Romanians

The Romanians (Romanian: români, pronounced [roˈmɨnʲ]; dated exonym Vlachs) are a Romance-speaking[54][55][56][57] ethnic group, native to Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe.[58] Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2021 Romanian census found that 89.3% of Romania's citizens identified themselves as ethnic Romanians.[59]

Quick facts: Români, Total population, Regions with signif... ▼

Romanians

Români
Ethnic distribution of Romanians around the world
Total population
c. 22.8–24.8 million[1] (including Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups living abroad)
Regions with significant populations
Romania 19,053,815 (2022 Romanian census)[2]  Moldova 192,800 (2014 Moldovan census; additional 2,068,058 Moldovans)[3][4]
Other countries
Europe  Italy 1,206,938 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups[5]  Spain 671,985–1,079,726 (2022) Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups. The second number includes all Romanians in Spain, thus taking into account second and third generation Romanians or nationalized ones that count as Spanish in the census.[6][7]  Germany 866,000 (2022) migrants from Romania of all ethnic groups, including a wide range of Romanian Germans as well[8]  United Kingdom 345,000 Romanian-born residents (2020)[9]  France 200,000–500,000 (2022)[10] Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[11]  Ukraine 150,989 (additional 258,619 Moldovans)[12]  Austria 131,788 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups, including many Transylvanian Saxons as well[13]  Belgium 92,746 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups[14]  Greece 46,523 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[15]  Netherlands 39,654 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups[16]  Portugal 39,000 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[17]  Hungary 36,506[18]  Denmark 34,960 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[19]  Sweden 32,294 born in Romania, of all ethnic groups[20]  Ireland 29,186 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[21] Cyprus 24,376 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[22]  Serbia 23,044 (additional 21,013 Timok Vlachs)[23]   Switzerland 21,593 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[24]  Norway 18,877 migrants of Romania, of all ethnic groups[25]  Czech Republic 14,684 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[26][27]  Turkey 14,411 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[28]  Luxembourg 5,209 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[29]  Poland c. 5,000[30]  Slovakia 4,941 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[31]  Finland 4,902 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[32]  Russia 3,201[33]  Malta 2,000[citation needed]  Iceland 1,463 Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups[34]  Bulgaria 891[35]  Bosnia and Herzegovina 100[36]
North America  United States 518,653–1,400,000 (incl. mixed origin, Romanian Germans and Romanian Jews)[37][38][39][40][41]  Canada 204,625–400,000 (incl. mixed origin)[42][43]  Mexico 569[44]
South America  Brazil 200,000 migrants from Romania and Romanian citizens, of all ethnic groups[45]  Venezuela 10,000 migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups[46]  Argentina 10,000 of Romanian origin, including Romanian Jews and Romanian Romani[47]  Colombia 350[48]  Uruguay 200[48]  Peru 174[48]
Oceania  Australia 20,998 first and second generation migrants from Romania, of all ethnic groups[49]  New Zealand 3,100[50]
Asia  Israel 100,823[51] (mostly Romanian Jews)  Kazakhstan 421[52][53]  Vietnam 100[48]
Africa  South Africa 2,828[51]  Egypt 420[48]
Languages
Romanian
Religion
Predominantly Orthodox Christianity (Romanian Orthodox Church), also Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, and Protestant
Related ethnic groups
Other Eastern Romance-speaking peoples (most notably Moldovans, Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, and Istro-Romanians)

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In one interpretation of the 1989 census results in Moldova, the majority of Moldovans were counted as ethnic Romanians in this country as well.[60][61] 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 (or Balkan Romance languages).

Other speakers of the latter languages are the Aromanians, the Megleno-Romanians, and the Istro-Romanians (native to Istria, Croatia), all of them unevenly distributed throughout the Balkan Peninsula, which may be considered either Romanian subgroups or separated yet, nevertheless, related ethnicities.