Cuza](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexandru-ioan-cuza) (who reigned as [Domnitor](https://bliptext.com/articles/domnitor)) and were thus unified de facto, resulting in the [United Romanian Principalities](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-principalities-of-moldavia-and-wallachia) for the period between 1859 and 1881.\nDuring the 1870s, the United Romanian Principalities (then led by [Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen](https://bliptext.com/articles/house-of-hohenzollern) Domnitor [Carol I](https://bliptext.com/articles/carol-i-of-romania)) fought a [War of Independence](https://bliptext.com/articles/russo-turkish-war-1877-1878) against the Ottomans, with Romania's independence being formally recognised in 1878 at the [Treaty of Berlin](https://bliptext.com/articles/treaty-of-berlin-1878).\nAlthough the relatively newly founded [Kingdom of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-romania) initially allied with [Austria-Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria-hungary), Romania refused to enter [World War I](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-war-i) on the side of the [Central Powers](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-powers), because it was obliged to wage war only if [Austria-Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria-hungary) was attacked.\nIn 1916, Romania joined the war on the side of the [Triple Entente](https://bliptext.com/articles/triple-entente).\nAs a result, at the end of the war, Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina were awarded to Romania, through a series of international peace treaties, resulting in an enlarged and far more powerful kingdom under King [Ferdinand I](https://bliptext.com/articles/ferdinand-i-of-romania).\nAs of 1920, the Romanian people was believed to number over 15 million solely in the region of the Romanian kingdom, a figure larger than the populations of [Sweden](https://bliptext.com/articles/sweden), [Denmark](https://bliptext.com/articles/denmark), and the [Netherlands](https://bliptext.com/articles/netherlands) combined.\nDuring the [interwar period](https://bliptext.com/articles/interwar-period), two additional monarchs came to the Romanian throne, namely [Carol II](https://bliptext.com/articles/carol-ii-of-romania) and [Michael I](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-i-of-romania).\nThis short-lived period was marked, at times, by political instabilities and efforts of maintaining a [constitutional monarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/constitutional-monarchy) in favour of other, totalitarian regimes such as an [absolute monarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/absolute-monarchy) or a [military dictatorship](https://bliptext.com/articles/military-dictatorship).\n# [Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, according to the 1890 census | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Walachians///%28Romanians%29///in///Hungary%2C///census///1890.jpg]\n# [Map depicting the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1859 and 1878 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Romania///1859-1878.png]\n\n## Contemporary Era\n[During World War II](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania-in-world-war-ii), the Kingdom of Romania lost territory both to the east and west, as [Northern Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-transylvania) became part of the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary) through the [Second Vienna Award](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-vienna-award), while Bessarabia and northern Bukovina were taken by the Soviets and included in the [Moldavian SSR](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavian-soviet-socialist-republic), respectively [Ukrainian SSR](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukrainian-soviet-socialist-republic).\nThe eastern territory losses were facilitated by the [Molotov–Ribbentrop Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact](https://bliptext.com/articles/molotov-ribbentrop-pact).\nAfter the end of the war, the Romanian Kingdom managed to regain territories lost westward but was nonetheless not given Bessarabia and northern Bukovina back, the aforementioned regions being forcefully incorporated into the [Soviet Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/soviet-union) (USSR).\nSubsequently, the Soviet Union imposed a communist government and [King](https://bliptext.com/articles/king-of-romania) Michael was forced to abdicate and leave for exile, subsequently settling in [Switzerland](https://bliptext.com/articles/switzerland), while [Petru Groza](https://bliptext.com/articles/petru-groza) remained the [head of the government](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-heads-of-government-of-romania) of the [Socialist Republic of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/socialist-republic-of-romania) (RSR).\n[Nicolae Ceaușescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/nicolae-ceau-escu) became the head of the [Romanian Communist Party](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-communist-party) (PCR) in 1965 and his severe rule of the 1980s was ended by the [Romanian Revolution of 1989](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-revolution-of-1989).\nThe chaos of the 1989 revolution brought to power the dissident communist [Ion Iliescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/ion-iliescu) as [president](https://bliptext.com/articles/president-of-romania) (largely supported by the [FSN](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-salvation-front-romania)).\nIliescu remained in power as [head of state](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-heads-of-state-of-romania) until 1996, when he was defeated by [CDR](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-democratic-convention)-supported [Emil Constantinescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-constantinescu) in the [1996 general elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/1996-romanian-general-election), the first in post-communist Romania that saw a [peaceful transition of power](https://bliptext.com/articles/peaceful-transition-of-power).\nFollowing Constantinescu's single term as president from 1996 to 2000, Iliescu was re-elected in late 2000 for another term of four years.\nIn 2004, [Traian Băsescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/traian-b-sescu), the [PNL](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberal-party-romania)-[PD](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-party-romania) candidate of the [Justice and Truth Alliance](https://bliptext.com/articles/justice-and-truth-alliance) (DA), was elected president.\nFive years later, Băsescu (solely supported by the [PDL](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-liberal-party-romania) this time) was narrowly re-elected for a second term in the [2009 presidential elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/2009-romanian-presidential-election).\nIn 2014, the [PNL](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberal-party-romania)-[PDL](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-liberal-party-romania) candidate (as part of the larger [Christian Liberal Alliance](https://bliptext.com/articles/christian-liberal-alliance) or ACL for short; also endorsed by the [Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-forum-of-germans-in-romania), FDGR/DFDR for short respectively) [Klaus Iohannis](https://bliptext.com/articles/klaus-iohannis) won a surprise victory over former [Prime Minister](https://bliptext.com/articles/prime-minister-of-romania) and [PSD](https://bliptext.com/articles/social-democratic-party-romania)-supported contender [Victor Ponta](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-ponta) in the second round of the [2014 presidential elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/2014-romanian-presidential-election).\nThus, Iohannis became the first Romanian president stemming from an [ethnic minority of the country](https://bliptext.com/articles/minorities-of-romania) (as he belongs to the [Romanian-German community](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania), being a [Transylvanian Saxon](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons)).\nIn 2019, the PNL-supported Iohannis was re-elected for a second term as president after a second round landslide victory in the [2019 Romanian presidential election](https://bliptext.com/articles/2019-romanian-presidential-election) (being also supported in that round by [PMP](https://bliptext.com/articles/people-s-movement-party) and [USR](https://bliptext.com/articles/save-romania-union) as well as by the FDGR/DFDR in both rounds).\nIn the meantime, Romania's major foreign policy achievements were the alignment with [Western Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/western-europe) and the [United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states) by joining the [North Atlantic Treaty Organization](https://bliptext.com/articles/nato) (NATO) back in 2004 and the [European Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/european-union) three years later, in 2007.\nCurrent national objectives of Romania include adhering to the [Schengen Area](https://bliptext.com/articles/schengen-area), the [Eurozone](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurozone) as well as the [OECD](https://bliptext.com/articles/oecd) (i.e. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).\n\n# Language\nDuring the Middle Ages, Romanian was isolated from the other Romance languages, and borrowed words from the nearby [Slavic languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-languages) (see [Slavic influence on Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-influence-on-romanian)).\nLater on, it borrowed a number of words from [German](https://bliptext.com/articles/german-language), [Hungarian](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarian-language), and [Turkish](https://bliptext.com/articles/turkish-language).\nDuring the modern era, most neologisms [were borrowed](https://bliptext.com/articles/re-latinization-of-romanian) from [French](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-language) and [Italian](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-language), though the language has increasingly begun to adopt English borrowings.\nThe origins of the [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), a [Romance language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-language), can be traced back to the Roman colonisation of the region.\nThe basic vocabulary is of Latin origin, although there are some [substratum](https://bliptext.com/articles/substrate-in-romanian) words that are assumed to be of [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacian-language) origin.\nIt is the most spoken [Eastern Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages) language and is closely related to [Aromanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language), [Megeleno-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language), and [Istro-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), all three part of the same sub-branch of Romance languages.\nThe [Moldovan language](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovan-language), in its official form, is practically identical to Romanian, although there are some differences in colloquial speech.\nIn the de facto independent (but internationally unrecognised) region of [Transnistria](https://bliptext.com/articles/transnistria), the official script used to write Moldovan is Cyrillic, although Moldovan has a very limited usage in [Transnistria](https://bliptext.com/articles/transnistria) despite its official status.\nSince 2013, the [Romanian Language Day](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language-day) is officially celebrated on [31 August](https://bliptext.com/articles/31-august) in Romania.\nIn Moldova, it is officially celebrated on the same day since 2023.\nAs of 2017, an [Ethnologue](https://bliptext.com/articles/ethnologue) estimation puts the (worldwide) number of Romanian speakers at approximately 24.15 million.\nThe 24.15 million, however, represent only speakers of [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), not all of whom are necessarily ethnic [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language)s.\nAlso, this number does not include ethnic-Romanians who no longer speak the Romanian language.\n# [Neacșu's letter to Johannes Benkner (former Transylvanian Saxon mayor of Kronstadt/Brașov) is the oldest document written in Romanian discovered to date. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Scrisoarea///lui///Neacsu.jpg]\n# [Romanian language, as part of the Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, alongside and related to Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian, and Istro-Romanian. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Romance///languages///diagram///en.svg]\n\n# Names for Romanians\nIn English, Romanians are usually called Romanians and very rarely Rumanians or Roumanians, except in some historical texts, where they are called Roumans or [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs).\n\n## Etymology of the name Romanian (român)\nThe name [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-people)ian is derived from [Latin](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin) romanus, meaning \"[Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-people)\".\nUnder regular phonetical changes that are typical to the Romanian language, the name romanus over the centuries transformed into rumân.\nAn older form of român was still in use in some regions.\nSocio-linguistic evolutions in the late 18th century led to a gradual preponderance of the român spelling form, which was then generalised during the National awakening of Romania of early 19th century.\nSeveral historical sources show the use of the term \"Romanian\" among the medieval or early modern Romanian population.\nOne of the earliest examples comes from the [Nibelungenlied](https://bliptext.com/articles/nibelungenlied), a German [epic poem](https://bliptext.com/articles/epic-poem) from before 1200 in which a \"Duke Ramunc from the land of Vlachs (Wallachia)\" is mentioned.\n\"Vlach\" was an exonym used almost exclusively for the Romanians during the Middle Ages.\nIt has been argued by some Romanian researchers that \"Ramunc\" was not the name of the duke, but a name that highlighted his ethnicity.\nOther old documents, especially Byzantine or Hungarian ones, make a correlation between the old Romanians as Romans or their descendants.\nSeveral other documents, notably from Italian travelers into Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania, speak of the self-identification, language and culture of the Romanians, showing that they designated themselves as \"Romans\" or related to them in up to 30 works.\nOne example is Tranquillo Andronico's 1534 writing that states that the Vlachs \"now call themselves Romans\".\nAnother one is Francesco della Valle's 1532 manuscripts that state that the Romanians from Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania preserved the name \"Roman\" and cites the sentence \"Sti Rominest?\" (știi românește?, \"do you speak Romanian?\").\nAuthors that travelled to modern Romania who wrote about it in 1574, 1575 and 1666 also noted the use of the term \"Romanian\".\nFrom the Middle Ages, Romanians bore two names, the [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/exonym) (one given to them by foreigners) Wallachians or Vlachs, under its various forms (vlah, valah, valach, voloh, blac, olăh, vlas, ilac, ulah, etc.), and the [endonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/endonym) (the name they used for themselves) Romanians (Rumâni/Români).\nThe first mentions by Romanians of the endonym are contemporary with the earliest writings in Romanian from the sixteenth century.\nAccording to [Tomasz Kamusella](https://bliptext.com/articles/tomasz-kamusella), at the time of the rise of Romanian nationalism during the early 19th century, the political leaders of Wallachia and Moldavia were aware that the name România was identical to Romania, a name that had been used for the former Byzantine Empire by its inhabitants.\nKamusella continues by stating that they preferred this ethnonym in order to stress their presumed link with [Ancient Rome](https://bliptext.com/articles/ancient-rome) and that it became more popular as a nationalistic form of referring to all Romanian-language speakers as a distinct and separate nation during the 1820s.\n[Raymond Detrez](https://bliptext.com/articles/raymond-detrez) asserts that român, derived from the Latin Romanus, acquired at a certain point the same meaning of the Greek Romaios; that of Orthodox Christian.\n[Wolfgang Dahmen](https://bliptext.com/articles/wolfgang-dahmen-romanist) claims that the meaning of romanus (Roman) as \"Christian\", as opposed to \"pagan\", which used to mean \"non-Roman\", may have contributed to the preservation of this word as an ethonym of the Romanian people, under the meaning of \"Christian\".\n# [Romanian revolutionaries of 1848 waving the tricolor flag | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Tricolore1848.jpg]\n\n### Daco-Romanian\nTo distinguish Romanians from the other Romanic peoples of the Balkans (Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, and Istro-Romanians), the term [Daco-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/daco-romanian) is sometimes used to refer to those who speak the standard [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) and live in the former territory of ancient [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) (today comprising mostly Romania and Moldova) and its surroundings (such as Dobruja or the [Timok Valley](https://bliptext.com/articles/timok-valley), the latter region part of the former Roman province of [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) Ripensis).\n\n## Etymology of the term Vlach\nThe name of \"[Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs)\" is an [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/exonym) that was used by Slavs to refer to all Romanized natives of the Balkans.\nIt holds its origin from ancient Germanic—being a cognate to \"Welsh\" and \"Walloon\"—and perhaps even further back in time, from the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin) name Volcae, which was originally a [Celtic](https://bliptext.com/articles/celt) tribe.\nFrom the Slavs, it was passed on to other peoples, such as the [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians) (Oláh) and [Greeks](https://bliptext.com/articles/greeks) (Vlachoi) (see the Etymology section of Vlachs).\n[Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia), the Southern region of Romania, takes its name from the same source.\nNowadays, the term Vlach is more often used to refer to the Romanized populations of the Balkans who speak [Daco-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), [Aromanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language), [Istro-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), and [Megleno-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language).\n\n# Romanians outside Romania\nMost Romanians live in Romania, where they constitute a majority; Romanians also constitute a minority in the countries that neighbour Romania.\nRomanians can also be found in many countries, notably in the other EU countries, particularly in Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and France; in North America in the United States and Canada; in Israel; as well as in Brazil, Australia, [Argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina), and New Zealand among many other countries.\nItaly and Spain have been popular emigration destinations, due to a relatively low [language barrier](https://bliptext.com/articles/language-barrier), and both are each now home to about a million Romanians.\nWith respect to geopolitical identity, many individuals of Romanian ethnicity in Moldova prefer to identify themselves as [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans).\nThe contemporary total population of ethnic Romanians cannot be stated with any degree of certainty.\nA disparity can be observed between official sources (such as [census](https://bliptext.com/articles/census) counts) where they exist, and estimates which come from non-official sources and interested groups.\nSeveral inhibiting factors (not unique to this particular case) contribute towards this uncertainty, which may include:\nFor example, the decennial [US Census](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-census) of 2000 calculated (based on a [statistical sampling](https://bliptext.com/articles/sampling-statistics) of household data) that there were 367,310 respondents indicating Romanian ancestry (roughly 0.1% of the total population).\nThe actual total recorded number of foreign-born Romanians was only 136,000.\nHowever, some non-specialist organisations have produced estimates which are considerably higher: a 2002 study by the Romanian-American Network Inc. mentions an estimated figure of 1,200,000 for the number of [Romanian Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-americans).\nWhich makes the United States home to the largest Romanian community outside Romania.\nThis estimate notes however that \"...other immigrants of Romanian national minority groups have been included such as: [Armenians](https://bliptext.com/articles/armenians-of-romania), [Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania), [Gypsies](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people-in-romania), [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians-in-romania), [Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania), and [Ukrainians](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukrainians-of-romania)\".\nIt also includes an unspecified allowance for second- and third-generation Romanians, and an indeterminate number living in Canada.\nAn error range for the estimate is not provided.\nFor the [United States 2000 Census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2000-united-states-census) figures, almost 20% of the total population did not classify or report an ancestry, and the census is also subject to undercounting, an incomplete (67%) response rate, and sampling error in general.\nIn [Republika Srpska](https://bliptext.com/articles/republika-srpska), one of the two entities constituting [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina) together with the Federation of [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina), Romanians are legally recognized as an ethnic minority.\n# [300x300px | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Map///of///the///Romanian///Diaspora///in///the///World.svg]\n# [Charts depicting share of Romanians living abroad within other states of the European Union | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/2015-04-08///09.26.08///pm.png]\n# [Romanians of Zakarpattia Oblast in Carpathian Ruthenia, western Ukraine, performing a traditional dance. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Romanians///of///Zakarpattya///Oblast///dancing.jpg]\n\n# Culture\n\n## Contributions to contemporary culture\nRomanians have played and contributed a major role in the advancement of the [arts](https://bliptext.com/articles/arts), culture, [sciences](https://bliptext.com/articles/sciences), technology and [engineering](https://bliptext.com/articles/engineering).\nIn the history of aviation, [Traian Vuia](https://bliptext.com/articles/traian-vuia) and [Aurel Vlaicu](https://bliptext.com/articles/aurel-vlaicu) built and tested some of the earliest aircraft designs, while [Henri Coandă](https://bliptext.com/articles/henri-coand) discovered the [Coandă effect](https://bliptext.com/articles/coand-effect) of fluidics.\n[Victor Babeș](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-babe) discovered more than 50 germs and a cure for a disease named after him, [babesiosis](https://bliptext.com/articles/babesiosis); biologist [Nicolae Paulescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/nicolae-paulescu) was among the first scientists to identify [insulin](https://bliptext.com/articles/insulin).\nAnother biologist, [Emil Palade](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-palade), received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to [cell biology](https://bliptext.com/articles/cell-biology).\n[George Constantinescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-constantinescu) created the [theory of sonics](https://bliptext.com/articles/theory-of-sonics), while mathematician [Ștefan Odobleja](https://bliptext.com/articles/tefan-odobleja) has been claimed as \"the ideological father behind [cybernetics](https://bliptext.com/articles/cybernetics)\" – his work The Consonantist Psychology (Paris, 1938) was supposedly the main source of inspiration for [N. Wiener](https://bliptext.com/articles/n-wiener)'s Cybernetics (Paris, 1948).\n[Lazăr Edeleanu](https://bliptext.com/articles/laz-r-edeleanu) was the first chemist to synthesize [amphetamine](https://bliptext.com/articles/amphetamine) and also invented the modern method of [refining](https://bliptext.com/articles/oil-refinery) [crude oil](https://bliptext.com/articles/crude-oil).\nIn the arts and culture, prominent figures were [George Enescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-enescu) (music composer, violinist, professor of Sir [Yehudi Menuhin](https://bliptext.com/articles/yehudi-menuhin)), [Constantin Brâncuși](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantin-br-ncu-i) (sculptor), [Eugène Ionesco](https://bliptext.com/articles/eug-ne-ionesco) (playwright), [Mircea Eliade](https://bliptext.com/articles/mircea-eliade) (historian of religion and novelist), [Emil Cioran](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-cioran) (essayist, Prix de l'Institut Français for stylism) and [Angela Gheorghiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/angela-gheorghiu) (soprano).\nMore recently, filmmakers such as [Cristi Puiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/cristi-puiu) and [Cristian Mungiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/cristian-mungiu) have attracted international acclaim, as has fashion designer [Ioana Ciolacu](https://bliptext.com/articles/ioana-ciolacu).\nIn sports, Romanians have excelled in a variety of fields, such as football ([Gheorghe Hagi](https://bliptext.com/articles/gheorghe-hagi)), gymnastics ([Nadia Comăneci](https://bliptext.com/articles/nadia-com-neci), [Lavinia Miloșovici](https://bliptext.com/articles/lavinia-milo-ovici) etc.), tennis ([Ilie Năstase](https://bliptext.com/articles/ilie-n-stase), [Ion Țiriac](https://bliptext.com/articles/ion-iriac), [Simona Halep](https://bliptext.com/articles/simona-halep)), rowing ([Ivan Patzaichin](https://bliptext.com/articles/ivan-patzaichin)) and handball (four times men's [World Cup](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-men-s-handball-championship) winners).\n[Count Dracula](https://bliptext.com/articles/count-dracula) is a worldwide icon of Romania.\nThis character was created by the Irish fiction writer [Bram Stoker](https://bliptext.com/articles/bram-stoker), based on some stories spread in the late [Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/middle-ages) by the frustrated German tradesmen of Kronstadt ([Brașov](https://bliptext.com/articles/bra-ov)) and on some [vampire folk](https://bliptext.com/articles/vampire-folklore-by-region) tales about the historic Romanian figure of Prince [Vlad Țepeș](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlad-iii-dracula).\n\n## Religion\nAlmost 90% of all Romanians consider themselves religious.\nThe vast majority are [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy) Christians, belonging to the [Romanian Orthodox Church](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-orthodox-church) (a branch of [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy)y, or [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy) Church, together with the Greek Orthodox, Orthodox Church of Georgia and Russian Orthodox Churches, among others).\nRomanians form the [third largest ethno-linguistic group among Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-contemporary-ethnic-groups) in the world.\nAccording to the 2011 census, 93.6% of ethnic Romanians in Romania identified themselves as Romanian Orthodox (in comparison to 81% of Romania's total population, including other ethnic groups).\nHowever, the actual rate of church attendance is significantly lower and many Romanians are only nominally believers.\nFor example, according to a 2006 [Eurobarometer](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurobarometer) poll, only 23% of Romanians attend church once a week or more.\nA 2006 poll conducted by the [Open Society Foundations](https://bliptext.com/articles/open-society-foundations) found that only 33% of Romanians attended church once a month or more.\nThere are no official dates for the adoption of religions by the Romanians.\nBased on linguistic and archaeological findings, historians suggest that the Romanians' ancestors acquired polytheistic religions in the Roman era, later adopting Christianity, most likely by the 4th century AD when decreed by Emperor [Constantine the Great](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantine-the-great) as the official religion of the Roman Empire.\nLike in all other Romance languages, the basic Romanian words related to [Christian](https://bliptext.com/articles/christians)ity are inherited from Latin, such as [God](https://bliptext.com/articles/god) ([Dumnezeu](https://bliptext.com/articles/dumnezeu) < Domine Deus), church (biserică < basilica), [cross](https://bliptext.com/articles/cross) (cruce < crux, -cis), angel (înger < angelus), saint (regional: sfân(t) < sanctus), Christmas (Crăciun < creatio, -onis), [Christian](https://bliptext.com/articles/christians) (creștin < christianus), Easter (paște < paschae), sin (păcat < peccatum), to baptise (a boteza < batizare), priest (preot < presbiterum), to pray (a ruga < rogare), faith (credință < credentia), and so on.\nAfter the [Roman Catholic-Eastern Orthodox Schism of 1054](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-west-schism), there existed a [Roman Catholic Diocese of Cumania](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-catholic-diocese-of-cumania) for a short period of time, from 1228 to 1241.\nHowever, this seems to be the exception, rather than the rule, as in both [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) and [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) the state religion was Eastern Orthodox.\nUntil the 17th century, the official language of the liturgy was [Old Church Slavonic](https://bliptext.com/articles/old-church-slavonic) (a.k.a. Middle Bulgarian).\nThen, it gradually changed to Romanian.\n\n## Symbols\nIn addition to the colours of the [Romanian flag](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-romania), each historical province of Romania has its own characteristic symbol:\nThe [coat of arms of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/coat-of-arms-of-romania) combines these together.\n\n## Customs\n\n### Traditional costumes\n\n# Relationship to other ethnic groups\nThe closest ethnic groups to the Romanians are the other Romanic peoples of Southeastern Europe: the [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians) ([Macedo](https://bliptext.com/articles/macedonia-region)-Romanians), the [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and the [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians).\nThe Istro-Romanians are the closest ethnic group to the Romanians, and it is believed they left [Maramureș](https://bliptext.com/articles/maramure), [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) about a thousand years ago and settled in [Istria](https://bliptext.com/articles/istria), Croatia.\nNumbering about 500 people still living in the original villages of Istria while the majority left for other countries after World War II (mainly to Italy, United States, Canada, Spain, Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, and Australia), they speak the [Istro-Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), the closest living relative of Romanian.\nOn the other hand, the Aromanians and the Megleno-Romanians are Romance peoples who live south of the Danube, mainly in Greece, Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria although some of them migrated to Romania in the 20th century.\nIt is believed that they diverged from the Romanians in the 7th to 9th century, and currently speak the [Aromanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language) and [Megleno-Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language), both of which are Eastern Romance languages, like Romanian, and are sometimes considered by traditional Romanian linguists to be dialects of Romanian.\n\n# Genetics\nA Bulgarian study from 2013 shows genetic similarity between [Thracians](https://bliptext.com/articles/thracians) (8-6 century BC), medieval Bulgarians (8–10 century AD), and modern Bulgarians, highlighting highest resemblance between them and Romanians, Northern Italians and Northern Greeks.\nA genetic study published in [Scientific Reports](https://bliptext.com/articles/scientific-reports) in 2019 examined the [mtDNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of 25 Thracian remains in [Bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria) from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. They were found to harbor a mixture of ancestry from [Western Steppe Herders](https://bliptext.com/articles/western-steppe-herders) (WSHs) and [Early European Farmers](https://bliptext.com/articles/early-european-farmers) (EEFs), supporting the idea that Southeast Europe was the link between Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.\nThe prevailing Y-chromosome in [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) ([Ploiești](https://bliptext.com/articles/ploie-ti), [Dolj](https://bliptext.com/articles/dolj-county)), [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) ([Piatra Neamț](https://bliptext.com/articles/piatra-neam), [Buhuși](https://bliptext.com/articles/buhu-i)), [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja) ([Constanța](https://bliptext.com/articles/constan-a)), and northern Republic of Moldova is recorded to be [Haplogroup I](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-y-dna).\nSubclades [I1](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-m253) and [I2](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-m438) can be found in most present-day European populations, with peaks in some [Northern European](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-europe) and [Southeastern European](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeastern-europe) countries.\nHaplogroup I occurs at 32% in Romanians.\nThe frequency of I2a1 (I-P37) in the Balkans today is owed to indigenous European tribes, and was present before the [Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-migrations-to-southeastern-europe).\nA similar result was cited in a study investigating the genetic pool of people from Republic of Moldova, concluded about the representative samples taken for comparison from Romanians from the towns of Piatra-Neamț and Buhuși that \"the most common Y haplogroup in this population was I-M423 (40.7%). This is the highest frequency of the I-M423 haplogroup reported so far outside of the northwest Balkans. The next most frequent among Romanian males was haplogroup R-M17* (16.7%), followed by R-M405 (7.4%), E-v13 and R-M412* (both 5.6%).\"\nThe I-M423 haplogroup is a subclade of I2a, a haplogroup prosperous in the [Starcevo](https://bliptext.com/articles/star-evo-k-r-s-cri-culture) culture and its possible offshoot [Cucuteni–Trypillia culture](https://bliptext.com/articles/cucuteni-trypillia-culture) (4800-3000 BCE).\nThe high concentration of I2a1b-L621, the main subclade, is attributed to Bronze Age and Early Iron Age migrations (Dacians, Thracians, Illyrians) and the medieval Slavic migrations.\nAccording to a Y-chromosome analysis of 335 sampled Romanians, 15% of them belong to R1a.\n[Haplogroup R1a](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-r1a), is a [human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup](https://bliptext.com/articles/human-y-chromosome-dna-haplogroup) which is distributed in a large region in [Eurasia](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurasia), extending from [Scandinavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/scandinavia) and [Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe) to southern [Siberia](https://bliptext.com/articles/siberia) and [South Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-asia).\nHaplogroup R1a among Romanians is entirely from the Eastern European variety Z282 and may be a result of Baltic, Thracian or Slavic descent.\n12% of the Romanians belong to [Haplogroup R1b](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-r1b), the Alpino-Italic branch of R1b is at 2% a lower frequency recorded than other Balkan peoples.\nThe eastern branches of R1b represent 7%, they prevail in parts of [Eastern and Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-and-central-europe) as a result of Ancient [Greek colonisation](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-colonisation) – in parts of Sicily as well.\nOther studies analyzing the haplogroup frequency among Romanians came to similar results.\nDelving into the regional differences of [Mitochondrial DNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of Romanians, a 2014 study emphasised the different position of North and South Romanian populations (ie inside and outside of the Carpathian range) in terms of mitochondrial haplotype variability.\nThe population within the Carpathian range was found to have [haplogroup H](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-h-mtdna) at 59.7% frequency, U at 11.3%, K and HV at 3.23% each, and M, X and A at 1.61% each.\nThe South Romanian population also showed the highest frequency in [haplogroup H](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-h-mtdna) at 47% (lower than in the sample from the North of Romania), [haplogroup U](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-u-mtdna) showed a noticeable frequency at 17% (higher than in the sample from North Romania), haplogroups HV and K at 10.61% and 7.58%, respectively, while haplogroups M, X and A were absent.\nComparing the results to European and international samples, the study proposes a weak differentiated distribution of mitochondrial haplogroups between inner and outer Carpathian population (rather than North-South boundary) based on higher frequency for the [haplogroup J](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-jt-mtdna) and [haplogroup K2a](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-k-mtdna) in the Southern Romanian sample - considered as markers of the Neolithic expansion in Europe from the Near East, the absence of K2a and the presence of [haplogroup M](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-m-mtdna) in Northern Romanian sample - with higher frequency in Western and Southern Asia, and the inclusion of both Romanian populations within the range of the European mitochondrial variability, rather than being closer to the Near Eastern populations.\nThe North Romanian sample was also found to be slightly separated from the other samples included in the study.\nA 2017 paper concentrated on the [Mitochondrial DNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of Romanians, showed how Romania has been \"a major crossroads between Asia and Europe\" and thus \"experienced continuous migration and invasion episodes\"; while stating that previous studies show Romanians \"exhibit genetic similarity with other Europeans\".\nThe paper also mentions how \"signals of Asian maternal lineages were observed in all Romanian historical provinces, indicating gene flow along the migration routes through [East Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-asia) and Europe, during different time periods, namely, the Upper Paleolithic period and/or, with a likely greater preponderance, the Middle Ages\", at low frequency (2.24%).\nThe study analysed 714 samples, representative to the 41 counties of Romania, and grouped them in 4 categories corresponding to historical Romanian provinces: [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia), [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia), [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), and [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja).\nThe majority was classified within 9 Eurasian mitochondrial haplogroups (H, U, K, T, J, HV, V, W, and X), while also finding sequences that belonged to the most frequent Asian haplogroups (haplogroups A, C, D, I - at 2.24% overall frequency, and M and N) and African haplogroup L (two samples in Wallachia and one in Dobruja).\nThe H, V, and X haplogroups were detected at higher frequencies in Transylvania, while the frequency of U and N was lower, with M being absent, interpreted as an indicator of genetic proximity of Transylvania to Central European populations, in contrast to the other three provinces, which showed resemblance to Balkan populations.\nThe Dobrujan samples showed a larger contribution of genes from Southwestern Asia which the authors attributed to a larger Asian influence historically and/or its smaller sample size compared to that of the other populations included.\n# [Main Y-DNA haplogroups for average Romanian population and per historical regions. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Romanian///Y-dna///Pie///Charts.png]\n# [Procrustes-transformed PCA plot of genetic variation of European populations. (A) Geographic coordinates of 37 populations. (B) Procrustes-transformed PCA plot of genetic variation. The Procrustes analysis is based on the unprojected latitude-longitude coordinates and PC1-PC2 coordinates of 1378 individuals. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Procrustes-transformed///PCA///plot///of///genetic///variation///of///European///populations.png]\n\n# Ethnogenesis\nThree theories account for the ethnogenesis of the Romanian people.\nOne, known as the Daco-[Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) continuity theory, posits that they are descendants of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)s and [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ized indigenous peoples ([Dacians](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians)) living in the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) Province of [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia), while the other posits that the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ians are descendants of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)s and [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ized indigenous populations of the former [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) provinces of [Illyricum](https://bliptext.com/articles/illyricum-roman-province), [Moesia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia), [Thracia](https://bliptext.com/articles/thrace), and [Macedonia](https://bliptext.com/articles/macedonia-roman-province), and the ancestors of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ians later migrated from these [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) provinces south of the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) into the area which they inhabit today.\nThe third theory also known as the admigration theory, proposed by [Dimitrie Onciul](https://bliptext.com/articles/dimitrie-onciul) (1856–1923), posits that the formation of the Romanian people occurred in the former \"Dacia Traiana\" province, and in the central regions of the Balkan Peninsula.\nHowever, the Balkan Vlachs' northward migration ensured that these centers remained in close contact for centuries.\nThis theory is a compromise between the immigrationist and the continuity theories.\n\n# Demographics\nThe largest ethnic group in Romania is ethnic Romanians, followed by [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians) and [Romani people](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people).