#aromanians

ETHNIES OF THE WORLD : Balkans ethnies part 2 !

The Croats or Croatian are a South Slavic european people inhabitants of the country of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They speak croatian. The ethnonym "Croat" is first attested during the 9th century CE. Traditionally, scholarship has placed the arrival of the Croats in the 7th century, primarily on the basis of the later Byzantine document De Administrando Imperio. As such, the arrival of the Croats was seen as a second wave of Slavic migrations, which took over Dalmatia from Avar hegemony, and there are between 7 to 9 millions of them worldwide. Due to political, social and economic reasons, many Croats migrated to North and South America (Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay). They have their own culture and traditions. The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic european people inhabitants of the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and parts of Serbia and Montenegro. They speak bosnian. The western Balkans had been reconquered from "barbarians" by Byzantine Emperor Justinian. Slavs raided the western Balkans, including Bosnia, in the 6th century. After the death of Serbian ruler Časlav, Bosnia seems to have broken away from the Serbian state and became politically independent.,After frequent change of rule over the area between regional powers, a de facto independent Bosnian state known as the Banate of Bosnia arose in the 12th century, and there are around 3 millions of them throught the world. Ethnic cleansing and genocide during the Bosnian War (1992–95) have had an effect on the territorial distribution of the population. They have their own culture and traditions.

The Bulgarians are a South Slavic european people inhabitants of the country of Bulgaria. They speak bulgarian. The population of Bulgaria descend from peoples with different origins and numbers. They became assimilated by the Slavic settlers in the First Bulgarian Empire. Two of the non-Slavic nations maintain a legacy among modern-day Bulgarians : the Thracians, from whom cultural and ethnic elements were taken, and the Bulgars, who donated the ethnonym and the early statehood. The First Bulgarian Empire was founded in 681, and there around 9 millions of them. They have their own culture and traditions.

The Romanians are a Romance european people inhabitants of the country of Romania. They speak romanian. Two theories account for the origin of the Romanian people. One, known as the Daco-Roman continuity theory, posits that they are descendants of Romans and Romanized indigenous peoples living in the Roman Province of Dacia, while the other posits that the Romanians are descendants of Romans and Romanized indigenous populations of the former Roman provinces of Illyria, Moesia, Thrace, and Macedon, and the ancestors of Romanians later migrated from these Roman provinces south of the Danube into the area which they inhabit today, and there are 24 to 30 millions of them. They have their own culture and traditions.

The Aromanians, sometimes referred as Vlachs, are a Romance european people inhabitants of regions of Greece, Albania and North Macedonia. They speak aromanian. Vlachs originate from the Romanised people of south-eastern Europe; from a mix of Roman colonists (from various Roman provinces) and indigenous peoples who were Latinised. The Vlach peoples from the south Balkans have generally been identified as the indigenous populations with Thracian & Illyrian (Thraco-Illyrian) and Greco-Roman (Hellenic) origins, there are around 250 000 of them. They have their own culture and traditions.

The Romani, also known as Roma, are a Indo-Aryan people inhabitants of mainly the South of Europe, but can be found throught the whole of Europe and America, as they are a nomadic people. They speak romani, and generally the language of their native region. The Romani originate from the northern Indian subcontinent, from the Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab regions of modern-day India. They are dispersed, but their most concentrated populations are located in Europe, especially Central, Eastern and Southern Europe (including Turkey, Spain and Southern France). The Romani arrived in Mid-West Asia and Europe around 1007. They have been associated with another Indo-Aryan group, the Dom people: the two groups have been said to have separated from each other or, at least, to share a similar history. Specifically, the ancestors of both the Romani and the Dom left North India sometime between the 6th and 11th century. They are around 2 to 20 millions of them worldwide. Many have migrated to America, due to the heavy discrimination and opression that they suffer from the non-Romani Europeans. They have their own culture and traditions.

Studio portraits of models wearing traditional clothing from the Ottoman province of Yanïa, also known as the Vilayet of Janina (Ioannina, modern-day Greece, 1873):

Wealthy Albanian; married Albanian woman; Albanian child of a wealthy family (all from Yanïa).

Valaque (Aromanian) woman of Yanïa; Christian woman of Preveza; peasant woman from the environs of Tirhala (Trikala).

The Vlachs and their descendants in Eastern Europe

Although the Vlachs are not a Slavic people, they have a unique position of being one of the most influential non-Slavic groups throughout lands dominated by Slavs. Ranging from the highlands of Poland, Ukraine, Czech Moravia, and Slovakia all the way to the south Slavic nations of Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia, and Bosnia the Vlachs have had an important impact on the genetics and cultures of certain areas in these and neighboring nations.

The term Vlach itself is an umbrella term used to describe all speakers of Eastern Latin/Romance languages, however in this context it is used to refer to those speakers of Eastern Romance languages who developed an identity and ethnic consciousness separate from modern Romanians and Moldovans such as Aromanians. They are characterized by their common origins which is that of a Latinized Paleo-Balkan people, but also by their culture and their traditional way of life as nomadic shepherds. Unfortunately, the communist era and its collectivism eventually brought an end to the traditional nomadic lifestyle of most Vlachs and their descendants on both sides of the Carpathians, making them one of the last groups of nomadic people in Europe alongside the Roma, who they share a long history of interaction and cultural exchange with.