Vlach is a Slavic term used to designate the Latin peoples of South-Eastern Europe: Romanians, Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians and Istro-Romanians. Vlachs (also called Wlachs, Wallachs, Olahs) is a blanket term covering several distinct modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. ... The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia. ... The Latin peoples are those linguistic-cultural groups that speak one of the Romance languages; they are so-called because they speak languages descended from the vulgar form of Latin. ... The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe southeastern Europe (see the Definitions and boundaries section below). ... Map of areas inhabited by Aromanians Aromanians (also called: Macedo-Romanians in Romania or Vlachs in most other countries; in Aromanian they call themselves arumâni, armâni or aromâni) are a people living throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia, and Bulgaria; their number... Megleno-Romanians (also known as: Meglenites or Vlaşi) are a population living as a minority in a few villages in the Meglen region of Northern Greece, their number being estimated from 12,000 to 20,000. ... Map of Istro-Romanian, made by Puşcariu in 1926 Istro-Romanian is a Romance language used in a few villages in the peninsula of Istria, on the upper northern part of the Adriatic Sea, in Croatia. ...

The origin of the name is Germanic: it originates with *Walha by which the early Germanic tribes called their Celtic neighbours, possibly derived from the name of the tribe which was known to the Romans as Volcae (in the writings of Julius Caesar) and to the Greeks as "Ouólkai" (Strabo and Ptolemy), see also Welsh, Valais. Walh is an ancient Germanic word, meaning foreigner or stranger. Several names of non-Germanic European regions are derived from the word Walh: Walachia Wales Wallis Wallonia Categories: Language stubs ... The term Germanic tribes applies to the ancient Germanic peoples of Europe. ... The Volcae in the 2nd century BC were a large and powerful Celtic nation of Gallia Transalpina, comprised of two branches, the Volcae Arecomici and the Volcae Tectosages. ... Bust of Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (Classical Latin: IMP·C·IVLIVS·CAESAR·DIVVS¹) (b. ... Strabo (squinty) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. ... Claudius Ptolemaeus, given contemporary German styling, in a 16th century engraved book frontispiece . Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος; ca. ... Welsh is an adjective that may refer to: Of or relating to Wales The Welsh language The Welsh people Welsh may also refer to several places in the United States: Welsh, Arkansas Welsh, Louisiana Welsh, Ohio The verb to welsh means to swindle by not paying a debt, although some... The Valais (also known in German as Wallis) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the south-western part of the country, in the Pennine Alps around the valley of the Rhone River from its springs to Lake Geneva. ...

As the Celts of Gaul were Romanized, the word changed its meaning to "Romanic people", as it is still kept in the name of the Walloons of Belgium. The Latin peoples are those linguistic-cultural groups that speak one of the Romance languages; they are so-called because they speak languages descended from the vulgar form of Latin. ... The Walloons (Wallons in French) are French-speaking Belgians from Wallonia. ...

This word for Romanic people was borrowed from the Germanic Goths (as *walhs) by the Slavs. Later on, the meaning of this noun in Slavic languages got narrower or just different: Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... The Slavic peoples are the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples currently living in Europe. ... The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia. ...