\n\n# Maps\n\n# Notes and references","wordIndex":10,"createdAt":"2025-03-26T12:30:49.184Z","user":{"id":"zzpL40aXLByp1VSnaDeO1dFltsvvrQDx","name":"Uau366Ale","image":"https://cdn.discordapp.com/avatars/1163800592133652520/2b438971524db93c0980b913c4b063d4.png"}},{"id":"848c2959-a22c-464c-aee3-2baf490131e9","wordChanged":"[Romance-speaking](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages)","newWord":":::summary\n![Ethnic distribution of Romanians around the world](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Map///of///the///Romanian///Diaspora///in///the///World.svg)\n**Group:** Romanians \n**Native Name:** Români \n**Native Name Lang:** ro \n**Population:** c. **22.8–24.8 million** (including Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups living abroad) \n**Popplace:** 🇷🇴 [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) 19,053,815 (2022 [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania)n census) · 🇲🇩 [moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova) 192,800 (2014 Moldovan census; additional 2,068,058 [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans)) \n**Tablehdr:** Other countries \n**Region 1:** 🇮🇹 [italy](https://bliptext.com/articles/italy) \n**Pop 1:** 1,206,938 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2:** 🇪🇸 [spain](https://bliptext.com/articles/spain) \n**Pop 2:** 630,795 Romanian citizens (2023) -1,079,726 including naturalized and second and third generation Romanians (2022) \n**Region 3:** 🇩🇪 [germany](https://bliptext.com/articles/germany) \n**Pop 3:** 866,000 (2022) migrants from Romania of all ethnic groups, including a wide range of [Romanian Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania) as well \n**Region 4:** [undefined](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n**Pop 4:** 329,000 Romanian-born residents (2022) \n**Region 5:** 🇫🇷 [france](https://bliptext.com/articles/france) \n**Pop 5:** 200,000–500,000 (2022) Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 6:** 🇺🇦 [ukraine](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukraine) \n**Pop 6:** 150,989 (additional 258,619 Moldovans) \n**Region 7:** 🇦🇹 [austria](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria) \n**Pop 7:** 131,788 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups, including many [Transylvanian Saxons](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons) as well \n**Region 8:** 🇧🇪 [belgium](https://bliptext.com/articles/belgium) \n**Pop 8:** 92,746 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 9:** 🇬🇷 [greece](https://bliptext.com/articles/greece) \n**Pop 9:** 46,523 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 0:** 🇳🇱 [netherlands](https://bliptext.com/articles/netherlands) \n**Pop 1 0:** 39,654 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 1:** 🇵🇹 [portugal](https://bliptext.com/articles/portugal) \n**Pop 1 1:** 39,000 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 2:** 🇭🇺 [hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungary) \n**Pop 1 2:** 36,506 \n**Region 1 3:** 🇩🇰 [denmark](https://bliptext.com/articles/denmark) \n**Pop 1 3:** 34,960 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 4:** 🇸🇪 [sweden](https://bliptext.com/articles/sweden) \n**Pop 1 4:** 32,294 born in Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 5:** 🇮🇪 [ireland](https://bliptext.com/articles/ireland) \n**Pop 1 5:** 29,186 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 6:** [🇨🇾](https://bliptext.com/articles/cyprus) [Cyprus](https://bliptext.com/articles/cyprus) \n**Pop 1 6:** 24,376 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 7:** 🇷🇸 [serbia](https://bliptext.com/articles/serbia) \n**Pop 1 7:** 23,044 (additional 21,013 [Timok Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs-of-serbia)) \n**Region 1 8:** 🇨🇭 [switzerland](https://bliptext.com/articles/switzerland) \n**Pop 1 8:** 21,593 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 9:** 🇳🇴 [norway](https://bliptext.com/articles/norway) \n**Pop 1 9:** 18,877 migrants of Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 0:** 🇨🇿 [czech republic](https://bliptext.com/articles/czech-republic) \n**Pop 2 0:** 14,684 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 1:** 🇹🇷 [Turkey](https://bliptext.com/articles/turkey) \n**Pop 2 1:** 14,411 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 2:** 🇱🇺 [luxembourg](https://bliptext.com/articles/luxembourg) \n**Pop 2 2:** 5,209 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 3:** 🇵🇱 [poland](https://bliptext.com/articles/poland) \n**Pop 2 3:** c. 5,000 \n**Region 2 4:** 🇸🇰 [slovakia](https://bliptext.com/articles/slovakia) \n**Pop 2 4:** 4,941 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 5:** 🇫🇮 [finland](https://bliptext.com/articles/finland) \n**Pop 2 5:** 4,902 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 6:** 🇷🇺 [russia](https://bliptext.com/articles/russia) \n**Pop 2 6:** 3,201 \n**Region 2 7:** 🇲🇹 [malta](https://bliptext.com/articles/malta) \n**Pop 2 7:** 2,000 \n**Region 2 8:** 🇮🇸 [iceland](https://bliptext.com/articles/iceland) \n**Pop 2 8:** 1,463 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 9:** 🇧🇬 [bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria) \n**Pop 2 9:** 891 \n**Region 3 0:** 🇧🇦 [bosnia and herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina) \n**Pop 3 0:** 100 \n**Region 3 1:** 🇺🇸 [united states](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states) \n**Pop 3 1:** 518,653–1,400,000 (incl. mixed origin, [Romanian Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania) and [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania)) \n**Region 3 2:** 🇨🇦 [canada](https://bliptext.com/articles/canada) \n**Pop 3 2:** 204,625–400,000 (incl. mixed origin) \n**Region 3 3:** 🇲🇽 [mexico](https://bliptext.com/articles/mexico) \n**Pop 3 3:** 569 \n**Region 3 4:** 🇧🇷 [brazil](https://bliptext.com/articles/brazil) \n**Pop 3 4:** 200,000 migrants from Romania and Romanian citizens, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 3 5:** 🇻🇪 [venezuela](https://bliptext.com/articles/venezuela) \n**Pop 3 5:** 10,000 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 3 6:** 🇦🇷 [argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina) \n**Pop 3 6:** 10,000 of Romanian origin, including [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania) and [Romanian Romani](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people-in-romania) \n**Region 3 7:** 🇨🇴 [colombia](https://bliptext.com/articles/colombia) \n**Pop 3 7:** 350 \n**Region 3 8:** 🇺🇾 [uruguay](https://bliptext.com/articles/uruguay) \n**Pop 3 8:** 200 \n**Region 3 9:** 🇵🇪 [peru](https://bliptext.com/articles/peru) \n**Pop 3 9:** 174 \n**Region 4 0:** 🇦🇺 [australia](https://bliptext.com/articles/australia) \n**Pop 4 0:** 20,998 first and second generation migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 4 1:** 🇳🇿 [new zealand](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-zealand) \n**Pop 4 1:** 3,100 \n**Region 4 2:** 🇮🇱 [israel](https://bliptext.com/articles/israel) \n**Pop 4 2:** 100,823 \n**Ref 4 2:** (mostly [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania)) \n**Region 4 3:** 🇯🇵 [japan](https://bliptext.com/articles/japan) \n**Pop 4 3:** 2,708 \n**Region 4 4:** 🇰🇷 [south korea](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-korea) \n**Pop 4 4:** 661 \n**Region 4 5:** 🇰🇿 [kazakhstan](https://bliptext.com/articles/kazakhstan) \n**Pop 4 5:** 421 \n**Region 4 6:** [undefined](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n**Pop 4 6:** 100 \n**Region 4 7:** 🇿🇦 [south africa](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-africa) \n**Pop 4 7:** 2,828 \n**Region 4 8:** 🇪🇬 [egypt](https://bliptext.com/articles/egypt) \n**Pop 4 8:** 420 \n**Languages:** [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) \n**Religions:** Predominantly [**Orthodox Christianity**](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodox-church) · ([Romanian Orthodox Church](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-orthodox-church)), · also [Roman Catholic](https://bliptext.com/articles/catholic-church-in-romania), [Greek Catholic](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-greek-catholic-church), and [Protestant](https://bliptext.com/articles/protestantism) \n**Related:** Other [Eastern](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages) [Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages)-speaking peoples · (most notably [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans), [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians)) \n:::\n\n# \n**Români** (, ; dated [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/endonym-and-exonym) [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs)) are a thier ethnic group and [nation](https://bliptext.com/articles/nation) native to [Central](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe), [Eastern](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-europe), and [Southeastern Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeastern-europe).\nSharing a [common culture](https://bliptext.com/articles/culture-of-romania) and [ancestry](https://bliptext.com/articles/cultural-heritage), they speak the [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) and live primarily in [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova).\nThe [2021 Romanian census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2021-romanian-census) found that 89.3% of Romania's citizens identified themselves as ethnic Romanians.\nIn one interpretation of the 1989 census results in Moldova, the majority of [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans) were counted as ethnic Romanians as well.\nRomanians also form an ethnic minority in several nearby countries situated in Central, Southeastern, and Eastern Europe, most notably in [Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-hungary), [Serbia](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-serbia) (including [Timok](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs-of-serbia)), and [Ukraine](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-ukraine).\nEstimates of the number of Romanian people worldwide vary from minimum 24 to maximum 30 million, in part depending on whether the definition of the term \"Romanian\" includes natives of both Romania and Moldova, their respective diasporas, and native speakers of both Romanian and other [Eastern Romance languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages).\nOther speakers of the latter languages are the [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), the [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and the [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians) (native to [Istria](https://bliptext.com/articles/istria)), all of them unevenly distributed throughout the [Balkan Peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans), which may be considered either Romanian subgroups or separated but related ethnicities.\n\n# History\n\n## Antiquity\nThe territories of modern-day [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova) were inhabited by the ancient [Getae](https://bliptext.com/articles/getae) and [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) tribes.\nKing [Burebista](https://bliptext.com/articles/burebista) who reigned from 82/61 BC to 45/44 BC, was the first king who successfully unified the tribes of the [Dacian kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia), which comprised the area located between the Danube, Tisza, and Dniester rivers.\nKing [Decebalus](https://bliptext.com/articles/decebalus) who reigned from 87 to 106 AD was the last king of the [Dacian kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) before it was conquered by the [Roman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) in 106, after [two wars](https://bliptext.com/articles/trajan-s-dacian-wars) between [Decebalus](https://bliptext.com/articles/decebalus)' army and [Trajan](https://bliptext.com/articles/trajan)'s army.\nPrior to the two wars, Decebalus [defeated a Roman invasion](https://bliptext.com/articles/domitian-s-dacian-war) during the reign of [Domitian](https://bliptext.com/articles/domitian) between 86 and 88 AD.\nThe [Roman administration](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-dacia) retreated from Dacia between 271 and 275 AD, during the reign of emperor [Aurelian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aurelian) under the pressure of the [Goths](https://bliptext.com/articles/goths) and the Dacian [Carpi](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpi-people) tribe.\nThe later Roman province [Dacia Aureliana](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-aureliana), was organized inside former [Moesia Superior](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia-superior).\nIt was reorganized as [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) (as a military province, devastated by an [Avars](https://bliptext.com/articles/pannonian-avars) invasion in 586) and [Dacia Mediterranea](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-mediterranea) (as a civil province, devastated by an Avar invasion in 602).\nThe [Diocese of Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/[diocese](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-diocese)-of-dacia) (circa 337–602) was a [diocese](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-diocese) of the later [Roman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire), in the area of modern-day [Balkans](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans).\nThe Diocese of Dacia was composed of five provinces, the northernmost provinces were [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) (the Danubian portion of Dacia Aureliana, one of the cities of [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) in today Romania is [Sucidava](https://bliptext.com/articles/sucidava)) and [Moesia Prima](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia-prima) (today in Serbia, near the border between Romania and Serbia).\nThe territory of the diocese was devastated by the [Huns](https://bliptext.com/articles/huns) in the middle of 5th century and finally overrun by the Avars and [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) in late 6th and early 7th century.\n[Scythia Minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/scythia-minor) (c. 290 – c. 680) was a [Roman province](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-province) corresponding to the lands between the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) and the [Black Sea](https://bliptext.com/articles/black-sea), today's [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja) divided between [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria).\nThe capital of the province was Tomis (today [Constanța](https://bliptext.com/articles/constan-a)).\nAccording to the [Laterculus Veronensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/laterculus-veronensis) of c. 314 and the [Notitia Dignitatum](https://bliptext.com/articles/notitia-dignitatum) of c. 400, Scythia belonged to the [Diocese of Thrace](https://bliptext.com/articles/diocese-of-thrace).\nThe indigenous population of Scythia Minor was [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) and their material culture is apparent archaeologically into the sixth century.\nRoman fortifications mostly date to the [Tetrarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/tetrarchy) or the [Constantinian dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantinian-dynasty).\nThe province ceased to exist around 679–681, when the region was [overrun by the Bulgars](https://bliptext.com/articles/battle-of-ongal), which the Emperor [Constantine IV](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantine-iv) was forced to recognize in 681.\n# [Map showing the area where Dacian was spoken. The blue area shows the Dacian lands conquered by the Roman Empire. The orange area was inhabited by Free Dacian tribes and others. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Romani///daci.jpg]\n# [Map showing the area where the Latin language was spoken in pink during the Roman Empire between the 4th and 7th century (including the territory of present-day Romania) | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Vatra.jpg]\n\n## Early Middle Ages to Late Middle Ages\nDuring the [Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/middle-ages) Romanians were mostly known as [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs), a blanket term ultimately of [Germanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/germanic-languages) origin, from the word [Walha](https://bliptext.com/articles/walhaz), used by ancient [Germanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/germanic-languages) peoples to refer to [Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages)-speaking and [Celtic](https://bliptext.com/articles/celts) neighbours.\nBesides the separation of some groups ([Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians)) during the [Age of Migration](https://bliptext.com/articles/early-slavs), many Vlachs could be found all over the [Balkans](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans), in [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), across [Carpathian Mountains](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpathian-mountains) as far north as Poland and as far west as the regions of [Moravia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moravia) (part of the modern Czech Republic), some went as far east as [Volhynia](https://bliptext.com/articles/volhynia) of western Ukraine, and the present-day Croatia where the [Morlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/morlachs) gradually disappeared, while the Catholic and Orthodox Vlachs took Croat and Serb national identity.\nThe first written record about a [Romance language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-language) spoken in the Middle Ages in the Balkans, near the [Haemus Mons](https://bliptext.com/articles/haemus-mons) is from 587 AD. A Vlach muleteer accompanying the Byzantine army noticed that the load was falling from one of the animals and shouted to a companion Torna, torna, fratre! (meaning \"Return, return, brother!\").\n[Theophanes the Confessor](https://bliptext.com/articles/theophanes-the-confessor) recorded it as part of a 6th-century military expedition by [Comentiolus](https://bliptext.com/articles/comentiolus) and [Priscus](https://bliptext.com/articles/priscus) against the Avars.\nHistorian [Gheorghe I. Brătianu](https://bliptext.com/articles/gheorghe-i-br-tianu) considers that these words \"represent an expression from the Romanian language, as it was formed at that time in the Balkan and Danube regions\"; \"they probably belong to one and the most significant of the substrates on which our (Romanian) language was built\".\nThe first definite document mentioning Romanians (Vlachs) is from the 8th century from the [Konstamonitou Monastery](https://bliptext.com/articles/konstamonitou-monastery) in [Mount Athos](https://bliptext.com/articles/mount-athos), in [Greece](https://bliptext.com/articles/greece) and talks about the Vlachs of the Rynchos river (present-day [North Macedonia](https://bliptext.com/articles/north-macedonia)).\nAccording to the early 13th century medieval Hungarian book [Gesta Hungarorum](https://bliptext.com/articles/gesta-hungarorum) the invading Magyars of King [Árpád](https://bliptext.com/articles/rp-d)\n(c. 845 – c. 907) waged wars against three dukes—[Glad](https://bliptext.com/articles/glad-duke), [Menumorut](https://bliptext.com/articles/menumorut) and the Vlach [Gelou](https://bliptext.com/articles/gelou)—for Banat, Crișana and Transylvania.\nGesta Hungarorum also mentions the [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs), [Bulgarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgarians), Vlachs and the [shepherds of the Romans](https://bliptext.com/articles/shepherds-of-the-romans) inhabiting the [Carpathian Basin](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpathian-basin): \"sclauij, Bulgarij et Blachij, ac pastores romanorum\".\nMost researchers identify the Blachij with the Vlachs.\nHowever the document was written between 1200 and 1230, around 300 years after the described events and some modern historians have reservations about it and find it unreliable.\nAnother important document mentioning Romanians (Vlachs) from the South\nof the Balkan Peninsula dates back to 980.\nThat year, the governor of [Servia](https://bliptext.com/articles/servia-greece), [Nikulitsa](https://bliptext.com/articles/nikulitsa) received the position of leader (archon) of the Vlachs from [Hellas](https://bliptext.com/articles/hellas-theme) from Emperor [Basil II](https://bliptext.com/articles/basil-ii).\nThe function received by Nikulitsa might have been as a commander of a Vlach army.\n[Byzantine](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine) historians usually described foreign rulers as archontes.\nThe document signed by [Basil II](https://bliptext.com/articles/basil-ii) to give the position of archon of the Vlachs to Nekulitsa is mentioned in [Strategikon of Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/strategikon-of-kekaumenos) (written between 1075 and 1078 AD).\nAfter the [Avar Khaganate](https://bliptext.com/articles/avar-khaganate) collapsed in the 790s, the [First Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-bulgarian-empire) became the dominant power of the region, occupying lands as far as the river [Tisa](https://bliptext.com/articles/tisa).\nThe [First Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-bulgarian-empire) had a mixed population consisting of the Bulgar conquerors, [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) and Vlachs (Romanians) but the [Slavicisation](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavicisation) of the Bulgar elite had already begun in the 9th century.\nFollowing the conquest of Southern and Central [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) around 830, people from the Bulgar Empire mined salt from mines in [Turda](https://bliptext.com/articles/turda), [Ocna Mureș](https://bliptext.com/articles/ocna-mure), Sărățeni and Ocnița.\nThey traded and transported salt throughout the Bulgar Empire.\nA series of [Arab](https://bliptext.com/articles/arab) historians from the 10th century are some of the first to mention Vlachs in Eastern/South Eastern [Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/europe): [Mutahhar al-Maqdisi](https://bliptext.com/articles/al-muqaddasi) (c.945-991) writes: \"They say that in the Turkic neighbourhood there are the Khazars, Russians, Slavs, Waladj (Vlachs), Alans, Greeks and many other peoples\".\n[Ibn al-Nadīm](https://bliptext.com/articles/ibn-al-nad-m) (early 932–998) published in 998 the work [Kitāb al-Fihrist](https://bliptext.com/articles/kit-b-al-fihrist) mentioning \"Turks, Bulgars and Vlahs\" (using Blagha for Vlachs).\nA series of Byzantine historians, such as [George Kedrenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-kedrenos) (circa 1000), [Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos) (circa 1000), [John Skylitzes](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-skylitzes) (early 1040s – after 1101), [Anna Komnene](https://bliptext.com/articles/anna-komnene) (1083-1153), [John Kinnamos](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-kinnamos) (1143-1185) and [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) (1155-1217) were some of the first to write about the Vlachs.\n[John Skylitzes](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-skylitzes) mentions the Vlachs around 976 AD, as guides and guards of Byzantine caravans in the Balkans.\nBetween [Prespa](https://bliptext.com/articles/prespa) and [Kastoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/kastoria), they met and fought with a Bulgarian rebel named David.\nThe Vlachs killed David in their first documented battle.\n[Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos)'s father-in-law was [Nikulitzas Delphinas](https://bliptext.com/articles/nikulitzas-delphinas), a lord of [Larissa](https://bliptext.com/articles/larissa) who took part in the revolt of [Bulgarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgarians) and Vlachs in [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) in 1066 AD. The 11th-century scholar [Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos) wrote of a Vlach homeland situated \"near the Danube and [...] the Sava, where the Serbians lived more recently\".\nHe associated the Vlachs with the [Dacians](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) and the [Bessi](https://bliptext.com/articles/bessi).\nAccordingly, historians have located this homeland in several places, including [Pannonia Inferior](https://bliptext.com/articles/pannonia-inferior) ([Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu](https://bliptext.com/articles/bogdan-petriceicu-hasdeu)) and [Dacia Aureliana](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-aureliana) (Mátyás Gyóni).\nThe princess and chronicler Anna Komnene reports that in April 1091, on the eve of the decisive [Byzantine](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine-greeks)-[Pecheneg](https://bliptext.com/articles/pechenegs) [Battle of Levounion](https://bliptext.com/articles/battle-of-levounion), Emperor [Alexios I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexios-i-komnenos) (1057-1118) was assisted by \"a number of 5,000 brave mountaineers and ready to attack, passed by his side, to fight alongside him\".\nMost of the specialists who have addressed these aspects have identified those \" bold mountaineers \", with the 'Vlachs.\nAnna Komnene reports that in 1094, on the occasion of the [Cumans](https://bliptext.com/articles/cumans)' campaign south of the Danube, Emperor [Alexios I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexios-i-komnenos) was informed about the movements of the \"Turanians\", who had crossed the Danube by \"a certain Pudilos, a Vlach noble\".\nThe Byzantine chronicler [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) writes that in 1164, [Andronikos I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/andronikos-i-komnenos), the emperor [Manuel I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/manuel-i-komnenos)'s cousin, tried without success, to usurp the throne.\nFailing in his attempt, the Byzantine prince sought refuge in [Halych](https://bliptext.com/articles/halych) but [Andronikos I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/andronikos-i-komnenos) was \"captured by the Vlachs, to whom the rumor of his escape had reached, he was taken back to the emperor\".\nThe Byzantine chronicler [John Kinnamos](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-kinnamos), presenting the campaign of [Manuel I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/manuel-i-komnenos) against Hungary in 1166, reports that General Leon Vatatzes had under his command \"a great multitude of Vlachs, who are said to be ancient colonies of those in Italy\", an army that attacked the Hungarian possessions \"about the lands near the Pontus called the Euxine\", respectively the southeastern regions of [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), \"destroyed everything without sparing and trampled everything it encountered in its passage\".\nBy the 9th and 10th centuries, the nomadic [Pechenegs](https://bliptext.com/articles/pechenegs) conquered much of the steppes of [Southeast Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeast-europe) and the [Crimean Peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/crimean-peninsula).The Pecheneg wars against the [Kievan Rus'](https://bliptext.com/articles/kievan-rus) caused some of the [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) and Vlachs from North of the Danube to gradually migrate north of the [Dniestr](https://bliptext.com/articles/dniestr) in the 10th and 11th centuries.\nThe [Second Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-bulgarian-empire) founded by the [Asen dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/asen-dynasty) consisting of Bulgarians and Vlachs was founded in 1185 and lasted until 1396.\nEarly rulers from the Asen dynasty (particularly [Kaloyan](https://bliptext.com/articles/kaloyan)) referred to themselves as \"Emperors of Bulgarians and Vlachs\".\nLater rulers, especially [Ivan Asen II](https://bliptext.com/articles/ivan-asen-ii), styled themselves \"Tsars (Emperors) of Bulgarians and Romans\".\nAn alternative name used in connection with the pre-mid [Second Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-bulgarian-empire) 13th century period is the Empire of Vlachs and Bulgarians; variant names include the \"Vlach–Bulgarian Empire\", the \"Bulgarian–Wallachian Empire\".\nRoyal charters wrote of the \"Vlachs' land\" in southern [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) in the early 13th century, indicating the existence of [autonomous Romanian communities](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-district).\nPapal correspondence mentions the activities of Orthodox prelates among the Romanians in [Muntenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/muntenia) in the 1230s.\n[Béla IV of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/b-la-iv-of-hungary)'s land grant to the [Knights Hospitallers](https://bliptext.com/articles/knights-hospitallers) in [Oltenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/oltenia) and [Muntenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/muntenia) shows that the local Vlach rulers were subject to the king's authority in 1247.\nThe late 13th-century Hungarian chronicler [Simon of Kéza](https://bliptext.com/articles/simon-of-k-za) states that the Vlachs were \"shepherds and husbandmen\" who \"remained in Pannonia\".\nAn unknown author's Description of Eastern Europe from 1308 likewise states that the Vlachs \"were once the [shepherds of the Romans](https://bliptext.com/articles/shepherds-of-the-romans)\" who \"had over them ten powerful kings in the entire [Messia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia) and Pannonia\".\nAdditionally, in medieval times there were other lands known by the name 'Vlach' such as [Great Vlachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/great-vlachia), situated between [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) and the western [Pindus](https://bliptext.com/articles/pindus) mountains, of the [Despotate of Epirus](https://bliptext.com/articles/despotate-of-epirus) between the 12th-15th century.\nOriginally within the [Byzantine Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine-empire), but after the 13th century autonomous or semi-independent.\nIn the 12th century, the Jewish traveller [Benjamin of Tudela](https://bliptext.com/articles/benjamin-of-tudela), who toured the area in 1166 called the region of [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) \"Vlachia\".\nThe contemporary Byzantine historian [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) however distinguishes \"Great Vlachia\" as a district near [Meteora](https://bliptext.com/articles/meteora).\n\"Vlachia\", \"Great Vlachia\", and the other variants began to fall out of use for Thessaly at the turn of the 14th century, and with the emergence of the Principality of [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) north of the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) in the 14th century, from the 15th century the name was reserved for it.\n[White Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/white-wallachia), a Byzantine denomination for the region between the Danube River and the Balkans; [Moravian Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moravian-wallachia), a region in south-eastern Czech Republic). The names derive from the Vlachs, who had lived across much of these regions.\nIn the 14th century the [Danubian Principalities](https://bliptext.com/articles/danubian-principalities) of [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) and [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) emerged to fight the [Ottoman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/ottoman-empire).\nDuring the [late Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/late-middle-ages), prominent medieval Romanian monarchs such as [Bogdan of Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/bogdan-i-of-moldavia), [Stephen the Great](https://bliptext.com/articles/stephen-iii-of-moldavia), [Mircea the Elder](https://bliptext.com/articles/mircea-the-elder), [Michael the Brave](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-the-brave), or [Vlad the Impaler](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlad-the-impaler) took part actively in the history of [Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe) by waging tumultuous wars and leading noteworthy crusades against the then continuously expanding Ottoman Empire, at times allied with either the [Kingdom of Poland](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-poland) or the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary) in these causes.\n# [First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018) around 850 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Balkans850.png]\n# [Map depicting historical Romanian/Vlach pastoral transhumance (a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures) in Eastern and Southeastern Europe (including the territory of Romania today) during the 18th and 19th centuries | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Transhumance///ways///of///the///Vlachs.jpeg]\n\n## Early Modern Age to Late Modern Age\nEventually the entire [Balkan peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans) was annexed by the Ottoman Empire.\nHowever, Moldavia and Wallachia (extending to Dobruja and Bulgaria) were not entirely subdued by the Ottomans as both principalities became autonomous (which was not the case of other Ottoman territorial possessions in Europe).\nTransylvania, a third region inhabited by an important majority of Romanian speakers, was a vassal state of the Ottomans until 1687, when the principality became part of the Habsburg possessions.\nThe three principalities were united for several months in 1600 under the authority of Wallachian [Prince](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-princes-of-wallachia) [Michael the Brave](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-the-brave).\nUp until 1541, Transylvania was part of the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary), later (due to the conquest of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire) was a self-governed Principality governed by the Hungarian nobility.\nIn 1699 it became a part of the [Habsburg lands](https://bliptext.com/articles/habsburg-monarchy).\nBy the end of the 18th century, the [Austrian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/austrian-empire) was awarded by the Ottomans with the region of [Bukovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bukovina) and, in 1812, the Russians occupied the eastern half of Moldavia, known as [Bessarabia](https://bliptext.com/articles/bessarabia) through the [Treaty of Bucharest](https://bliptext.com/articles/treaty-of-bucharest-1812) of 1812.\nIn the context of the [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/revolutions-of-1848) [Romanticist](https://bliptext.com/articles/romantic-nationalism) and [liberal](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberalism) revolutions across Europe, the events that took place in the [Grand Principality of Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/principality-of-transylvania-1711-1867) were the first of their kind to unfold in the Romanian-speaking territories.\nOn the one hand, the [Transylvanian Saxons](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons) and the Transylvanian Romanians (with consistent support on behalf of the [Austrian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/austrian-empire)) successfully managed to oppose the goals of the [Hungarian Revolution of 1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarian-revolution-of-1848), with the two noteworthy historical figures leading the common Romanian-Saxon side at the time being [Avram Iancu](https://bliptext.com/articles/avram-iancu) and [Stephan Ludwig Roth](https://bliptext.com/articles/stephan-ludwig-roth).\nOn the other hand, the Wallachian revolutions of [1821](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-uprising-of-1821) and [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-revolution-of-1848) as well as the Moldavian Revolution of [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-revolution-of-1848), which aimed for independence from Ottoman and Russian foreign rulership, represented important impacts in the process of spreading the [liberal ideology](https://bliptext.com/articles/liberalism-and-radicalism-in-romania) in the eastern and southern Romanian lands, in spite of the fact that all three eventually failed.\nNonetheless, in 1859, [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) and [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) elected the same ruler, namely [Alexander John Cuza](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexandru-ioan-cuza) (who reigned as [Domnitor](https://bliptext.com/articles/domnitor)) and were thus unified de facto, resulting in the [United Romanian Principalities](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-principalities-of-moldavia-and-wallachia) for the period between 1859 and 1881.\nDuring the 1870s, the United Romanian Principalities (then led by [Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen](https://bliptext.com/articles/house-of-hohenzollern) Domnitor [Carol I](https://bliptext.com/articles/carol-i-of-romania)) fought a [War of Independence](https://bliptext.com/articles/russo-turkish-war-1877-1878) against the Ottomans, with Romania's independence being formally recognised in 1878 at the [Treaty of Berlin](https://bliptext.com/articles/treaty-of-berlin-1878).\nAlthough the relatively newly founded [Kingdom of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-romania) initially allied with [Austria-Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria-hungary), Romania refused to enter [World War I](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-war-i) on the side of the [Central Powers](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-powers), because it was obliged to wage war only if [Austria-Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria-hungary) was attacked.\nIn 1916, Romania joined the war on the side of the [Triple Entente](https://bliptext.com/articles/triple-entente).\nAs a result, at the end of the war, Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina were awarded to Romania, through a series of international peace treaties, resulting in an enlarged and far more powerful kingdom under King [Ferdinand I](https://bliptext.com/articles/ferdinand-i-of-romania).\nAs of 1920, the Romanian people was believed to number over 15 million solely in the region of the Romanian kingdom, a figure larger than the populations of [Sweden](https://bliptext.com/articles/sweden), [Denmark](https://bliptext.com/articles/denmark), and the [Netherlands](https://bliptext.com/articles/netherlands) combined.\nDuring the [interwar period](https://bliptext.com/articles/interwar-period), two additional monarchs came to the Romanian throne, namely [Carol II](https://bliptext.com/articles/carol-ii-of-romania) and [Michael I](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-i-of-romania).\nThis short-lived period was marked, at times, by political instabilities and efforts of maintaining a [constitutional monarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/constitutional-monarchy) in favour of other, totalitarian regimes such as an [absolute monarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/absolute-monarchy) or a [military dictatorship](https://bliptext.com/articles/military-dictatorship).\n# [Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, according to the 1890 census | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Walachians///%28Romanians%29///in///Hungary%2C///census///1890.jpg]\n# [Map depicting the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1859 and 1878 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Romania///1859-1878.png]\n\n## Contemporary Era\n[During World War II](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania-in-world-war-ii), the Kingdom of Romania lost territory both to the east and west, as [Northern Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-transylvania) became part of the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary) through the [Second Vienna Award](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-vienna-award), while Bessarabia and northern Bukovina were taken by the Soviets and included in the [Moldavian SSR](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavian-soviet-socialist-republic), respectively [Ukrainian SSR](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukrainian-soviet-socialist-republic).\nThe eastern territory losses were facilitated by the [Molotov–Ribbentrop Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact](https://bliptext.com/articles/molotov-ribbentrop-pact).\nAfter the end of the war, the Romanian Kingdom managed to regain territories lost westward but was nonetheless not given Bessarabia and northern Bukovina back, the aforementioned regions being forcefully incorporated into the [Soviet Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/soviet-union) (USSR).\nSubsequently, the Soviet Union imposed a communist government and [King](https://bliptext.com/articles/king-of-romania) Michael was forced to abdicate and leave for exile, subsequently settling in [Switzerland](https://bliptext.com/articles/switzerland), while [Petru Groza](https://bliptext.com/articles/petru-groza) remained the [head of the government](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-heads-of-government-of-romania) of the [Socialist Republic of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/socialist-republic-of-romania) (RSR).\n[Nicolae Ceaușescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/nicolae-ceau-escu) became the head of the [Romanian Communist Party](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-communist-party) (PCR) in 1965 and his severe rule of the 1980s was ended by the [Romanian Revolution of 1989](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-revolution-of-1989).\nThe chaos of the 1989 revolution brought to power the dissident communist [Ion Iliescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/ion-iliescu) as [president](https://bliptext.com/articles/president-of-romania) (largely supported by the [FSN](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-salvation-front-romania)).\nIliescu remained in power as [head of state](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-heads-of-state-of-romania) until 1996, when he was defeated by [CDR](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-democratic-convention)-supported [Emil Constantinescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-constantinescu) in the [1996 general elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/1996-romanian-general-election), the first in post-communist Romania that saw a [peaceful transition of power](https://bliptext.com/articles/peaceful-transition-of-power).\nFollowing Constantinescu's single term as president from 1996 to 2000, Iliescu was re-elected in late 2000 for another term of four years.\nIn 2004, [Traian Băsescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/traian-b-sescu), the [PNL](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberal-party-romania)-[PD](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-party-romania) candidate of the [Justice and Truth Alliance](https://bliptext.com/articles/justice-and-truth-alliance) (DA), was elected president.\nFive years later, Băsescu (solely supported by the [PDL](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-liberal-party-romania) this time) was narrowly re-elected for a second term in the [2009 presidential elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/2009-romanian-presidential-election).\nIn 2014, the [PNL](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberal-party-romania)-[PDL](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-liberal-party-romania) candidate (as part of the larger [Christian Liberal Alliance](https://bliptext.com/articles/christian-liberal-alliance) or ACL for short; also endorsed by the [Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-forum-of-germans-in-romania), FDGR/DFDR for short respectively) [Klaus Iohannis](https://bliptext.com/articles/klaus-iohannis) won a surprise victory over former [Prime Minister](https://bliptext.com/articles/prime-minister-of-romania) and [PSD](https://bliptext.com/articles/social-democratic-party-romania)-supported contender [Victor Ponta](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-ponta) in the second round of the [2014 presidential elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/2014-romanian-presidential-election).\nThus, Iohannis became the first Romanian president stemming from an [ethnic minority of the country](https://bliptext.com/articles/minorities-of-romania) (as he belongs to the [Romanian-German community](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania), being a [Transylvanian Saxon](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons)).\nIn 2019, the PNL-supported Iohannis was re-elected for a second term as president after a second round landslide victory in the [2019 Romanian presidential election](https://bliptext.com/articles/2019-romanian-presidential-election) (being also supported in that round by [PMP](https://bliptext.com/articles/people-s-movement-party) and [USR](https://bliptext.com/articles/save-romania-union) as well as by the FDGR/DFDR in both rounds).\nIn the meantime, Romania's major foreign policy achievements were the alignment with [Western Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/western-europe) and the [United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states) by joining the [North Atlantic Treaty Organization](https://bliptext.com/articles/nato) (NATO) back in 2004 and the [European Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/european-union) three years later, in 2007.\nCurrent national objectives of Romania include adhering to the [Schengen Area](https://bliptext.com/articles/schengen-area), the [Eurozone](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurozone) as well as the [OECD](https://bliptext.com/articles/oecd) (i.e. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).\n\n# Language\nDuring the Middle Ages, Romanian was isolated from the other Romance languages, and borrowed words from the nearby [Slavic languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-languages) (see [Slavic influence on Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-influence-on-romanian)).\nLater on, it borrowed a number of words from [German](https://bliptext.com/articles/german-language), [Hungarian](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarian-language), and [Turkish](https://bliptext.com/articles/turkish-language).\nDuring the modern era, most neologisms [were borrowed](https://bliptext.com/articles/re-latinization-of-romanian) from [French](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-language) and [Italian](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-language), though the language has increasingly begun to adopt English borrowings.\nThe origins of the [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), a [Romance language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-language), can be traced back to the Roman colonisation of the region.\nThe basic vocabulary is of Latin origin, although there are some [substratum](https://bliptext.com/articles/substrate-in-romanian) words that are assumed to be of [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacian-language) origin.\nIt is the most spoken [Eastern Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages) language and is closely related to [Aromanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language), [Megeleno-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language), and [Istro-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), all three part of the same sub-branch of Romance languages.