Vlachs in Serbia
 |
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (35,330 (2011 census)) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Eastern Central Serbia | |
| Languages | |
| Vlach and Serbian | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Eastern Orthodox | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Romanians of Serbia |
The Vlachs (endonym: Rumînji or Rumâni, Serbian: Власи/Vlasi) are an ethnic minority in eastern Serbia, culturally and linguistically related to Romanians. They mostly live in the Timočka Krajina region (roughly corresponding to the districts of Bor and Zaječar), but also in Braničevo and Pomoravlje districts. A small Vlach population also exists in Smederevo and Velika Plana (Podunavlje District), and in the municipalities of Aleksinac and Kruševac (Rasina District).
Vlach is an exonym for the eastern Romance speaking community in the Balkans, which resulted from the occupation and cololization of the region during the Roman Empire. The Vlachs were often semi-nomadic due to their pastoral livelihood. Northeastern Serbia is home to several Vlach/Romanian communities who speak dialects similar ones in parts of western Romania: in Banat, Transylvania, and Oltenia (Lesser Walachia). These are the Ungureni (Ungurjani, Унгурјани), Munteni (Munćani, Мунћани) and Bufeni (Bufani, Буфани). Today, about three quarters of the Vlach population speak the Ungurean subdialect which is similar to the Romanian language spoken in Banat. In the 19th century other groups of Romanians originating in Oltenia (Lesser Wallachia) also settled south of the Danube. These are the Țărani (Carani, Царани), who form some 25% of the modern population and speak a variety of Oltenian dialect. From the 15th through the 18th centuries large numbers of Serbs also migrated across the Danube, but in the opposite direction, to both Banat and Țara Româneasca. Significant migration ended by the establishment of the kingdoms of Serbia and Romania in the second half of the 19th century. The Vlachs of northeastern Serbia share close linguistic and cultural ties with the Vlachs in the region of Vidin in Bulgaria as well as the Romanians of Banat and Oltenia (Lesser Wallachia). Some authors consider that the majority of Vlachs/Romanians in Timočka Krajina are descendants of Romanians that migrated from Hungary in the 18th and 19th centuries.
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