Vlachs of Serbia: Difference between revisions

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	{{Ethnic group\|
	\|group=Vlachs of Serbia
	\|image=]
	\|poptime=50,000 (cens.) - 245,700 (est.)
	\|popplace=]:<br>40,000<br>]:<br>10,000
	\|langs=] (]) \|rels=Predominantly ].
	<br/>
	}}

	''']''' (]/]: ''Rumâni'', ]: Власи or ''Vlasi'') are an ethnic group of ], culturally and linguistically cognate to ]. There are opposite views whether Vlachs should be regarded as Romanians or as members of distinctive Vlach nationality. Serbian authorities agreed to recognize the Romanian identity of those Vlachs who consider themselves Romanians ''(See also: ])''.

	Vlachs mostly live in eastern Serbia, mainly in ] region (roughly corresponding to ] and ] districts), but also in ] and ] districts. Some Vlachs also live around ] in ]. Also a small Vlach population exists in ] and ] (]), and in the municipalities of ] and ] (]), as well as in the ] in ].

	==Religion and language==

	Most Vlachs are ] by faith and they speak the ] (]) language. The language spoken by one major group of Vlachs is similar to the Oltenian dialect spoken in ] while that of the other major group is similar to the Romanian dialect of Banat.

	The Serbian Vlachs belong to the ]. However, by the canon of Orthodox church, no other local Orthodox church is allowed to operate within its territory. The relative isolation of the Vlachs has permitted the survival of various pre-Christian religious rites that are frowned upon by the Orthodox Church. Vlach magic rituals are well known across Serbia. Like the ], Vlachs celebrate the 'slava', though its meaning is chtonic (related to the house and farmland) rather than familial.

	Although the Vlachs of the Timočka Krajina are culturally and linguistically cognate to Romanians, their history since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century has significantly affected their political and cultural orientation towards the Serbian state and church.

	==Subgroups==
	Vlachs are divided into many groups, each speaking their own variant:
	* the ] (''Serbian:'' Carani)
	* the ] or Ungureani (''Serbian:'' Ungurjani)
	** ] (''Serbian:'' Ungurjani-Munćani), meaning: "the ungureni from the mountains"
	* ]

	Of these, the ''Ungureni'' of Homolje are related to the Romanians of ] and ], since ''Ungureni'' (compare with the word "]") is a term used by the Romanians of ] to describe their kin who once lived in provinces formerly part of the ]. The connection is evident in the similarities of dialectal phonology and folk music motifs as well as in sayings such as "Ducă-se pe ]" (May the Mureş take it away), a reference to the Transylvanian river.

	The ''Ţărani'' of the Bor, Negotin and Zaječar regions are closer to ] (Lesser Walachia) in their speech and music. The Ţăran saying "Nu dau un leu pe el" (He's not worth even a ]) can possibly show their Romanian origin since the leu is a Romanian monetary unit. However, it can also show a possible trade connections between Ţărani and the Romanian population that lives just across the ].

	There has been considerable intermixing between the Ungureni and Ţărani so that a dialect has evolved sharing peculiarities of both regions.

	The Bufani are immigrants from ] (Oltenia).

	There is also a population of vlachophone (Vlach speaking) ] centered around the village of ], as well as a few ] families who live in ], but they form a tiny migrant group.

	== Origins ==
	Some of the Vlachs of East Serbia were settled there from regions north of the Danube by the Habsburgs at the beginning of the 18th century. The origins of these Vlachs are indicated by their own self-designations: ''Ungurjani'' (Ungureani), i.e. those who came from Hungary (that is, Banat and Transylvania). The ''Carani'' (Ţărani) are either an autochthonic Vlach population of the region (their name means "people of the country" or "countrymen"), or they came from Wallachia (in Romanian: Ţara Românească - "Romanian State").

	The area roughly defined by the Morava, the Danube and the Timok rivers where most of the Vlachs live became part of modern Serbia starting from 1804. Prior to that, the land was part of the ] (] and ]) and ] (]).

	The second wave of Vlachs from present-day Romania came at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1835 feudalism was fully abolished in the Principality of Serbia and a large number of individuals and smaller groups from Wallachia came there to enjoy the status of free peasants.

	Thus the idea that all Vlachs of Serbia are descendants of the original Romanized population of the Balkans that never moved from this region is incorrect. However, it is likely that some of them can trace their ancient roots to this region. The present geographic location of the Vlachs is near the medieval Bulgaro-Vlach empire of the Asens, suggesting their continuity in the area. In addition a Vlach population in the regions around Braničevo (near the ancient Roman city of Viminacium) is attested by 15th century Ottoman defters (tax records). The modern Vlachs occupy the same area where in antiquity the Romans had a strong presence for many centuries: Viminacium and Felix Romuliana. In addition, the Vlachs from the area around Vidin in Bulgaria, with whom the Vlachs of Timok form a continuous group, separated only by the Danube by the Romanians, are natives to the area, not being the result of recent colonization or emigration.