\nThe [Moldovan language](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovan-language), in its official form, is practically identical to Romanian, although there are some differences in colloquial speech.\nIn the de facto independent (but internationally unrecognised) region of [Transnistria](https://bliptext.com/articles/transnistria), the official script used to write Moldovan is Cyrillic, although Moldovan has a very limited usage in [Transnistria](https://bliptext.com/articles/transnistria) despite its official status.\nSince 2013, the [Romanian Language Day](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language-day) is officially celebrated on [31 August](https://bliptext.com/articles/31-august) in Romania.\nIn Moldova, it is officially celebrated on the same day since 2023.\nAs of 2017, an [Ethnologue](https://bliptext.com/articles/ethnologue) estimation puts the (worldwide) number of Romanian speakers at approximately 24.15 million.\nThe 24.15 million, however, represent only speakers of [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), not all of whom are necessarily ethnic [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language)s.\nAlso, this number does not include ethnic-Romanians who no longer speak the Romanian language.\n# [Neacșu's letter to Johannes Benkner (former Transylvanian Saxon mayor of Kronstadt/Brașov) is the oldest document written in Romanian discovered to date. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Scrisoarea///lui///Neacsu.jpg]\n# [Romanian language, as part of the Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, alongside and related to Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian, and Istro-Romanian. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Romance///languages///diagram///en.svg]\n\n# Names for Romanians\nIn English, Romanians are usually called Romanians and very rarely Rumanians or Roumanians, except in some historical texts, where they are called Roumans or [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs).\n\n## Etymology of the name Romanian (român)\nThe name [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-people)ian is derived from [Latin](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin) romanus, meaning \"[Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-people)\".\nUnder regular phonetical changes that are typical to the Romanian language, the name romanus over the centuries transformed into rumân.\nAn older form of român was still in use in some regions.\nSocio-linguistic evolutions in the late 18th century led to a gradual preponderance of the român spelling form, which was then generalised during the National awakening of Romania of early 19th century.\nSeveral historical sources show the use of the term \"Romanian\" among the medieval or early modern Romanian population.\nOne of the earliest examples comes from the [Nibelungenlied](https://bliptext.com/articles/nibelungenlied), a German [epic poem](https://bliptext.com/articles/epic-poem) from before 1200 in which a \"Duke Ramunc from the land of Vlachs (Wallachia)\" is mentioned.\n\"Vlach\" was an exonym used almost exclusively for the Romanians during the Middle Ages.\nIt has been argued by some Romanian researchers that \"Ramunc\" was not the name of the duke, but a name that highlighted his ethnicity.\nOther old documents, especially Byzantine or Hungarian ones, make a correlation between the old Romanians as Romans or their descendants.\nSeveral other documents, notably from Italian travelers into Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania, speak of the self-identification, language and culture of the Romanians, showing that they designated themselves as \"Romans\" or related to them in up to 30 works.\nOne example is Tranquillo Andronico's 1534 writing that states that the Vlachs \"now call themselves Romans\".\nAnother one is Francesco della Valle's 1532 manuscripts that state that the Romanians from Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania preserved the name \"Roman\" and cites the sentence \"Sti Rominest?\" (știi românește?, \"do you speak Romanian?\").\nAuthors that travelled to modern Romania who wrote about it in 1574, 1575 and 1666 also noted the use of the term \"Romanian\".\nFrom the Middle Ages, Romanians bore two names, the [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/exonym) (one given to them by foreigners) Wallachians or Vlachs, under its various forms (vlah, valah, valach, voloh, blac, olăh, vlas, ilac, ulah, etc.), and the [endonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/endonym) (the name they used for themselves) Romanians (Rumâni/Români).\nThe first mentions by Romanians of the endonym are contemporary with the earliest writings in Romanian from the sixteenth century.\nAccording to [Tomasz Kamusella](https://bliptext.com/articles/tomasz-kamusella), at the time of the rise of Romanian nationalism during the early 19th century, the political leaders of Wallachia and Moldavia were aware that the name România was identical to Romania, a name that had been used for the former Byzantine Empire by its inhabitants.\nKamusella continues by stating that they preferred this ethnonym in order to stress their presumed link with [Ancient Rome](https://bliptext.com/articles/ancient-rome) and that it became more popular as a nationalistic form of referring to all Romanian-language speakers as a distinct and separate nation during the 1820s.\n[Raymond Detrez](https://bliptext.com/articles/raymond-detrez) asserts that român, derived from the Latin Romanus, acquired at a certain point the same meaning of the Greek Romaios; that of Orthodox Christian.\n[Wolfgang Dahmen](https://bliptext.com/articles/wolfgang-dahmen-romanist) claims that the meaning of romanus (Roman) as \"Christian\", as opposed to \"pagan\", which used to mean \"non-Roman\", may have contributed to the preservation of this word as an ethonym of the Romanian people, under the meaning of \"Christian\".\n# [Romanian revolutionaries of 1848 waving the tricolor flag | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Tricolore1848.jpg]\n\n### Daco-Romanian\nTo distinguish Romanians from the other Romanic peoples of the Balkans (Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, and Istro-Romanians), the term [Daco-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/daco-romanian) is sometimes used to refer to those who speak the standard [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) and live in the former territory of ancient [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) (today comprising mostly Romania and Moldova) and its surroundings (such as Dobruja or the [Timok Valley](https://bliptext.com/articles/timok-valley), the latter region part of the former Roman province of [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) Ripensis).\n\n## Etymology of the term Vlach\nThe name of \"[Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs)\" is an [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/exonym) that was used by Slavs to refer to all Romanized natives of the Balkans.\nIt holds its origin from ancient Germanic—being a cognate to \"Welsh\" and \"Walloon\"—and perhaps even further back in time, from the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin) name Volcae, which was originally a [Celtic](https://bliptext.com/articles/celt) tribe.\nFrom the Slavs, it was passed on to other peoples, such as the [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians) (Oláh) and [Greeks](https://bliptext.com/articles/greeks) (Vlachoi) (see the Etymology section of Vlachs).\n[Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia), the Southern region of Romania, takes its name from the same source.\nNowadays, the term Vlach is more often used to refer to the Romanized populations of the Balkans who speak [Daco-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), [Aromanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language), [Istro-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), and [Megleno-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language).\n\n# Romanians outside Romania\nMost Romanians live in Romania, where they constitute a majority; Romanians also constitute a minority in the countries that neighbour Romania.\nRomanians can also be found in many countries, notably in the other EU countries, particularly in Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and France; in North America in the United States and Canada; in Israel; as well as in Brazil, Australia, [Argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina), and New Zealand among many other countries.\nItaly and Spain have been popular emigration destinations, due to a relatively low [language barrier](https://bliptext.com/articles/language-barrier), and both are each now home to about a million Romanians.\nWith respect to geopolitical identity, many individuals of Romanian ethnicity in Moldova prefer to identify themselves as [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans).\nThe contemporary total population of ethnic Romanians cannot be stated with any degree of certainty.\nA disparity can be observed between official sources (such as [census](https://bliptext.com/articles/census) counts) where they exist, and estimates which come from non-official sources and interested groups.\nSeveral inhibiting factors (not unique to this particular case) contribute towards this uncertainty, which may include:\nFor example, the decennial [US Census](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-census) of 2000 calculated (based on a [statistical sampling](https://bliptext.com/articles/sampling-statistics) of household data) that there were 367,310 respondents indicating Romanian ancestry (roughly 0.1% of the total population).\nThe actual total recorded number of foreign-born Romanians was only 136,000.\nHowever, some non-specialist organisations have produced estimates which are considerably higher: a 2002 study by the Romanian-American Network Inc. mentions an estimated figure of 1,200,000 for the number of [Romanian Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-americans).\nWhich makes the United States home to the largest Romanian community outside Romania.\nThis estimate notes however that \"...other immigrants of Romanian national minority groups have been included such as: [Armenians](https://bliptext.com/articles/armenians-of-romania), [Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania), [Gypsies](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people-in-romania), [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians-in-romania), [Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania), and [Ukrainians](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukrainians-of-romania)\".\nIt also includes an unspecified allowance for second- and third-generation Romanians, and an indeterminate number living in Canada.\nAn error range for the estimate is not provided.\nFor the [United States 2000 Census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2000-united-states-census) figures, almost 20% of the total population did not classify or report an ancestry, and the census is also subject to undercounting, an incomplete (67%) response rate, and sampling error in general.\nIn [Republika Srpska](https://bliptext.com/articles/republika-srpska), one of the two entities constituting [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina) together with the Federation of [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina), Romanians are legally recognized as an ethnic minority.\n# [300x300px | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Map///of///the///Romanian///Diaspora///in///the///World.svg]\n# [Charts depicting share of Romanians living abroad within other states of the European Union | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/2015-04-08///09.26.08///pm.png]\n# [Romanians of Zakarpattia Oblast in Carpathian Ruthenia, western Ukraine, performing a traditional dance. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Romanians///of///Zakarpattya///Oblast///dancing.jpg]\n\n# Culture\n\n## Contributions to contemporary culture\nRomanians have played and contributed a major role in the advancement of the [arts](https://bliptext.com/articles/arts), culture, [sciences](https://bliptext.com/articles/sciences), technology and [engineering](https://bliptext.com/articles/engineering).\nIn the history of aviation, [Traian Vuia](https://bliptext.com/articles/traian-vuia) and [Aurel Vlaicu](https://bliptext.com/articles/aurel-vlaicu) built and tested some of the earliest aircraft designs, while [Henri Coandă](https://bliptext.com/articles/henri-coand) discovered the [Coandă effect](https://bliptext.com/articles/coand-effect) of fluidics.\n[Victor Babeș](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-babe) discovered more than 50 germs and a cure for a disease named after him, [babesiosis](https://bliptext.com/articles/babesiosis); biologist [Nicolae Paulescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/nicolae-paulescu) was among the first scientists to identify [insulin](https://bliptext.com/articles/insulin).\nAnother biologist, [Emil Palade](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-palade), received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to [cell biology](https://bliptext.com/articles/cell-biology).\n[George Constantinescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-constantinescu) created the [theory of sonics](https://bliptext.com/articles/theory-of-sonics), while mathematician [Ștefan Odobleja](https://bliptext.com/articles/tefan-odobleja) has been claimed as \"the ideological father behind [cybernetics](https://bliptext.com/articles/cybernetics)\" – his work The Consonantist Psychology (Paris, 1938) was supposedly the main source of inspiration for [N. Wiener](https://bliptext.com/articles/n-wiener)'s Cybernetics (Paris, 1948).\n[Lazăr Edeleanu](https://bliptext.com/articles/laz-r-edeleanu) was the first chemist to synthesize [amphetamine](https://bliptext.com/articles/amphetamine) and also invented the modern method of [refining](https://bliptext.com/articles/oil-refinery) [crude oil](https://bliptext.com/articles/crude-oil).\nIn the arts and culture, prominent figures were [George Enescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-enescu) (music composer, violinist, professor of Sir [Yehudi Menuhin](https://bliptext.com/articles/yehudi-menuhin)), [Constantin Brâncuși](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantin-br-ncu-i) (sculptor), [Eugène Ionesco](https://bliptext.com/articles/eug-ne-ionesco) (playwright), [Mircea Eliade](https://bliptext.com/articles/mircea-eliade) (historian of religion and novelist), [Emil Cioran](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-cioran) (essayist, Prix de l'Institut Français for stylism) and [Angela Gheorghiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/angela-gheorghiu) (soprano).\nMore recently, filmmakers such as [Cristi Puiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/cristi-puiu) and [Cristian Mungiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/cristian-mungiu) have attracted international acclaim, as has fashion designer [Ioana Ciolacu](https://bliptext.com/articles/ioana-ciolacu).\nIn sports, Romanians have excelled in a variety of fields, such as football ([Gheorghe Hagi](https://bliptext.com/articles/gheorghe-hagi)), gymnastics ([Nadia Comăneci](https://bliptext.com/articles/nadia-com-neci), [Lavinia Miloșovici](https://bliptext.com/articles/lavinia-milo-ovici) etc.), tennis ([Ilie Năstase](https://bliptext.com/articles/ilie-n-stase), [Ion Țiriac](https://bliptext.com/articles/ion-iriac), [Simona Halep](https://bliptext.com/articles/simona-halep)), rowing ([Ivan Patzaichin](https://bliptext.com/articles/ivan-patzaichin)) and handball (four times men's [World Cup](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-men-s-handball-championship) winners).\n[Count Dracula](https://bliptext.com/articles/count-dracula) is a worldwide icon of Romania.\nThis character was created by the Irish fiction writer [Bram Stoker](https://bliptext.com/articles/bram-stoker), based on some stories spread in the late [Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/middle-ages) by the frustrated German tradesmen of Kronstadt ([Brașov](https://bliptext.com/articles/bra-ov)) and on some [vampire folk](https://bliptext.com/articles/vampire-folklore-by-region) tales about the historic Romanian figure of Prince [Vlad Țepeș](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlad-iii-dracula).\n\n## Religion\nAlmost 90% of all Romanians consider themselves religious.\nThe vast majority are [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy) Christians, belonging to the [Romanian Orthodox Church](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-orthodox-church) (a branch of [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy)y, or [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy) Church, together with the Greek Orthodox, Orthodox Church of Georgia and Russian Orthodox Churches, among others).\nRomanians form the [third largest ethno-linguistic group among Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-contemporary-ethnic-groups) in the world.\nAccording to the 2011 census, 93.6% of ethnic Romanians in Romania identified themselves as Romanian Orthodox (in comparison to 81% of Romania's total population, including other ethnic groups).\nHowever, the actual rate of church attendance is significantly lower and many Romanians are only nominally believers.\nFor example, according to a 2006 [Eurobarometer](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurobarometer) poll, only 23% of Romanians attend church once a week or more.\nA 2006 poll conducted by the [Open Society Foundations](https://bliptext.com/articles/open-society-foundations) found that only 33% of Romanians attended church once a month or more.\nThere are no official dates for the adoption of religions by the Romanians.\nBased on linguistic and archaeological findings, historians suggest that the Romanians' ancestors acquired polytheistic religions in the Roman era, later adopting Christianity, most likely by the 4th century AD when decreed by Emperor [Constantine the Great](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantine-the-great) as the official religion of the Roman Empire.\nLike in all other Romance languages, the basic Romanian words related to [Christian](https://bliptext.com/articles/christians)ity are inherited from Latin, such as [God](https://bliptext.com/articles/god) ([Dumnezeu](https://bliptext.com/articles/dumnezeu) < Domine Deus), church (biserică < basilica), [cross](https://bliptext.com/articles/cross) (cruce < crux, -cis), angel (înger < angelus), saint (regional: sfân(t) < sanctus), Christmas (Crăciun < creatio, -onis), [Christian](https://bliptext.com/articles/christians) (creștin < christianus), Easter (paște < paschae), sin (păcat < peccatum), to baptise (a boteza < batizare), priest (preot < presbiterum), to pray (a ruga < rogare), faith (credință < credentia), and so on.\nAfter the [Roman Catholic-Eastern Orthodox Schism of 1054](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-west-schism), there existed a [Roman Catholic Diocese of Cumania](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-catholic-diocese-of-cumania) for a short period of time, from 1228 to 1241.\nHowever, this seems to be the exception, rather than the rule, as in both [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) and [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) the state religion was Eastern Orthodox.\nUntil the 17th century, the official language of the liturgy was [Old Church Slavonic](https://bliptext.com/articles/old-church-slavonic) (a.k.a. Middle Bulgarian).\nThen, it gradually changed to Romanian.\n\n## Symbols\nIn addition to the colours of the [Romanian flag](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-romania), each historical province of Romania has its own characteristic symbol:\nThe [coat of arms of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/coat-of-arms-of-romania) combines these together.\n\n## Customs\n\n### Traditional costumes\n\n# Relationship to other ethnic groups\nThe closest ethnic groups to the Romanians are the other Romanic peoples of Southeastern Europe: the [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians) ([Macedo](https://bliptext.com/articles/macedonia-region)-Romanians), the [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and the [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians).\nThe Istro-Romanians are the closest ethnic group to the Romanians, and it is believed they left [Maramureș](https://bliptext.com/articles/maramure), [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) about a thousand years ago and settled in [Istria](https://bliptext.com/articles/istria), Croatia.\nNumbering about 500 people still living in the original villages of Istria while the majority left for other countries after World War II (mainly to Italy, United States, Canada, Spain, Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, and Australia), they speak the [Istro-Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), the closest living relative of Romanian.\nOn the other hand, the Aromanians and the Megleno-Romanians are Romance peoples who live south of the Danube, mainly in Greece, Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria although some of them migrated to Romania in the 20th century.\nIt is believed that they diverged from the Romanians in the 7th to 9th century, and currently speak the [Aromanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language) and [Megleno-Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language), both of which are Eastern Romance languages, like Romanian, and are sometimes considered by traditional Romanian linguists to be dialects of Romanian.\n\n# Genetics\nA Bulgarian study from 2013 shows genetic similarity between [Thracians](https://bliptext.com/articles/thracians) (8-6 century BC), medieval Bulgarians (8–10 century AD), and modern Bulgarians, highlighting highest resemblance between them and Romanians, Northern Italians and Northern Greeks.\nA genetic study published in [Scientific Reports](https://bliptext.com/articles/scientific-reports) in 2019 examined the [mtDNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of 25 Thracian remains in [Bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria) from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. They were found to harbor a mixture of ancestry from [Western Steppe Herders](https://bliptext.com/articles/western-steppe-herders) (WSHs) and [Early European Farmers](https://bliptext.com/articles/early-european-farmers) (EEFs), supporting the idea that Southeast Europe was the link between Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.\nThe prevailing Y-chromosome in [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) ([Ploiești](https://bliptext.com/articles/ploie-ti), [Dolj](https://bliptext.com/articles/dolj-county)), [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) ([Piatra Neamț](https://bliptext.com/articles/piatra-neam), [Buhuși](https://bliptext.com/articles/buhu-i)), [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja) ([Constanța](https://bliptext.com/articles/constan-a)), and northern Republic of Moldova is recorded to be [Haplogroup I](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-y-dna).\nSubclades [I1](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-m253) and [I2](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-m438) can be found in most present-day European populations, with peaks in some [Northern European](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-europe) and [Southeastern European](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeastern-europe) countries.\nHaplogroup I occurs at 32% in Romanians.\nThe frequency of I2a1 (I-P37) in the Balkans today is owed to indigenous European tribes, and was present before the [Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-migrations-to-southeastern-europe).\nA similar result was cited in a study investigating the genetic pool of people from Republic of Moldova, concluded about the representative samples taken for comparison from Romanians from the towns of Piatra-Neamț and Buhuși that \"the most common Y haplogroup in this population was I-M423 (40.7%). This is the highest frequency of the I-M423 haplogroup reported so far outside of the northwest Balkans. The next most frequent among Romanian males was haplogroup R-M17* (16.7%), followed by R-M405 (7.4%), E-v13 and R-M412* (both 5.6%).\"\nThe I-M423 haplogroup is a subclade of I2a, a haplogroup prosperous in the [Starcevo](https://bliptext.com/articles/star-evo-k-r-s-cri-culture) culture and its possible offshoot [Cucuteni–Trypillia culture](https://bliptext.com/articles/cucuteni-trypillia-culture) (4800-3000 BCE).\nThe high concentration of I2a1b-L621, the main subclade, is attributed to Bronze Age and Early Iron Age migrations (Dacians, Thracians, Illyrians) and the medieval Slavic migrations.\nAccording to a Y-chromosome analysis of 335 sampled Romanians, 15% of them belong to R1a.\n[Haplogroup R1a](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-r1a), is a [human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup](https://bliptext.com/articles/human-y-chromosome-dna-haplogroup) which is distributed in a large region in [Eurasia](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurasia), extending from [Scandinavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/scandinavia) and [Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe) to southern [Siberia](https://bliptext.com/articles/siberia) and [South Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-asia).\nHaplogroup R1a among Romanians is entirely from the Eastern European variety Z282 and may be a result of Baltic, Thracian or Slavic descent.\n12% of the Romanians belong to [Haplogroup R1b](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-r1b), the Alpino-Italic branch of R1b is at 2% a lower frequency recorded than other Balkan peoples.\nThe eastern branches of R1b represent 7%, they prevail in parts of [Eastern and Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-and-central-europe) as a result of Ancient [Greek colonisation](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-colonisation) – in parts of Sicily as well.\nOther studies analyzing the haplogroup frequency among Romanians came to similar results.\nDelving into the regional differences of [Mitochondrial DNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of Romanians, a 2014 study emphasised the different position of North and South Romanian populations (ie inside and outside of the Carpathian range) in terms of mitochondrial haplotype variability.\nThe population within the Carpathian range was found to have [haplogroup H](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-h-mtdna) at 59.7% frequency, U at 11.3%, K and HV at 3.23% each, and M, X and A at 1.61% each.\nThe South Romanian population also showed the highest frequency in [haplogroup H](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-h-mtdna) at 47% (lower than in the sample from the North of Romania), [haplogroup U](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-u-mtdna) showed a noticeable frequency at 17% (higher than in the sample from North Romania), haplogroups HV and K at 10.61% and 7.58%, respectively, while haplogroups M, X and A were absent.\nComparing the results to European and international samples, the study proposes a weak differentiated distribution of mitochondrial haplogroups between inner and outer Carpathian population (rather than North-South boundary) based on higher frequency for the [haplogroup J](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-jt-mtdna) and [haplogroup K2a](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-k-mtdna) in the Southern Romanian sample - considered as markers of the Neolithic expansion in Europe from the Near East, the absence of K2a and the presence of [haplogroup M](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-m-mtdna) in Northern Romanian sample - with higher frequency in Western and Southern Asia, and the inclusion of both Romanian populations within the range of the European mitochondrial variability, rather than being closer to the Near Eastern populations.\nThe North Romanian sample was also found to be slightly separated from the other samples included in the study.\nA 2017 paper concentrated on the [Mitochondrial DNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of Romanians, showed how Romania has been \"a major crossroads between Asia and Europe\" and thus \"experienced continuous migration and invasion episodes\"; while stating that previous studies show Romanians \"exhibit genetic similarity with other Europeans\".\nThe paper also mentions how \"signals of Asian maternal lineages were observed in all Romanian historical provinces, indicating gene flow along the migration routes through [East Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-asia) and Europe, during different time periods, namely, the Upper Paleolithic period and/or, with a likely greater preponderance, the Middle Ages\", at low frequency (2.24%).\nThe study analysed 714 samples, representative to the 41 counties of Romania, and grouped them in 4 categories corresponding to historical Romanian provinces: [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia), [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia), [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), and [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja).\nThe majority was classified within 9 Eurasian mitochondrial haplogroups (H, U, K, T, J, HV, V, W, and X), while also finding sequences that belonged to the most frequent Asian haplogroups (haplogroups A, C, D, I - at 2.24% overall frequency, and M and N) and African haplogroup L (two samples in Wallachia and one in Dobruja).\nThe H, V, and X haplogroups were detected at higher frequencies in Transylvania, while the frequency of U and N was lower, with M being absent, interpreted as an indicator of genetic proximity of Transylvania to Central European populations, in contrast to the other three provinces, which showed resemblance to Balkan populations.\nThe Dobrujan samples showed a larger contribution of genes from Southwestern Asia which the authors attributed to a larger Asian influence historically and/or its smaller sample size compared to that of the other populations included.\n# [Main Y-DNA haplogroups for average Romanian population and per historical regions. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Romanian///Y-dna///Pie///Charts.png]\n# [Procrustes-transformed PCA plot of genetic variation of European populations. (A) Geographic coordinates of 37 populations. (B) Procrustes-transformed PCA plot of genetic variation. The Procrustes analysis is based on the unprojected latitude-longitude coordinates and PC1-PC2 coordinates of 1378 individuals. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Procrustes-transformed///PCA///plot///of///genetic///variation///of///European///populations.png]\n\n# Ethnogenesis\nThree theories account for the ethnogenesis of the Romanian people.\nOne, known as the Daco-[Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) continuity theory, posits that they are descendants of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)s and [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ized indigenous peoples ([Dacians](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians)) living in the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) Province of [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia), while the other posits that the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ians are descendants of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)s and [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ized indigenous populations of the former [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) provinces of [Illyricum](https://bliptext.com/articles/illyricum-roman-province), [Moesia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia), [Thracia](https://bliptext.com/articles/thrace), and [Macedonia](https://bliptext.com/articles/macedonia-roman-province), and the ancestors of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ians later migrated from these [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) provinces south of the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) into the area which they inhabit today.\nThe third theory also known as the admigration theory, proposed by [Dimitrie Onciul](https://bliptext.com/articles/dimitrie-onciul) (1856–1923), posits that the formation of the Romanian people occurred in the former \"Dacia Traiana\" province, and in the central regions of the Balkan Peninsula.\nHowever, the Balkan Vlachs' northward migration ensured that these centers remained in close contact for centuries.\nThis theory is a compromise between the immigrationist and the continuity theories.\n\n# Demographics\nThe largest ethnic group in Romania is ethnic Romanians, followed by [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians) and [Romani people](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people).\n\n# Maps\n\n# Notes and references","wordIndex":10,"createdAt":"2025-03-26T12:29:01.635Z","user":{"id":"zzpL40aXLByp1VSnaDeO1dFltsvvrQDx","name":"Uau366Ale","image":"https://cdn.discordapp.com/avatars/1163800592133652520/2b438971524db93c0980b913c4b063d4.png"}},{"id":"951bb538-b87e-40cc-b7e5-3f0f42ea20eb","wordChanged":"**Romanians**","newWord":":::summary\n![Ethnic distribution of Romanians around the world](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Map///of///the///Romanian///Diaspora///in///the///World.svg)\n**Group:** Romanians \n**Native Name:** Români \n**Native Name Lang:** ro \n**Population:** c. **22.8–24.8 million** (including Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups living abroad) \n**Popplace:** 🇷🇴 [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) 19,053,815 (2022 [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania)n census) · 🇲🇩 [moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova) 192,800 (2014 Moldovan census; additional 2,068,058 [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans)) \n**Tablehdr:** Other countries \n**Region 1:** 🇮🇹 [italy](https://bliptext.com/articles/italy) \n**Pop 1:** 1,206,938 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2:** 🇪🇸 [spain](https://bliptext.com/articles/spain) \n**Pop 2:** 630,795 Romanian citizens (2023) -1,079,726 including naturalized and second and third generation Romanians (2022) \n**Region 3:** 🇩🇪 [germany](https://bliptext.com/articles/germany) \n**Pop 3:** 866,000 (2022) migrants from Romania of all ethnic groups, including a wide range of [Romanian Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania) as well \n**Region 4:** [undefined](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n**Pop 4:** 329,000 Romanian-born residents (2022) \n**Region 5:** 🇫🇷 [france](https://bliptext.com/articles/france) \n**Pop 5:** 200,000–500,000 (2022) Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 6:** 🇺🇦 [ukraine](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukraine) \n**Pop 6:** 150,989 (additional 258,619 Moldovans) \n**Region 7:** 🇦🇹 [austria](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria) \n**Pop 7:** 131,788 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups, including many [Transylvanian Saxons](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons) as well \n**Region 8:** 🇧🇪 [belgium](https://bliptext.com/articles/belgium) \n**Pop 8:** 92,746 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 9:** 🇬🇷 [greece](https://bliptext.com/articles/greece) \n**Pop 9:** 46,523 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 0:** 🇳🇱 [netherlands](https://bliptext.com/articles/netherlands) \n**Pop 1 0:** 39,654 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 1:** 🇵🇹 [portugal](https://bliptext.com/articles/portugal) \n**Pop 1 1:** 39,000 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 2:** 🇭🇺 [hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungary) \n**Pop 1 2:** 36,506 \n**Region 1 3:** 🇩🇰 [denmark](https://bliptext.com/articles/denmark) \n**Pop 1 3:** 34,960 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 4:** 🇸🇪 [sweden](https://bliptext.com/articles/sweden) \n**Pop 1 4:** 32,294 born in Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 5:** 🇮🇪 [ireland](https://bliptext.com/articles/ireland) \n**Pop 1 5:** 29,186 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 6:** [🇨🇾](https://bliptext.com/articles/cyprus) [Cyprus](https://bliptext.com/articles/cyprus) \n**Pop 1 6:** 24,376 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 7:** 🇷🇸 [serbia](https://bliptext.com/articles/serbia) \n**Pop 1 7:** 23,044 (additional 21,013 [Timok Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs-of-serbia)) \n**Region 1 8:** 🇨🇭 [switzerland](https://bliptext.com/articles/switzerland) \n**Pop 1 8:** 21,593 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 9:** 🇳🇴 [norway](https://bliptext.com/articles/norway) \n**Pop 1 9:** 18,877 migrants of Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 0:** 🇨🇿 [czech republic](https://bliptext.com/articles/czech-republic) \n**Pop 2 0:** 14,684 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 1:** 🇹🇷 [Turkey](https://bliptext.com/articles/turkey) \n**Pop 2 1:** 14,411 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 2:** 🇱🇺 [luxembourg](https://bliptext.com/articles/luxembourg) \n**Pop 2 2:** 5,209 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 3:** 🇵🇱 [poland](https://bliptext.com/articles/poland) \n**Pop 2 3:** c. 5,000 \n**Region 2 4:** 🇸🇰 [slovakia](https://bliptext.com/articles/slovakia) \n**Pop 2 4:** 4,941 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 5:** 🇫🇮 [finland](https://bliptext.com/articles/finland) \n**Pop 2 5:** 4,902 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 6:** 🇷🇺 [russia](https://bliptext.com/articles/russia) \n**Pop 2 6:** 3,201 \n**Region 2 7:** 🇲🇹 [malta](https://bliptext.com/articles/malta) \n**Pop 2 7:** 2,000 \n**Region 2 8:** 🇮🇸 [iceland](https://bliptext.com/articles/iceland) \n**Pop 2 8:** 1,463 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 9:** 🇧🇬 [bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria) \n**Pop 2 9:** 891 \n**Region 3 0:** 🇧🇦 [bosnia and herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina) \n**Pop 3 0:** 100 \n**Region 3 1:** 🇺🇸 [united states](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states) \n**Pop 3 1:** 518,653–1,400,000 (incl. mixed origin, [Romanian Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania) and [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania)) \n**Region 3 2:** 🇨🇦 [canada](https://bliptext.com/articles/canada) \n**Pop 3 2:** 204,625–400,000 (incl. mixed origin) \n**Region 3 3:** 🇲🇽 [mexico](https://bliptext.com/articles/mexico) \n**Pop 3 3:** 569 \n**Region 3 4:** 🇧🇷 [brazil](https://bliptext.com/articles/brazil) \n**Pop 3 4:** 200,000 migrants from Romania and Romanian citizens, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 3 5:** 🇻🇪 [venezuela](https://bliptext.com/articles/venezuela) \n**Pop 3 5:** 10,000 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 3 6:** 🇦🇷 [argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina) \n**Pop 3 6:** 10,000 of Romanian origin, including [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania) and [Romanian Romani](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people-in-romania) \n**Region 3 7:** 🇨🇴 [colombia](https://bliptext.com/articles/colombia) \n**Pop 3 7:** 350 \n**Region 3 8:** 🇺🇾 [uruguay](https://bliptext.com/articles/uruguay) \n**Pop 3 8:** 200 \n**Region 3 9:** 🇵🇪 [peru](https://bliptext.com/articles/peru) \n**Pop 3 9:** 174 \n**Region 4 0:** 🇦🇺 [australia](https://bliptext.com/articles/australia) \n**Pop 4 0:** 20,998 first and second generation migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 4 1:** 🇳🇿 [new zealand](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-zealand) \n**Pop 4 1:** 3,100 \n**Region 4 2:** 🇮🇱 [israel](https://bliptext.com/articles/israel) \n**Pop 4 2:** 100,823 \n**Ref 4 2:** (mostly [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania)) \n**Region 4 3:** 🇯🇵 [japan](https://bliptext.com/articles/japan) \n**Pop 4 3:** 2,708 \n**Region 4 4:** 🇰🇷 [south korea](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-korea) \n**Pop 4 4:** 661 \n**Region 4 5:** 🇰🇿 [kazakhstan](https://bliptext.com/articles/kazakhstan) \n**Pop 4 5:** 421 \n**Region 4 6:** [undefined](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n**Pop 4 6:** 100 \n**Region 4 7:** 🇿🇦 [south africa](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-africa) \n**Pop 4 7:** 2,828 \n**Region 4 8:** 🇪🇬 [egypt](https://bliptext.com/articles/egypt) \n**Pop 4 8:** 420 \n**Languages:** [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) \n**Religions:** Predominantly [**Orthodox Christianity**](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodox-church) · ([Romanian Orthodox Church](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-orthodox-church)), · also [Roman Catholic](https://bliptext.com/articles/catholic-church-in-romania), [Greek Catholic](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-greek-catholic-church), and [Protestant](https://bliptext.com/articles/protestantism) \n**Related:** Other [Eastern](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages) [Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages)-speaking peoples · (most notably [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans), [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians)) \n:::\n\n# \n**Români** (, ; dated [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/endonym-and-exonym) [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs)) are a [Romance-speaking](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages) ethnic group and [nation](https://bliptext.com/articles/nation) native to [Central](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe), [Eastern](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-europe), and [Southeastern Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeastern-europe).\nSharing a [common culture](https://bliptext.com/articles/culture-of-romania) and [ancestry](https://bliptext.com/articles/cultural-heritage), they speak the [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) and live primarily in [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova).\nThe [2021 Romanian census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2021-romanian-census) found that 89.3% of Romania's citizens identified themselves as ethnic Romanians.\nIn one interpretation of the 1989 census results in Moldova, the majority of [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans) were counted as ethnic Romanians as well.\nRomanians also form an ethnic minority in several nearby countries situated in Central, Southeastern, and Eastern Europe, most notably in [Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-hungary), [Serbia](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-serbia) (including [Timok](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs-of-serbia)), and [Ukraine](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-ukraine).\nEstimates of the number of Romanian people worldwide vary from minimum 24 to maximum 30 million, in part depending on whether the definition of the term \"Romanian\" includes natives of both Romania and Moldova, their respective diasporas, and native speakers of both Romanian and other [Eastern Romance languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages).\nOther speakers of the latter languages are the [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), the [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and the [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians) (native to [Istria](https://bliptext.com/articles/istria)), all of them unevenly distributed throughout the [Balkan Peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans), which may be considered either Romanian subgroups or separated but related ethnicities.\n\n# History\n\n## Antiquity\nThe territories of modern-day [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova) were inhabited by the ancient [Getae](https://bliptext.com/articles/getae) and [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) tribes.\nKing [Burebista](https://bliptext.com/articles/burebista) who reigned from 82/61 BC to 45/44 BC, was the first king who successfully unified the tribes of the [Dacian kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia), which comprised the area located between the Danube, Tisza, and Dniester rivers.\nKing [Decebalus](https://bliptext.com/articles/decebalus) who reigned from 87 to 106 AD was the last king of the [Dacian kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) before it was conquered by the [Roman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) in 106, after [two wars](https://bliptext.com/articles/trajan-s-dacian-wars) between [Decebalus](https://bliptext.com/articles/decebalus)' army and [Trajan](https://bliptext.com/articles/trajan)'s army.\nPrior to the two wars, Decebalus [defeated a Roman invasion](https://bliptext.com/articles/domitian-s-dacian-war) during the reign of [Domitian](https://bliptext.com/articles/domitian) between 86 and 88 AD.\nThe [Roman administration](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-dacia) retreated from Dacia between 271 and 275 AD, during the reign of emperor [Aurelian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aurelian) under the pressure of the [Goths](https://bliptext.com/articles/goths) and the Dacian [Carpi](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpi-people) tribe.\nThe later Roman province [Dacia Aureliana](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-aureliana), was organized inside former [Moesia Superior](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia-superior).\nIt was reorganized as [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) (as a military province, devastated by an [Avars](https://bliptext.com/articles/pannonian-avars) invasion in 586) and [Dacia Mediterranea](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-mediterranea) (as a civil province, devastated by an Avar invasion in 602).