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Romanians in Serbia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Romanians in Serbia
Românii din Serbia
Румуни у Србији
BERJAYA
Ethnic flag of Romanians in Serbia
Total population
23,044 (2022)[1]
Regions with significant populations
BERJAYA Vojvodina19,595
Languages
Romanian and Serbian
Religion
Eastern Orthodoxy

Romanians are a recognized ethnic minority in Serbia.[2] According to data from the 2022 census, the population of ethnic Romanians in Serbia is 23,044, constituting 0.3% of the total population. An additional 21,013 people self-declared as Vlachs; there are differing views whether Vlachs should be regarded as Romanians or as a distinct ethnicity.[3]

History

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BERJAYA
The ethnological map of the Romanian population by Heinrich Kiepert, 1876
BERJAYA
The ethnological map of the Romanian population by Élisée Reclus, 1870

As Daco-Romanian-speakers, the Vlachs have a connection to Roman heritage in Serbia. An area inhabited with Thracian Tribalians, came under Roman control in 75 BC, when Roman province Moesia was established. Following Roman withdrawal from the province of Dacia at the end of the 3rd century, the name of the Roman region was changed to Dacia Aureliana, and (later Dacia Ripensis) spread over most of what are now Serbia and Bulgaria.[4] Roman military presence in the region persisted through the end of Justinian's reign in the 6th century.[5][page needed]

The region where Vlachs predominantly live later on was part of the Second Bulgarian Empire, whose first rulers, the Asens, were possibly of Vlach origin.[6][7] King Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia had Braničevo region conquered from local rulers Darman and Kudelin in 1291, while Timok Valley remained independent state until Ottoman arrival at the end of 14th century. The chroniclers of the crusaders describe presence of Vlachs in the 12th and 13th century in various parts of modern Serbia.[8][page needed][9] Serbian documents from the 13th and 14th century mention Vlachs, including Emperor Stefan Dušan, in his prohibition of intermarriage between Serbs and Vlachs.[8][page needed][9] In 14th and 15th century Romanian (Wallachian) rulers built churches in eastern Serbia: Lapuṣna, Coroglaṣ, Krepičevac, Vratna, Bucovo, Manastirica, and Lozuca.[10][page needed] Ottoman records list Vlachs in the region of Braničevo, near the ancient Roman municipium and colonia of Viminacium.[11]

Starting in the early 18th century, eastern Serbia was settled by Romanians (then known by their international exonym as Vlachs) from Banat, parts of Transylvania, and Oltenia (Lesser Walachia).[8][page needed] These are the Ungureni (Ungurjani), Munteni (Munćani), and Bufeni (Bufani). Today about three quarters of the Vlach population speak the Ungurean subdialect. In the 19th century other groups of Romanians, originating in Oltenia (Lesser Wallachia), also settled south of the Danube.[12][page needed] These are the Țărani (Carani), who form some 25% of the modern population. The very name Țărani indicates their origin in Țara Românească, i.e., "The Romanian Land", that is, Wallachia (Oltenia and Muntenia). 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.[citation needed] Significant migration ended with the establishment of the kingdoms of Serbia and Romania, respectively, in the second half of the 19th century.

In a Romanian-Yugoslav agreement of 2002, the Yugoslav authorities agreed to recognize the Romanian identity of the Vlach population in eastern Serbia, but the agreement was not implemented.[13][14] In 2005, many deputies from the Council of Europe protested against the position of this population in Serbia.[15] In 2007, Vlachs were officially recognized as ethnic minority, while their language was recognized as Romanian.[16]

Demographics

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According to data from the 2022 census, the population of ethnic Romanians in Serbia is 23,044, constituting 0.3% of the total population, while 21,013 people declared themselves Vlachs.[17] Ethnic Romanians are mostly concentrated in Banat, while self-declared Vlachs in the Timok Valley.

Year Romanians Share Vlachs Share
1856104,34316.8%
1859122,59314.4%
1866127,54510.5%
1884149,7277.8%
1890143,6846.6%
1895159,5106.4%
1900122,4294.9%
1921224,7464.7%
1931130,6352.3%
194863,1300.9%93,4401.6%
195359,7050.8%28,4070.4%
196159,5050.8%1,3300.02%
197157,4190.7%14,7240.1%
198153,6930.6%25,5960.2%
199142,3310.4%17,8070.2%
200234,5760.4%40,0540.5%
201129,3320.4%35,3300.5%
202223,0440.3%21,0130.3%

Banat

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BERJAYA
Romanian Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension of the Lord in Vršac

The largest concentration of ethnic Romanians in Serbia are to be found in Banat numbering 17,262 people or three-fourths of country's Romanian community.

