Vlachs

Vlachs (English pronunciation: /ˈvlɑːk/ or /ˈvlæk/) is a historical term used for Eastern Romance-speaking peoples in the Balkans and Eastern Europe; it is also an exonym used to refer to several modern peoples from the population in present-day Romania and Moldova, the southern Balkan Peninsula and south and west of the Danube. Vlachs were initially identified and described during the 11th century by George Kedrenos.

According to one origin theory, the Vlachs originated from Latinized Dacians. According to some linguists and scholars, the Eastern Romance languages prove the survival of the Thraco-Romans in the lower Danube basin during the Migration Period and western Balkan populations known as "Vlachs" also have had Romanized Illyrian origins. Nearly all central- and southeastern European nations (Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Greece and Bulgaria) have native Vlach (or Romanian) minorities; in other countries, like Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Vlachs have assimilated to the Slavic population. The term was also commonly used for shepherds, like in mountains of Herzegovina region of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Today, Eastern Romance-speaking communities number around 24.19 million people.

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