\nThe [Diocese of Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/[diocese](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-diocese)-of-dacia) (circa 337–602) was a [diocese](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-diocese) of the later [Roman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire), in the area of modern-day [Balkans](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans).\nThe Diocese of Dacia was composed of five provinces, the northernmost provinces were [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) (the Danubian portion of Dacia Aureliana, one of the cities of [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) in today Romania is [Sucidava](https://bliptext.com/articles/sucidava)) and [Moesia Prima](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia-prima) (today in Serbia, near the border between Romania and Serbia).\nThe territory of the diocese was devastated by the [Huns](https://bliptext.com/articles/huns) in the middle of 5th century and finally overrun by the Avars and [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) in late 6th and early 7th century.\n[Scythia Minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/scythia-minor) (c. 290 – c. 680) was a [Roman province](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-province) corresponding to the lands between the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) and the [Black Sea](https://bliptext.com/articles/black-sea), today's [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja) divided between [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria).\nThe capital of the province was Tomis (today [Constanța](https://bliptext.com/articles/constan-a)).\nAccording to the [Laterculus Veronensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/laterculus-veronensis) of c. 314 and the [Notitia Dignitatum](https://bliptext.com/articles/notitia-dignitatum) of c. 400, Scythia belonged to the [Diocese of Thrace](https://bliptext.com/articles/diocese-of-thrace).\nThe indigenous population of Scythia Minor was [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) and their material culture is apparent archaeologically into the sixth century.\nRoman fortifications mostly date to the [Tetrarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/tetrarchy) or the [Constantinian dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantinian-dynasty).\nThe province ceased to exist around 679–681, when the region was [overrun by the Bulgars](https://bliptext.com/articles/battle-of-ongal), which the Emperor [Constantine IV](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantine-iv) was forced to recognize in 681.\n# [Map showing the area where Dacian was spoken. The blue area shows the Dacian lands conquered by the Roman Empire. The orange area was inhabited by Free Dacian tribes and others. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Romani///daci.jpg]\n# [Map showing the area where the Latin language was spoken in pink during the Roman Empire between the 4th and 7th century (including the territory of present-day Romania) | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Vatra.jpg]\n\n## Early Middle Ages to Late Middle Ages\nDuring the [Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/middle-ages) Romanians were mostly known as [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs), a blanket term ultimately of [Germanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/germanic-languages) origin, from the word [Walha](https://bliptext.com/articles/walhaz), used by ancient [Germanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/germanic-languages) peoples to refer to [Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages)-speaking and [Celtic](https://bliptext.com/articles/celts) neighbours.\nBesides the separation of some groups ([Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians)) during the [Age of Migration](https://bliptext.com/articles/early-slavs), many Vlachs could be found all over the [Balkans](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans), in [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), across [Carpathian Mountains](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpathian-mountains) as far north as Poland and as far west as the regions of [Moravia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moravia) (part of the modern Czech Republic), some went as far east as [Volhynia](https://bliptext.com/articles/volhynia) of western Ukraine, and the present-day Croatia where the [Morlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/morlachs) gradually disappeared, while the Catholic and Orthodox Vlachs took Croat and Serb national identity.\nThe first written record about a [Romance language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-language) spoken in the Middle Ages in the Balkans, near the [Haemus Mons](https://bliptext.com/articles/haemus-mons) is from 587 AD. A Vlach muleteer accompanying the Byzantine army noticed that the load was falling from one of the animals and shouted to a companion Torna, torna, fratre! (meaning \"Return, return, brother!\").\n[Theophanes the Confessor](https://bliptext.com/articles/theophanes-the-confessor) recorded it as part of a 6th-century military expedition by [Comentiolus](https://bliptext.com/articles/comentiolus) and [Priscus](https://bliptext.com/articles/priscus) against the Avars.\nHistorian [Gheorghe I. Brătianu](https://bliptext.com/articles/gheorghe-i-br-tianu) considers that these words \"represent an expression from the Romanian language, as it was formed at that time in the Balkan and Danube regions\"; \"they probably belong to one and the most significant of the substrates on which our (Romanian) language was built\".\nThe first definite document mentioning Romanians (Vlachs) is from the 8th century from the [Konstamonitou Monastery](https://bliptext.com/articles/konstamonitou-monastery) in [Mount Athos](https://bliptext.com/articles/mount-athos), in [Greece](https://bliptext.com/articles/greece) and talks about the Vlachs of the Rynchos river (present-day [North Macedonia](https://bliptext.com/articles/north-macedonia)).\nAccording to the early 13th century medieval Hungarian book [Gesta Hungarorum](https://bliptext.com/articles/gesta-hungarorum) the invading Magyars of King [Árpád](https://bliptext.com/articles/rp-d)\n(c. 845 – c. 907) waged wars against three dukes—[Glad](https://bliptext.com/articles/glad-duke), [Menumorut](https://bliptext.com/articles/menumorut) and the Vlach [Gelou](https://bliptext.com/articles/gelou)—for Banat, Crișana and Transylvania.\nGesta Hungarorum also mentions the [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs), [Bulgarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgarians), Vlachs and the [shepherds of the Romans](https://bliptext.com/articles/shepherds-of-the-romans) inhabiting the [Carpathian Basin](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpathian-basin): \"sclauij, Bulgarij et Blachij, ac pastores romanorum\".\nMost researchers identify the Blachij with the Vlachs.\nHowever the document was written between 1200 and 1230, around 300 years after the described events and some modern historians have reservations about it and find it unreliable.\nAnother important document mentioning Romanians (Vlachs) from the South\nof the Balkan Peninsula dates back to 980.\nThat year, the governor of [Servia](https://bliptext.com/articles/servia-greece), [Nikulitsa](https://bliptext.com/articles/nikulitsa) received the position of leader (archon) of the Vlachs from [Hellas](https://bliptext.com/articles/hellas-theme) from Emperor [Basil II](https://bliptext.com/articles/basil-ii).\nThe function received by Nikulitsa might have been as a commander of a Vlach army.\n[Byzantine](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine) historians usually described foreign rulers as archontes.\nThe document signed by [Basil II](https://bliptext.com/articles/basil-ii) to give the position of archon of the Vlachs to Nekulitsa is mentioned in [Strategikon of Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/strategikon-of-kekaumenos) (written between 1075 and 1078 AD).\nAfter the [Avar Khaganate](https://bliptext.com/articles/avar-khaganate) collapsed in the 790s, the [First Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-bulgarian-empire) became the dominant power of the region, occupying lands as far as the river [Tisa](https://bliptext.com/articles/tisa).\nThe [First Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-bulgarian-empire) had a mixed population consisting of the Bulgar conquerors, [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) and Vlachs (Romanians) but the [Slavicisation](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavicisation) of the Bulgar elite had already begun in the 9th century.\nFollowing the conquest of Southern and Central [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) around 830, people from the Bulgar Empire mined salt from mines in [Turda](https://bliptext.com/articles/turda), [Ocna Mureș](https://bliptext.com/articles/ocna-mure), Sărățeni and Ocnița.\nThey traded and transported salt throughout the Bulgar Empire.\nA series of [Arab](https://bliptext.com/articles/arab) historians from the 10th century are some of the first to mention Vlachs in Eastern/South Eastern [Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/europe): [Mutahhar al-Maqdisi](https://bliptext.com/articles/al-muqaddasi) (c.945-991) writes: \"They say that in the Turkic neighbourhood there are the Khazars, Russians, Slavs, Waladj (Vlachs), Alans, Greeks and many other peoples\".\n[Ibn al-Nadīm](https://bliptext.com/articles/ibn-al-nad-m) (early 932–998) published in 998 the work [Kitāb al-Fihrist](https://bliptext.com/articles/kit-b-al-fihrist) mentioning \"Turks, Bulgars and Vlahs\" (using Blagha for Vlachs).\nA series of Byzantine historians, such as [George Kedrenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-kedrenos) (circa 1000), [Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos) (circa 1000), [John Skylitzes](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-skylitzes) (early 1040s – after 1101), [Anna Komnene](https://bliptext.com/articles/anna-komnene) (1083-1153), [John Kinnamos](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-kinnamos) (1143-1185) and [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) (1155-1217) were some of the first to write about the Vlachs.\n[John Skylitzes](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-skylitzes) mentions the Vlachs around 976 AD, as guides and guards of Byzantine caravans in the Balkans.\nBetween [Prespa](https://bliptext.com/articles/prespa) and [Kastoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/kastoria), they met and fought with a Bulgarian rebel named David.\nThe Vlachs killed David in their first documented battle.\n[Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos)'s father-in-law was [Nikulitzas Delphinas](https://bliptext.com/articles/nikulitzas-delphinas), a lord of [Larissa](https://bliptext.com/articles/larissa) who took part in the revolt of [Bulgarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgarians) and Vlachs in [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) in 1066 AD. The 11th-century scholar [Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos) wrote of a Vlach homeland situated \"near the Danube and [...] the Sava, where the Serbians lived more recently\".\nHe associated the Vlachs with the [Dacians](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) and the [Bessi](https://bliptext.com/articles/bessi).\nAccordingly, historians have located this homeland in several places, including [Pannonia Inferior](https://bliptext.com/articles/pannonia-inferior) ([Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu](https://bliptext.com/articles/bogdan-petriceicu-hasdeu)) and [Dacia Aureliana](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-aureliana) (Mátyás Gyóni).\nThe princess and chronicler Anna Komnene reports that in April 1091, on the eve of the decisive [Byzantine](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine-greeks)-[Pecheneg](https://bliptext.com/articles/pechenegs) [Battle of Levounion](https://bliptext.com/articles/battle-of-levounion), Emperor [Alexios I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexios-i-komnenos) (1057-1118) was assisted by \"a number of 5,000 brave mountaineers and ready to attack, passed by his side, to fight alongside him\".\nMost of the specialists who have addressed these aspects have identified those \" bold mountaineers \", with the 'Vlachs.\nAnna Komnene reports that in 1094, on the occasion of the [Cumans](https://bliptext.com/articles/cumans)' campaign south of the Danube, Emperor [Alexios I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexios-i-komnenos) was informed about the movements of the \"Turanians\", who had crossed the Danube by \"a certain Pudilos, a Vlach noble\".\nThe Byzantine chronicler [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) writes that in 1164, [Andronikos I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/andronikos-i-komnenos), the emperor [Manuel I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/manuel-i-komnenos)'s cousin, tried without success, to usurp the throne.\nFailing in his attempt, the Byzantine prince sought refuge in [Halych](https://bliptext.com/articles/halych) but [Andronikos I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/andronikos-i-komnenos) was \"captured by the Vlachs, to whom the rumor of his escape had reached, he was taken back to the emperor\".\nThe Byzantine chronicler [John Kinnamos](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-kinnamos), presenting the campaign of [Manuel I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/manuel-i-komnenos) against Hungary in 1166, reports that General Leon Vatatzes had under his command \"a great multitude of Vlachs, who are said to be ancient colonies of those in Italy\", an army that attacked the Hungarian possessions \"about the lands near the Pontus called the Euxine\", respectively the southeastern regions of [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), \"destroyed everything without sparing and trampled everything it encountered in its passage\".\nBy the 9th and 10th centuries, the nomadic [Pechenegs](https://bliptext.com/articles/pechenegs) conquered much of the steppes of [Southeast Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeast-europe) and the [Crimean Peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/crimean-peninsula).The Pecheneg wars against the [Kievan Rus'](https://bliptext.com/articles/kievan-rus) caused some of the [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) and Vlachs from North of the Danube to gradually migrate north of the [Dniestr](https://bliptext.com/articles/dniestr) in the 10th and 11th centuries.\nThe [Second Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-bulgarian-empire) founded by the [Asen dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/asen-dynasty) consisting of Bulgarians and Vlachs was founded in 1185 and lasted until 1396.\nEarly rulers from the Asen dynasty (particularly [Kaloyan](https://bliptext.com/articles/kaloyan)) referred to themselves as \"Emperors of Bulgarians and Vlachs\".\nLater rulers, especially [Ivan Asen II](https://bliptext.com/articles/ivan-asen-ii), styled themselves \"Tsars (Emperors) of Bulgarians and Romans\".\nAn alternative name used in connection with the pre-mid [Second Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-bulgarian-empire) 13th century period is the Empire of Vlachs and Bulgarians; variant names include the \"Vlach–Bulgarian Empire\", the \"Bulgarian–Wallachian Empire\".\nRoyal charters wrote of the \"Vlachs' land\" in southern [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) in the early 13th century, indicating the existence of [autonomous Romanian communities](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-district).\nPapal correspondence mentions the activities of Orthodox prelates among the Romanians in [Muntenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/muntenia) in the 1230s.\n[Béla IV of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/b-la-iv-of-hungary)'s land grant to the [Knights Hospitallers](https://bliptext.com/articles/knights-hospitallers) in [Oltenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/oltenia) and [Muntenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/muntenia) shows that the local Vlach rulers were subject to the king's authority in 1247.\nThe late 13th-century Hungarian chronicler [Simon of Kéza](https://bliptext.com/articles/simon-of-k-za) states that the Vlachs were \"shepherds and husbandmen\" who \"remained in Pannonia\".\nAn unknown author's Description of Eastern Europe from 1308 likewise states that the Vlachs \"were once the [shepherds of the Romans](https://bliptext.com/articles/shepherds-of-the-romans)\" who \"had over them ten powerful kings in the entire [Messia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia) and Pannonia\".\nAdditionally, in medieval times there were other lands known by the name 'Vlach' such as [Great Vlachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/great-vlachia), situated between [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) and the western [Pindus](https://bliptext.com/articles/pindus) mountains, of the [Despotate of Epirus](https://bliptext.com/articles/despotate-of-epirus) between the 12th-15th century.\nOriginally within the [Byzantine Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine-empire), but after the 13th century autonomous or semi-independent.\nIn the 12th century, the Jewish traveller [Benjamin of Tudela](https://bliptext.com/articles/benjamin-of-tudela), who toured the area in 1166 called the region of [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) \"Vlachia\".\nThe contemporary Byzantine historian [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) however distinguishes \"Great Vlachia\" as a district near [Meteora](https://bliptext.com/articles/meteora).\n\"Vlachia\", \"Great Vlachia\", and the other variants began to fall out of use for Thessaly at the turn of the 14th century, and with the emergence of the Principality of [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) north of the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) in the 14th century, from the 15th century the name was reserved for it.\n[White Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/white-wallachia), a Byzantine denomination for the region between the Danube River and the Balkans; [Moravian Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moravian-wallachia), a region in south-eastern Czech Republic). The names derive from the Vlachs, who had lived across much of these regions.\nIn the 14th century the [Danubian Principalities](https://bliptext.com/articles/danubian-principalities) of [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) and [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) emerged to fight the [Ottoman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/ottoman-empire).\nDuring the [late Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/late-middle-ages), prominent medieval Romanian monarchs such as [Bogdan of Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/bogdan-i-of-moldavia), [Stephen the Great](https://bliptext.com/articles/stephen-iii-of-moldavia), [Mircea the Elder](https://bliptext.com/articles/mircea-the-elder), [Michael the Brave](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-the-brave), or [Vlad the Impaler](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlad-the-impaler) took part actively in the history of [Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe) by waging tumultuous wars and leading noteworthy crusades against the then continuously expanding Ottoman Empire, at times allied with either the [Kingdom of Poland](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-poland) or the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary) in these causes.\n# [First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018) around 850 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Balkans850.png]\n# [Map depicting historical Romanian/Vlach pastoral transhumance (a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures) in Eastern and Southeastern Europe (including the territory of Romania today) during the 18th and 19th centuries | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Transhumance///ways///of///the///Vlachs.jpeg]\n\n## Early Modern Age to Late Modern Age\nEventually the entire [Balkan peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans) was annexed by the Ottoman Empire.\nHowever, Moldavia and Wallachia (extending to Dobruja and Bulgaria) were not entirely subdued by the Ottomans as both principalities became autonomous (which was not the case of other Ottoman territorial possessions in Europe).\nTransylvania, a third region inhabited by an important majority of Romanian speakers, was a vassal state of the Ottomans until 1687, when the principality became part of the Habsburg possessions.\nThe three principalities were united for several months in 1600 under the authority of Wallachian [Prince](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-princes-of-wallachia) [Michael the Brave](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-the-brave).\nUp until 1541, Transylvania was part of the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary), later (due to the conquest of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire) was a self-governed Principality governed by the Hungarian nobility.\nIn 1699 it became a part of the [Habsburg lands](https://bliptext.com/articles/habsburg-monarchy).\nBy the end of the 18th century, the [Austrian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/austrian-empire) was awarded by the Ottomans with the region of [Bukovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bukovina) and, in 1812, the Russians occupied the eastern half of Moldavia, known as [Bessarabia](https://bliptext.com/articles/bessarabia) through the [Treaty of Bucharest](https://bliptext.com/articles/treaty-of-bucharest-1812) of 1812.\nIn the context of the [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/revolutions-of-1848) [Romanticist](https://bliptext.com/articles/romantic-nationalism) and [liberal](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberalism) revolutions across Europe, the events that took place in the [Grand Principality of Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/principality-of-transylvania-1711-1867) were the first of their kind to unfold in the Romanian-speaking territories.\nOn the one hand, the [Transylvanian Saxons](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons) and the Transylvanian Romanians (with consistent support on behalf of the [Austrian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/austrian-empire)) successfully managed to oppose the goals of the [Hungarian Revolution of 1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarian-revolution-of-1848), with the two noteworthy historical figures leading the common Romanian-Saxon side at the time being [Avram Iancu](https://bliptext.com/articles/avram-iancu) and [Stephan Ludwig Roth](https://bliptext.com/articles/stephan-ludwig-roth).\nOn the other hand, the Wallachian revolutions of [1821](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-uprising-of-1821) and [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-revolution-of-1848) as well as the Moldavian Revolution of [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-revolution-of-1848), which aimed for independence from Ottoman and Russian foreign rulership, represented important impacts in the process of spreading the [liberal ideology](https://bliptext.com/articles/liberalism-and-radicalism-in-romania) in the eastern and southern Romanian lands, in spite of the fact that all three eventually failed.\nNonetheless, in 1859, [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) and [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) elected the same ruler, namely [Alexander John Cuza](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexandru-ioan-cuza) (who reigned as [Domnitor](https://bliptext.com/articles/domnitor)) and were thus unified de facto, resulting in the [United Romanian Principalities](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-principalities-of-moldavia-and-wallachia) for the period between 1859 and 1881.\nDuring the 1870s, the United Romanian Principalities (then led by [Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen](https://bliptext.com/articles/house-of-hohenzollern) Domnitor [Carol I](https://bliptext.com/articles/carol-i-of-romania)) fought a [War of Independence](https://bliptext.com/articles/russo-turkish-war-1877-1878) against the Ottomans, with Romania's independence being formally recognised in 1878 at the [Treaty of Berlin](https://bliptext.com/articles/treaty-of-berlin-1878).\nAlthough the relatively newly founded [Kingdom of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-romania) initially allied with [Austria-Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria-hungary), Romania refused to enter [World War I](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-war-i) on the side of the [Central Powers](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-powers), because it was obliged to wage war only if [Austria-Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria-hungary) was attacked.\nIn 1916, Romania joined the war on the side of the [Triple Entente](https://bliptext.com/articles/triple-entente).\nAs a result, at the end of the war, Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina were awarded to Romania, through a series of international peace treaties, resulting in an enlarged and far more powerful kingdom under King [Ferdinand I](https://bliptext.com/articles/ferdinand-i-of-romania).\nAs of 1920, the Romanian people was believed to number over 15 million solely in the region of the Romanian kingdom, a figure larger than the populations of [Sweden](https://bliptext.com/articles/sweden), [Denmark](https://bliptext.com/articles/denmark), and the [Netherlands](https://bliptext.com/articles/netherlands) combined.\nDuring the [interwar period](https://bliptext.com/articles/interwar-period), two additional monarchs came to the Romanian throne, namely [Carol II](https://bliptext.com/articles/carol-ii-of-romania) and [Michael I](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-i-of-romania).\nThis short-lived period was marked, at times, by political instabilities and efforts of maintaining a [constitutional monarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/constitutional-monarchy) in favour of other, totalitarian regimes such as an [absolute monarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/absolute-monarchy) or a [military dictatorship](https://bliptext.com/articles/military-dictatorship).\n# [Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, according to the 1890 census | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Walachians///%28Romanians%29///in///Hungary%2C///census///1890.jpg]\n# [Map depicting the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1859 and 1878 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Romania///1859-1878.png]\n\n## Contemporary Era\n[During World War II](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania-in-world-war-ii), the Kingdom of Romania lost territory both to the east and west, as [Northern Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-transylvania) became part of the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary) through the [Second Vienna Award](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-vienna-award), while Bessarabia and northern Bukovina were taken by the Soviets and included in the [Moldavian SSR](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavian-soviet-socialist-republic), respectively [Ukrainian SSR](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukrainian-soviet-socialist-republic).\nThe eastern territory losses were facilitated by the [Molotov–Ribbentrop Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact](https://bliptext.com/articles/molotov-ribbentrop-pact).\nAfter the end of the war, the Romanian Kingdom managed to regain territories lost westward but was nonetheless not given Bessarabia and northern Bukovina back, the aforementioned regions being forcefully incorporated into the [Soviet Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/soviet-union) (USSR).\nSubsequently, the Soviet Union imposed a communist government and [King](https://bliptext.com/articles/king-of-romania) Michael was forced to abdicate and leave for exile, subsequently settling in [Switzerland](https://bliptext.com/articles/switzerland), while [Petru Groza](https://bliptext.com/articles/petru-groza) remained the [head of the government](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-heads-of-government-of-romania) of the [Socialist Republic of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/socialist-republic-of-romania) (RSR).\n[Nicolae Ceaușescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/nicolae-ceau-escu) became the head of the [Romanian Communist Party](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-communist-party) (PCR) in 1965 and his severe rule of the 1980s was ended by the [Romanian Revolution of 1989](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-revolution-of-1989).\nThe chaos of the 1989 revolution brought to power the dissident communist [Ion Iliescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/ion-iliescu) as [president](https://bliptext.com/articles/president-of-romania) (largely supported by the [FSN](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-salvation-front-romania)).\nIliescu remained in power as [head of state](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-heads-of-state-of-romania) until 1996, when he was defeated by [CDR](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-democratic-convention)-supported [Emil Constantinescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-constantinescu) in the [1996 general elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/1996-romanian-general-election), the first in post-communist Romania that saw a [peaceful transition of power](https://bliptext.com/articles/peaceful-transition-of-power).\nFollowing Constantinescu's single term as president from 1996 to 2000, Iliescu was re-elected in late 2000 for another term of four years.\nIn 2004, [Traian Băsescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/traian-b-sescu), the [PNL](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberal-party-romania)-[PD](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-party-romania) candidate of the [Justice and Truth Alliance](https://bliptext.com/articles/justice-and-truth-alliance) (DA), was elected president.\nFive years later, Băsescu (solely supported by the [PDL](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-liberal-party-romania) this time) was narrowly re-elected for a second term in the [2009 presidential elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/2009-romanian-presidential-election).\nIn 2014, the [PNL](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberal-party-romania)-[PDL](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-liberal-party-romania) candidate (as part of the larger [Christian Liberal Alliance](https://bliptext.com/articles/christian-liberal-alliance) or ACL for short; also endorsed by the [Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-forum-of-germans-in-romania), FDGR/DFDR for short respectively) [Klaus Iohannis](https://bliptext.com/articles/klaus-iohannis) won a surprise victory over former [Prime Minister](https://bliptext.com/articles/prime-minister-of-romania) and [PSD](https://bliptext.com/articles/social-democratic-party-romania)-supported contender [Victor Ponta](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-ponta) in the second round of the [2014 presidential elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/2014-romanian-presidential-election).\nThus, Iohannis became the first Romanian president stemming from an [ethnic minority of the country](https://bliptext.com/articles/minorities-of-romania) (as he belongs to the [Romanian-German community](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania), being a [Transylvanian Saxon](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons)).\nIn 2019, the PNL-supported Iohannis was re-elected for a second term as president after a second round landslide victory in the [2019 Romanian presidential election](https://bliptext.com/articles/2019-romanian-presidential-election) (being also supported in that round by [PMP](https://bliptext.com/articles/people-s-movement-party) and [USR](https://bliptext.com/articles/save-romania-union) as well as by the FDGR/DFDR in both rounds).\nIn the meantime, Romania's major foreign policy achievements were the alignment with [Western Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/western-europe) and the [United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states) by joining the [North Atlantic Treaty Organization](https://bliptext.com/articles/nato) (NATO) back in 2004 and the [European Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/european-union) three years later, in 2007.\nCurrent national objectives of Romania include adhering to the [Schengen Area](https://bliptext.com/articles/schengen-area), the [Eurozone](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurozone) as well as the [OECD](https://bliptext.com/articles/oecd) (i.e. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).\n\n# Language\nDuring the Middle Ages, Romanian was isolated from the other Romance languages, and borrowed words from the nearby [Slavic languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-languages) (see [Slavic influence on Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-influence-on-romanian)).\nLater on, it borrowed a number of words from [German](https://bliptext.com/articles/german-language), [Hungarian](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarian-language), and [Turkish](https://bliptext.com/articles/turkish-language).\nDuring the modern era, most neologisms [were borrowed](https://bliptext.com/articles/re-latinization-of-romanian) from [French](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-language) and [Italian](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-language), though the language has increasingly begun to adopt English borrowings.\nThe origins of the [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), a [Romance language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-language), can be traced back to the Roman colonisation of the region.\nThe basic vocabulary is of Latin origin, although there are some [substratum](https://bliptext.com/articles/substrate-in-romanian) words that are assumed to be of [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacian-language) origin.\nIt is the most spoken [Eastern Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages) language and is closely related to [Aromanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language), [Megeleno-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language), and [Istro-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), all three part of the same sub-branch of Romance languages.\nThe [Moldovan language](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovan-language), in its official form, is practically identical to Romanian, although there are some differences in colloquial speech.\nIn the de facto independent (but internationally unrecognised) region of [Transnistria](https://bliptext.com/articles/transnistria), the official script used to write Moldovan is Cyrillic, although Moldovan has a very limited usage in [Transnistria](https://bliptext.com/articles/transnistria) despite its official status.\nSince 2013, the [Romanian Language Day](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language-day) is officially celebrated on [31 August](https://bliptext.com/articles/31-august) in Romania.\nIn Moldova, it is officially celebrated on the same day since 2023.\nAs of 2017, an [Ethnologue](https://bliptext.com/articles/ethnologue) estimation puts the (worldwide) number of Romanian speakers at approximately 24.15 million.\nThe 24.15 million, however, represent only speakers of [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), not all of whom are necessarily ethnic [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language)s.\nAlso, this number does not include ethnic-Romanians who no longer speak the Romanian language.\n# [Neacșu's letter to Johannes Benkner (former Transylvanian Saxon mayor of Kronstadt/Brașov) is the oldest document written in Romanian discovered to date. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Scrisoarea///lui///Neacsu.jpg]\n# [Romanian language, as part of the Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, alongside and related to Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian, and Istro-Romanian. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Romance///languages///diagram///en.svg]\n\n# Names for Romanians\nIn English, Romanians are usually called Romanians and very rarely Rumanians or Roumanians, except in some historical texts, where they are called Roumans or [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs).\n\n## Etymology of the name Romanian (român)\nThe name [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-people)ian is derived from [Latin](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin) romanus, meaning \"[Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-people)\".\nUnder regular phonetical changes that are typical to the Romanian language, the name romanus over the centuries transformed into rumân.\nAn older form of român was still in use in some regions.\nSocio-linguistic evolutions in the late 18th century led to a gradual preponderance of the român spelling form, which was then generalised during the National awakening of Romania of early 19th century.\nSeveral historical sources show the use of the term \"Romanian\" among the medieval or early modern Romanian population.\nOne of the earliest examples comes from the [Nibelungenlied](https://bliptext.com/articles/nibelungenlied), a German [epic poem](https://bliptext.com/articles/epic-poem) from before 1200 in which a \"Duke Ramunc from the land of Vlachs (Wallachia)\" is mentioned.\n\"Vlach\" was an exonym used almost exclusively for the Romanians during the Middle Ages.\nIt has been argued by some Romanian researchers that \"Ramunc\" was not the name of the duke, but a name that highlighted his ethnicity.\nOther old documents, especially Byzantine or Hungarian ones, make a correlation between the old Romanians as Romans or their descendants.\nSeveral other documents, notably from Italian travelers into Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania, speak of the self-identification, language and culture of the Romanians, showing that they designated themselves as \"Romans\" or related to them in up to 30 works.\nOne example is Tranquillo Andronico's 1534 writing that states that the Vlachs \"now call themselves Romans\".\nAnother one is Francesco della Valle's 1532 manuscripts that state that the Romanians from Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania preserved the name \"Roman\" and cites the sentence \"Sti Rominest?\" (știi românește?, \"do you speak Romanian?\").\nAuthors that travelled to modern Romania who wrote about it in 1574, 1575 and 1666 also noted the use of the term \"Romanian\".\nFrom the Middle Ages, Romanians bore two names, the [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/exonym) (one given to them by foreigners) Wallachians or Vlachs, under its various forms (vlah, valah, valach, voloh, blac, olăh, vlas, ilac, ulah, etc.), and the [endonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/endonym) (the name they used for themselves) Romanians (Rumâni/Români).\nThe first mentions by Romanians of the endonym are contemporary with the earliest writings in Romanian from the sixteenth century.\nAccording to [Tomasz Kamusella](https://bliptext.com/articles/tomasz-kamusella), at the time of the rise of Romanian nationalism during the early 19th century, the political leaders of Wallachia and Moldavia were aware that the name România was identical to Romania, a name that had been used for the former Byzantine Empire by its inhabitants.\nKamusella continues by stating that they preferred this ethnonym in order to stress their presumed link with [Ancient Rome](https://bliptext.com/articles/ancient-rome) and that it became more popular as a nationalistic form of referring to all Romanian-language speakers as a distinct and separate nation during the 1820s.\n[Raymond Detrez](https://bliptext.com/articles/raymond-detrez) asserts that român, derived from the Latin Romanus, acquired at a certain point the same meaning of the Greek Romaios; that of Orthodox Christian.\n[Wolfgang Dahmen](https://bliptext.com/articles/wolfgang-dahmen-romanist) claims that the meaning of romanus (Roman) as \"Christian\", as opposed to \"pagan\", which used to mean \"non-Roman\", may have contributed to the preservation of this word as an ethonym of the Romanian people, under the meaning of \"Christian\".\n# [Romanian revolutionaries of 1848 waving the tricolor flag | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Tricolore1848.jpg]\n\n### Daco-Romanian\nTo distinguish Romanians from the other Romanic peoples of the Balkans (Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, and Istro-Romanians), the term [Daco-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/daco-romanian) is sometimes used to refer to those who speak the standard [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) and live in the former territory of ancient [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) (today comprising mostly Romania and Moldova) and its surroundings (such as Dobruja or the [Timok Valley](https://bliptext.com/articles/timok-valley), the latter region part of the former Roman province of [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) Ripensis).\n\n## Etymology of the term Vlach\nThe name of \"[Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs)\" is an [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/exonym) that was used by Slavs to refer to all Romanized natives of the Balkans.\nIt holds its origin from ancient Germanic—being a cognate to \"Welsh\" and \"Walloon\"—and perhaps even further back in time, from the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin) name Volcae, which was originally a [Celtic](https://bliptext.com/articles/celt) tribe.\nFrom the Slavs, it was passed on to other peoples, such as the [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians) (Oláh) and [Greeks](https://bliptext.com/articles/greeks) (Vlachoi) (see the Etymology section of Vlachs).\n[Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia), the Southern region of Romania, takes its name from the same source.\nNowadays, the term Vlach is more often used to refer to the Romanized populations of the Balkans who speak [Daco-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), [Aromanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language), [Istro-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), and [Megleno-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language).\n\n# Romanians outside Romania\nMost Romanians live in Romania, where they constitute a majority; Romanians also constitute a minority in the countries that neighbour Romania.\nRomanians can also be found in many countries, notably in the other EU countries, particularly in Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and France; in North America in the United States and Canada; in Israel; as well as in Brazil, Australia, [Argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina), and New Zealand among many other countries.\nItaly and Spain have been popular emigration destinations, due to a relatively low [language barrier](https://bliptext.com/articles/language-barrier), and both are each now home to about a million Romanians.\nWith respect to geopolitical identity, many individuals of Romanian ethnicity in Moldova prefer to identify themselves as [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans).\nThe contemporary total population of ethnic Romanians cannot be stated with any degree of certainty.\nA disparity can be observed between official sources (such as [census](https://bliptext.com/articles/census) counts) where they exist, and estimates which come from non-official sources and interested groups.\nSeveral inhibiting factors (not unique to this particular case) contribute towards this uncertainty, which may include:\nFor example, the decennial [US Census](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-census) of 2000 calculated (based on a [statistical sampling](https://bliptext.com/articles/sampling-statistics) of household data) that there were 367,310 respondents indicating Romanian ancestry (roughly 0.1% of the total population).\nThe actual total recorded number of foreign-born Romanians was only 136,000.\nHowever, some non-specialist organisations have produced estimates which are considerably higher: a 2002 study by the Romanian-American Network Inc. mentions an estimated figure of 1,200,000 for the number of [Romanian Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-americans).\nWhich makes the United States home to the largest Romanian community outside Romania.\nThis estimate notes however that \"...other immigrants of Romanian national minority groups have been included such as: [Armenians](https://bliptext.com/articles/armenians-of-romania), [Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania), [Gypsies](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people-in-romania), [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians-in-romania), [Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania), and [Ukrainians](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukrainians-of-romania)\".\nIt also includes an unspecified allowance for second- and third-generation Romanians, and an indeterminate number living in Canada.\nAn error range for the estimate is not provided.\nFor the [United States 2000 Census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2000-united-states-census) figures, almost 20% of the total population did not classify or report an ancestry, and the census is also subject to undercounting, an incomplete (67%) response rate, and sampling error in general.