Romanians
Romanians (Romanian: români, pronounced [roˈmɨnʲ]; dated exonym Vlachs) are a Romance-speaking[56][57][58] ethnic group and nation native to Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe.[59] Sharing a common culture and ancestry, they speak the Romanian language and live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2021 Romanian census found that 89.3% of Romania's citizens identified themselves as ethnic Romanians.[60]
Not to be confused with Romani people or Aromanians.
Români
1,206,938 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups[5]
1,206,938 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups[5]
866,000 (2022) migrants from Romania of all ethnic groups, including a wide range of Romanian Germans as well[6]
329,000 Romanian-born residents (2022)[10]
150,989 (additional 258,619 Moldovans)[13]
131,788 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups, including many Transylvanian Saxons as well[14]
92,746 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups[15]
46,523 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[16]
39,654 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups[17]
39,000 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[18]
36,506[19]
34,960 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[20]
32,294 born in Romania, of all ethnic groups[21]
29,186 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[22]
24,376 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[23]
23,044 (additional 21,013 Timok Vlachs)[24]
21,593 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[25]
18,877 migrants of Romania, of all ethnic groups[26]
14,411 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[29]
5,209 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[30]
c. 5,000[31]
4,941 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[32]
4,902 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[33]
3,201[34]
2,000
1,463 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[35]
891[36]
100[37]
518,653–1,400,000 (incl. mixed origin, Romanian Germans and Romanian Jews)[38][39][40][41][42]
518,653–1,400,000 (incl. mixed origin, Romanian Germans and Romanian Jews)[38][39][40][41][42]
569[45]
200,000 migrants from Romania and Romanian citizens, of all ethnic groups[46]
200,000 migrants from Romania and Romanian citizens, of all ethnic groups[46]
10,000 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups[47]
10,000 of Romanian origin, including Romanian Jews and Romanian Romani[48]
350[49]
200[49]
174[49]
20,998 first and second generation migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups[50]
20,998 first and second generation migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups[50]
3,100[51]
100,823[52] (mostly Romanian Jews)
100,823[52] (mostly Romanian Jews)
2,708[53]
100[49]
2,828[52]
2,828[52]
420[49]
In one interpretation of the 1989 census results in Moldova, the majority of Moldovans were counted as ethnic Romanians as well.[61][62] Romanians also form an ethnic minority in several nearby countries situated in Central, Southeastern, and Eastern Europe, most notably in Hungary, Serbia (including Timok), and Ukraine.
Estimates 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. Other speakers of the latter languages are the Aromanians, the Megleno-Romanians, and the Istro-Romanians (native to Istria), all of them unevenly distributed throughout the Balkan Peninsula, which may be considered either Romanian subgroups or separated but related ethnicities.
Most Romanians live in Romania, where they constitute a majority; Romanians also constitute a minority in the countries that neighbour Romania. Romanians 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, and New Zealand among many other countries. Italy and Spain have been popular emigration destinations, due to a relatively low language barrier, and both are each now home to about a million Romanians. With respect to geopolitical identity, many individuals of Romanian ethnicity in Moldova prefer to identify themselves as Moldovans.[61][62]
The contemporary total population of ethnic Romanians cannot be stated with any degree of certainty. A disparity can be observed between official sources (such as census counts) where they exist, and estimates which come from non-official sources and interested groups. Several inhibiting factors (not unique to this particular case) contribute towards this uncertainty, which may include:
For example, the decennial US Census of 2000 calculated (based on a statistical sampling of household data) that there were 367,310 respondents indicating Romanian ancestry (roughly 0.1% of the total population).[149]
The actual total recorded number of foreign-born Romanians was only 136,000.[150] However, 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[42] for the number of Romanian Americans. Which makes the United States home to the largest Romanian community outside Romania.
This estimate notes however that "...other immigrants of Romanian national minority groups have been included such as: Armenians, Germans, Gypsies, Hungarians, Jews, and Ukrainians". It also includes an unspecified allowance for second- and third-generation Romanians, and an indeterminate number living in Canada. An error range for the estimate is not provided. For the United States 2000 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.
In Republika Srpska, one of the two entities constituting Bosnia and Herzegovina together with the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romanians are legally recognized as an ethnic minority.[151]
Relationship to other ethnic groups[edit]
The closest ethnic groups to the Romanians are the other Romanic peoples of Southeastern Europe: the Aromanians (Macedo-Romanians), the Megleno-Romanians, and the Istro-Romanians. The Istro-Romanians are the closest ethnic group to the Romanians, and it is believed they left Maramureș, Transylvania about a thousand years ago and settled in Istria, Croatia.[159] Numbering 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, the closest living relative of Romanian. On 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. It is believed that they diverged from the Romanians in the 7th to 9th century, and currently speak the Aromanian language and 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.
Demographics[edit]
The largest ethnic group in Romania is ethnic Romanians, followed by Hungarians and Romani people.[181]
Mid-19th century French map depicting Romanians in Central and Eastern Europe
Modern distribution of the Eastern Romance-speaking ethnic groups (including, most notably, the Romanians)
Romanians in Central Europe (coloured in blue), 1880
Ethnic map of Austria-Hungary and Romania, 1892
British map depicting territories inhabited by Eastern Romance peoples before the outbreak of World War I
Romanian speakers in Central and Eastern Europe, early 20th century
Map of the Kingdom of Romania at its greatest extent (1920–1940)
Geographic distribution of ethnic Romanians in the early 21st century
Notable regions with inhabited by Eastern Romance speakers at the beginning of the 21st century
Map highlighting the three main sub-groups of Daco-Romanians
Geographic distribution of Romanians in Romania (coloured in purple) at commune level (2011 census)
Geographic distribution of Romanian in Romania (coloured in purple) at county level (2011 census)
