The Aromanians are an ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgaria, northern and central Greece, and North Macedonia, and can currently be found in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgaria, south-western and eastern North Macedonia, northern and central Greece, southern Serbia, and south-eastern Romania. An Aromanian diaspora living outside these places also exists. The Aromanians are known by several other names, such as "Vlachs" or "Macedo-Romanians".
This article is about the history of the Aromanians. For the history of Northern Vlachs (Romanians), see History of Romania.
The Macedonian Struggle was a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts that were mainly fought between Greek and Bulgarian subjects who lived in Ottoman Macedonia between 1893 and 1912. The conflict was part of a wider guerrilla war in which revolutionary organizations of Greeks, Bulgarians and Serbs all fought over Macedonia. Gradually the Greek and Bulgarian bands gained the upper hand. Though the conflict largely ceased by the Young Turk Revolution, it continued as a low intensity insurgency until the Balkan Wars.
The Aromanians in North Macedonia, also known as the Vlachs, are an officially recognised minority group of North Macedonia numbering some 9,695 people according to the 2002 census. They are concentrated in Kruševo, Štip, Bitola and Skopje.
The Aromanian language, also known as Vlach or Macedo-Romanian, is an Eastern Romance language, similar to Megleno-Romanian, Istro-Romanian and Romanian, spoken in Southeastern Europe. Its speakers are called Aromanians or Vlachs.
Malovište is an Aromanian village in the municipality of Bitola, North Macedonia. It used to be part of the former municipality of Capari.
The Aromanians in Serbia, most commonly known as "Tsintsars" and sometimes as "Vlachs", are a non-recognized Aromanian ethnic minority in Serbia. Historically, they were an isolated group who focused on preserving their culture, language and identity and on nomadic pastoralism. However, from the second half of the 20th century, the Serbian Aromanians would begin to put aside this practice and migrate to the cities, where they would be subject to assimilation.
The Aromanians in Albania are an officially recognised ethnic minority in Albania.
The Aromanians in Greece are an Aromanian ethno-linguistic group native in Epirus, Thessaly and Western and Central Macedonia, in Greece.
The Aromanian question, also sometimes known as the "Vlach question", refers to the historical and current division of the ethnic identity of the Aromanians, mostly with ones being pro-Greek, pro-Romanian or self-identified purely or primarily as Aromanian.
The Aromanian National Day is the national day of the Aromanians, an ethnic group of the Balkans scattered in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. It is normally celebrated by Aromanians from various countries in which they are native and also by the Aromanian diaspora, but many Aromanians of Greece do not observe it.
The Panhellenic Federation of Cultural Associations of Vlachs is an organization of Aromanians ("Vlachs") in Greece. The Aromanians are an ethnic group scattered over the Balkans living in many countries such as Albania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia, as well as Greece, which has the largest concentration of them. The Aromanians of Greece are characterized by their disinterest in initiatives that aim to maintain the Aromanian culture and language outside the familiar environment and many have repeatedly expressed opposition to foreign organizations that have tried to help them achieve this.
The Ullah millet was a separate millet within the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Ottoman authorities for the Aromanians in 1905, during the rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire. Although the Megleno-Romanians are also sometimes called Vlachs, the Ullah millet was not intended for them.
The Lunjina Serbian–Aromanian Association is an organization of Aromanians in Serbia with its headquarters at Belgrade, the capital of the country. It was founded in 1991 as a result of the merge of two Aromanian organizations at Dolna Belica and Gorna Belica, which are two Aromanian villages in North Macedonia. The aim of the organization is to protect the Aromanian minority in Serbia and preserve its customs, culture, language, name and traditions. In 2017, the Lunjina Serbian–Aromanian Association had around 500 members. The president of the organization is Aristotel Martinović. In Aromanian, the word lunjinã means "light". In the closely related Romanian language, this word is lumină.
Aromanian music is the music characteristic of the Aromanians. The Aromanians are an ethnic group scattered throughout the Balkans, living in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. Aromanian music has received influence from the music of other ethnic groups of the Balkans, such as that of the Albanians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Macedonians, Romanians and more. However, it has developed throughout history its own distinctive features and peculiarities that set it apart from other Balkan music genres, and has also influenced the music of the previously mentioned peoples.
The Aromanians in Bulgaria, commonly known as "Vlachs" and under several other names, are a non-recognized ethnic minority in the country. There are an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Aromanians in Bulgaria, although estimates coming from Bulgarian Aromanians themselves raise this number to 6,000. They live in the Western Rhodopes, the Blagoevgrad, Pazardzhik, Plovdiv and Sofia provinces and in the city of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria itself. More precisely, the Aromanians of Bulgaria are concentrated in the villages of Anton and Dorkovo and on the cities and towns of Blagoevgrad, Dupnitsa, Peshtera, Rakitovo, Samokov, Sofia and Velingrad, as well as on parts of the aforementioned provinces located in the Balkan Mountains. Some also live on the towns of Bratsigovo and Pirdop and on the cities of Plovdiv and Pazardjik, as well as on the Rila mountain range.
The Aromanian diaspora is any ethnically Aromanian population living outside its traditional homeland in the Balkans. The Aromanians are a small Balkan ethnic group living scattered throughout Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. Historically, they also used to live in other countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, although they have ever since been assimilated.
The Union for Aromanian Language and Culture is an organization of Aromanians in Germany headquartered at Freiburg im Breisgau. It was founded in 1985 by the Aromanian professor Vasile Barba, who had migrated to West Germany from Romania two years earlier together with his wife Katharina Barba, an ethnic German of Romania.