\nIn [Republika Srpska](https://bliptext.com/articles/republika-srpska), one of the two entities constituting [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina) together with the Federation of [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina), Romanians are legally recognized as an ethnic minority.\n# [300x300px | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Map///of///the///Romanian///Diaspora///in///the///World.svg]\n# [Charts depicting share of Romanians living abroad within other states of the European Union | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/2015-04-08///09.26.08///pm.png]\n# [Romanians of Zakarpattia Oblast in Carpathian Ruthenia, western Ukraine, performing a traditional dance. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Romanians///of///Zakarpattya///Oblast///dancing.jpg]\n\n# Culture\n\n## Contributions to contemporary culture\nRomanians have played and contributed a major role in the advancement of the [arts](https://bliptext.com/articles/arts), culture, [sciences](https://bliptext.com/articles/sciences), technology and [engineering](https://bliptext.com/articles/engineering).\nIn the history of aviation, [Traian Vuia](https://bliptext.com/articles/traian-vuia) and [Aurel Vlaicu](https://bliptext.com/articles/aurel-vlaicu) built and tested some of the earliest aircraft designs, while [Henri Coandă](https://bliptext.com/articles/henri-coand) discovered the [Coandă effect](https://bliptext.com/articles/coand-effect) of fluidics.\n[Victor Babeș](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-babe) discovered more than 50 germs and a cure for a disease named after him, [babesiosis](https://bliptext.com/articles/babesiosis); biologist [Nicolae Paulescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/nicolae-paulescu) was among the first scientists to identify [insulin](https://bliptext.com/articles/insulin).\nAnother biologist, [Emil Palade](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-palade), received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to [cell biology](https://bliptext.com/articles/cell-biology).\n[George Constantinescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-constantinescu) created the [theory of sonics](https://bliptext.com/articles/theory-of-sonics), while mathematician [Ștefan Odobleja](https://bliptext.com/articles/tefan-odobleja) has been claimed as \"the ideological father behind [cybernetics](https://bliptext.com/articles/cybernetics)\" – his work The Consonantist Psychology (Paris, 1938) was supposedly the main source of inspiration for [N. Wiener](https://bliptext.com/articles/n-wiener)'s Cybernetics (Paris, 1948).\n[Lazăr Edeleanu](https://bliptext.com/articles/laz-r-edeleanu) was the first chemist to synthesize [amphetamine](https://bliptext.com/articles/amphetamine) and also invented the modern method of [refining](https://bliptext.com/articles/oil-refinery) [crude oil](https://bliptext.com/articles/crude-oil).\nIn the arts and culture, prominent figures were [George Enescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-enescu) (music composer, violinist, professor of Sir [Yehudi Menuhin](https://bliptext.com/articles/yehudi-menuhin)), [Constantin Brâncuși](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantin-br-ncu-i) (sculptor), [Eugène Ionesco](https://bliptext.com/articles/eug-ne-ionesco) (playwright), [Mircea Eliade](https://bliptext.com/articles/mircea-eliade) (historian of religion and novelist), [Emil Cioran](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-cioran) (essayist, Prix de l'Institut Français for stylism) and [Angela Gheorghiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/angela-gheorghiu) (soprano).\nMore recently, filmmakers such as [Cristi Puiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/cristi-puiu) and [Cristian Mungiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/cristian-mungiu) have attracted international acclaim, as has fashion designer [Ioana Ciolacu](https://bliptext.com/articles/ioana-ciolacu).\nIn sports, Romanians have excelled in a variety of fields, such as football ([Gheorghe Hagi](https://bliptext.com/articles/gheorghe-hagi)), gymnastics ([Nadia Comăneci](https://bliptext.com/articles/nadia-com-neci), [Lavinia Miloșovici](https://bliptext.com/articles/lavinia-milo-ovici) etc.), tennis ([Ilie Năstase](https://bliptext.com/articles/ilie-n-stase), [Ion Țiriac](https://bliptext.com/articles/ion-iriac), [Simona Halep](https://bliptext.com/articles/simona-halep)), rowing ([Ivan Patzaichin](https://bliptext.com/articles/ivan-patzaichin)) and handball (four times men's [World Cup](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-men-s-handball-championship) winners).\n[Count Dracula](https://bliptext.com/articles/count-dracula) is a worldwide icon of Romania.\nThis character was created by the Irish fiction writer [Bram Stoker](https://bliptext.com/articles/bram-stoker), based on some stories spread in the late [Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/middle-ages) by the frustrated German tradesmen of Kronstadt ([Brașov](https://bliptext.com/articles/bra-ov)) and on some [vampire folk](https://bliptext.com/articles/vampire-folklore-by-region) tales about the historic Romanian figure of Prince [Vlad Țepeș](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlad-iii-dracula).\n\n## Religion\nAlmost 90% of all Romanians consider themselves religious.\nThe vast majority are [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy) Christians, belonging to the [Romanian Orthodox Church](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-orthodox-church) (a branch of [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy)y, or [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy) Church, together with the Greek Orthodox, Orthodox Church of Georgia and Russian Orthodox Churches, among others).\nRomanians form the [third largest ethno-linguistic group among Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-contemporary-ethnic-groups) in the world.\nAccording to the 2011 census, 93.6% of ethnic Romanians in Romania identified themselves as Romanian Orthodox (in comparison to 81% of Romania's total population, including other ethnic groups).\nHowever, the actual rate of church attendance is significantly lower and many Romanians are only nominally believers.\nFor example, according to a 2006 [Eurobarometer](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurobarometer) poll, only 23% of Romanians attend church once a week or more.\nA 2006 poll conducted by the [Open Society Foundations](https://bliptext.com/articles/open-society-foundations) found that only 33% of Romanians attended church once a month or more.\nThere are no official dates for the adoption of religions by the Romanians.\nBased on linguistic and archaeological findings, historians suggest that the Romanians' ancestors acquired polytheistic religions in the Roman era, later adopting Christianity, most likely by the 4th century AD when decreed by Emperor [Constantine the Great](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantine-the-great) as the official religion of the Roman Empire.\nLike in all other Romance languages, the basic Romanian words related to [Christian](https://bliptext.com/articles/christians)ity are inherited from Latin, such as [God](https://bliptext.com/articles/god) ([Dumnezeu](https://bliptext.com/articles/dumnezeu) < Domine Deus), church (biserică < basilica), [cross](https://bliptext.com/articles/cross) (cruce < crux, -cis), angel (înger < angelus), saint (regional: sfân(t) < sanctus), Christmas (Crăciun < creatio, -onis), [Christian](https://bliptext.com/articles/christians) (creștin < christianus), Easter (paște < paschae), sin (păcat < peccatum), to baptise (a boteza < batizare), priest (preot < presbiterum), to pray (a ruga < rogare), faith (credință < credentia), and so on.\nAfter the [Roman Catholic-Eastern Orthodox Schism of 1054](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-west-schism), there existed a [Roman Catholic Diocese of Cumania](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-catholic-diocese-of-cumania) for a short period of time, from 1228 to 1241.\nHowever, this seems to be the exception, rather than the rule, as in both [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) and [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) the state religion was Eastern Orthodox.\nUntil the 17th century, the official language of the liturgy was [Old Church Slavonic](https://bliptext.com/articles/old-church-slavonic) (a.k.a. Middle Bulgarian).\nThen, it gradually changed to Romanian.\n\n## Symbols\nIn addition to the colours of the [Romanian flag](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-romania), each historical province of Romania has its own characteristic symbol:\nThe [coat of arms of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/coat-of-arms-of-romania) combines these together.\n\n## Customs\n\n### Traditional costumes\n\n# Relationship to other ethnic groups\nThe closest ethnic groups to the Romanians are the other Romanic peoples of Southeastern Europe: the [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians) ([Macedo](https://bliptext.com/articles/macedonia-region)-Romanians), the [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and the [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians).\nThe Istro-Romanians are the closest ethnic group to the Romanians, and it is believed they left [Maramureș](https://bliptext.com/articles/maramure), [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) about a thousand years ago and settled in [Istria](https://bliptext.com/articles/istria), Croatia.\nNumbering about 500 people still living in the original villages of Istria while the majority left for other countries after World War II (mainly to Italy, United States, Canada, Spain, Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, and Australia), they speak the [Istro-Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), the closest living relative of Romanian.\nOn the other hand, the Aromanians and the Megleno-Romanians are Romance peoples who live south of the Danube, mainly in Greece, Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria although some of them migrated to Romania in the 20th century.\nIt is believed that they diverged from the Romanians in the 7th to 9th century, and currently speak the [Aromanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language) and [Megleno-Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language), both of which are Eastern Romance languages, like Romanian, and are sometimes considered by traditional Romanian linguists to be dialects of Romanian.\n\n# Genetics\nA Bulgarian study from 2013 shows genetic similarity between [Thracians](https://bliptext.com/articles/thracians) (8-6 century BC), medieval Bulgarians (8–10 century AD), and modern Bulgarians, highlighting highest resemblance between them and Romanians, Northern Italians and Northern Greeks.\nA genetic study published in [Scientific Reports](https://bliptext.com/articles/scientific-reports) in 2019 examined the [mtDNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of 25 Thracian remains in [Bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria) from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. They were found to harbor a mixture of ancestry from [Western Steppe Herders](https://bliptext.com/articles/western-steppe-herders) (WSHs) and [Early European Farmers](https://bliptext.com/articles/early-european-farmers) (EEFs), supporting the idea that Southeast Europe was the link between Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.\nThe prevailing Y-chromosome in [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) ([Ploiești](https://bliptext.com/articles/ploie-ti), [Dolj](https://bliptext.com/articles/dolj-county)), [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) ([Piatra Neamț](https://bliptext.com/articles/piatra-neam), [Buhuși](https://bliptext.com/articles/buhu-i)), [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja) ([Constanța](https://bliptext.com/articles/constan-a)), and northern Republic of Moldova is recorded to be [Haplogroup I](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-y-dna).\nSubclades [I1](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-m253) and [I2](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-m438) can be found in most present-day European populations, with peaks in some [Northern European](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-europe) and [Southeastern European](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeastern-europe) countries.\nHaplogroup I occurs at 32% in Romanians.\nThe frequency of I2a1 (I-P37) in the Balkans today is owed to indigenous European tribes, and was present before the [Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-migrations-to-southeastern-europe).\nA similar result was cited in a study investigating the genetic pool of people from Republic of Moldova, concluded about the representative samples taken for comparison from Romanians from the towns of Piatra-Neamț and Buhuși that \"the most common Y haplogroup in this population was I-M423 (40.7%). This is the highest frequency of the I-M423 haplogroup reported so far outside of the northwest Balkans. The next most frequent among Romanian males was haplogroup R-M17* (16.7%), followed by R-M405 (7.4%), E-v13 and R-M412* (both 5.6%).\"\nThe I-M423 haplogroup is a subclade of I2a, a haplogroup prosperous in the [Starcevo](https://bliptext.com/articles/star-evo-k-r-s-cri-culture) culture and its possible offshoot [Cucuteni–Trypillia culture](https://bliptext.com/articles/cucuteni-trypillia-culture) (4800-3000 BCE).\nThe high concentration of I2a1b-L621, the main subclade, is attributed to Bronze Age and Early Iron Age migrations (Dacians, Thracians, Illyrians) and the medieval Slavic migrations.\nAccording to a Y-chromosome analysis of 335 sampled Romanians, 15% of them belong to R1a.\n[Haplogroup R1a](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-r1a), is a [human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup](https://bliptext.com/articles/human-y-chromosome-dna-haplogroup) which is distributed in a large region in [Eurasia](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurasia), extending from [Scandinavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/scandinavia) and [Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe) to southern [Siberia](https://bliptext.com/articles/siberia) and [South Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-asia).\nHaplogroup R1a among Romanians is entirely from the Eastern European variety Z282 and may be a result of Baltic, Thracian or Slavic descent.\n12% of the Romanians belong to [Haplogroup R1b](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-r1b), the Alpino-Italic branch of R1b is at 2% a lower frequency recorded than other Balkan peoples.\nThe eastern branches of R1b represent 7%, they prevail in parts of [Eastern and Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-and-central-europe) as a result of Ancient [Greek colonisation](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-colonisation) – in parts of Sicily as well.\nOther studies analyzing the haplogroup frequency among Romanians came to similar results.\nDelving into the regional differences of [Mitochondrial DNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of Romanians, a 2014 study emphasised the different position of North and South Romanian populations (ie inside and outside of the Carpathian range) in terms of mitochondrial haplotype variability.\nThe population within the Carpathian range was found to have [haplogroup H](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-h-mtdna) at 59.7% frequency, U at 11.3%, K and HV at 3.23% each, and M, X and A at 1.61% each.\nThe South Romanian population also showed the highest frequency in [haplogroup H](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-h-mtdna) at 47% (lower than in the sample from the North of Romania), [haplogroup U](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-u-mtdna) showed a noticeable frequency at 17% (higher than in the sample from North Romania), haplogroups HV and K at 10.61% and 7.58%, respectively, while haplogroups M, X and A were absent.\nComparing the results to European and international samples, the study proposes a weak differentiated distribution of mitochondrial haplogroups between inner and outer Carpathian population (rather than North-South boundary) based on higher frequency for the [haplogroup J](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-jt-mtdna) and [haplogroup K2a](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-k-mtdna) in the Southern Romanian sample - considered as markers of the Neolithic expansion in Europe from the Near East, the absence of K2a and the presence of [haplogroup M](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-m-mtdna) in Northern Romanian sample - with higher frequency in Western and Southern Asia, and the inclusion of both Romanian populations within the range of the European mitochondrial variability, rather than being closer to the Near Eastern populations.\nThe North Romanian sample was also found to be slightly separated from the other samples included in the study.\nA 2017 paper concentrated on the [Mitochondrial DNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of Romanians, showed how Romania has been \"a major crossroads between Asia and Europe\" and thus \"experienced continuous migration and invasion episodes\"; while stating that previous studies show Romanians \"exhibit genetic similarity with other Europeans\".\nThe paper also mentions how \"signals of Asian maternal lineages were observed in all Romanian historical provinces, indicating gene flow along the migration routes through [East Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-asia) and Europe, during different time periods, namely, the Upper Paleolithic period and/or, with a likely greater preponderance, the Middle Ages\", at low frequency (2.24%).\nThe study analysed 714 samples, representative to the 41 counties of Romania, and grouped them in 4 categories corresponding to historical Romanian provinces: [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia), [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia), [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), and [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja).\nThe majority was classified within 9 Eurasian mitochondrial haplogroups (H, U, K, T, J, HV, V, W, and X), while also finding sequences that belonged to the most frequent Asian haplogroups (haplogroups A, C, D, I - at 2.24% overall frequency, and M and N) and African haplogroup L (two samples in Wallachia and one in Dobruja).\nThe H, V, and X haplogroups were detected at higher frequencies in Transylvania, while the frequency of U and N was lower, with M being absent, interpreted as an indicator of genetic proximity of Transylvania to Central European populations, in contrast to the other three provinces, which showed resemblance to Balkan populations.\nThe Dobrujan samples showed a larger contribution of genes from Southwestern Asia which the authors attributed to a larger Asian influence historically and/or its smaller sample size compared to that of the other populations included.\n# [Main Y-DNA haplogroups for average Romanian population and per historical regions. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Romanian///Y-dna///Pie///Charts.png]\n# [Procrustes-transformed PCA plot of genetic variation of European populations. (A) Geographic coordinates of 37 populations. (B) Procrustes-transformed PCA plot of genetic variation. The Procrustes analysis is based on the unprojected latitude-longitude coordinates and PC1-PC2 coordinates of 1378 individuals. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Procrustes-transformed///PCA///plot///of///genetic///variation///of///European///populations.png]\n\n# Ethnogenesis\nThree theories account for the ethnogenesis of the Romanian people.\nOne, known as the Daco-[Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) continuity theory, posits that they are descendants of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)s and [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ized indigenous peoples ([Dacians](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians)) living in the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) Province of [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia), while the other posits that the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ians are descendants of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)s and [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ized indigenous populations of the former [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) provinces of [Illyricum](https://bliptext.com/articles/illyricum-roman-province), [Moesia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia), [Thracia](https://bliptext.com/articles/thrace), and [Macedonia](https://bliptext.com/articles/macedonia-roman-province), and the ancestors of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ians later migrated from these [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) provinces south of the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) into the area which they inhabit today.\nThe third theory also known as the admigration theory, proposed by [Dimitrie Onciul](https://bliptext.com/articles/dimitrie-onciul) (1856–1923), posits that the formation of the Romanian people occurred in the former \"Dacia Traiana\" province, and in the central regions of the Balkan Peninsula.\nHowever, the Balkan Vlachs' northward migration ensured that these centers remained in close contact for centuries.\nThis theory is a compromise between the immigrationist and the continuity theories.\n\n# Demographics\nThe largest ethnic group in Romania is ethnic Romanians, followed by [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians) and [Romani people](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people).\n\n# Maps\n\n# Notes and references","wordIndex":1,"createdAt":"2025-03-26T12:09:24.806Z","user":{"id":"zzpL40aXLByp1VSnaDeO1dFltsvvrQDx","name":"Uau366Ale","image":"https://cdn.discordapp.com/avatars/1163800592133652520/2b438971524db93c0980b913c4b063d4.png"}}],"article":{"id":"100fdde0-d77d-4a1d-a0d5-f4495541079d","title":"Romanians","slug":"romanians","content":":::summary\n![Ethnic distribution of Romanians around the world](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Map///of///the///Romanian///Diaspora///in///the///World.svg)\n**Group:** Romanians \n**Native Name:** Români \n**Native Name Lang:** ro \n**Population:** c. **22.8–24.8 million** (including Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups living abroad) \n**Popplace:** 🇷🇴 [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) 19,053,815 (2022 [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania)n census) · 🇲🇩 [moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova) 192,800 (2014 Moldovan census; additional 2,068,058 [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans)) \n**Tablehdr:** Other countries \n**Region 1:** 🇮🇹 [italy](https://bliptext.com/articles/italy) \n**Pop 1:** 1,206,938 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2:** 🇪🇸 [spain](https://bliptext.com/articles/spain) \n**Pop 2:** 630,795 Romanian citizens (2023) -1,079,726 including naturalized and second and third generation Romanians (2022) \n**Region 3:** 🇩🇪 [germany](https://bliptext.com/articles/germany) \n**Pop 3:** 866,000 (2022) migrants from Romania of all ethnic groups, including a wide range of [Romanian Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania) as well \n**Region 4:** [undefined](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n**Pop 4:** 329,000 Romanian-born residents (2022) \n**Region 5:** 🇫🇷 [france](https://bliptext.com/articles/france) \n**Pop 5:** 200,000–500,000 (2022) Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 6:** 🇺🇦 [ukraine](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukraine) \n**Pop 6:** 150,989 (additional 258,619 Moldovans) \n**Region 7:** 🇦🇹 [austria](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria) \n**Pop 7:** 131,788 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups, including many [Transylvanian Saxons](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons) as well \n**Region 8:** 🇧🇪 [belgium](https://bliptext.com/articles/belgium) \n**Pop 8:** 92,746 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 9:** 🇬🇷 [greece](https://bliptext.com/articles/greece) \n**Pop 9:** 46,523 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 0:** 🇳🇱 [netherlands](https://bliptext.com/articles/netherlands) \n**Pop 1 0:** 39,654 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 1:** 🇵🇹 [portugal](https://bliptext.com/articles/portugal) \n**Pop 1 1:** 39,000 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 2:** 🇭🇺 [hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungary) \n**Pop 1 2:** 36,506 \n**Region 1 3:** 🇩🇰 [denmark](https://bliptext.com/articles/denmark) \n**Pop 1 3:** 34,960 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 4:** 🇸🇪 [sweden](https://bliptext.com/articles/sweden) \n**Pop 1 4:** 32,294 born in Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 5:** 🇮🇪 [ireland](https://bliptext.com/articles/ireland) \n**Pop 1 5:** 29,186 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 6:** [🇨🇾](https://bliptext.com/articles/cyprus) [Cyprus](https://bliptext.com/articles/cyprus) \n**Pop 1 6:** 24,376 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 7:** 🇷🇸 [serbia](https://bliptext.com/articles/serbia) \n**Pop 1 7:** 23,044 (additional 21,013 [Timok Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs-of-serbia)) \n**Region 1 8:** 🇨🇭 [switzerland](https://bliptext.com/articles/switzerland) \n**Pop 1 8:** 21,593 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 9:** 🇳🇴 [norway](https://bliptext.com/articles/norway) \n**Pop 1 9:** 18,877 migrants of Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 0:** 🇨🇿 [czech republic](https://bliptext.com/articles/czech-republic) \n**Pop 2 0:** 14,684 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 1:** 🇹🇷 [Turkey](https://bliptext.com/articles/turkey) \n**Pop 2 1:** 14,411 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 2:** 🇱🇺 [luxembourg](https://bliptext.com/articles/luxembourg) \n**Pop 2 2:** 5,209 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 3:** 🇵🇱 [poland](https://bliptext.com/articles/poland) \n**Pop 2 3:** c. 5,000 \n**Region 2 4:** 🇸🇰 [slovakia](https://bliptext.com/articles/slovakia) \n**Pop 2 4:** 4,941 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 5:** 🇫🇮 [finland](https://bliptext.com/articles/finland) \n**Pop 2 5:** 4,902 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 6:** 🇷🇺 [russia](https://bliptext.com/articles/russia) \n**Pop 2 6:** 3,201 \n**Region 2 7:** 🇲🇹 [malta](https://bliptext.com/articles/malta) \n**Pop 2 7:** 2,000 \n**Region 2 8:** 🇮🇸 [iceland](https://bliptext.com/articles/iceland) \n**Pop 2 8:** 1,463 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 9:** 🇧🇬 [bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria) \n**Pop 2 9:** 891 \n**Region 3 0:** 🇧🇦 [bosnia and herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina) \n**Pop 3 0:** 100 \n**Region 3 1:** 🇺🇸 [united states](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states) \n**Pop 3 1:** 518,653–1,400,000 (incl. mixed origin, [Romanian Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania) and [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania)) \n**Region 3 2:** 🇨🇦 [canada](https://bliptext.com/articles/canada) \n**Pop 3 2:** 204,625–400,000 (incl. mixed origin) \n**Region 3 3:** 🇲🇽 [mexico](https://bliptext.com/articles/mexico) \n**Pop 3 3:** 569 \n**Region 3 4:** 🇧🇷 [brazil](https://bliptext.com/articles/brazil) \n**Pop 3 4:** 200,000 migrants from Romania and Romanian citizens, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 3 5:** 🇻🇪 [venezuela](https://bliptext.com/articles/venezuela) \n**Pop 3 5:** 10,000 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 3 6:** 🇦🇷 [argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina) \n**Pop 3 6:** 10,000 of Romanian origin, including [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania) and [Romanian Romani](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people-in-romania) \n**Region 3 7:** 🇨🇴 [colombia](https://bliptext.com/articles/colombia) \n**Pop 3 7:** 350 \n**Region 3 8:** 🇺🇾 [uruguay](https://bliptext.com/articles/uruguay) \n**Pop 3 8:** 200 \n**Region 3 9:** 🇵🇪 [peru](https://bliptext.com/articles/peru) \n**Pop 3 9:** 174 \n**Region 4 0:** 🇦🇺 [australia](https://bliptext.com/articles/australia) \n**Pop 4 0:** 20,998 first and second generation migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 4 1:** 🇳🇿 [new zealand](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-zealand) \n**Pop 4 1:** 3,100 \n**Region 4 2:** 🇮🇱 [israel](https://bliptext.com/articles/israel) \n**Pop 4 2:** 100,823 \n**Ref 4 2:** (mostly [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania)) \n**Region 4 3:** 🇯🇵 [japan](https://bliptext.com/articles/japan) \n**Pop 4 3:** 2,708 \n**Region 4 4:** 🇰🇷 [south korea](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-korea) \n**Pop 4 4:** 661 \n**Region 4 5:** 🇰🇿 [kazakhstan](https://bliptext.com/articles/kazakhstan) \n**Pop 4 5:** 421 \n**Region 4 6:** [undefined](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n**Pop 4 6:** 100 \n**Region 4 7:** 🇿🇦 [south africa](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-africa) \n**Pop 4 7:** 2,828 \n**Region 4 8:** 🇪🇬 [egypt](https://bliptext.com/articles/egypt) \n**Pop 4 8:** 420 \n**Languages:** [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) \n**Religions:** Predominantly [**Orthodox Christianity**](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodox-church) · ([Romanian Orthodox Church](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-orthodox-church)), · also [Roman Catholic](https://bliptext.com/articles/catholic-church-in-romania), [Greek Catholic](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-greek-catholic-church), and [Protestant](https://bliptext.com/articles/protestantism) \n**Related:** Other [Eastern](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages) [Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages)-speaking peoples · (most notably [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans), [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians)) \n:::\n\n# \n**Români** (, ; dated [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/endonym-and-exonym) [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs)) are a thief ethnic group and [nation](https://bliptext.com/articles/nation) native to [Central](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe), [Eastern](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-europe), and [Southeastern Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeastern-europe).\nSharing a [common culture](https://bliptext.com/articles/culture-of-romania) and [ancestry](https://bliptext.com/articles/cultural-heritage), they speak the [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) and live primarily in [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova).\nThe [2021 Romanian census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2021-romanian-census) found that 89.3% of Romania's citizens identified themselves as ethnic Romanians.\nIn one interpretation of the 1989 census results in Moldova, the majority of [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans) were counted as ethnic Romanians as well.\nRomanians also form an ethnic minority in several nearby countries situated in Central, Southeastern, and Eastern Europe, most notably in [Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-hungary), [Serbia](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-serbia) (including [Timok](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs-of-serbia)), and [Ukraine](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-ukraine).\nEstimates of the number of Romanian people worldwide vary from minimum 24 to maximum 30 million, in part depending on whether the definition of the term \"Romanian\" includes natives of both Romania and Moldova, their respective diasporas, and native speakers of both Romanian and other [Eastern Romance languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages).\nOther speakers of the latter languages are the [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), the [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and the [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians) (native to [Istria](https://bliptext.com/articles/istria)), all of them unevenly distributed throughout the [Balkan Peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans), which may be considered either Romanian subgroups or separated but related ethnicities.\n\n# History\n\n## Antiquity\nThe territories of modern-day [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova) were inhabited by the ancient [Getae](https://bliptext.com/articles/getae) and [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) tribes.\nKing [Burebista](https://bliptext.com/articles/burebista) who reigned from 82/61 BC to 45/44 BC, was the first king who successfully unified the tribes of the [Dacian kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia), which comprised the area located between the Danube, Tisza, and Dniester rivers.\nKing [Decebalus](https://bliptext.com/articles/decebalus) who reigned from 87 to 106 AD was the last king of the [Dacian kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) before it was conquered by the [Roman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) in 106, after [two wars](https://bliptext.com/articles/trajan-s-dacian-wars) between [Decebalus](https://bliptext.com/articles/decebalus)' army and [Trajan](https://bliptext.com/articles/trajan)'s army.\nPrior to the two wars, Decebalus [defeated a Roman invasion](https://bliptext.com/articles/domitian-s-dacian-war) during the reign of [Domitian](https://bliptext.com/articles/domitian) between 86 and 88 AD.\nThe [Roman administration](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-dacia) retreated from Dacia between 271 and 275 AD, during the reign of emperor [Aurelian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aurelian) under the pressure of the [Goths](https://bliptext.com/articles/goths) and the Dacian [Carpi](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpi-people) tribe.\nThe later Roman province [Dacia Aureliana](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-aureliana), was organized inside former [Moesia Superior](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia-superior).\nIt was reorganized as [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) (as a military province, devastated by an [Avars](https://bliptext.com/articles/pannonian-avars) invasion in 586) and [Dacia Mediterranea](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-mediterranea) (as a civil province, devastated by an Avar invasion in 602).\nThe [Diocese of Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/[diocese](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-diocese)-of-dacia) (circa 337–602) was a [diocese](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-diocese) of the later [Roman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire), in the area of modern-day [Balkans](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans).\nThe Diocese of Dacia was composed of five provinces, the northernmost provinces were [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) (the Danubian portion of Dacia Aureliana, one of the cities of [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) in today Romania is [Sucidava](https://bliptext.com/articles/sucidava)) and [Moesia Prima](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia-prima) (today in Serbia, near the border between Romania and Serbia).\nThe territory of the diocese was devastated by the [Huns](https://bliptext.com/articles/huns) in the middle of 5th century and finally overrun by the Avars and [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) in late 6th and early 7th century.\n[Scythia Minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/scythia-minor) (c. 290 – c. 680) was a [Roman province](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-province) corresponding to the lands between the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) and the [Black Sea](https://bliptext.com/articles/black-sea), today's [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja) divided between [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria).\nThe capital of the province was Tomis (today [Constanța](https://bliptext.com/articles/constan-a)).\nAccording to the [Laterculus Veronensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/laterculus-veronensis) of c. 314 and the [Notitia Dignitatum](https://bliptext.com/articles/notitia-dignitatum) of c. 400, Scythia belonged to the [Diocese of Thrace](https://bliptext.com/articles/diocese-of-thrace).\nThe indigenous population of Scythia Minor was [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) and their material culture is apparent archaeologically into the sixth century.\nRoman fortifications mostly date to the [Tetrarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/tetrarchy) or the [Constantinian dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantinian-dynasty).\nThe province ceased to exist around 679–681, when the region was [overrun by the Bulgars](https://bliptext.com/articles/battle-of-ongal), which the Emperor [Constantine IV](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantine-iv) was forced to recognize in 681.\n# [Map showing the area where Dacian was spoken. The blue area shows the Dacian lands conquered by the Roman Empire. The orange area was inhabited by Free Dacian tribes and others. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Romani///daci.jpg]\n# [Map showing the area where the Latin language was spoken in pink during the Roman Empire between the 4th and 7th century (including the territory of present-day Romania) | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Vatra.jpg]\n\n## Early Middle Ages to Late Middle Ages\nDuring the [Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/middle-ages) Romanians were mostly known as [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs), a blanket term ultimately of [Germanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/germanic-languages) origin, from the word [Walha](https://bliptext.com/articles/walhaz), used by ancient [Germanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/germanic-languages) peoples to refer to [Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages)-speaking and [Celtic](https://bliptext.com/articles/celts) neighbours.\nBesides the separation of some groups ([Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians)) during the [Age of Migration](https://bliptext.com/articles/early-slavs), many Vlachs could be found all over the [Balkans](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans), in [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), across [Carpathian Mountains](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpathian-mountains) as far north as Poland and as far west as the regions of [Moravia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moravia) (part of the modern Czech Republic), some went as far east as [Volhynia](https://bliptext.com/articles/volhynia) of western Ukraine, and the present-day Croatia where the [Morlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/morlachs) gradually disappeared, while the Catholic and Orthodox Vlachs took Croat and Serb national identity.\nThe first written record about a [Romance language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-language) spoken in the Middle Ages in the Balkans, near the [Haemus Mons](https://bliptext.com/articles/haemus-mons) is from 587 AD. A Vlach muleteer accompanying the Byzantine army noticed that the load was falling from one of the animals and shouted to a companion Torna, torna, fratre! (meaning \"Return, return, brother!\").\n[Theophanes the Confessor](https://bliptext.com/articles/theophanes-the-confessor) recorded it as part of a 6th-century military expedition by [Comentiolus](https://bliptext.com/articles/comentiolus) and [Priscus](https://bliptext.com/articles/priscus) against the Avars.\nHistorian [Gheorghe I. Brătianu](https://bliptext.com/articles/gheorghe-i-br-tianu) considers that these words \"represent an expression from the Romanian language, as it was formed at that time in the Balkan and Danube regions\"; \"they probably belong to one and the most significant of the substrates on which our (Romanian) language was built\".\nThe first definite document mentioning Romanians (Vlachs) is from the 8th century from the [Konstamonitou Monastery](https://bliptext.com/articles/konstamonitou-monastery) in [Mount Athos](https://bliptext.com/articles/mount-athos), in [Greece](https://bliptext.com/articles/greece) and talks about the Vlachs of the Rynchos river (present-day [North Macedonia](https://bliptext.com/articles/north-macedonia)).\nAccording to the early 13th century medieval Hungarian book [Gesta Hungarorum](https://bliptext.com/articles/gesta-hungarorum) the invading Magyars of King [Árpád](https://bliptext.com/articles/rp-d)\n(c. 845 – c. 907) waged wars against three dukes—[Glad](https://bliptext.com/articles/glad-duke), [Menumorut](https://bliptext.com/articles/menumorut) and the Vlach [Gelou](https://bliptext.com/articles/gelou)—for Banat, Crișana and Transylvania.\nGesta Hungarorum also mentions the [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs), [Bulgarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgarians), Vlachs and the [shepherds of the Romans](https://bliptext.com/articles/shepherds-of-the-romans) inhabiting the [Carpathian Basin](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpathian-basin): \"sclauij, Bulgarij et Blachij, ac pastores romanorum\".\nMost researchers identify the Blachij with the Vlachs.\nHowever the document was written between 1200 and 1230, around 300 years after the described events and some modern historians have reservations about it and find it unreliable.\nAnother important document mentioning Romanians (Vlachs) from the South\nof the Balkan Peninsula dates back to 980.\nThat year, the governor of [Servia](https://bliptext.com/articles/servia-greece), [Nikulitsa](https://bliptext.com/articles/nikulitsa) received the position of leader (archon) of the Vlachs from [Hellas](https://bliptext.com/articles/hellas-theme) from Emperor [Basil II](https://bliptext.com/articles/basil-ii).\nThe function received by Nikulitsa might have been as a commander of a Vlach army.\n[Byzantine](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine) historians usually described foreign rulers as archontes.\nThe document signed by [Basil II](https://bliptext.com/articles/basil-ii) to give the position of archon of the Vlachs to Nekulitsa is mentioned in [Strategikon of Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/strategikon-of-kekaumenos) (written between 1075 and 1078 AD).\nAfter the [Avar Khaganate](https://bliptext.com/articles/avar-khaganate) collapsed in the 790s, the [First Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-bulgarian-empire) became the dominant power of the region, occupying lands as far as the river [Tisa](https://bliptext.com/articles/tisa).\nThe [First Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-bulgarian-empire) had a mixed population consisting of the Bulgar conquerors, [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) and Vlachs (Romanians) but the [Slavicisation](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavicisation) of the Bulgar elite had already begun in the 9th century.\nFollowing the conquest of Southern and Central [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) around 830, people from the Bulgar Empire mined salt from mines in [Turda](https://bliptext.com/articles/turda), [Ocna Mureș](https://bliptext.com/articles/ocna-mure), Sărățeni and Ocnița.\nThey traded and transported salt throughout the Bulgar Empire.\nA series of [Arab](https://bliptext.com/articles/arab) historians from the 10th century are some of the first to mention Vlachs in Eastern/South Eastern [Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/europe): [Mutahhar al-Maqdisi](https://bliptext.com/articles/al-muqaddasi) (c.945-991) writes: \"They say that in the Turkic neighbourhood there are the Khazars, Russians, Slavs, Waladj (Vlachs), Alans, Greeks and many other peoples\".\n[Ibn al-Nadīm](https://bliptext.com/articles/ibn-al-nad-m) (early 932–998) published in 998 the work [Kitāb al-Fihrist](https://bliptext.com/articles/kit-b-al-fihrist) mentioning \"Turks, Bulgars and Vlahs\" (using Blagha for Vlachs).\nA series of Byzantine historians, such as [George Kedrenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-kedrenos) (circa 1000), [Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos) (circa 1000), [John Skylitzes](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-skylitzes) (early 1040s – after 1101), [Anna Komnene](https://bliptext.com/articles/anna-komnene) (1083-1153), [John Kinnamos](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-kinnamos) (1143-1185) and [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) (1155-1217) were some of the first to write about the Vlachs.\n[John Skylitzes](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-skylitzes) mentions the Vlachs around 976 AD, as guides and guards of Byzantine caravans in the Balkans.\nBetween [Prespa](https://bliptext.com/articles/prespa) and [Kastoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/kastoria), they met and fought with a Bulgarian rebel named David.\nThe Vlachs killed David in their first documented battle.\n[Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos)'s father-in-law was [Nikulitzas Delphinas](https://bliptext.com/articles/nikulitzas-delphinas), a lord of [Larissa](https://bliptext.com/articles/larissa) who took part in the revolt of [Bulgarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgarians) and Vlachs in [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) in 1066 AD. The 11th-century scholar [Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos) wrote of a Vlach homeland situated \"near the Danube and [...] the Sava, where the Serbians lived more recently\".