Megleno-Romanians

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The Megleno-Romanians or Meglen Vlachs or Moglenite Vlachs (Megleno-Romanian: Vlashi; Greek: Βλαχομογλενίτες, Vlachomoglenítes) are a people inhabiting seven villages in the Moglena region spanning the Pella and Kilkis prefectures of Central Macedonia, Greece, as well as the village of Huma across the border in the Republic of Macedonia. Unlike the Aromanian Vlachs, the Meglen Vlachs are traditionally sedentary agriculturalists, not transhumants.

Romanian schools for Aromanians and Meglenoromanians in the Ottoman Empire (1886)

They speak a Romance language most often called Megleno-Romanian or Meglenitic by linguists in English and βλαχομογλενίτικα (vlachomoglenítika) or simply μογλενίτικα (moglenítika) in Greek. They themselves call their language vlaheshte, but the Megleno-Romanians in Romania also use megleno-români. It is also spoken in some places in Dobruja, Romania, particularly in Cerna, județul Tulcea, where some Megleno-Romanians moved in the first half of the 20th century and adopted the Megleno-Romanian exonym promoted by the Romanian authorities. Their number is estimated between 5,213 (P. Atanasov, most recent estimate) and 20,000 (P.Papahagi, ca, 1900)

Unlike all the other Eastern Romanized populations of the Balkans (generically called Vlachs), their name for themselves is not derived from Romanus; they use only the term Vlashi.

Most are Orthodox Christians, but the population of the village of Nânti (Nótia) in the Upper Karadjova Plain converted to Islam in the 18th century. They were expelled to Turkey, mostly Kırklareli and Şarköy, as part of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923. They were known as Karadjovalides^[1] after the name of the vicinity (Kahl 2006)^[2].

In 1926, about 450 families of Megleno-Romanians of Greece moved to Romania and settled in the Southern Dobruja (Cadrilater). After Bulgaria acquired Southern Dobruja, the Megleno-Romanians moved to other regions of Romania, many of them to the village of Cerna in Tulcea County, in which about 1,200 continue to speak Megleno-Romanian. Other Megleno-Romanians migrated to Romania and other countries during World War II and the Greek Civil War, due to the heavy fighting carried out in the Moglená region. As of 1996, in all Romania there were about 820 families that claimed Megleno-Romanian origin.

[edit] Megleno-Romanian Settlements

Map of Megleno-Romanians settlements in Greece and Republic of Macedonia

The Meglenoromanian settlements in Greece and the Republic of Macedonia in 1925

The following is a list of the Megleno-Romanian settlements.^[3][4]

Archangelos (Megleno-Romanian: Ossiani)
Karpi
Koupa (Megleno-Romanian: Cupa)
Langadia (Megleno-Romanian: Lugunţa, Lundzini)
Notia (Megleno-Romanian: Nânti, Nânta)^[5]
Perikleia (Megleno-Romanian: Birislav)
Skra (Megleno-Romanian: Liumniţa)
Huma (Megleno-Romanian: Uma)
Cerna

Former Megleno-Romanian villages

Kastaneri
Konsko (Megleno-Romanian: Coinsko)
Sermenin (Megleno-Romanian: Sirminina)

[edit] References

1. ^ Thede Kahl, "The Islamisation of the Meglen Vlachs (Megleno-Rumen): The Village of Nânti (Nótia) and the Nântinets in Present-Day Turkey". Nationalities Papers 34:1, March 2006
2. ^ http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/en/av/av_10_2.htm
3. ^ Aromanian Society of America
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notia

[edit] External links

• Theodor Capidan, "Meglenoromânii" vol. 1, vol 2 Bucuresti 1925.
• Thede Kahl, "The Islamisation of the Meglen Vlachs (Megleno-Romanians): The Village of Nânti (Nótia) and the Nântinets in Present-Day Turkey". Nationalities Papers 34:1, March 2006.
• Map with the Megleno-Romanian settlements in Greece and the Republic of Macedonia
• Megleno-Romanii, by Prof. Emil Tarcovnicu
• Meglena, ingropata
• The Vlachs of Greece and their Misunderstood History, by Helen Abadzi
• Studies on the Vlachs by Asterios Koukoudis
• Report on the Vlachs (a term used collectively to refer to Eastern Romance peoples)

v • d • e Ethnic groups in the Republic of Macedonia according to 2002 census data Over 9,000 people Macedonians (1,297,981) · Albanians (509,083) · Turks (77,959) · Roma (53,879) · Serbs (35,939) · Bosniaks (17,018) · Aromanians (9,695) Under 9,000 people Egyptians (3,713) · Croats (2,686) · Montenegrins (2,003) · Bulgarians (1,417) · Greeks (442) · Other groups Torlaks (approx. 150,000) · Shopi (approx. 50,000) · Torbeš (40,000 - 100,000) · Gorani (approx. 2,500) · Megleno-Romanians (approx. 1,000) · Jews (approx. 200) Demographic history of the Republic of Macedonia