Settlements in the Serbian Banat with Romanian ethnic majority are:[18]

Settlements in the Serbian Banat with Romanian ethnic plurality are:[18]

Timok Valley

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Although ethnographically and linguistically closely related to the Romanians, there are divergences on whether or not they belong to the Romanian ethnicity and whether or not their minority should be amalgamated with the Romanian ethnic minority in Serbia.[19] The Serbian state considers Vlachs a distinct ethnic minority rejecting any conflation with the Romanians, citing census results and their right of self-identification with the ethnicity of their choice. On the other hand, Romania's stance is that the Vlachs are Romanians, claiming the split between "Romanian" and "Vlach" identities as artificial and accusing Serbia of failing to protect the ethnic minority rights of the Romanians in Timok Valley.[20]

Vlachs settled in Timok Valley 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: "Ungurean/Ungureni" (Ungurjani), i.e. those who came from Hungary (that is, Banat and Transylvania) and "Țărani" (Carani), who came from Wallachia (Romanian: Țara Românească – "Romanian Country"). The second wave of Vlachs from present-day Romania came in the middle of the 19th century. In 1835, feudalism was fully abolished in the Principality of Serbia and smaller groups from Wallachia migrated to enjoy the status of free peasants.

Politics

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The National Council of the Romanian National Minority is a representation body of the Romanian ethnic minority in Serbia, established for the protection of the rights and the minority self-government of Romanians in Serbia.

Culture

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Romanian is one of six official languages of the provincial administration in Vojvodina and ethnic Romanians have access to education in their native language.

Most of the Romanians in Serbia are Eastern Orthodox, belonging to the Romanian Orthodox Church (through its diocese of Dacia Felix).

Libertatea is a Romanian language-weekly newspaper, published in Pančevo.

Notable people

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Final results - Ethnicity". Почетна. 2023-07-14. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  2. ↑ "Регистар националних савета националних мањина". minljmpdd.gov.rs.
  3. ↑ "Population by ethnicity, by areas" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  4. ↑ Watson, Alaric (2004). Aurelian and the Third Century. Psychology Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-415-30187-9.
  5. ↑ Rosen, William (2007). Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe. Viking Adult. ISBN 0670038555.
  6. ↑ Wolff, Robert Lee (April 1949). "The 'Second Bulgarian Empire.' Its Origin and History to 1204". Speculum. 24 (2). Archived from the original on 30 October 2004.
  7. ↑ Karpat, Kemal H. (2002). Studies on Ottoman Social and Political History: Selected Articles and Essays. BRILL. p. 444. ISBN 9789004121010.
  8. 1 2 3 Mateljak, Anela (2005). "Zef Mirdita, Vlasi u historiografiji". Zbornik Odsjeka za povijesne znanosti Zavoda za povijesne i društvene znanosti Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti. 23.
  9. 1 2 Malcolm, Noel (1998). Kosovo: A Short History. New York University Press. pp. 25–. ISBN 0814755984.
  10. ↑ Kanitz, Felix Philipp (1868). Serbien. Historisch-ethnographische Reisestudien aus den Jahren, 1859-1868 (in German). Leipzig, H. Fries.
  11. ↑ Madgearu, Alexandru; Gordon, Martin (2008). The Wars of the Balkan Peninsula: Their Medieval Origins. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 33. ISBN 9780810858466.
  12. ↑ Jovanovic, Kosta (1940). Negotinska krajina i Ključ (in Serbian).
  13. ↑ Adevărul, 6 Noiembrie 2002: Prin acordul privind minoritatile, semnat, luni, la Belgrad, de catre presedintii Ion Iliescu si Voislav Kostunita, statul iugoslav recunoaste dreptul apartenentei la minoritatea romaneasca din Iugoslavia al celor aproape 120.000 de vlahi (cifra neoficiala), care traiesc in Valea Timocului, in Serbia de Rasarit.
  14. ↑ Curierul Național, 25 ianuarie 2003: Chiar si acordul dintre presedintii Ion Iliescu si Voislav Kostunita, semnat la sfarsitul anului trecut, nu este respectat, in ceea ce priveste minoritatile, deoarece locuitorii din Valea Timocului, numiti vlahi, nu sunt recunoscuti ca minoritari, ci doar „grup etnic“.
  15. ↑ Parliamentary Assembly, 28 April 2005[link removed] Archived 30 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine: Deeply concerned over the cultural situation of the so-called “Vlach” Romanians dwelling in 154 ethnic Romanian localities 48 localities of mixed ethnic make-up between the Danube, Timok and Morava Rivers who since 1833 have been unable to enjoy ethnic rights in schools and churches
  16. ↑ România Liberă, 16 August 2007 Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine: Romanii din Valea Timocului, cunoscuti drept vlahi, au obtinut recunoasterea statutului de minoritate nationala. Decizia guvernului de la Belgrad inseamna, printre altele, ca limba romana ar putea fi predata in premiera in scolile din Serbia unde romanii timoceni sunt majoritari, transmite BBC, preluat de Rompres.
  17. ↑ "Ethnicity - Data by municipalities and cities" (PDF). publikacije.stat.gov.rs.
  18. 1 2 "Serbia Ethnic 2022". pop-stat.mashke.org.
  19. ↑ "The situation of national minorities in Vojvodina and of the Romanian ethnic minority in Serbia" Archived 2012-01-23 at the Wayback Machine, at the Council of Europe, 14 February 2008
  20. ↑ Manovich 2014, pp. 23–24.

Sources

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