\nHe associated the Vlachs with the [Dacians](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) and the [Bessi](https://bliptext.com/articles/bessi).\nAccordingly, historians have located this homeland in several places, including [Pannonia Inferior](https://bliptext.com/articles/pannonia-inferior) ([Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu](https://bliptext.com/articles/bogdan-petriceicu-hasdeu)) and [Dacia Aureliana](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-aureliana) (Mátyás Gyóni).\nThe princess and chronicler Anna Komnene reports that in April 1091, on the eve of the decisive [Byzantine](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine-greeks)-[Pecheneg](https://bliptext.com/articles/pechenegs) [Battle of Levounion](https://bliptext.com/articles/battle-of-levounion), Emperor [Alexios I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexios-i-komnenos) (1057-1118) was assisted by \"a number of 5,000 brave mountaineers and ready to attack, passed by his side, to fight alongside him\".\nMost of the specialists who have addressed these aspects have identified those \" bold mountaineers \", with the 'Vlachs.\nAnna Komnene reports that in 1094, on the occasion of the [Cumans](https://bliptext.com/articles/cumans)' campaign south of the Danube, Emperor [Alexios I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexios-i-komnenos) was informed about the movements of the \"Turanians\", who had crossed the Danube by \"a certain Pudilos, a Vlach noble\".\nThe Byzantine chronicler [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) writes that in 1164, [Andronikos I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/andronikos-i-komnenos), the emperor [Manuel I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/manuel-i-komnenos)'s cousin, tried without success, to usurp the throne.\nFailing in his attempt, the Byzantine prince sought refuge in [Halych](https://bliptext.com/articles/halych) but [Andronikos I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/andronikos-i-komnenos) was \"captured by the Vlachs, to whom the rumor of his escape had reached, he was taken back to the emperor\".\nThe Byzantine chronicler [John Kinnamos](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-kinnamos), presenting the campaign of [Manuel I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/manuel-i-komnenos) against Hungary in 1166, reports that General Leon Vatatzes had under his command \"a great multitude of Vlachs, who are said to be ancient colonies of those in Italy\", an army that attacked the Hungarian possessions \"about the lands near the Pontus called the Euxine\", respectively the southeastern regions of [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), \"destroyed everything without sparing and trampled everything it encountered in its passage\".\nBy the 9th and 10th centuries, the nomadic [Pechenegs](https://bliptext.com/articles/pechenegs) conquered much of the steppes of [Southeast Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeast-europe) and the [Crimean Peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/crimean-peninsula).The Pecheneg wars against the [Kievan Rus'](https://bliptext.com/articles/kievan-rus) caused some of the [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) and Vlachs from North of the Danube to gradually migrate north of the [Dniestr](https://bliptext.com/articles/dniestr) in the 10th and 11th centuries.\nThe [Second Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-bulgarian-empire) founded by the [Asen dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/asen-dynasty) consisting of Bulgarians and Vlachs was founded in 1185 and lasted until 1396.\nEarly rulers from the Asen dynasty (particularly [Kaloyan](https://bliptext.com/articles/kaloyan)) referred to themselves as \"Emperors of Bulgarians and Vlachs\".\nLater rulers, especially [Ivan Asen II](https://bliptext.com/articles/ivan-asen-ii), styled themselves \"Tsars (Emperors) of Bulgarians and Romans\".\nAn alternative name used in connection with the pre-mid [Second Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-bulgarian-empire) 13th century period is the Empire of Vlachs and Bulgarians; variant names include the \"Vlach–Bulgarian Empire\", the \"Bulgarian–Wallachian Empire\".\nRoyal charters wrote of the \"Vlachs' land\" in southern [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) in the early 13th century, indicating the existence of [autonomous Romanian communities](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-district).\nPapal correspondence mentions the activities of Orthodox prelates among the Romanians in [Muntenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/muntenia) in the 1230s.\n[Béla IV of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/b-la-iv-of-hungary)'s land grant to the [Knights Hospitallers](https://bliptext.com/articles/knights-hospitallers) in [Oltenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/oltenia) and [Muntenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/muntenia) shows that the local Vlach rulers were subject to the king's authority in 1247.\nThe late 13th-century Hungarian chronicler [Simon of Kéza](https://bliptext.com/articles/simon-of-k-za) states that the Vlachs were \"shepherds and husbandmen\" who \"remained in Pannonia\".\nAn unknown author's Description of Eastern Europe from 1308 likewise states that the Vlachs \"were once the [shepherds of the Romans](https://bliptext.com/articles/shepherds-of-the-romans)\" who \"had over them ten powerful kings in the entire [Messia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia) and Pannonia\".\nAdditionally, in medieval times there were other lands known by the name 'Vlach' such as [Great Vlachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/great-vlachia), situated between [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) and the western [Pindus](https://bliptext.com/articles/pindus) mountains, of the [Despotate of Epirus](https://bliptext.com/articles/despotate-of-epirus) between the 12th-15th century.\nOriginally within the [Byzantine Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine-empire), but after the 13th century autonomous or semi-independent.\nIn the 12th century, the Jewish traveller [Benjamin of Tudela](https://bliptext.com/articles/benjamin-of-tudela), who toured the area in 1166 called the region of [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) \"Vlachia\".\nThe contemporary Byzantine historian [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) however distinguishes \"Great Vlachia\" as a district near [Meteora](https://bliptext.com/articles/meteora).\n\"Vlachia\", \"Great Vlachia\", and the other variants began to fall out of use for Thessaly at the turn of the 14th century, and with the emergence of the Principality of [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) north of the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) in the 14th century, from the 15th century the name was reserved for it.\n[White Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/white-wallachia), a Byzantine denomination for the region between the Danube River and the Balkans; [Moravian Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moravian-wallachia), a region in south-eastern Czech Republic). The names derive from the Vlachs, who had lived across much of these regions.\nIn the 14th century the [Danubian Principalities](https://bliptext.com/articles/danubian-principalities) of [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) and [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) emerged to fight the [Ottoman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/ottoman-empire).\nDuring the [late Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/late-middle-ages), prominent medieval Romanian monarchs such as [Bogdan of Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/bogdan-i-of-moldavia), [Stephen the Great](https://bliptext.com/articles/stephen-iii-of-moldavia), [Mircea the Elder](https://bliptext.com/articles/mircea-the-elder), [Michael the Brave](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-the-brave), or [Vlad the Impaler](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlad-the-impaler) took part actively in the history of [Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe) by waging tumultuous wars and leading noteworthy crusades against the then continuously expanding Ottoman Empire, at times allied with either the [Kingdom of Poland](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-poland) or the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary) in these causes.\n# [First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018) around 850 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Balkans850.png]\n# [Map depicting historical Romanian/Vlach pastoral transhumance (a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures) in Eastern and Southeastern Europe (including the territory of Romania today) during the 18th and 19th centuries | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Transhumance///ways///of///the///Vlachs.jpeg]\n\n## Early Modern Age to Late Modern Age\nEventually the entire [Balkan peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans) was annexed by the Ottoman Empire.\nHowever, Moldavia and Wallachia (extending to Dobruja and Bulgaria) were not entirely subdued by the Ottomans as both principalities became autonomous (which was not the case of other Ottoman territorial possessions in Europe).\nTransylvania, a third region inhabited by an important majority of Romanian speakers, was a vassal state of the Ottomans until 1687, when the principality became part of the Habsburg possessions.\nThe three principalities were united for several months in 1600 under the authority of Wallachian [Prince](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-princes-of-wallachia) [Michael the Brave](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-the-brave).\nUp until 1541, Transylvania was part of the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary), later (due to the conquest of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire) was a self-governed Principality governed by the Hungarian nobility.\nIn 1699 it became a part of the [Habsburg lands](https://bliptext.com/articles/habsburg-monarchy).\nBy the end of the 18th century, the [Austrian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/austrian-empire) was awarded by the Ottomans with the region of [Bukovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bukovina) and, in 1812, the Russians occupied the eastern half of Moldavia, known as [Bessarabia](https://bliptext.com/articles/bessarabia) through the [Treaty of Bucharest](https://bliptext.com/articles/treaty-of-bucharest-1812) of 1812.\nIn the context of the [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/revolutions-of-1848) [Romanticist](https://bliptext.com/articles/romantic-nationalism) and [liberal](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberalism) revolutions across Europe, the events that took place in the [Grand Principality of Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/principality-of-transylvania-1711-1867) were the first of their kind to unfold in the Romanian-speaking territories.\nOn the one hand, the [Transylvanian Saxons](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons) and the Transylvanian Romanians (with consistent support on behalf of the [Austrian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/austrian-empire)) successfully managed to oppose the goals of the [Hungarian Revolution of 1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarian-revolution-of-1848), with the two noteworthy historical figures leading the common Romanian-Saxon side at the time being [Avram Iancu](https://bliptext.com/articles/avram-iancu) and [Stephan Ludwig Roth](https://bliptext.com/articles/stephan-ludwig-roth).\nOn the other hand, the Wallachian revolutions of [1821](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-uprising-of-1821) and [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-revolution-of-1848) as well as the Moldavian Revolution of [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-revolution-of-1848), which aimed for independence from Ottoman and Russian foreign rulership, represented important impacts in the process of spreading the [liberal ideology](https://bliptext.com/articles/liberalism-and-radicalism-in-romania) in the eastern and southern Romanian lands, in spite of the fact that all three eventually failed.\nNonetheless, in 1859, [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) and [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) elected the same ruler, namely [Alexander John Cuza](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexandru-ioan-cuza) (who reigned as [Domnitor](https://bliptext.com/articles/domnitor)) and were thus unified de facto, resulting in the [United Romanian Principalities](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-principalities-of-moldavia-and-wallachia) for the period between 1859 and 1881.\nDuring the 1870s, the United Romanian Principalities (then led by [Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen](https://bliptext.com/articles/house-of-hohenzollern) Domnitor [Carol I](https://bliptext.com/articles/carol-i-of-romania)) fought a [War of Independence](https://bliptext.com/articles/russo-turkish-war-1877-1878) against the Ottomans, with Romania's independence being formally recognised in 1878 at the [Treaty of Berlin](https://bliptext.com/articles/treaty-of-berlin-1878).\nAlthough the relatively newly founded [Kingdom of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-romania) initially allied with [Austria-Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria-hungary), Romania refused to enter [World War I](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-war-i) on the side of the [Central Powers](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-powers), because it was obliged to wage war only if [Austria-Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria-hungary) was attacked.\nIn 1916, Romania joined the war on the side of the [Triple Entente](https://bliptext.com/articles/triple-entente).\nAs a result, at the end of the war, Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina were awarded to Romania, through a series of international peace treaties, resulting in an enlarged and far more powerful kingdom under King [Ferdinand I](https://bliptext.com/articles/ferdinand-i-of-romania).\nAs of 1920, the Romanian people was believed to number over 15 million solely in the region of the Romanian kingdom, a figure larger than the populations of [Sweden](https://bliptext.com/articles/sweden), [Denmark](https://bliptext.com/articles/denmark), and the [Netherlands](https://bliptext.com/articles/netherlands) combined.\nDuring the [interwar period](https://bliptext.com/articles/interwar-period), two additional monarchs came to the Romanian throne, namely [Carol II](https://bliptext.com/articles/carol-ii-of-romania) and [Michael I](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-i-of-romania).\nThis short-lived period was marked, at times, by political instabilities and efforts of maintaining a [constitutional monarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/constitutional-monarchy) in favour of other, totalitarian regimes such as an [absolute monarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/absolute-monarchy) or a [military dictatorship](https://bliptext.com/articles/military-dictatorship).\n# [Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, according to the 1890 census | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Walachians///%28Romanians%29///in///Hungary%2C///census///1890.jpg]\n# [Map depicting the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1859 and 1878 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Romania///1859-1878.png]\n\n## Contemporary Era\n[During World War II](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania-in-world-war-ii), the Kingdom of Romania lost territory both to the east and west, as [Northern Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-transylvania) became part of the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary) through the [Second Vienna Award](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-vienna-award), while Bessarabia and northern Bukovina were taken by the Soviets and included in the [Moldavian SSR](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavian-soviet-socialist-republic), respectively [Ukrainian SSR](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukrainian-soviet-socialist-republic).\nThe eastern territory losses were facilitated by the [Molotov–Ribbentrop Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact](https://bliptext.com/articles/molotov-ribbentrop-pact).\nAfter the end of the war, the Romanian Kingdom managed to regain territories lost westward but was nonetheless not given Bessarabia and northern Bukovina back, the aforementioned regions being forcefully incorporated into the [Soviet Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/soviet-union) (USSR).\nSubsequently, the Soviet Union imposed a communist government and [King](https://bliptext.com/articles/king-of-romania) Michael was forced to abdicate and leave for exile, subsequently settling in [Switzerland](https://bliptext.com/articles/switzerland), while [Petru Groza](https://bliptext.com/articles/petru-groza) remained the [head of the government](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-heads-of-government-of-romania) of the [Socialist Republic of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/socialist-republic-of-romania) (RSR).\n[Nicolae Ceaușescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/nicolae-ceau-escu) became the head of the [Romanian Communist Party](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-communist-party) (PCR) in 1965 and his severe rule of the 1980s was ended by the [Romanian Revolution of 1989](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-revolution-of-1989).\nThe chaos of the 1989 revolution brought to power the dissident communist [Ion Iliescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/ion-iliescu) as [president](https://bliptext.com/articles/president-of-romania) (largely supported by the [FSN](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-salvation-front-romania)).\nIliescu remained in power as [head of state](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-heads-of-state-of-romania) until 1996, when he was defeated by [CDR](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-democratic-convention)-supported [Emil Constantinescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-constantinescu) in the [1996 general elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/1996-romanian-general-election), the first in post-communist Romania that saw a [peaceful transition of power](https://bliptext.com/articles/peaceful-transition-of-power).\nFollowing Constantinescu's single term as president from 1996 to 2000, Iliescu was re-elected in late 2000 for another term of four years.\nIn 2004, [Traian Băsescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/traian-b-sescu), the [PNL](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberal-party-romania)-[PD](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-party-romania) candidate of the [Justice and Truth Alliance](https://bliptext.com/articles/justice-and-truth-alliance) (DA), was elected president.\nFive years later, Băsescu (solely supported by the [PDL](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-liberal-party-romania) this time) was narrowly re-elected for a second term in the [2009 presidential elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/2009-romanian-presidential-election).\nIn 2014, the [PNL](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberal-party-romania)-[PDL](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-liberal-party-romania) candidate (as part of the larger [Christian Liberal Alliance](https://bliptext.com/articles/christian-liberal-alliance) or ACL for short; also endorsed by the [Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-forum-of-germans-in-romania), FDGR/DFDR for short respectively) [Klaus Iohannis](https://bliptext.com/articles/klaus-iohannis) won a surprise victory over former [Prime Minister](https://bliptext.com/articles/prime-minister-of-romania) and [PSD](https://bliptext.com/articles/social-democratic-party-romania)-supported contender [Victor Ponta](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-ponta) in the second round of the [2014 presidential elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/2014-romanian-presidential-election).\nThus, Iohannis became the first Romanian president stemming from an [ethnic minority of the country](https://bliptext.com/articles/minorities-of-romania) (as he belongs to the [Romanian-German community](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania), being a [Transylvanian Saxon](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons)).\nIn 2019, the PNL-supported Iohannis was re-elected for a second term as president after a second round landslide victory in the [2019 Romanian presidential election](https://bliptext.com/articles/2019-romanian-presidential-election) (being also supported in that round by [PMP](https://bliptext.com/articles/people-s-movement-party) and [USR](https://bliptext.com/articles/save-romania-union) as well as by the FDGR/DFDR in both rounds).\nIn the meantime, Romania's major foreign policy achievements were the alignment with [Western Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/western-europe) and the [United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states) by joining the [North Atlantic Treaty Organization](https://bliptext.com/articles/nato) (NATO) back in 2004 and the [European Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/european-union) three years later, in 2007.\nCurrent national objectives of Romania include adhering to the [Schengen Area](https://bliptext.com/articles/schengen-area), the [Eurozone](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurozone) as well as the [OECD](https://bliptext.com/articles/oecd) (i.e. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).\n\n# Language\nDuring the Middle Ages, Romanian was isolated from the other Romance languages, and borrowed words from the nearby [Slavic languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-languages) (see [Slavic influence on Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-influence-on-romanian)).\nLater on, it borrowed a number of words from [German](https://bliptext.com/articles/german-language), [Hungarian](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarian-language), and [Turkish](https://bliptext.com/articles/turkish-language).\nDuring the modern era, most neologisms [were borrowed](https://bliptext.com/articles/re-latinization-of-romanian) from [French](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-language) and [Italian](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-language), though the language has increasingly begun to adopt English borrowings.\nThe origins of the [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), a [Romance language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-language), can be traced back to the Roman colonisation of the region.\nThe basic vocabulary is of Latin origin, although there are some [substratum](https://bliptext.com/articles/substrate-in-romanian) words that are assumed to be of [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacian-language) origin.\nIt is the most spoken [Eastern Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages) language and is closely related to [Aromanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language), [Megeleno-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language), and [Istro-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), all three part of the same sub-branch of Romance languages.\nThe [Moldovan language](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovan-language), in its official form, is practically identical to Romanian, although there are some differences in colloquial speech.\nIn the de facto independent (but internationally unrecognised) region of [Transnistria](https://bliptext.com/articles/transnistria), the official script used to write Moldovan is Cyrillic, although Moldovan has a very limited usage in [Transnistria](https://bliptext.com/articles/transnistria) despite its official status.\nSince 2013, the [Romanian Language Day](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language-day) is officially celebrated on [31 August](https://bliptext.com/articles/31-august) in Romania.\nIn Moldova, it is officially celebrated on the same day since 2023.\nAs of 2017, an [Ethnologue](https://bliptext.com/articles/ethnologue) estimation puts the (worldwide) number of Romanian speakers at approximately 24.15 million.\nThe 24.15 million, however, represent only speakers of [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), not all of whom are necessarily ethnic [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language)s.\nAlso, this number does not include ethnic-Romanians who no longer speak the Romanian language.\n# [Neacșu's letter to Johannes Benkner (former Transylvanian Saxon mayor of Kronstadt/Brașov) is the oldest document written in Romanian discovered to date. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Scrisoarea///lui///Neacsu.jpg]\n# [Romanian language, as part of the Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, alongside and related to Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian, and Istro-Romanian. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Romance///languages///diagram///en.svg]\n\n# Names for Romanians\nIn English, Romanians are usually called Romanians and very rarely Rumanians or Roumanians, except in some historical texts, where they are called Roumans or [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs).\n\n## Etymology of the name Romanian (român)\nThe name [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-people)ian is derived from [Latin](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin) romanus, meaning \"[Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-people)\".\nUnder regular phonetical changes that are typical to the Romanian language, the name romanus over the centuries transformed into rumân.\nAn older form of român was still in use in some regions.\nSocio-linguistic evolutions in the late 18th century led to a gradual preponderance of the român spelling form, which was then generalised during the National awakening of Romania of early 19th century.\nSeveral historical sources show the use of the term \"Romanian\" among the medieval or early modern Romanian population.\nOne of the earliest examples comes from the [Nibelungenlied](https://bliptext.com/articles/nibelungenlied), a German [epic poem](https://bliptext.com/articles/epic-poem) from before 1200 in which a \"Duke Ramunc from the land of Vlachs (Wallachia)\" is mentioned.\n\"Vlach\" was an exonym used almost exclusively for the Romanians during the Middle Ages.\nIt has been argued by some Romanian researchers that \"Ramunc\" was not the name of the duke, but a name that highlighted his ethnicity.\nOther old documents, especially Byzantine or Hungarian ones, make a correlation between the old Romanians as Romans or their descendants.\nSeveral other documents, notably from Italian travelers into Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania, speak of the self-identification, language and culture of the Romanians, showing that they designated themselves as \"Romans\" or related to them in up to 30 works.\nOne example is Tranquillo Andronico's 1534 writing that states that the Vlachs \"now call themselves Romans\".\nAnother one is Francesco della Valle's 1532 manuscripts that state that the Romanians from Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania preserved the name \"Roman\" and cites the sentence \"Sti Rominest?\" (știi românește?, \"do you speak Romanian?\").\nAuthors that travelled to modern Romania who wrote about it in 1574, 1575 and 1666 also noted the use of the term \"Romanian\".\nFrom the Middle Ages, Romanians bore two names, the [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/exonym) (one given to them by foreigners) Wallachians or Vlachs, under its various forms (vlah, valah, valach, voloh, blac, olăh, vlas, ilac, ulah, etc.), and the [endonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/endonym) (the name they used for themselves) Romanians (Rumâni/Români).\nThe first mentions by Romanians of the endonym are contemporary with the earliest writings in Romanian from the sixteenth century.\nAccording to [Tomasz Kamusella](https://bliptext.com/articles/tomasz-kamusella), at the time of the rise of Romanian nationalism during the early 19th century, the political leaders of Wallachia and Moldavia were aware that the name România was identical to Romania, a name that had been used for the former Byzantine Empire by its inhabitants.\nKamusella continues by stating that they preferred this ethnonym in order to stress their presumed link with [Ancient Rome](https://bliptext.com/articles/ancient-rome) and that it became more popular as a nationalistic form of referring to all Romanian-language speakers as a distinct and separate nation during the 1820s.\n[Raymond Detrez](https://bliptext.com/articles/raymond-detrez) asserts that român, derived from the Latin Romanus, acquired at a certain point the same meaning of the Greek Romaios; that of Orthodox Christian.\n[Wolfgang Dahmen](https://bliptext.com/articles/wolfgang-dahmen-romanist) claims that the meaning of romanus (Roman) as \"Christian\", as opposed to \"pagan\", which used to mean \"non-Roman\", may have contributed to the preservation of this word as an ethonym of the Romanian people, under the meaning of \"Christian\".\n# [Romanian revolutionaries of 1848 waving the tricolor flag | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Tricolore1848.jpg]\n\n### Daco-Romanian\nTo distinguish Romanians from the other Romanic peoples of the Balkans (Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, and Istro-Romanians), the term [Daco-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/daco-romanian) is sometimes used to refer to those who speak the standard [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) and live in the former territory of ancient [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) (today comprising mostly Romania and Moldova) and its surroundings (such as Dobruja or the [Timok Valley](https://bliptext.com/articles/timok-valley), the latter region part of the former Roman province of [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) Ripensis).\n\n## Etymology of the term Vlach\nThe name of \"[Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs)\" is an [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/exonym) that was used by Slavs to refer to all Romanized natives of the Balkans.\nIt holds its origin from ancient Germanic—being a cognate to \"Welsh\" and \"Walloon\"—and perhaps even further back in time, from the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin) name Volcae, which was originally a [Celtic](https://bliptext.com/articles/celt) tribe.\nFrom the Slavs, it was passed on to other peoples, such as the [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians) (Oláh) and [Greeks](https://bliptext.com/articles/greeks) (Vlachoi) (see the Etymology section of Vlachs).\n[Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia), the Southern region of Romania, takes its name from the same source.\nNowadays, the term Vlach is more often used to refer to the Romanized populations of the Balkans who speak [Daco-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), [Aromanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language), [Istro-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), and [Megleno-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language).\n\n# Romanians outside Romania\nMost Romanians live in Romania, where they constitute a majority; Romanians also constitute a minority in the countries that neighbour Romania.\nRomanians can also be found in many countries, notably in the other EU countries, particularly in Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and France; in North America in the United States and Canada; in Israel; as well as in Brazil, Australia, [Argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina), and New Zealand among many other countries.\nItaly and Spain have been popular emigration destinations, due to a relatively low [language barrier](https://bliptext.com/articles/language-barrier), and both are each now home to about a million Romanians.\nWith respect to geopolitical identity, many individuals of Romanian ethnicity in Moldova prefer to identify themselves as [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans).\nThe contemporary total population of ethnic Romanians cannot be stated with any degree of certainty.\nA disparity can be observed between official sources (such as [census](https://bliptext.com/articles/census) counts) where they exist, and estimates which come from non-official sources and interested groups.\nSeveral inhibiting factors (not unique to this particular case) contribute towards this uncertainty, which may include:\nFor example, the decennial [US Census](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-census) of 2000 calculated (based on a [statistical sampling](https://bliptext.com/articles/sampling-statistics) of household data) that there were 367,310 respondents indicating Romanian ancestry (roughly 0.1% of the total population).\nThe actual total recorded number of foreign-born Romanians was only 136,000.\nHowever, some non-specialist organisations have produced estimates which are considerably higher: a 2002 study by the Romanian-American Network Inc. mentions an estimated figure of 1,200,000 for the number of [Romanian Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-americans).\nWhich makes the United States home to the largest Romanian community outside Romania.\nThis estimate notes however that \"...other immigrants of Romanian national minority groups have been included such as: [Armenians](https://bliptext.com/articles/armenians-of-romania), [Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania), [Gypsies](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people-in-romania), [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians-in-romania), [Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania), and [Ukrainians](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukrainians-of-romania)\".\nIt also includes an unspecified allowance for second- and third-generation Romanians, and an indeterminate number living in Canada.\nAn error range for the estimate is not provided.\nFor the [United States 2000 Census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2000-united-states-census) figures, almost 20% of the total population did not classify or report an ancestry, and the census is also subject to undercounting, an incomplete (67%) response rate, and sampling error in general.\nIn [Republika Srpska](https://bliptext.com/articles/republika-srpska), one of the two entities constituting [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina) together with the Federation of [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina), Romanians are legally recognized as an ethnic minority.\n# [300x300px | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Map///of///the///Romanian///Diaspora///in///the///World.svg]\n# [Charts depicting share of Romanians living abroad within other states of the European Union | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/2015-04-08///09.26.08///pm.png]\n# [Romanians of Zakarpattia Oblast in Carpathian Ruthenia, western Ukraine, performing a traditional dance. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Romanians///of///Zakarpattya///Oblast///dancing.jpg]\n\n# Culture\n\n## Contributions to contemporary culture\nRomanians have played and contributed a major role in the advancement of the [arts](https://bliptext.com/articles/arts), culture, [sciences](https://bliptext.com/articles/sciences), technology and [engineering](https://bliptext.com/articles/engineering).\nIn the history of aviation, [Traian Vuia](https://bliptext.com/articles/traian-vuia) and [Aurel Vlaicu](https://bliptext.com/articles/aurel-vlaicu) built and tested some of the earliest aircraft designs, while [Henri Coandă](https://bliptext.com/articles/henri-coand) discovered the [Coandă effect](https://bliptext.com/articles/coand-effect) of fluidics.\n[Victor Babeș](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-babe) discovered more than 50 germs and a cure for a disease named after him, [babesiosis](https://bliptext.com/articles/babesiosis); biologist [Nicolae Paulescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/nicolae-paulescu) was among the first scientists to identify [insulin](https://bliptext.com/articles/insulin).\nAnother biologist, [Emil Palade](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-palade), received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to [cell biology](https://bliptext.com/articles/cell-biology).\n[George Constantinescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-constantinescu) created the [theory of sonics](https://bliptext.com/articles/theory-of-sonics), while mathematician [Ștefan Odobleja](https://bliptext.com/articles/tefan-odobleja) has been claimed as \"the ideological father behind [cybernetics](https://bliptext.com/articles/cybernetics)\" – his work The Consonantist Psychology (Paris, 1938) was supposedly the main source of inspiration for [N. Wiener](https://bliptext.com/articles/n-wiener)'s Cybernetics (Paris, 1948).\n[Lazăr Edeleanu](https://bliptext.com/articles/laz-r-edeleanu) was the first chemist to synthesize [amphetamine](https://bliptext.com/articles/amphetamine) and also invented the modern method of [refining](https://bliptext.com/articles/oil-refinery) [crude oil](https://bliptext.com/articles/crude-oil).\nIn the arts and culture, prominent figures were [George Enescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-enescu) (music composer, violinist, professor of Sir [Yehudi Menuhin](https://bliptext.com/articles/yehudi-menuhin)), [Constantin Brâncuși](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantin-br-ncu-i) (sculptor), [Eugène Ionesco](https://bliptext.com/articles/eug-ne-ionesco) (playwright), [Mircea Eliade](https://bliptext.com/articles/mircea-eliade) (historian of religion and novelist), [Emil Cioran](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-cioran) (essayist, Prix de l'Institut Français for stylism) and [Angela Gheorghiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/angela-gheorghiu) (soprano).\nMore recently, filmmakers such as [Cristi Puiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/cristi-puiu) and [Cristian Mungiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/cristian-mungiu) have attracted international acclaim, as has fashion designer [Ioana Ciolacu](https://bliptext.com/articles/ioana-ciolacu).\nIn sports, Romanians have excelled in a variety of fields, such as football ([Gheorghe Hagi](https://bliptext.com/articles/gheorghe-hagi)), gymnastics ([Nadia Comăneci](https://bliptext.com/articles/nadia-com-neci), [Lavinia Miloșovici](https://bliptext.com/articles/lavinia-milo-ovici) etc.), tennis ([Ilie Năstase](https://bliptext.com/articles/ilie-n-stase), [Ion Țiriac](https://bliptext.com/articles/ion-iriac), [Simona Halep](https://bliptext.com/articles/simona-halep)), rowing ([Ivan Patzaichin](https://bliptext.com/articles/ivan-patzaichin)) and handball (four times men's [World Cup](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-men-s-handball-championship) winners).\n[Count Dracula](https://bliptext.com/articles/count-dracula) is a worldwide icon of Romania.\nThis character was created by the Irish fiction writer [Bram Stoker](https://bliptext.com/articles/bram-stoker), based on some stories spread in the late [Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/middle-ages) by the frustrated German tradesmen of Kronstadt ([Brașov](https://bliptext.com/articles/bra-ov)) and on some [vampire folk](https://bliptext.com/articles/vampire-folklore-by-region) tales about the historic Romanian figure of Prince [Vlad Țepeș](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlad-iii-dracula).\n\n## Religion\nAlmost 90% of all Romanians consider themselves religious.\nThe vast majority are [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy) Christians, belonging to the [Romanian Orthodox Church](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-orthodox-church) (a branch of [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy)y, or [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy) Church, together with the Greek Orthodox, Orthodox Church of Georgia and Russian Orthodox Churches, among others).\nRomanians form the [third largest ethno-linguistic group among Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-contemporary-ethnic-groups) in the world.\nAccording to the 2011 census, 93.6% of ethnic Romanians in Romania identified themselves as Romanian Orthodox (in comparison to 81% of Romania's total population, including other ethnic groups).\nHowever, the actual rate of church attendance is significantly lower and many Romanians are only nominally believers.\nFor example, according to a 2006 [Eurobarometer](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurobarometer) poll, only 23% of Romanians attend church once a week or more.\nA 2006 poll conducted by the [Open Society Foundations](https://bliptext.com/articles/open-society-foundations) found that only 33% of Romanians attended church once a month or more.\nThere are no official dates for the adoption of religions by the Romanians.\nBased on linguistic and archaeological findings, historians suggest that the Romanians' ancestors acquired polytheistic religions in the Roman era, later adopting Christianity, most likely by the 4th century AD when decreed by Emperor [Constantine the Great](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantine-the-great) as the official religion of the Roman Empire.\nLike in all other Romance languages, the basic Romanian words related to [Christian](https://bliptext.com/articles/christians)ity are inherited from Latin, such as [God](https://bliptext.com/articles/god) ([Dumnezeu](https://bliptext.com/articles/dumnezeu) < Domine Deus), church (biserică < basilica), [cross](https://bliptext.com/articles/cross) (cruce < crux, -cis), angel (înger < angelus), saint (regional: sfân(t) < sanctus), Christmas (Crăciun < creatio, -onis), [Christian](https://bliptext.com/articles/christians) (creștin < christianus), Easter (paște < paschae), sin (păcat < peccatum), to baptise (a boteza < batizare), priest (preot < presbiterum), to pray (a ruga < rogare), faith (credință < credentia), and so on.\nAfter the [Roman Catholic-Eastern Orthodox Schism of 1054](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-west-schism), there existed a [Roman Catholic Diocese of Cumania](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-catholic-diocese-of-cumania) for a short period of time, from 1228 to 1241.\nHowever, this seems to be the exception, rather than the rule, as in both [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) and [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) the state religion was Eastern Orthodox.\nUntil the 17th century, the official language of the liturgy was [Old Church Slavonic](https://bliptext.com/articles/old-church-slavonic) (a.k.a. Middle Bulgarian).\nThen, it gradually changed to Romanian.\n\n## Symbols\nIn addition to the colours of the [Romanian flag](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-romania), each historical province of Romania has its own characteristic symbol:\nThe [coat of arms of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/coat-of-arms-of-romania) combines these together.\n\n## Customs\n\n### Traditional costumes\n\n# Relationship to other ethnic groups\nThe closest ethnic groups to the Romanians are the other Romanic peoples of Southeastern Europe: the [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians) ([Macedo](https://bliptext.com/articles/macedonia-region)-Romanians), the [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and the [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians).\nThe Istro-Romanians are the closest ethnic group to the Romanians, and it is believed they left [Maramureș](https://bliptext.com/articles/maramure), [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) about a thousand years ago and settled in [Istria](https://bliptext.com/articles/istria), Croatia.\nNumbering about 500 people still living in the original villages of Istria while the majority left for other countries after World War II (mainly to Italy, United States, Canada, Spain, Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, and Australia), they speak the [Istro-Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), the closest living relative of Romanian.\nOn the other hand, the Aromanians and the Megleno-Romanians are Romance peoples who live south of the Danube, mainly in Greece, Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria although some of them migrated to Romania in the 20th century.\nIt is believed that they diverged from the Romanians in the 7th to 9th century, and currently speak the [Aromanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language) and [Megleno-Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language), both of which are Eastern Romance languages, like Romanian, and are sometimes considered by traditional Romanian linguists to be dialects of Romanian.\n\n# Genetics\nA Bulgarian study from 2013 shows genetic similarity between [Thracians](https://bliptext.com/articles/thracians) (8-6 century BC), medieval Bulgarians (8–10 century AD), and modern Bulgarians, highlighting highest resemblance between them and Romanians, Northern Italians and Northern Greeks.