From the Slavs, it was passed on to other peoples, such as the Hungarians ("Oláh") and Greeks ("Βλάχοί", "Vlachoi") and was used for all Latin people of the Balkans. It also acquired a second meaning: "shepherd", after the occupation of many Vlachs of Greece and Serbia. In Albania, the opposite occurred: çoban "shepherd" comes to mean "Vlach". Map of Romania with Wallachia in yellow. ... Map of Romania with Wallachia in yellow. ... Moravia (Czech: Morava, German: Mähren, Polish: Morawy, Hungarian: Morvaország, Dutch: Moravië) is the eastern part of the Czech Republic. ... The name Old Russian language has been applied to different things. ... The Romance languages, also called Romanic languages, are a subfamily of the Italic languages, specifically the descendants of the Vulgar Latin dialects spoken by the common people evolving in different areas after the break-up of the Roman Empire. ... Serbo-Croatian (srpskohrvatski or hrvatskosrpski) is a name for a language or group of dialects/languages of the Western group of the South Slavic languages. ... Map of Romania with Wallachia in yellow. ... A view of Dubrovnik from the south Dubrovnik (Latin Ragusa) is an old city on the Adriatic Sea coast in the extreme south of Croatia, positioned at 42°39′ N 18°04′ E at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. ... Herzegovina (natively Hercegovina/Херцеговина) is a historical region in the Dinaric Alps that composes the southern part of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. ... Rovinj, on the western coast of Croatian Istria. ... Dalmatia (Croatian Dalmacija, Italian Dalmazia, Serbian Далмација) is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, mostly in modern Croatia, spreading between the island of Pag in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. ... Dalmatia (Croatian Dalmacija, Italian Dalmazia, Serbian Далмација) is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, mostly in modern Croatia, spreading between the island of Pag in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. ... ... Virovitica-Podravina county - Virovitičko-podravska županija is a northern Slavonian county in Croatia. ... Bosniaks (Bosnian: BoÅ¡njaci) are a Southeast European ethnic group, descended from Slavic converts to Islam during the Ottoman period (15th-19th century), living primarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Sandžak region of Serbia and Montenegro. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) is an adherent of Islam. ... Bosnia and Herzegovina (officially Bosna i Hercegovina, shortened to BiH, also in English variously written Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Bosnia-Hercegovina) is a mountainous country in the western Balkans. ... Map of Romania with Wallachia in yellow. ... Moravia (Czech: Morava, German: Mähren, Polish: Morawy, Hungarian: Morvaország, Dutch: Moravië) is the eastern part of the Czech Republic. ... In a draw in a mountainous region, a shepherd guides a flock of about 20 sheep amidst scrub and olive trees. ...

The term was originally an exonym, as the Vlachs used various words derived from romanus to refer to themselves (români, rumâni, rumâri, aromâni, arumâni, armâni etc).

Historically, it was used to refer to all Latin people of the Balkans, but nowadays, this term is only rarely used to refer the Romanians, but rather to refer to the Aromanians, Istro-Romanians and Megleno-Romanians.

However, in Serbia, the Romanian minority (living especially in Vojvodina, Timok valley), although they are speaking the Daco-Romanian (standard Romanian) dialect, they are still referred as "Vlachs". In the Yugoslavian census figures, the Aromanians of Macedonia and the Romanians of Serbia were both classified as "Vlachs". Serbia and Montenegro  â€“ Serbia    â€“ Kosovo and Metohia        (UN administration)    â€“ Vojvodina  â€“ Montenegro Official languages Serbian, Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Croatian, Rusyn1 Capital Novi Sad Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % water  21,500 km²  n/a Population  â€“ Total (2002)  â€“ Density  2,031,992  94. ...

A name used for the Southern Vlachs of Greece is "Kutsovlach" (literally "limping Vlach"; possibly a reference to the way they spoke Greek), however the Aromanians consider it quite offensive. Another name used to refer to the Aromanians (mainly in the Slavic countries: Serbia and Bulgaria) is "tsintsar", which is derived from the way the Aromanians say the word 'five': "tsintsi".

Another Balkanic ethnicity is the Morlachs or Mavrovalachi (Greek for "black Vlachs"). Morlachs (in Greek: Mavrovlachi or Mauro-Vlachs, meaning Black Vlachs; in Latin sources: Nigri Latini) were a population of Vlach shepherds that lived in the Dinaric Alps (western Balkans in modern use), constantly migrating in search for better pastures for their sheep flocks. ...

See also

• Etymology of Romania
• Origin of Romanians

Neacşus letter, the oldest surviving document written in Romanian has the oldest appearence of the word Romanian Romanians are a people living in South-Eastern Europe speaking a Romance language. ... The Romanians (also sometimes referred to as Vlachs) are a nation speaking Romanian, a Romance language and living in Central and Eastern Europe. ...

References

• Orbis Latinus: Wallachians, Walloons, Welschen
• Victor A. Friedman, The Vlah minority in Macedonia
• Studies on the Vlachs by Asterios Koukoudis