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Romanians in Serbia

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Romanians of Serbia
Regions with significant populations
Vojvodina, north-eastern Central Serbia
Languages
Romanian/Vlach
Religion
Predominantly Eastern Orthodox.

Romanians (Romanian: "Românii din Serbia" or "Rumânii din Sârbie", [Rumuni] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help) or Румуни) are a recognised national minority in Serbia. The total number of declared Romanians in the 2002 Serbian census was 34,576, while 40,054 people declared themselves Vlachs; there are differing views among some of the Vlachs over they should be regarded as Romanians or as members of a distinctive nationality. In a Romanian-Yugoslav agreement of November 4, 2002, the Yugoslav authorities agreed to recognize the Romanian identity of the Vlach population in Central Serbia,[1] but the agreement was not implemented.[2] In April 2005, many deputies from the Council of Europe protested against Serbia's threatment of this population.[3] In August 2007, they were officially recognized as a national minority, and their language was recognized as Romanian.[4] Declared Romanians are mostly concentrated in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, while declared Vlachs are mostly concentrated in north-eastern parts of Central Serbia.

Flag of the Romanian minority in Serbia
The Romanian Orthodox Church in Ečka

Geography

Of the total number of 34,576 declared Romanians in 2002 census, 30,419 live in Vojvodina and 4,157 live in Central Serbia. Of the total number of 40,054 declared Vlachs in 2002 census, 39,953 live in Central Serbia, and 101 in Vojvodina. The Romanians of Vojvodina are mostly concentrated in eastern and central parts of the Serbian Banat, while Vlachs of Central Serbia are mostly concentrated in north-eastern parts of Central Serbia. The largest concentration of Romanians in Vojvodina could be found in the municipalities of Alibunar (26.47%) and Vršac (10.87%). The Vlach population is concentrated mostly in the region limited by Morava River (west), Danube River (north) and Timok River (south-east).

History

Vojvodina

After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles, which defined the borders between Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, left a Romanian minority of 75,223 people (1910 census in Vojvodina) inside the borders of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In the 1921 census in Vojvodina, Romanian-speakers numbered 65,197 people.

According to the 1991 census, there were 42,331 Romanians in Yugoslavia, of whom 38,832 lived in Vojvodina (1.93% of the entire population of Vojvodina).

The borders of the medieval Serbian state
The territorial annexions of Serbia in 1833

Central Serbia

Main article: Vlachs of Serbia

It is likely that a part of the vlachs can trace their ancient roots to this region. The present geographic location of the Vlachs is near a former location in the medieval Second Bulgarian Empire (also called the Empire of Vlachs and Bulgars)[5] 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.

However, some of the Vlachs of north-eastern parts of Central 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: "Ungureani (Ungureni)" (serb. Ungurjani), i.e. those who came from Hungary (that is, Banat and Transylvania) and "Ţărani" (serb. Carani), who are either an autochthonic population of the region (their name means "people of the country" or "countrymen"), either they came from Wallachia (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. Until 1833 the eastern Serbian boder was the Homolje-Mountains (the slopes of the Serbian Carpathians) and the state had no common border with Walachia. Prior to that, the land was part of the Ottoman Empire (Pashaluk of Vidin and Pashaluk of Smederevo) and Habsburg Empire (Governorate of Serbia).

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 came there to enjoy the status of free peasants. (1856: 104,343 Romanians lived in Serbia, 1859: 122,593 Romanians)

According to the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1919, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes annexed from Bulgaria also a small section along the Timok River in the municipality and District of Zaječar, composed by 8 localities (7 populated by Romanians and 1 populated by Bulgarians).[6]

Origins of Vlachs/Romanians of Northeast Serbia

The origins of the Vlachs/Romanians of northeast Serbia are not well known to most Vlachs, principally because nothing is taught about the subject in Serbian schools.

As Romance-speakers the Vlachs can relate to the Roman ruins (forts, roads, palaces, graves, baths, aqueducts, mines, half-buried cities, etc. ) that are scattered in NE Serbia, as indeed they are throughout the entire Balkan Peninsula. Following Roman withdrawal from Dacia in the third century, much of what is now Serbia and Bulgaria was renamed Dacia Aureliana, and an undetermined number of Romanized Dacians was settled there. Strong Roman presence in the region persisted through the end of Justinian's reign in the 6th century.