\nA genetic study published in [Scientific Reports](https://bliptext.com/articles/scientific-reports) in 2019 examined the [mtDNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of 25 Thracian remains in [Bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria) from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. They were found to harbor a mixture of ancestry from [Western Steppe Herders](https://bliptext.com/articles/western-steppe-herders) (WSHs) and [Early European Farmers](https://bliptext.com/articles/early-european-farmers) (EEFs), supporting the idea that Southeast Europe was the link between Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.\nThe prevailing Y-chromosome in [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) ([Ploiești](https://bliptext.com/articles/ploie-ti), [Dolj](https://bliptext.com/articles/dolj-county)), [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) ([Piatra Neamț](https://bliptext.com/articles/piatra-neam), [Buhuși](https://bliptext.com/articles/buhu-i)), [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja) ([Constanța](https://bliptext.com/articles/constan-a)), and northern Republic of Moldova is recorded to be [Haplogroup I](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-y-dna).\nSubclades [I1](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-m253) and [I2](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-m438) can be found in most present-day European populations, with peaks in some [Northern European](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-europe) and [Southeastern European](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeastern-europe) countries.\nHaplogroup I occurs at 32% in Romanians.\nThe frequency of I2a1 (I-P37) in the Balkans today is owed to indigenous European tribes, and was present before the [Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-migrations-to-southeastern-europe).\nA similar result was cited in a study investigating the genetic pool of people from Republic of Moldova, concluded about the representative samples taken for comparison from Romanians from the towns of Piatra-Neamț and Buhuși that \"the most common Y haplogroup in this population was I-M423 (40.7%). This is the highest frequency of the I-M423 haplogroup reported so far outside of the northwest Balkans. The next most frequent among Romanian males was haplogroup R-M17* (16.7%), followed by R-M405 (7.4%), E-v13 and R-M412* (both 5.6%).\"\nThe I-M423 haplogroup is a subclade of I2a, a haplogroup prosperous in the [Starcevo](https://bliptext.com/articles/star-evo-k-r-s-cri-culture) culture and its possible offshoot [Cucuteni–Trypillia culture](https://bliptext.com/articles/cucuteni-trypillia-culture) (4800-3000 BCE).\nThe high concentration of I2a1b-L621, the main subclade, is attributed to Bronze Age and Early Iron Age migrations (Dacians, Thracians, Illyrians) and the medieval Slavic migrations.\nAccording to a Y-chromosome analysis of 335 sampled Romanians, 15% of them belong to R1a.\n[Haplogroup R1a](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-r1a), is a [human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup](https://bliptext.com/articles/human-y-chromosome-dna-haplogroup) which is distributed in a large region in [Eurasia](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurasia), extending from [Scandinavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/scandinavia) and [Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe) to southern [Siberia](https://bliptext.com/articles/siberia) and [South Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-asia).\nHaplogroup R1a among Romanians is entirely from the Eastern European variety Z282 and may be a result of Baltic, Thracian or Slavic descent.\n12% of the Romanians belong to [Haplogroup R1b](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-r1b), the Alpino-Italic branch of R1b is at 2% a lower frequency recorded than other Balkan peoples.\nThe eastern branches of R1b represent 7%, they prevail in parts of [Eastern and Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-and-central-europe) as a result of Ancient [Greek colonisation](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-colonisation) – in parts of Sicily as well.\nOther studies analyzing the haplogroup frequency among Romanians came to similar results.\nDelving into the regional differences of [Mitochondrial DNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of Romanians, a 2014 study emphasised the different position of North and South Romanian populations (ie inside and outside of the Carpathian range) in terms of mitochondrial haplotype variability.\nThe population within the Carpathian range was found to have [haplogroup H](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-h-mtdna) at 59.7% frequency, U at 11.3%, K and HV at 3.23% each, and M, X and A at 1.61% each.\nThe South Romanian population also showed the highest frequency in [haplogroup H](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-h-mtdna) at 47% (lower than in the sample from the North of Romania), [haplogroup U](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-u-mtdna) showed a noticeable frequency at 17% (higher than in the sample from North Romania), haplogroups HV and K at 10.61% and 7.58%, respectively, while haplogroups M, X and A were absent.\nComparing the results to European and international samples, the study proposes a weak differentiated distribution of mitochondrial haplogroups between inner and outer Carpathian population (rather than North-South boundary) based on higher frequency for the [haplogroup J](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-jt-mtdna) and [haplogroup K2a](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-k-mtdna) in the Southern Romanian sample - considered as markers of the Neolithic expansion in Europe from the Near East, the absence of K2a and the presence of [haplogroup M](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-m-mtdna) in Northern Romanian sample - with higher frequency in Western and Southern Asia, and the inclusion of both Romanian populations within the range of the European mitochondrial variability, rather than being closer to the Near Eastern populations.\nThe North Romanian sample was also found to be slightly separated from the other samples included in the study.\nA 2017 paper concentrated on the [Mitochondrial DNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of Romanians, showed how Romania has been \"a major crossroads between Asia and Europe\" and thus \"experienced continuous migration and invasion episodes\"; while stating that previous studies show Romanians \"exhibit genetic similarity with other Europeans\".\nThe paper also mentions how \"signals of Asian maternal lineages were observed in all Romanian historical provinces, indicating gene flow along the migration routes through [East Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-asia) and Europe, during different time periods, namely, the Upper Paleolithic period and/or, with a likely greater preponderance, the Middle Ages\", at low frequency (2.24%).\nThe study analysed 714 samples, representative to the 41 counties of Romania, and grouped them in 4 categories corresponding to historical Romanian provinces: [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia), [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia), [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), and [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja).\nThe majority was classified within 9 Eurasian mitochondrial haplogroups (H, U, K, T, J, HV, V, W, and X), while also finding sequences that belonged to the most frequent Asian haplogroups (haplogroups A, C, D, I - at 2.24% overall frequency, and M and N) and African haplogroup L (two samples in Wallachia and one in Dobruja).\nThe H, V, and X haplogroups were detected at higher frequencies in Transylvania, while the frequency of U and N was lower, with M being absent, interpreted as an indicator of genetic proximity of Transylvania to Central European populations, in contrast to the other three provinces, which showed resemblance to Balkan populations.\nThe Dobrujan samples showed a larger contribution of genes from Southwestern Asia which the authors attributed to a larger Asian influence historically and/or its smaller sample size compared to that of the other populations included.\n# [Main Y-DNA haplogroups for average Romanian population and per historical regions. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Romanian///Y-dna///Pie///Charts.png]\n# [Procrustes-transformed PCA plot of genetic variation of European populations. (A) Geographic coordinates of 37 populations. (B) Procrustes-transformed PCA plot of genetic variation. The Procrustes analysis is based on the unprojected latitude-longitude coordinates and PC1-PC2 coordinates of 1378 individuals. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Procrustes-transformed///PCA///plot///of///genetic///variation///of///European///populations.png]\n\n# Ethnogenesis\nThree theories account for the ethnogenesis of the Romanian people.\nOne, known as the Daco-[Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) continuity theory, posits that they are descendants of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)s and [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ized indigenous peoples ([Dacians](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians)) living in the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) Province of [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia), while the other posits that the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ians are descendants of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)s and [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ized indigenous populations of the former [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) provinces of [Illyricum](https://bliptext.com/articles/illyricum-roman-province), [Moesia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia), [Thracia](https://bliptext.com/articles/thrace), and [Macedonia](https://bliptext.com/articles/macedonia-roman-province), and the ancestors of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ians later migrated from these [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) provinces south of the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) into the area which they inhabit today.\nThe third theory also known as the admigration theory, proposed by [Dimitrie Onciul](https://bliptext.com/articles/dimitrie-onciul) (1856–1923), posits that the formation of the Romanian people occurred in the former \"Dacia Traiana\" province, and in the central regions of the Balkan Peninsula.\nHowever, the Balkan Vlachs' northward migration ensured that these centers remained in close contact for centuries.\nThis theory is a compromise between the immigrationist and the continuity theories.\n\n# Demographics\nThe largest ethnic group in Romania is ethnic Romanians, followed by [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians) and [Romani people](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people).\n\n# Maps\n\n# Notes and references","current_revision":"ccff53ce-9419-44db-be4f-a370315a5c9d","created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-25T19:11:38.803Z","updated_at":"2025-03-26T12:30:49.220Z","search_vector":"'romanian':1","search_content":" \n \n**Group:** Romanians \n**Native Name:** Români \n**Native Name Lang:** ro \n**Population:** c. **22.8–24.8 million** (including Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups living abroad) \n**Popplace:** 🇷🇴 [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) 19,053,815 (2022 [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania)n census) · 🇲🇩 [moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova) 192,800 (2014 Moldovan census; additional 2,068,058 [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans)) \n**Tablehdr:** Other countries \n**Region 1:** 🇮🇹 [italy](https://bliptext.com/articles/italy) \n**Pop 1:** 1,206,938 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2:** 🇪🇸 [spain](https://bliptext.com/articles/spain) \n**Pop 2:** 630,795 Romanian citizens (2023) -1,079,726 including naturalized and second and third generation Romanians (2022) \n**Region 3:** 🇩🇪 [germany](https://bliptext.com/articles/germany) \n**Pop 3:** 866,000 (2022) migrants from Romania of all ethnic groups, including a wide range of [Romanian Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania) as well \n**Region 4:** [undefined](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n**Pop 4:** 329,000 Romanian-born residents (2022) \n**Region 5:** 🇫🇷 [france](https://bliptext.com/articles/france) \n**Pop 5:** 200,000–500,000 (2022) Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 6:** 🇺🇦 [ukraine](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukraine) \n**Pop 6:** 150,989 (additional 258,619 Moldovans) \n**Region 7:** 🇦🇹 [austria](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria) \n**Pop 7:** 131,788 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups, including many [Transylvanian Saxons](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons) as well \n**Region 8:** 🇧🇪 [belgium](https://bliptext.com/articles/belgium) \n**Pop 8:** 92,746 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 9:** 🇬🇷 [greece](https://bliptext.com/articles/greece) \n**Pop 9:** 46,523 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 0:** 🇳🇱 [netherlands](https://bliptext.com/articles/netherlands) \n**Pop 1 0:** 39,654 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 1:** 🇵🇹 [portugal](https://bliptext.com/articles/portugal) \n**Pop 1 1:** 39,000 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 2:** 🇭🇺 [hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungary) \n**Pop 1 2:** 36,506 \n**Region 1 3:** 🇩🇰 [denmark](https://bliptext.com/articles/denmark) \n**Pop 1 3:** 34,960 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 4:** 🇸🇪 [sweden](https://bliptext.com/articles/sweden) \n**Pop 1 4:** 32,294 born in Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 5:** 🇮🇪 [ireland](https://bliptext.com/articles/ireland) \n**Pop 1 5:** 29,186 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 6:** [🇨🇾](https://bliptext.com/articles/cyprus) [Cyprus](https://bliptext.com/articles/cyprus) \n**Pop 1 6:** 24,376 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 7:** 🇷🇸 [serbia](https://bliptext.com/articles/serbia) \n**Pop 1 7:** 23,044 (additional 21,013 [Timok Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs-of-serbia)) \n**Region 1 8:** 🇨🇭 [switzerland](https://bliptext.com/articles/switzerland) \n**Pop 1 8:** 21,593 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 1 9:** 🇳🇴 [norway](https://bliptext.com/articles/norway) \n**Pop 1 9:** 18,877 migrants of Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 0:** 🇨🇿 [czech republic](https://bliptext.com/articles/czech-republic) \n**Pop 2 0:** 14,684 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 1:** 🇹🇷 [Turkey](https://bliptext.com/articles/turkey) \n**Pop 2 1:** 14,411 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 2:** 🇱🇺 [luxembourg](https://bliptext.com/articles/luxembourg) \n**Pop 2 2:** 5,209 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 3:** 🇵🇱 [poland](https://bliptext.com/articles/poland) \n**Pop 2 3:** c. 5,000 \n**Region 2 4:** 🇸🇰 [slovakia](https://bliptext.com/articles/slovakia) \n**Pop 2 4:** 4,941 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 5:** 🇫🇮 [finland](https://bliptext.com/articles/finland) \n**Pop 2 5:** 4,902 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 6:** 🇷🇺 [russia](https://bliptext.com/articles/russia) \n**Pop 2 6:** 3,201 \n**Region 2 7:** 🇲🇹 [malta](https://bliptext.com/articles/malta) \n**Pop 2 7:** 2,000 \n**Region 2 8:** 🇮🇸 [iceland](https://bliptext.com/articles/iceland) \n**Pop 2 8:** 1,463 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups \n**Region 2 9:** 🇧🇬 [bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria) \n**Pop 2 9:** 891 \n**Region 3 0:** 🇧🇦 [bosnia and herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina) \n**Pop 3 0:** 100 \n**Region 3 1:** 🇺🇸 [united states](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states) \n**Pop 3 1:** 518,653–1,400,000 (incl. mixed origin, [Romanian Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania) and [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania)) \n**Region 3 2:** 🇨🇦 [canada](https://bliptext.com/articles/canada) \n**Pop 3 2:** 204,625–400,000 (incl. mixed origin) \n**Region 3 3:** 🇲🇽 [mexico](https://bliptext.com/articles/mexico) \n**Pop 3 3:** 569 \n**Region 3 4:** 🇧🇷 [brazil](https://bliptext.com/articles/brazil) \n**Pop 3 4:** 200,000 migrants from Romania and Romanian citizens, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 3 5:** 🇻🇪 [venezuela](https://bliptext.com/articles/venezuela) \n**Pop 3 5:** 10,000 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 3 6:** 🇦🇷 [argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina) \n**Pop 3 6:** 10,000 of Romanian origin, including [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania) and [Romanian Romani](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people-in-romania) \n**Region 3 7:** 🇨🇴 [colombia](https://bliptext.com/articles/colombia) \n**Pop 3 7:** 350 \n**Region 3 8:** 🇺🇾 [uruguay](https://bliptext.com/articles/uruguay) \n**Pop 3 8:** 200 \n**Region 3 9:** 🇵🇪 [peru](https://bliptext.com/articles/peru) \n**Pop 3 9:** 174 \n**Region 4 0:** 🇦🇺 [australia](https://bliptext.com/articles/australia) \n**Pop 4 0:** 20,998 first and second generation migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups \n**Region 4 1:** 🇳🇿 [new zealand](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-zealand) \n**Pop 4 1:** 3,100 \n**Region 4 2:** 🇮🇱 [israel](https://bliptext.com/articles/israel) \n**Pop 4 2:** 100,823 \n**Ref 4 2:** (mostly [Romanian Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania)) \n**Region 4 3:** 🇯🇵 [japan](https://bliptext.com/articles/japan) \n**Pop 4 3:** 2,708 \n**Region 4 4:** 🇰🇷 [south korea](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-korea) \n**Pop 4 4:** 661 \n**Region 4 5:** 🇰🇿 [kazakhstan](https://bliptext.com/articles/kazakhstan) \n**Pop 4 5:** 421 \n**Region 4 6:** [undefined](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n**Pop 4 6:** 100 \n**Region 4 7:** 🇿🇦 [south africa](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-africa) \n**Pop 4 7:** 2,828 \n**Region 4 8:** 🇪🇬 [egypt](https://bliptext.com/articles/egypt) \n**Pop 4 8:** 420 \n**Languages:** [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) \n**Religions:** Predominantly [**Orthodox Christianity**](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodox-church) · ([Romanian Orthodox Church](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-orthodox-church)), · also [Roman Catholic](https://bliptext.com/articles/catholic-church-in-romania), [Greek Catholic](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-greek-catholic-church), and [Protestant](https://bliptext.com/articles/protestantism) \n**Related:** Other [Eastern](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages) [Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages)-speaking peoples · (most notably [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans), [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians)) \n \n\n# \n**Romanians** (, ; dated [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/endonym-and-exonym) [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs)) are a [Romance-speaking](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages) ethnic group and [nation](https://bliptext.com/articles/nation) native to [Central](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe), [Eastern](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-europe), and [Southeastern Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeastern-europe).\nSharing a [common culture](https://bliptext.com/articles/culture-of-romania) and [ancestry](https://bliptext.com/articles/cultural-heritage), they speak the [[Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania)n language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) and live primarily in [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova).\nThe [2021 Romanian census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2021-romanian-census) found that 89.3% of Romania's citizens identified themselves as ethnic Romanians.\nIn one interpretation of the 1989 census results in Moldova, the majority of [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans) were counted as ethnic Romanians as well.\nRomanians also form an ethnic minority in several nearby countries situated in Central, Southeastern, and Eastern Europe, most notably in [Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-hungary), [Serbia](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-serbia) (including [Timok](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs-of-serbia)), and [Ukraine](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians-in-ukraine).\nEstimates of the number of Romanian people worldwide vary from minimum 24 to maximum 30 million, in part depending on whether the definition of the term \"Romanian\" includes natives of both Romania and Moldova, their respective diasporas, and native speakers of both Romanian and other [Eastern Romance languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages).\nOther speakers of the latter languages are the [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), the [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and the [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians) (native to [Istria](https://bliptext.com/articles/istria)), all of them unevenly distributed throughout the [Balkan Peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans), which may be considered either Romanian subgroups or separated but related ethnicities.\n\n# History\n\n## Antiquity\nThe territories of modern-day [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Moldova](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldova) were inhabited by the ancient [Getae](https://bliptext.com/articles/getae) and [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) tribes.\nKing [Burebista](https://bliptext.com/articles/burebista) who reigned from 82/61 BC to 45/44 BC, was the first king who successfully unified the tribes of the [Dacian kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia), which comprised the area located between the Danube, Tisza, and Dniester rivers.\nKing [Decebalus](https://bliptext.com/articles/decebalus) who reigned from 87 to 106 AD was the last king of the [Dacian kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) before it was conquered by the [Roman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) in 106, after [two wars](https://bliptext.com/articles/trajan-s-dacian-wars) between [Decebalus](https://bliptext.com/articles/decebalus)' army and [Trajan](https://bliptext.com/articles/trajan)'s army.\nPrior to the two wars, Decebalus [defeated a Roman invasion](https://bliptext.com/articles/domitian-s-dacian-war) during the reign of [Domitian](https://bliptext.com/articles/domitian) between 86 and 88 AD.\nThe [Roman administration](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-dacia) retreated from Dacia between 271 and 275 AD, during the reign of emperor [Aurelian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aurelian) under the pressure of the [Goths](https://bliptext.com/articles/goths) and the Dacian [Carpi](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpi-people) tribe.\nThe later Roman province [Dacia Aureliana](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-aureliana), was organized inside former [Moesia Superior](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia-superior).\nIt was reorganized as [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) (as a military province, devastated by an [Avars](https://bliptext.com/articles/pannonian-avars) invasion in 586) and [Dacia Mediterranea](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-mediterranea) (as a civil province, devastated by an Avar invasion in 602).\nThe [Diocese of Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/[diocese](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-diocese)-of-dacia) (circa 337–602) was a [diocese](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-diocese) of the later [Roman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire), in the area of modern-day [Balkans](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans).\nThe Diocese of Dacia was composed of five provinces, the northernmost provinces were [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) (the Danubian portion of Dacia Aureliana, one of the cities of [Dacia Ripensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-ripensis) in today Romania is [Sucidava](https://bliptext.com/articles/sucidava)) and [Moesia Prima](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia-prima) (today in Serbia, near the border between Romania and Serbia).\nThe territory of the diocese was devastated by the [Huns](https://bliptext.com/articles/huns) in the middle of 5th century and finally overrun by the Avars and [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) in late 6th and early 7th century.\n[Scythia Minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/scythia-minor) (c. 290 – c. 680) was a [Roman province](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-province) corresponding to the lands between the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) and the [Black Sea](https://bliptext.com/articles/black-sea), today's [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja) divided between [Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania) and [Bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria).\nThe capital of the province was Tomis (today [Constanța](https://bliptext.com/articles/constan-a)).\nAccording to the [Laterculus Veronensis](https://bliptext.com/articles/laterculus-veronensis) of c. 314 and the [Notitia Dignitatum](https://bliptext.com/articles/notitia-dignitatum) of c. 400, Scythia belonged to the [Diocese of Thrace](https://bliptext.com/articles/diocese-of-thrace).\nThe indigenous population of Scythia Minor was [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) and their material culture is apparent archaeologically into the sixth century.\nRoman fortifications mostly date to the [Tetrarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/tetrarchy) or the [Constantinian dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantinian-dynasty).\nThe province ceased to exist around 679–681, when the region was [overrun by the Bulgars](https://bliptext.com/articles/battle-of-ongal), which the Emperor [Constantine IV](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantine-iv) was forced to recognize in 681.\n# [Map showing the area where Dacian was spoken. The blue area shows the Dacian lands conquered by the Roman Empire. The orange area was inhabited by Free Dacian tribes and others. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Romani///daci.jpg]\n# [Map showing the area where the Latin language was spoken in pink during the Roman Empire between the 4th and 7th century (including the territory of present-day Romania) | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Vatra.jpg]\n\n## Early Middle Ages to Late Middle Ages\nDuring the [Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/middle-ages) Romanians were mostly known as [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs), a blanket term ultimately of [Germanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/germanic-languages) origin, from the word [Walha](https://bliptext.com/articles/walhaz), used by ancient [Germanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/germanic-languages) peoples to refer to [Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-languages)-speaking and [Celtic](https://bliptext.com/articles/celts) neighbours.\nBesides the separation of some groups ([Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians), [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians)) during the [Age of Migration](https://bliptext.com/articles/early-slavs), many Vlachs could be found all over the [Balkans](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans), in [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), across [Carpathian Mountains](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpathian-mountains) as far north as Poland and as far west as the regions of [Moravia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moravia) (part of the modern Czech Republic), some went as far east as [Volhynia](https://bliptext.com/articles/volhynia) of western Ukraine, and the present-day Croatia where the [Morlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/morlachs) gradually disappeared, while the Catholic and Orthodox Vlachs took Croat and Serb national identity.\nThe first written record about a [Romance language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-language) spoken in the Middle Ages in the Balkans, near the [Haemus Mons](https://bliptext.com/articles/haemus-mons) is from 587 AD. A Vlach muleteer accompanying the Byzantine army noticed that the load was falling from one of the animals and shouted to a companion Torna, torna, fratre! (meaning \"Return, return, brother!\").\n[Theophanes the Confessor](https://bliptext.com/articles/theophanes-the-confessor) recorded it as part of a 6th-century military expedition by [Comentiolus](https://bliptext.com/articles/comentiolus) and [Priscus](https://bliptext.com/articles/priscus) against the Avars.\nHistorian [Gheorghe I. Brătianu](https://bliptext.com/articles/gheorghe-i-br-tianu) considers that these words \"represent an expression from the Romanian language, as it was formed at that time in the Balkan and Danube regions\"; \"they probably belong to one and the most significant of the substrates on which our (Romanian) language was built\".\nThe first definite document mentioning Romanians (Vlachs) is from the 8th century from the [Konstamonitou Monastery](https://bliptext.com/articles/konstamonitou-monastery) in [Mount Athos](https://bliptext.com/articles/mount-athos), in [Greece](https://bliptext.com/articles/greece) and talks about the Vlachs of the Rynchos river (present-day [North Macedonia](https://bliptext.com/articles/north-macedonia)).\nAccording to the early 13th century medieval Hungarian book [Gesta Hungarorum](https://bliptext.com/articles/gesta-hungarorum) the invading Magyars of King [Árpád](https://bliptext.com/articles/rp-d)\n(c. 845 – c. 907) waged wars against three dukes—[Glad](https://bliptext.com/articles/glad-duke), [Menumorut](https://bliptext.com/articles/menumorut) and the Vlach [Gelou](https://bliptext.com/articles/gelou)—for Banat, Crișana and Transylvania.\nGesta Hungarorum also mentions the [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs), [Bulgarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgarians), Vlachs and the [shepherds of the Romans](https://bliptext.com/articles/shepherds-of-the-romans) inhabiting the [Carpathian Basin](https://bliptext.com/articles/carpathian-basin): \"sclauij, Bulgarij et Blachij, ac pastores romanorum\".\nMost researchers identify the Blachij with the Vlachs.\nHowever the document was written between 1200 and 1230, around 300 years after the described events and some modern historians have reservations about it and find it unreliable.\nAnother important document mentioning Romanians (Vlachs) from the South\nof the Balkan Peninsula dates back to 980.\nThat year, the governor of [Servia](https://bliptext.com/articles/servia-greece), [Nikulitsa](https://bliptext.com/articles/nikulitsa) received the position of leader (archon) of the Vlachs from [Hellas](https://bliptext.com/articles/hellas-theme) from Emperor [Basil II](https://bliptext.com/articles/basil-ii).\nThe function received by Nikulitsa might have been as a commander of a Vlach army.\n[Byzantine](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine) historians usually described foreign rulers as archontes.\nThe document signed by [Basil II](https://bliptext.com/articles/basil-ii) to give the position of archon of the Vlachs to Nekulitsa is mentioned in [Strategikon of Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/strategikon-of-kekaumenos) (written between 1075 and 1078 AD).\nAfter the [Avar Khaganate](https://bliptext.com/articles/avar-khaganate) collapsed in the 790s, the [First Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-bulgarian-empire) became the dominant power of the region, occupying lands as far as the river [Tisa](https://bliptext.com/articles/tisa).\nThe [First Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-bulgarian-empire) had a mixed population consisting of the Bulgar conquerors, [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) and Vlachs (Romanians) but the [Slavicisation](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavicisation) of the Bulgar elite had already begun in the 9th century.\nFollowing the conquest of Southern and Central [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) around 830, people from the Bulgar Empire mined salt from mines in [Turda](https://bliptext.com/articles/turda), [Ocna Mureș](https://bliptext.com/articles/ocna-mure), Sărățeni and Ocnița.\nThey traded and transported salt throughout the Bulgar Empire.\nA series of [Arab](https://bliptext.com/articles/arab) historians from the 10th century are some of the first to mention Vlachs in Eastern/South Eastern [Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/europe): [Mutahhar al-Maqdisi](https://bliptext.com/articles/al-muqaddasi) (c.945-991) writes: \"They say that in the Turkic neighbourhood there are the Khazars, Russians, Slavs, Waladj (Vlachs), Alans, Greeks and many other peoples\".\n[Ibn al-Nadīm](https://bliptext.com/articles/ibn-al-nad-m) (early 932–998) published in 998 the work [Kitāb al-Fihrist](https://bliptext.com/articles/kit-b-al-fihrist) mentioning \"Turks, Bulgars and Vlahs\" (using Blagha for Vlachs).\nA series of Byzantine historians, such as [George Kedrenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-kedrenos) (circa 1000), [Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos) (circa 1000), [John Skylitzes](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-skylitzes) (early 1040s – after 1101), [Anna Komnene](https://bliptext.com/articles/anna-komnene) (1083-1153), [John Kinnamos](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-kinnamos) (1143-1185) and [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) (1155-1217) were some of the first to write about the Vlachs.\n[John Skylitzes](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-skylitzes) mentions the Vlachs around 976 AD, as guides and guards of Byzantine caravans in the Balkans.\nBetween [Prespa](https://bliptext.com/articles/prespa) and [Kastoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/kastoria), they met and fought with a Bulgarian rebel named David.\nThe Vlachs killed David in their first documented battle.\n[[Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos)](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos)'s father-in-law was [Nikulitzas Delphinas](https://bliptext.com/articles/nikulitzas-delphinas), a lord of [Larissa](https://bliptext.com/articles/larissa) who took part in the revolt of [Bulgarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgarians) and Vlachs in [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) in 1066 AD. The 11th-century scholar [[Kekaumenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos)](https://bliptext.com/articles/kekaumenos) wrote of a Vlach homeland situated \"near the Danube and [...] the Sava, where the Serbians lived more recently\".\nHe associated the Vlachs with the [Dacians](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians) and the [Bessi](https://bliptext.com/articles/bessi).\nAccordingly, historians have located this homeland in several places, including [Pannonia Inferior](https://bliptext.com/articles/pannonia-inferior) ([Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu](https://bliptext.com/articles/bogdan-petriceicu-hasdeu)) and [Dacia Aureliana](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia-aureliana) (Mátyás Gyóni).\nThe princess and chronicler Anna Komnene reports that in April 1091, on the eve of the decisive [Byzantine](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine-greeks)-[Pecheneg](https://bliptext.com/articles/pechenegs) [Battle of Levounion](https://bliptext.com/articles/battle-of-levounion), Emperor [Alexios I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexios-i-komnenos) (1057-1118) was assisted by \"a number of 5,000 brave mountaineers and ready to attack, passed by his side, to fight alongside him\".\nMost of the specialists who have addressed these aspects have identified those \" bold mountaineers \", with the 'Vlachs.\nAnna Komnene reports that in 1094, on the occasion of the [Cumans](https://bliptext.com/articles/cumans)' campaign south of the Danube, Emperor [Alexios I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexios-i-komnenos) was informed about the movements of the \"Turanians\", who had crossed the Danube by \"a certain Pudilos, a Vlach noble\".\nThe Byzantine chronicler [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) writes that in 1164, [Andronikos I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/andronikos-i-komnenos), the emperor [Manuel I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/manuel-i-komnenos)'s cousin, tried without success, to usurp the throne.\nFailing in his attempt, the Byzantine prince sought refuge in [Halych](https://bliptext.com/articles/halych) but [Andronikos I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/andronikos-i-komnenos) was \"captured by the Vlachs, to whom the rumor of his escape had reached, he was taken back to the emperor\".\nThe Byzantine chronicler [John Kinnamos](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-kinnamos), presenting the campaign of [Manuel I Komnenos](https://bliptext.com/articles/manuel-i-komnenos) against Hungary in 1166, reports that General Leon Vatatzes had under his command \"a great multitude of Vlachs, who are said to be ancient colonies of those in Italy\", an army that attacked the Hungarian possessions \"about the lands near the Pontus called the Euxine\", respectively the southeastern regions of [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), \"destroyed everything without sparing and trampled everything it encountered in its passage\".\nBy the 9th and 10th centuries, the nomadic [Pechenegs](https://bliptext.com/articles/pechenegs) conquered much of the steppes of [Southeast Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeast-europe) and the [Crimean Peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/crimean-peninsula).The Pecheneg wars against the [Kievan Rus'](https://bliptext.com/articles/kievan-rus) caused some of the [Slavs](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavs) and Vlachs from North of the Danube to gradually migrate north of the [Dniestr](https://bliptext.com/articles/dniestr) in the 10th and 11th centuries.\nThe [Second Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-bulgarian-empire) founded by the [Asen dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/asen-dynasty) consisting of Bulgarians and Vlachs was founded in 1185 and lasted until 1396.\nEarly rulers from the Asen dynasty (particularly [Kaloyan](https://bliptext.com/articles/kaloyan)) referred to themselves as \"Emperors of Bulgarians and Vlachs\".\nLater rulers, especially [Ivan Asen II](https://bliptext.com/articles/ivan-asen-ii), styled themselves \"Tsars (Emperors) of Bulgarians and Romans\".\nAn alternative name used in connection with the pre-mid [Second Bulgarian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-bulgarian-empire) 13th century period is the Empire of Vlachs and Bulgarians; variant names include the \"Vlach–Bulgarian Empire\", the \"Bulgarian–Wallachian Empire\".\nRoyal charters wrote of the \"Vlachs' land\" in southern [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) in the early 13th century, indicating the existence of [autonomous Romanian communities](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-district).\nPapal correspondence mentions the activities of Orthodox prelates among the Romanians in [Muntenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/muntenia) in the 1230s.\n[Béla IV of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/b-la-iv-of-hungary)'s land grant to the [Knights Hospitallers](https://bliptext.com/articles/knights-hospitallers) in [Oltenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/oltenia) and [Muntenia](https://bliptext.com/articles/muntenia) shows that the local Vlach rulers were subject to the king's authority in 1247.\nThe late 13th-century Hungarian chronicler [Simon of Kéza](https://bliptext.com/articles/simon-of-k-za) states that the Vlachs were \"shepherds and husbandmen\" who \"remained in Pannonia\".\nAn unknown author's Description of Eastern Europe from 1308 likewise states that the Vlachs \"were once the [shepherds of the Romans](https://bliptext.com/articles/shepherds-of-the-romans)\" who \"had over them ten powerful kings in the entire [Messia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia) and Pannonia\".\nAdditionally, in medieval times there were other lands known by the name 'Vlach' such as [Great Vlachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/great-vlachia), situated between [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) and the western [Pindus](https://bliptext.com/articles/pindus) mountains, of the [Despotate of Epirus](https://bliptext.com/articles/despotate-of-epirus) between the 12th-15th century.\nOriginally within the [Byzantine Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/byzantine-empire), but after the 13th century autonomous or semi-independent.\nIn the 12th century, the Jewish traveller [Benjamin of Tudela](https://bliptext.com/articles/benjamin-of-tudela), who toured the area in 1166 called the region of [Thessaly](https://bliptext.com/articles/thessaly) \"Vlachia\".\nThe contemporary Byzantine historian [Niketas Choniates](https://bliptext.com/articles/niketas-choniates) however distinguishes \"Great Vlachia\" as a district near [Meteora](https://bliptext.com/articles/meteora).\n\"Vlachia\", \"Great Vlachia\", and the other variants began to fall out of use for Thessaly at the turn of the 14th century, and with the emergence of the Principality of [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) north of the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) in the 14th century, from the 15th century the name was reserved for it.\n[White Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/white-wallachia), a Byzantine denomination for the region between the Danube River and the Balkans; [Moravian Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moravian-wallachia), a region in south-eastern Czech Republic). The names derive from the Vlachs, who had lived across much of these regions.\nIn the 14th century the [Danubian Principalities](https://bliptext.com/articles/danubian-principalities) of [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) and [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) emerged to fight the [Ottoman Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/ottoman-empire).\nDuring the [late Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/late-middle-ages), prominent medieval Romanian monarchs such as [Bogdan of Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/bogdan-i-of-moldavia), [Stephen the Great](https://bliptext.com/articles/stephen-iii-of-moldavia), [Mircea the Elder](https://bliptext.com/articles/mircea-the-elder), [Michael the Brave](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-the-brave), or [Vlad the Impaler](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlad-the-impaler) took part actively in the history of [Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe) by waging tumultuous wars and leading noteworthy crusades against the then continuously expanding Ottoman Empire, at times allied with either the [Kingdom of Poland](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-poland) or the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary) in these causes.\n# [First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018) around 850 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Balkans850.png]\n# [Map depicting historical Romanian/Vlach pastoral transhumance (a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures) in Eastern and Southeastern Europe (including the territory of Romania today) during the 18th and 19th centuries | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Transhumance///ways///of///the///Vlachs.jpeg]\n\n## Early Modern Age to Late Modern Age\nEventually the entire [Balkan peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans) was annexed by the Ottoman Empire.\nHowever, Moldavia and Wallachia (extending to Dobruja and Bulgaria) were not entirely subdued by the Ottomans as both principalities became autonomous (which was not the case of other Ottoman territorial possessions in Europe).\nTransylvania, a third region inhabited by an important majority of Romanian speakers, was a vassal state of the Ottomans until 1687, when the principality became part of the Habsburg possessions.\nThe three principalities were united for several months in 1600 under the authority of Wallachian [Prince](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-princes-of-wallachia) [Michael the Brave](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-the-brave).\nUp until 1541, Transylvania was part of the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary), later (due to the conquest of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire) was a self-governed Principality governed by the Hungarian nobility.\nIn 1699 it became a part of the [Habsburg lands](https://bliptext.com/articles/habsburg-monarchy).\nBy the end of the 18th century, the [Austrian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/austrian-empire) was awarded by the Ottomans with the region of [Bukovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bukovina) and, in 1812, the Russians occupied the eastern half of Moldavia, known as [Bessarabia](https://bliptext.com/articles/bessarabia) through the [Treaty of Bucharest](https://bliptext.com/articles/treaty-of-bucharest-1812) of 1812.