	==Population==
	]
	In the 2002 census 40,054 people in Serbia declared themselves ethnic Vlachs, and 54,818 people declared themselves speakers of the ]. <ref name="popis2002">{{Sr icon}} {{PDFlink\|\|477 ]<!-- application/pdf, 488946 bytes -->}}, p. 2 and {{PDFlink\|\|441 ]<!-- application/pdf, 452227 bytes -->}}, p. 12</ref> The Vlachs of Serbia are recognized as an autochthonous ethnic group, separate to the ], which number 34,576 according to the 2002 census. On the census, the Vlachs declared themselves either as Serbs or Vlachs. Therefore, the "real" number of the people of Vlach origin could be much greater than the number of recorded Vlachs, both due to mixed marriages with Serbs and also Serbian national feeling among some full-blooded Vlachs.

	===Historical population (according to different censuses)===
	The following numbers reflect on the possible number of Vlachs in the ]es:
	*1816: 97,215 Romanians/Vlachs (10% of Serbia's population. Note that Serbia was several times smaller than today in 1816.) <ref>{{Ro icon}} V. Arion; ]; G. Vâlsan; ]; G. Bogdan-Duică. ''România şi popoarele balcanice'' (1913). Tipografia Românească. Bucureşti, p. 22</ref>
	*1859: 122,593 Romanians/Vlachs
	*1884: 149,713 Romanians/Vlachs
	*1890: 143,684 Romanians/Vlachs
	*1895: 159,510 Romanians/Vlachs
	*1921: 142,773 Vlach-speakers in Central Serbia
	*1931: 57,000 Romanian/Vlach/Cincar speakers were recorded in Eastern Serbia (52,635 in the ] and the rest in southern parts of ] south of the ]) {{Fact\|date=February 2007}}
	*1953: 198,793 Vlach-speakers in central Serbia (169,670 declared as Serbs, 29,000 as Vlachs) {{Fact\|date=February 2007}}
	*1961: 1,330 Vlachs
	*1981: 135,000 people declared ] as their mother language (population figure given for the ])<ref>{{Sr icon}} Ranko Bugarski, Jezici, Beograd, 1996.</ref>
	*1991: 71,536 Vlach-speakers in Serbia (of those 53,721 Serbs, 16,539 Vlachs, 42 Romanians; out of the 17,807 declared Vlachs, 677 Serbocroat-speakers) {{Fact\|date=February 2007}}
	*2002: 40,054 declared Vlachs, 54,818 people declared Vlach as their mother language (population figures given for entire ]) or 39,953 declared Vlachs, 54,726 people declared Vlach as their mother language (population figures given for ] only)<ref name="popis2002"/>

	The Vlach population is concentrated mostly in the region limited by ] (west), ] (north) and ] (south-east).

	By some Vlach organizations, in Eastern Serbia live around 250,000 people of Vlach origin, although the results of censuses can't prove that.

	===Number of Vlachs in Serbia by municipality===

	Official numbers of declared Vlachs (2002 census):
	*]
	**] - 10,064 (18.03%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 568 (2.41%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 2,817 (11.89%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 3,000 (6.91%) declared Vlachs

	*]
	**] - 2,981 (4.52%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 4,162 (26.26%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 3 (0.008%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 9 (0.05%) declared Vlachs

	*]
	**] - 109 (0.15%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 354 (1.71%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 870 (8.78%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 342 (2.62%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 3,268 (22.05%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 5,204 (27.67%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 401 (2.90%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 3,535 (10.24%) declared Vlachs

	*]
	**] - 1,356 (4.04%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 427 (1.67%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 235 (0.92%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 30 (0.04%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 1 (0.002%) declared Vlach

	*]
	**] - 9 (0.008%) declared Vlachs
	**] - 35 (0.08%) declared Vlachs

	*]
	**] - 0 (0%) declared Vlachs

	*]
	**] - 12 declared Vlachs
	**] - 3 declared Vlachs
	**] - 11 declared Vlachs
	**] - 11 declared Vlachs
	**] - 35 declared Vlachs
	**] - 7 declared Vlachs

	===Settlements inhabited by Vlachs===
	Settlements in Central Serbia with a Vlach majority or plurality are (2002 census data):
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).
	*] (] municipality).