The Vlach region of NE Serbia was part of the 12th-14th century Second Bulgarian Kingdom, who are considered Vlach by some historians. Serbian documents from the 13th and 14th century mention Vlachs. Fourteenth and fifteenth century Romanian (Valachian) rulers built churches in NE Serbia. Fifteenth century Turkish tax records (defters) list Vlachs in the region of Branicevo in NE Serbia, near the ancient Roman municipium of Viminacium. The 16th-17th century warlord Baba Novac (Starina Novak), who served as Michael the Brave's general, was born in NE Serbia. Thus the modern descendants of all these people can be held to originate south of the Danube.

Starting in the early 18th century NE Serbia was settled by Romanians (then known by their international exonym as Vlachs) from Banat, parts of Transylvania, and Oltenia. These are the Ungureni (Ungurjani), Munteni (Munćani) and Bufeni (Bufani). Today their descendants form about three quarters of the Vlach population. In the 19th century other groups of Romanians, originating in Oltenia, also settled south of the Danube. These are the Ţărani (Carani), who form some 25% of the modern population. It should be noted that from the 15th through the 18th centuries large numbers of Serbs also migrated across the Danube, but in the opposite direction. Significant migration ended with the establishment of the kingdoms of Serbia and Rumania, respectively, in the second half of the 19th century.

The lack of records and the linguistic effects of the Ungureni and Ţărani on the entire Vlach population make it difficult to determine what fraction of the present Vlachs can trace their origins directly to the ancient south-of-the-Danube Vlachs. However it is likely that they are in the minority.

Historical population

Ethnic map of the Balkans from 1861, by G. Lejean
Ethnic composition of the Balkans according to the Atlas Général Vidal-Lablache, Librairie Armand Colin, Paris, 1898.

Vojvodina

Official usage of Romanian language in Vojvodina (together with Serbian and other languages)
  official at the municipality level
  official in parts of the municipality

Number of declared Romanians or declared speakers of Romanian language in various censuses in Vojvodina (censuses from 1880 to 1931 recorded speakers of Romanian language, while censuses from 1948 to 2002 recorded Romanians as ethnic group):

  • 1880: 69,668
  • 1890: 73,492
  • 1900: 74,718
  • 1910: 75,223
  • 1921: 65,197
  • 1931: 78,000
  • 1948: 59,263
  • 1953: 57,218
  • 1961: 57,259
  • 1971: 52,987
  • 1981: 47,289
  • 1991: 38,832
  • 2002: 30,419

Central Serbia

The following numbers reflect on the possible number of Vlachs in the censuses:

  • 1816: 97,215 Romanians (10% of Serbia's population.)[7]
  • 1856: 104,343 Romanians[8]
  • 1859: 122,593 Romanians
  • 1866: 127,545 Romanians (10,5 % of Serbia's population)[9]
  • 1884: 149,713 Romanians
  • 1890: 143,684 Romanians
  • 1895: 159,000 Romanians (6,4 % of Serbia's population)[10]
  • 1921: 159,549 Romanian-speakers in Serbia (Vojvodina is not included)[11]
  • 1931: 57,000 Romanian/Cincar speakers were recorded in Eastern Serbia (52,635 in the Morava Banovina and the rest in southern parts of Danube Banovina south of the Danube) [citation needed]
  • 1953: 198,793 Vlach-speakers in central Serbia (169,670 declared as Serbs, 29,000 as Vlachs) [citation needed]
  • 1961: 1,330 Vlachs
  • 1981: 135,000 people declared Vlach as their mother language (population figure given for the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)[12]
  • 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 Serbo-Croat-speakers) [citation needed]
  • 2002: 40,054 declared Vlachs, 54,818 people declared Vlach as their mother language (population figures given for entire Serbia) or 39,953 declared Vlachs, 54,726 people declared Vlach as their mother language (population figures given for Central Serbia only)[13]

By some Romanian and Western European organizations, in eastern Serbia live around 250,000 - 400,000[14][15] people of Romanian(vlach) origin.