\nIn the context of the [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/revolutions-of-1848) [Romanticist](https://bliptext.com/articles/romantic-nationalism) and [liberal](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberalism) revolutions across Europe, the events that took place in the [Grand Principality of Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/principality-of-transylvania-1711-1867) were the first of their kind to unfold in the Romanian-speaking territories.\nOn the one hand, the [Transylvanian Saxons](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons) and the Transylvanian Romanians (with consistent support on behalf of the [Austrian Empire](https://bliptext.com/articles/austrian-empire)) successfully managed to oppose the goals of the [Hungarian Revolution of 1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarian-revolution-of-1848), with the two noteworthy historical figures leading the common Romanian-Saxon side at the time being [Avram Iancu](https://bliptext.com/articles/avram-iancu) and [Stephan Ludwig Roth](https://bliptext.com/articles/stephan-ludwig-roth).\nOn the other hand, the Wallachian revolutions of [1821](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-uprising-of-1821) and [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-revolution-of-1848) as well as the Moldavian Revolution of [1848](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachian-revolution-of-1848), which aimed for independence from Ottoman and Russian foreign rulership, represented important impacts in the process of spreading the [liberal ideology](https://bliptext.com/articles/liberalism-and-radicalism-in-romania) in the eastern and southern Romanian lands, in spite of the fact that all three eventually failed.\nNonetheless, in 1859, [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) and [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) elected the same ruler, namely [Alexander John Cuza](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexandru-ioan-cuza) (who reigned as [Domnitor](https://bliptext.com/articles/domnitor)) and were thus unified de facto, resulting in the [United Romanian Principalities](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-principalities-of-moldavia-and-wallachia) for the period between 1859 and 1881.\nDuring the 1870s, the United Romanian Principalities (then led by [Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen](https://bliptext.com/articles/house-of-hohenzollern) Domnitor [Carol I](https://bliptext.com/articles/carol-i-of-romania)) fought a [War of Independence](https://bliptext.com/articles/russo-turkish-war-1877-1878) against the Ottomans, with Romania's independence being formally recognised in 1878 at the [Treaty of Berlin](https://bliptext.com/articles/treaty-of-berlin-1878).\nAlthough the relatively newly founded [Kingdom of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-romania) initially allied with [Austria-Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria-hungary), Romania refused to enter [World War I](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-war-i) on the side of the [Central Powers](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-powers), because it was obliged to wage war only if [Austria-Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/austria-hungary) was attacked.\nIn 1916, Romania joined the war on the side of the [Triple Entente](https://bliptext.com/articles/triple-entente).\nAs a result, at the end of the war, Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina were awarded to Romania, through a series of international peace treaties, resulting in an enlarged and far more powerful kingdom under King [Ferdinand I](https://bliptext.com/articles/ferdinand-i-of-romania).\nAs of 1920, the Romanian people was believed to number over 15 million solely in the region of the Romanian kingdom, a figure larger than the populations of [Sweden](https://bliptext.com/articles/sweden), [Denmark](https://bliptext.com/articles/denmark), and the [Netherlands](https://bliptext.com/articles/netherlands) combined.\nDuring the [interwar period](https://bliptext.com/articles/interwar-period), two additional monarchs came to the Romanian throne, namely [Carol II](https://bliptext.com/articles/carol-ii-of-romania) and [Michael I](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-i-of-romania).\nThis short-lived period was marked, at times, by political instabilities and efforts of maintaining a [constitutional monarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/constitutional-monarchy) in favour of other, totalitarian regimes such as an [absolute monarchy](https://bliptext.com/articles/absolute-monarchy) or a [military dictatorship](https://bliptext.com/articles/military-dictatorship).\n# [Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, according to the 1890 census | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Walachians///%28Romanians%29///in///Hungary%2C///census///1890.jpg]\n# [Map depicting the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1859 and 1878 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Romania///1859-1878.png]\n\n## Contemporary Era\n[During World War II](https://bliptext.com/articles/romania-in-world-war-ii), the Kingdom of Romania lost territory both to the east and west, as [Northern Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-transylvania) became part of the [Kingdom of Hungary](https://bliptext.com/articles/kingdom-of-hungary) through the [Second Vienna Award](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-vienna-award), while Bessarabia and northern Bukovina were taken by the Soviets and included in the [Moldavian SSR](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavian-soviet-socialist-republic), respectively [Ukrainian SSR](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukrainian-soviet-socialist-republic).\nThe eastern territory losses were facilitated by the [Molotov–Ribbentrop Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact](https://bliptext.com/articles/molotov-ribbentrop-pact).\nAfter the end of the war, the Romanian Kingdom managed to regain territories lost westward but was nonetheless not given Bessarabia and northern Bukovina back, the aforementioned regions being forcefully incorporated into the [Soviet Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/soviet-union) (USSR).\nSubsequently, the Soviet Union imposed a communist government and [King](https://bliptext.com/articles/king-of-romania) Michael was forced to abdicate and leave for exile, subsequently settling in [Switzerland](https://bliptext.com/articles/switzerland), while [Petru Groza](https://bliptext.com/articles/petru-groza) remained the [head of the government](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-heads-of-government-of-romania) of the [Socialist Republic of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/socialist-republic-of-romania) (RSR).\n[Nicolae Ceaușescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/nicolae-ceau-escu) became the head of the [Romanian Communist Party](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-communist-party) (PCR) in 1965 and his severe rule of the 1980s was ended by the [Romanian Revolution of 1989](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-revolution-of-1989).\nThe chaos of the 1989 revolution brought to power the dissident communist [Ion Iliescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/ion-iliescu) as [president](https://bliptext.com/articles/president-of-romania) (largely supported by the [FSN](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-salvation-front-romania)).\nIliescu remained in power as [head of state](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-heads-of-state-of-romania) until 1996, when he was defeated by [CDR](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-democratic-convention)-supported [Emil Constantinescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-constantinescu) in the [1996 general elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/1996-romanian-general-election), the first in post-communist Romania that saw a [peaceful transition of power](https://bliptext.com/articles/peaceful-transition-of-power).\nFollowing Constantinescu's single term as president from 1996 to 2000, Iliescu was re-elected in late 2000 for another term of four years.\nIn 2004, [Traian Băsescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/traian-b-sescu), the [PNL](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberal-party-romania)-[PD](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-party-romania) candidate of the [Justice and Truth Alliance](https://bliptext.com/articles/justice-and-truth-alliance) (DA), was elected president.\nFive years later, Băsescu (solely supported by the [PDL](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-liberal-party-romania) this time) was narrowly re-elected for a second term in the [2009 presidential elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/2009-romanian-presidential-election).\nIn 2014, the [PNL](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-liberal-party-romania)-[PDL](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-liberal-party-romania) candidate (as part of the larger [Christian Liberal Alliance](https://bliptext.com/articles/christian-liberal-alliance) or ACL for short; also endorsed by the [Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-forum-of-germans-in-romania), FDGR/DFDR for short respectively) [Klaus Iohannis](https://bliptext.com/articles/klaus-iohannis) won a surprise victory over former [Prime Minister](https://bliptext.com/articles/prime-minister-of-romania) and [PSD](https://bliptext.com/articles/social-democratic-party-romania)-supported contender [Victor Ponta](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-ponta) in the second round of the [2014 presidential elections](https://bliptext.com/articles/2014-romanian-presidential-election).\nThus, Iohannis became the first Romanian president stemming from an [ethnic minority of the country](https://bliptext.com/articles/minorities-of-romania) (as he belongs to the [Romanian-German community](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania), being a [Transylvanian Saxon](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvanian-saxons)).\nIn 2019, the PNL-supported Iohannis was re-elected for a second term as president after a second round landslide victory in the [2019 Romanian presidential election](https://bliptext.com/articles/2019-romanian-presidential-election) (being also supported in that round by [PMP](https://bliptext.com/articles/people-s-movement-party) and [USR](https://bliptext.com/articles/save-romania-union) as well as by the FDGR/DFDR in both rounds).\nIn the meantime, Romania's major foreign policy achievements were the alignment with [Western Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/western-europe) and the [United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states) by joining the [North Atlantic Treaty Organization](https://bliptext.com/articles/nato) (NATO) back in 2004 and the [European Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/european-union) three years later, in 2007.\nCurrent national objectives of Romania include adhering to the [Schengen Area](https://bliptext.com/articles/schengen-area), the [Eurozone](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurozone) as well as the [OECD](https://bliptext.com/articles/oecd) (i.e. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).\n\n# Language\nDuring the Middle Ages, Romanian was isolated from the other Romance languages, and borrowed words from the nearby [Slavic languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-languages) (see [Slavic influence on Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-influence-on-romanian)).\nLater on, it borrowed a number of words from [German](https://bliptext.com/articles/german-language), [Hungarian](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarian-language), and [Turkish](https://bliptext.com/articles/turkish-language).\nDuring the modern era, most neologisms [were borrowed](https://bliptext.com/articles/re-latinization-of-romanian) from [French](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-language) and [Italian](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-language), though the language has increasingly begun to adopt English borrowings.\nThe origins of the [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), a [Romance language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romance-language), can be traced back to the Roman colonisation of the region.\nThe basic vocabulary is of Latin origin, although there are some [substratum](https://bliptext.com/articles/substrate-in-romanian) words that are assumed to be of [Dacian](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacian-language) origin.\nIt is the most spoken [Eastern Romance](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-romance-languages) language and is closely related to [Aromanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language), [Megeleno-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language), and [Istro-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), all three part of the same sub-branch of Romance languages.\nThe [Moldovan language](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovan-language), in its official form, is practically identical to Romanian, although there are some differences in colloquial speech.\nIn the de facto independent (but internationally unrecognised) region of [Transnistria](https://bliptext.com/articles/transnistria), the official script used to write Moldovan is Cyrillic, although Moldovan has a very limited usage in [Transnistria](https://bliptext.com/articles/transnistria) despite its official status.\nSince 2013, the [Romanian Language Day](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language-day) is officially celebrated on [31 August](https://bliptext.com/articles/31-august) in Romania.\nIn Moldova, it is officially celebrated on the same day since 2023.\nAs of 2017, an [Ethnologue](https://bliptext.com/articles/ethnologue) estimation puts the (worldwide) number of Romanian speakers at approximately 24.15 million.\nThe 24.15 million, however, represent only speakers of [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), not all of whom are necessarily ethnic [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language)s.\nAlso, this number does not include ethnic-Romanians who no longer speak the Romanian language.\n# [Neacșu's letter to Johannes Benkner (former Transylvanian Saxon mayor of Kronstadt/Brașov) is the oldest document written in Romanian discovered to date. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Scrisoarea///lui///Neacsu.jpg]\n# [Romanian language, as part of the Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, alongside and related to Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian, and Istro-Romanian. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Romance///languages///diagram///en.svg]\n\n# Names for Romanians\nIn English, Romanians are usually called Romanians and very rarely Rumanians or Roumanians, except in some historical texts, where they are called Roumans or [Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs).\n\n## Etymology of the name Romanian (român)\nThe name [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-people)ian is derived from [Latin](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin) romanus, meaning \"[Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-people)\".\nUnder regular phonetical changes that are typical to the Romanian language, the name romanus over the centuries transformed into rumân.\nAn older form of român was still in use in some regions.\nSocio-linguistic evolutions in the late 18th century led to a gradual preponderance of the român spelling form, which was then generalised during the National awakening of Romania of early 19th century.\nSeveral historical sources show the use of the term \"Romanian\" among the medieval or early modern Romanian population.\nOne of the earliest examples comes from the [Nibelungenlied](https://bliptext.com/articles/nibelungenlied), a German [epic poem](https://bliptext.com/articles/epic-poem) from before 1200 in which a \"Duke Ramunc from the land of Vlachs (Wallachia)\" is mentioned.\n\"Vlach\" was an exonym used almost exclusively for the Romanians during the Middle Ages.\nIt has been argued by some Romanian researchers that \"Ramunc\" was not the name of the duke, but a name that highlighted his ethnicity.\nOther old documents, especially Byzantine or Hungarian ones, make a correlation between the old Romanians as Romans or their descendants.\nSeveral other documents, notably from Italian travelers into Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania, speak of the self-identification, language and culture of the Romanians, showing that they designated themselves as \"Romans\" or related to them in up to 30 works.\nOne example is Tranquillo Andronico's 1534 writing that states that the Vlachs \"now call themselves Romans\".\nAnother one is Francesco della Valle's 1532 manuscripts that state that the Romanians from Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania preserved the name \"Roman\" and cites the sentence \"Sti Rominest?\" (știi românește?, \"do you speak Romanian?\").\nAuthors that travelled to modern Romania who wrote about it in 1574, 1575 and 1666 also noted the use of the term \"Romanian\".\nFrom the Middle Ages, Romanians bore two names, the [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/exonym) (one given to them by foreigners) Wallachians or Vlachs, under its various forms (vlah, valah, valach, voloh, blac, olăh, vlas, ilac, ulah, etc.), and the [endonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/endonym) (the name they used for themselves) Romanians (Rumâni/Români).\nThe first mentions by Romanians of the endonym are contemporary with the earliest writings in Romanian from the sixteenth century.\nAccording to [Tomasz Kamusella](https://bliptext.com/articles/tomasz-kamusella), at the time of the rise of Romanian nationalism during the early 19th century, the political leaders of Wallachia and Moldavia were aware that the name România was identical to Romania, a name that had been used for the former Byzantine Empire by its inhabitants.\nKamusella continues by stating that they preferred this ethnonym in order to stress their presumed link with [Ancient Rome](https://bliptext.com/articles/ancient-rome) and that it became more popular as a nationalistic form of referring to all Romanian-language speakers as a distinct and separate nation during the 1820s.\n[Raymond Detrez](https://bliptext.com/articles/raymond-detrez) asserts that român, derived from the Latin Romanus, acquired at a certain point the same meaning of the Greek Romaios; that of Orthodox Christian.\n[Wolfgang Dahmen](https://bliptext.com/articles/wolfgang-dahmen-romanist) claims that the meaning of romanus (Roman) as \"Christian\", as opposed to \"pagan\", which used to mean \"non-Roman\", may have contributed to the preservation of this word as an ethonym of the Romanian people, under the meaning of \"Christian\".\n# [Romanian revolutionaries of 1848 waving the tricolor flag | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Tricolore1848.jpg]\n\n### Daco-Romanian\nTo distinguish Romanians from the other Romanic peoples of the Balkans (Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, and Istro-Romanians), the term [Daco-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/daco-romanian) is sometimes used to refer to those who speak the standard [Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language) and live in the former territory of ancient [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) (today comprising mostly Romania and Moldova) and its surroundings (such as Dobruja or the [Timok Valley](https://bliptext.com/articles/timok-valley), the latter region part of the former Roman province of [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia) Ripensis).\n\n## Etymology of the term Vlach\nThe name of \"[Vlachs](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlachs)\" is an [exonym](https://bliptext.com/articles/exonym) that was used by Slavs to refer to all Romanized natives of the Balkans.\nIt holds its origin from ancient Germanic—being a cognate to \"Welsh\" and \"Walloon\"—and perhaps even further back in time, from the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin) name Volcae, which was originally a [Celtic](https://bliptext.com/articles/celt) tribe.\nFrom the Slavs, it was passed on to other peoples, such as the [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians) (Oláh) and [Greeks](https://bliptext.com/articles/greeks) (Vlachoi) (see the Etymology section of Vlachs).\n[Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia), the Southern region of Romania, takes its name from the same source.\nNowadays, the term Vlach is more often used to refer to the Romanized populations of the Balkans who speak [Daco-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-language), [Aromanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language), [Istro-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), and [Megleno-Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language).\n\n# Romanians outside Romania\nMost Romanians live in Romania, where they constitute a majority; Romanians also constitute a minority in the countries that neighbour Romania.\nRomanians can also be found in many countries, notably in the other EU countries, particularly in Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and France; in North America in the United States and Canada; in Israel; as well as in Brazil, Australia, [Argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina), and New Zealand among many other countries.\nItaly and Spain have been popular emigration destinations, due to a relatively low [language barrier](https://bliptext.com/articles/language-barrier), and both are each now home to about a million Romanians.\nWith respect to geopolitical identity, many individuals of Romanian ethnicity in Moldova prefer to identify themselves as [Moldovans](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldovans).\nThe contemporary total population of ethnic Romanians cannot be stated with any degree of certainty.\nA disparity can be observed between official sources (such as [census](https://bliptext.com/articles/census) counts) where they exist, and estimates which come from non-official sources and interested groups.\nSeveral inhibiting factors (not unique to this particular case) contribute towards this uncertainty, which may include:\nFor example, the decennial [US Census](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-census) of 2000 calculated (based on a [statistical sampling](https://bliptext.com/articles/sampling-statistics) of household data) that there were 367,310 respondents indicating Romanian ancestry (roughly 0.1% of the total population).\nThe actual total recorded number of foreign-born Romanians was only 136,000.\nHowever, some non-specialist organisations have produced estimates which are considerably higher: a 2002 study by the Romanian-American Network Inc. mentions an estimated figure of 1,200,000 for the number of [Romanian Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-americans).\nWhich makes the United States home to the largest Romanian community outside Romania.\nThis estimate notes however that \"...other immigrants of Romanian national minority groups have been included such as: [Armenians](https://bliptext.com/articles/armenians-of-romania), [Germans](https://bliptext.com/articles/germans-of-romania), [Gypsies](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people-in-romania), [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians-in-romania), [Jews](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-the-jews-in-romania), and [Ukrainians](https://bliptext.com/articles/ukrainians-of-romania)\".\nIt also includes an unspecified allowance for second- and third-generation Romanians, and an indeterminate number living in Canada.\nAn error range for the estimate is not provided.\nFor the [United States 2000 Census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2000-united-states-census) figures, almost 20% of the total population did not classify or report an ancestry, and the census is also subject to undercounting, an incomplete (67%) response rate, and sampling error in general.\nIn [Republika Srpska](https://bliptext.com/articles/republika-srpska), one of the two entities constituting [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina) together with the Federation of [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnia-and-herzegovina), Romanians are legally recognized as an ethnic minority.\n# [300x300px | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Map///of///the///Romanian///Diaspora///in///the///World.svg]\n# [Charts depicting share of Romanians living abroad within other states of the European Union | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/2015-04-08///09.26.08///pm.png]\n# [Romanians of Zakarpattia Oblast in Carpathian Ruthenia, western Ukraine, performing a traditional dance. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Romanians///of///Zakarpattya///Oblast///dancing.jpg]\n\n# Culture\n\n## Contributions to contemporary culture\nRomanians have played and contributed a major role in the advancement of the [arts](https://bliptext.com/articles/arts), culture, [sciences](https://bliptext.com/articles/sciences), technology and [engineering](https://bliptext.com/articles/engineering).\nIn the history of aviation, [Traian Vuia](https://bliptext.com/articles/traian-vuia) and [Aurel Vlaicu](https://bliptext.com/articles/aurel-vlaicu) built and tested some of the earliest aircraft designs, while [Henri Coandă](https://bliptext.com/articles/henri-coand) discovered the [Coandă effect](https://bliptext.com/articles/coand-effect) of fluidics.\n[Victor Babeș](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-babe) discovered more than 50 germs and a cure for a disease named after him, [babesiosis](https://bliptext.com/articles/babesiosis); biologist [Nicolae Paulescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/nicolae-paulescu) was among the first scientists to identify [insulin](https://bliptext.com/articles/insulin).\nAnother biologist, [Emil Palade](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-palade), received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to [cell biology](https://bliptext.com/articles/cell-biology).\n[George Constantinescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-constantinescu) created the [theory of sonics](https://bliptext.com/articles/theory-of-sonics), while mathematician [Ștefan Odobleja](https://bliptext.com/articles/tefan-odobleja) has been claimed as \"the ideological father behind [cybernetics](https://bliptext.com/articles/cybernetics)\" – his work The Consonantist Psychology (Paris, 1938) was supposedly the main source of inspiration for [N. Wiener](https://bliptext.com/articles/n-wiener)'s Cybernetics (Paris, 1948).\n[Lazăr Edeleanu](https://bliptext.com/articles/laz-r-edeleanu) was the first chemist to synthesize [amphetamine](https://bliptext.com/articles/amphetamine) and also invented the modern method of [refining](https://bliptext.com/articles/oil-refinery) [crude oil](https://bliptext.com/articles/crude-oil).\nIn the arts and culture, prominent figures were [George Enescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-enescu) (music composer, violinist, professor of Sir [Yehudi Menuhin](https://bliptext.com/articles/yehudi-menuhin)), [Constantin Brâncuși](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantin-br-ncu-i) (sculptor), [Eugène Ionesco](https://bliptext.com/articles/eug-ne-ionesco) (playwright), [Mircea Eliade](https://bliptext.com/articles/mircea-eliade) (historian of religion and novelist), [Emil Cioran](https://bliptext.com/articles/emil-cioran) (essayist, Prix de l'Institut Français for stylism) and [Angela Gheorghiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/angela-gheorghiu) (soprano).\nMore recently, filmmakers such as [Cristi Puiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/cristi-puiu) and [Cristian Mungiu](https://bliptext.com/articles/cristian-mungiu) have attracted international acclaim, as has fashion designer [Ioana Ciolacu](https://bliptext.com/articles/ioana-ciolacu).\nIn sports, Romanians have excelled in a variety of fields, such as football ([Gheorghe Hagi](https://bliptext.com/articles/gheorghe-hagi)), gymnastics ([Nadia Comăneci](https://bliptext.com/articles/nadia-com-neci), [Lavinia Miloșovici](https://bliptext.com/articles/lavinia-milo-ovici) etc.), tennis ([Ilie Năstase](https://bliptext.com/articles/ilie-n-stase), [Ion Țiriac](https://bliptext.com/articles/ion-iriac), [Simona Halep](https://bliptext.com/articles/simona-halep)), rowing ([Ivan Patzaichin](https://bliptext.com/articles/ivan-patzaichin)) and handball (four times men's [World Cup](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-men-s-handball-championship) winners).\n[Count Dracula](https://bliptext.com/articles/count-dracula) is a worldwide icon of Romania.\nThis character was created by the Irish fiction writer [Bram Stoker](https://bliptext.com/articles/bram-stoker), based on some stories spread in the late [Middle Ages](https://bliptext.com/articles/middle-ages) by the frustrated German tradesmen of Kronstadt ([Brașov](https://bliptext.com/articles/bra-ov)) and on some [vampire folk](https://bliptext.com/articles/vampire-folklore-by-region) tales about the historic Romanian figure of Prince [Vlad Țepeș](https://bliptext.com/articles/vlad-iii-dracula).\n\n## Religion\nAlmost 90% of all Romanians consider themselves religious.\nThe vast majority are [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy) Christians, belonging to the [Romanian Orthodox Church](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanian-orthodox-church) (a branch of [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy)y, or [Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-orthodoxy) Church, together with the Greek Orthodox, Orthodox Church of Georgia and Russian Orthodox Churches, among others).\nRomanians form the [third largest ethno-linguistic group among Eastern Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-contemporary-ethnic-groups) in the world.\nAccording to the 2011 census, 93.6% of ethnic Romanians in Romania identified themselves as Romanian Orthodox (in comparison to 81% of Romania's total population, including other ethnic groups).\nHowever, the actual rate of church attendance is significantly lower and many Romanians are only nominally believers.\nFor example, according to a 2006 [Eurobarometer](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurobarometer) poll, only 23% of Romanians attend church once a week or more.\nA 2006 poll conducted by the [Open Society Foundations](https://bliptext.com/articles/open-society-foundations) found that only 33% of Romanians attended church once a month or more.\nThere are no official dates for the adoption of religions by the Romanians.\nBased on linguistic and archaeological findings, historians suggest that the Romanians' ancestors acquired polytheistic religions in the Roman era, later adopting Christianity, most likely by the 4th century AD when decreed by Emperor [Constantine the Great](https://bliptext.com/articles/constantine-the-great) as the official religion of the Roman Empire.\nLike in all other Romance languages, the basic Romanian words related to [Christian](https://bliptext.com/articles/christians)ity are inherited from Latin, such as [God](https://bliptext.com/articles/god) ([Dumnezeu](https://bliptext.com/articles/dumnezeu) < Domine Deus), church (biserică < basilica), [cross](https://bliptext.com/articles/cross) (cruce < crux, -cis), angel (înger < angelus), saint (regional: sfân(t) < sanctus), Christmas (Crăciun < creatio, -onis), [Christian](https://bliptext.com/articles/christians) (creștin < christianus), Easter (paște < paschae), sin (păcat < peccatum), to baptise (a boteza < batizare), priest (preot < presbiterum), to pray (a ruga < rogare), faith (credință < credentia), and so on.\nAfter the [Roman Catholic-Eastern Orthodox Schism of 1054](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-west-schism), there existed a [Roman Catholic Diocese of Cumania](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-catholic-diocese-of-cumania) for a short period of time, from 1228 to 1241.\nHowever, this seems to be the exception, rather than the rule, as in both [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) and [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) the state religion was Eastern Orthodox.\nUntil the 17th century, the official language of the liturgy was [Old Church Slavonic](https://bliptext.com/articles/old-church-slavonic) (a.k.a. Middle Bulgarian).\nThen, it gradually changed to Romanian.\n\n## Symbols\nIn addition to the colours of the [Romanian flag](https://bliptext.com/articles/history-of-romania), each historical province of Romania has its own characteristic symbol:\nThe [coat of arms of Romania](https://bliptext.com/articles/coat-of-arms-of-romania) combines these together.\n\n## Customs\n\n### Traditional costumes\n\n# Relationship to other ethnic groups\nThe closest ethnic groups to the Romanians are the other Romanic peoples of Southeastern Europe: the [Aromanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanians) ([Macedo](https://bliptext.com/articles/macedonia-region)-Romanians), the [Megleno-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanians), and the [Istro-Romanians](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanians).\nThe Istro-Romanians are the closest ethnic group to the Romanians, and it is believed they left [Maramureș](https://bliptext.com/articles/maramure), [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania) about a thousand years ago and settled in [Istria](https://bliptext.com/articles/istria), Croatia.\nNumbering about 500 people still living in the original villages of Istria while the majority left for other countries after World War II (mainly to Italy, United States, Canada, Spain, Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, and Australia), they speak the [Istro-Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/istro-romanian-language), the closest living relative of Romanian.\nOn the other hand, the Aromanians and the Megleno-Romanians are Romance peoples who live south of the Danube, mainly in Greece, Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria although some of them migrated to Romania in the 20th century.\nIt is believed that they diverged from the Romanians in the 7th to 9th century, and currently speak the [Aromanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/aromanian-language) and [Megleno-Romanian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/megleno-romanian-language), both of which are Eastern Romance languages, like Romanian, and are sometimes considered by traditional Romanian linguists to be dialects of Romanian.\n\n# Genetics\nA Bulgarian study from 2013 shows genetic similarity between [Thracians](https://bliptext.com/articles/thracians) (8-6 century BC), medieval Bulgarians (8–10 century AD), and modern Bulgarians, highlighting highest resemblance between them and Romanians, Northern Italians and Northern Greeks.\nA genetic study published in [Scientific Reports](https://bliptext.com/articles/scientific-reports) in 2019 examined the [mtDNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of 25 Thracian remains in [Bulgaria](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulgaria) from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. They were found to harbor a mixture of ancestry from [Western Steppe Herders](https://bliptext.com/articles/western-steppe-herders) (WSHs) and [Early European Farmers](https://bliptext.com/articles/early-european-farmers) (EEFs), supporting the idea that Southeast Europe was the link between Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.\nThe prevailing Y-chromosome in [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia) ([Ploiești](https://bliptext.com/articles/ploie-ti), [Dolj](https://bliptext.com/articles/dolj-county)), [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia) ([Piatra Neamț](https://bliptext.com/articles/piatra-neam), [Buhuși](https://bliptext.com/articles/buhu-i)), [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja) ([Constanța](https://bliptext.com/articles/constan-a)), and northern Republic of Moldova is recorded to be [Haplogroup I](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-y-dna).\nSubclades [I1](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-m253) and [I2](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-i-m438) can be found in most present-day European populations, with peaks in some [Northern European](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-europe) and [Southeastern European](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeastern-europe) countries.\nHaplogroup I occurs at 32% in Romanians.\nThe frequency of I2a1 (I-P37) in the Balkans today is owed to indigenous European tribes, and was present before the [Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-migrations-to-southeastern-europe).\nA similar result was cited in a study investigating the genetic pool of people from Republic of Moldova, concluded about the representative samples taken for comparison from Romanians from the towns of Piatra-Neamț and Buhuși that \"the most common Y haplogroup in this population was I-M423 (40.7%). This is the highest frequency of the I-M423 haplogroup reported so far outside of the northwest Balkans. The next most frequent among Romanian males was haplogroup R-M17* (16.7%), followed by R-M405 (7.4%), E-v13 and R-M412* (both 5.6%).\"\nThe I-M423 haplogroup is a subclade of I2a, a haplogroup prosperous in the [Starcevo](https://bliptext.com/articles/star-evo-k-r-s-cri-culture) culture and its possible offshoot [Cucuteni–Trypillia culture](https://bliptext.com/articles/cucuteni-trypillia-culture) (4800-3000 BCE).\nThe high concentration of I2a1b-L621, the main subclade, is attributed to Bronze Age and Early Iron Age migrations (Dacians, Thracians, Illyrians) and the medieval Slavic migrations.\nAccording to a Y-chromosome analysis of 335 sampled Romanians, 15% of them belong to R1a.\n[Haplogroup R1a](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-r1a), is a [human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup](https://bliptext.com/articles/human-y-chromosome-dna-haplogroup) which is distributed in a large region in [Eurasia](https://bliptext.com/articles/eurasia), extending from [Scandinavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/scandinavia) and [Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-europe) to southern [Siberia](https://bliptext.com/articles/siberia) and [South Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-asia).\nHaplogroup R1a among Romanians is entirely from the Eastern European variety Z282 and may be a result of Baltic, Thracian or Slavic descent.\n12% of the Romanians belong to [Haplogroup R1b](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-r1b), the Alpino-Italic branch of R1b is at 2% a lower frequency recorded than other Balkan peoples.\nThe eastern branches of R1b represent 7%, they prevail in parts of [Eastern and Central Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-and-central-europe) as a result of Ancient [Greek colonisation](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-colonisation) – in parts of Sicily as well.\nOther studies analyzing the haplogroup frequency among Romanians came to similar results.\nDelving into the regional differences of [Mitochondrial DNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of Romanians, a 2014 study emphasised the different position of North and South Romanian populations (ie inside and outside of the Carpathian range) in terms of mitochondrial haplotype variability.\nThe population within the Carpathian range was found to have [haplogroup H](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-h-mtdna) at 59.7% frequency, U at 11.3%, K and HV at 3.23% each, and M, X and A at 1.61% each.\nThe South Romanian population also showed the highest frequency in [haplogroup H](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-h-mtdna) at 47% (lower than in the sample from the North of Romania), [haplogroup U](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-u-mtdna) showed a noticeable frequency at 17% (higher than in the sample from North Romania), haplogroups HV and K at 10.61% and 7.58%, respectively, while haplogroups M, X and A were absent.\nComparing the results to European and international samples, the study proposes a weak differentiated distribution of mitochondrial haplogroups between inner and outer Carpathian population (rather than North-South boundary) based on higher frequency for the [haplogroup J](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-jt-mtdna) and [haplogroup K2a](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-k-mtdna) in the Southern Romanian sample - considered as markers of the Neolithic expansion in Europe from the Near East, the absence of K2a and the presence of [haplogroup M](https://bliptext.com/articles/haplogroup-m-mtdna) in Northern Romanian sample - with higher frequency in Western and Southern Asia, and the inclusion of both Romanian populations within the range of the European mitochondrial variability, rather than being closer to the Near Eastern populations.\nThe North Romanian sample was also found to be slightly separated from the other samples included in the study.\nA 2017 paper concentrated on the [Mitochondrial DNA](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna) of Romanians, showed how Romania has been \"a major crossroads between Asia and Europe\" and thus \"experienced continuous migration and invasion episodes\"; while stating that previous studies show Romanians \"exhibit genetic similarity with other Europeans\".\nThe paper also mentions how \"signals of Asian maternal lineages were observed in all Romanian historical provinces, indicating gene flow along the migration routes through [East Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-asia) and Europe, during different time periods, namely, the Upper Paleolithic period and/or, with a likely greater preponderance, the Middle Ages\", at low frequency (2.24%).\nThe study analysed 714 samples, representative to the 41 counties of Romania, and grouped them in 4 categories corresponding to historical Romanian provinces: [Wallachia](https://bliptext.com/articles/wallachia), [Moldavia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moldavia), [Transylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/transylvania), and [Dobruja](https://bliptext.com/articles/dobruja).\nThe majority was classified within 9 Eurasian mitochondrial haplogroups (H, U, K, T, J, HV, V, W, and X), while also finding sequences that belonged to the most frequent Asian haplogroups (haplogroups A, C, D, I - at 2.24% overall frequency, and M and N) and African haplogroup L (two samples in Wallachia and one in Dobruja).\nThe H, V, and X haplogroups were detected at higher frequencies in Transylvania, while the frequency of U and N was lower, with M being absent, interpreted as an indicator of genetic proximity of Transylvania to Central European populations, in contrast to the other three provinces, which showed resemblance to Balkan populations.\nThe Dobrujan samples showed a larger contribution of genes from Southwestern Asia which the authors attributed to a larger Asian influence historically and/or its smaller sample size compared to that of the other populations included.\n# [Main Y-DNA haplogroups for average Romanian population and per historical regions. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Romanian///Y-dna///Pie///Charts.png]\n# [Procrustes-transformed PCA plot of genetic variation of European populations. (A) Geographic coordinates of 37 populations. (B) Procrustes-transformed PCA plot of genetic variation. The Procrustes analysis is based on the unprojected latitude-longitude coordinates and PC1-PC2 coordinates of 1378 individuals. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Procrustes-transformed///PCA///plot///of///genetic///variation///of///European///populations.png]\n\n# Ethnogenesis\nThree theories account for the ethnogenesis of the Romanian people.\nOne, known as the Daco-[Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) continuity theory, posits that they are descendants of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)s and [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ized indigenous peoples ([[Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia)ns](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacians)) living in the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) Province of [Dacia](https://bliptext.com/articles/dacia), while the other posits that the [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ians are descendants of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)s and [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ized indigenous populations of the former [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) provinces of [Illyricum](https://bliptext.com/articles/illyricum-roman-province), [Moesia](https://bliptext.com/articles/moesia), [Thracia](https://bliptext.com/articles/thrace), and [Macedonia](https://bliptext.com/articles/macedonia-roman-province), and the ancestors of [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire)ians later migrated from these [Roman](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-empire) provinces south of the [Danube](https://bliptext.com/articles/danube) into the area which they inhabit today.\nThe third theory also known as the admigration theory, proposed by [Dimitrie Onciul](https://bliptext.com/articles/dimitrie-onciul) (1856–1923), posits that the formation of the Romanian people occurred in the former \"Dacia Traiana\" province, and in the central regions of the Balkan Peninsula.\nHowever, the Balkan Vlachs' northward migration ensured that these centers remained in close contact for centuries.\nThis theory is a compromise between the immigrationist and the continuity theories.\n\n# Demographics\nThe largest ethnic group in Romania is ethnic Romanians, followed by [Hungarians](https://bliptext.com/articles/hungarians) and [Romani people](https://bliptext.com/articles/romani-people).\n\n# Maps\n\n# Notes and references","revisionCount":3},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}