Aromanians

Aromanians, or Vlachs (Aromanian: Armânji, Rrâmânji, Makidonji), are a Latin people native throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern and central Greece, southern Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, south-western Bulgaria, and, as an emigrant community, in Serbia and Romania (Dobrudja). They are a native people in the regions of Epirus, Thessalia and Macedonia. An older term used for them is Macedo-Aromanians. Especially in Greece, the term Vlachs (Vlahoi) is widespread; this term is sometimes used outside Greece to encompass all Latin-descended peoples of the Balkans, including the modern day Romanians.

The Vlachs speak Aromanian, a Latin-derived language similar to Romanian, which has many slightly varying dialects of its own. The Aromanian language descends from the vulgar Latin spoken by native Balkan people subsequent to their Latinization by Rome. It is a mix of domestic and Latin language with additional influences from other surrounding languages of the Balkan peninsula, such as Bulgarian, Greek and Albanian.