Language and religion

Main articles: Official status of Romanian language in Vojvodina and Vlach language (Serbia)
Romanian/Vlach language in Vojvodina and Central Serbia, census 2002
  1-5%
  5-10%
  10-15%
  15-25%
  25-35%
  over 35%

In Vojvodina, Romanian enjoys the status of official language and Romanians in this province receive a wide range of minority rights, including access to state-funded media and education in their native language. Most of the Romanians and Vlachs of Serbia are Eastern Orthodox by faith, belonging to the Romanian Orthodox Church (Romanians in Vojvodina) and Serbian Orthodox Church (Vlachs of Central Serbia). The relative isolation of the Vlachs has permitted the survival of various pre-Christian religious rites that are frowned upon by the Orthodox Church. Like the Serbs, Vlachs celebrate the 'slava', though its meaning is chtonic (related to the house and farmland) rather than familial.

The language spoken by one major group of Vlachs is similar to the Oltenian variety spoken in Romania while that of the other major group is similar to the Romanian variety of Banat.

Settlements inhabited by Romanians/Vlachs

Vojvodina

Settlements in the Serbian Banat with a Romanian majority or plurality are (2002 census data):

Central Serbia

Settlements in Central Serbia with a Vlach majority or plurality are (2002 census data):

Vlachs also live in other places with majority Serb or mixed Serb/Vlach population, such as the Zaječar, Negotin, Bor, Kladovo, Majdanpek, Požarevac, Smederevo, Velika Plana, Jabukovac, etc.

Subgroups

Vlachs are divided into several groups, each speaking their own language variant:

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

The Ţărani of the Bor, Negotin and Zaječar regions are closer to Oltenia (Lesser Walachia) in their speech and music. The Ţăran saying "Nu dau un leu pe el" (He's not worth even a leu) show their Romanian origin since the leu is a Romanian monetary unit. But the "leu" is the currency in Romania only after 1867. So, this speech can possibly show a trade connection between Ţărani and the Romanian population that lives just across the Danube.

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 Lesser Walachia (Oltenia).

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

Famous Romanians/Vlachs from Serbia

See also

References

General references

Notes

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Curierul Naţional, 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“.
  3. ^ Parlamentary Assembly, 28 April 2005: 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
  4. ^ România Liberă, 16 August 2007: 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.
  5. ^ According to Encyclopaedia Britannica the state is also called called "The Vlach-Bulgarian Empire"
  6. ^ Tribalia
  7. ^ Template:Ro icon V. Arion; Vasile Pârvan; G. Vâlsan; Pericle Papahagi; G. Bogdan-Duică. România şi popoarele balcanice (1913). Tipografia Românească. Bucureşti, p. 22
  8. ^ According to the french geograph G. Lejean
  9. ^ Geographisches Handbuch zu Andrees Handatlas (Leipzig und Bielefeld, 1882): 1866 zählte man 1.058.189 Serben, 127.545 Rumänen, 24.607 Zigeuner, 2589 Deutsche und 3256 andere.
  10. ^ Geographisches Handbuch zu Andrees Handatlas 1902: Fast die ganze Bevölkerung, über 2 Mill, besteht aus Serben, außerdem gab es, nach der Zählung von 1895, 159.000 Rumänen und 46.000 Zigeuner
  11. ^ Official results of the 1921 census from Serbia
  12. ^ Template:Sr icon Ranko Bugarski, Jezici, Beograd, 1996.
  13. ^ Template:Sr icon Template:PDFlink, p. 2 and Template:PDFlink, p. 12
  14. ^ Gardianul, 27 Mar 2007
  15. ^ Deutsche Welle, 23.4.2003
  • The Romanian Community in Serbia
  • The Romanians in Vojvodina
  • The Romanians in Serbia
  • Romanians in Serbia
  • Respect for the rights of the Timok Romanians (Eastern Serbia)
  • Vesna Čekić (2002-10-24). "Živeti zajedno - Manjinske nacionalne zajednice u Vojvodini: Rumuni" (in Serbian). Dnevnik. Retrieved 2007-05-18. [dead link]
  • The Vlach (Roumanian) Federation of Serbia
  • MP3 recordings of Vlach speech
  • Maps of Vlachs in north-east Serbia
  • The Vlachs in Yugoslavia and their magic
  • Report on the State of Human Rights of Rumanians and Vlachs in Serbia
  • Românii din Serbia, Ion Florentin Dobrescu
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