	Vlachs also live in other places with majority Serb or mixed Serb/Vlach population, such as the ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], etc.

	==Vlach identity==

	The term "''Vlach''" is the English transcription of the Serbian term used to describe this group (''Vlasi''), while "''Roumanians''" or "''Romanians''" is the English transcription of its Romanian counterpart (''român/rumân''). <ref></ref><ref>: "We all know that we call ourselves in Romanian Romanians and in Serbian Vlachs."</ref>

	Despite their recognition as a separate ethnic group by the Serbian government, Vlachs are cognate to Romanians in the cultural and linguistic sense. Some Romanians, as well as international linguists and anthropologists, consider Serbia's Vlachs to be a subgroup of Romanians. Additionally, the Movement of Romanians-Vlachs in Serbia, which represents some Vlachs, has called for the recognition of the Vlachs as a Romanian national minority, giving them similar rights to the ]. However most Vlachs of Eastern Serbia opt either for the Vlach, or Serb identity rather than the Romanian one. <ref name="popis2002"/>

	Romania has given modest financial support to the Vlachs for the preservation of their culture and language, since at present the Vlachs' language is not recognized officially in any localities where they form a majority, there is no education in their mother tongue and there is no media or education funded by the Serbian state. Also there are no church services in Vlach. Until very recently in the regions populated by Vlachs church policy opposed the giving of non-Serbian baptismal names.

	Family names of Vlachs either are or sound Serbian because from the late 19th century up to the 1918 there was an edict that all citizens of ] should have last names ending in -ić, the base of the name usually coming from the then father's name: Nikolić, Marković, Radulović. There are a few notable exceptions where the Vlach / Romanian origin is evident, as in Jepurović (from iepure, meaning rabbit), Florić (from floare, meaning flower) or Stangačilović (from stângaci, meaning left-handed).

	On the other hand, some Vlachs consider themselves to be simply ] that speak the Vlach language. In fact ethnic research has found {{Fact\|date=April 2007}} that among the Serb-speaking population of Eastern Serbia, some are Slavicized Vlachs and some Vlach-speakers were formerly Slavs (such as in the village of ] near Zaječar and the village of Slatina near Bor, where Serbs had been assimilated as Vlachs for centuries) or even Roma (such as in Lukovo). Most Vlachs do not see themselves as ethnic Romanians, because, while culturally and linguistically cognate to Romanians, they have lived in Serbia for generations and hence do not identify with the ], but rather see themselves as a distinct Eastern Romance people. {{Fact\|date=February 2007}}

	Many of those Vlachs who see themselves as Serbs were historically hard-line Serbian nationalists, and many fought as volunteers on the Serbian side in the wars in ] and ], together with Serbs from those regions whom they saw as religious and ethnic brethren. One of the reasons why Vlachs consider Serbs to be their ethnic brethren is because many Serbs have Vlach origin. The Serbian Orthodox Church has played a large role in this. {{Fact\|date=April 2007}} In addition, during the Ottoman rule, Serbs migrated from the valleys to the mountains where they mixed with the Vlach population; thus, many present-day Serbs and Vlachs have both Slavic and Vlach blood.

	It must be noted that ] is commonly used as a historical umbrella term for all Latin peoples in ], including ]. In more recent usage, it is a synonym for Latin peoples south of the Danube, hence excluding Romanians. The old meaning is the origin for the modern Vlach ethnic identity, since Vlachs see themselves as descendants of those ancient Vlach peoples, and rather see Romanians as a subgroup of the Vlachs than Vlachs as a subgroup of Romanians. From the Vlach point of view, Romanians are those Vlachs who created their state of Romania and succeeded in gaining world acceptance for their own name for themselves, rather than the exonym term Vlach. In their own language Vlachs never use the term Vlach, but Rumân. They call their language ''română'', <ref>Website of the </ref> but sometimes also ''rumâneşce/româneşte''. {{Fact\|date=February 2007}}

	In some notes of the government of Serbia, officials recognise that "''certainly members of this population have similar characteristics with Romanians, and the language and folklore ride to their Romanian origin. The representants of the Vlach minority sustain their Romanian origin. ''"<ref>'''', published ] ]</ref>

	==Famous Vlachs==

	Possibly the best known Vlach from eastern Serbia is ], who was the president of the ] between 1993 and 1997.

	==See also==
	*]
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	*]
	*]

	==References==
	{{reflist}}

	==External links==

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	{{Ethnic groups of Serbia}}
	{{Ethnic groups in Bulgaria}}

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Revision as of 16:49, 12 August 2007

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Romanians of Serbia