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Origin of Romanians

The Romanians (and Vlachs) are a nation speaking Romanian, a Romance language and living in Central and Eastern Europe. The Origin of Romanians has been for a long time disputed and there are several theories:

Table of contents
1 Romanization of the Dacians
2 Dacians spoke a language close to Latin
3 Migration from South
4 External Links

Romanization of the Dacians

After the Romans conquered Dacia in 106, a process of "romanization" of the local populations took place, Dacians adopting the Roman language and customs. This is the classical theory of Daco-Romanian continuity, supported by most Romanian historians.

Arguments for:

Arguments against:

Dacians spoke a language close to Latin

This theory says that the Dacians spoke a language very close to Latin and so, the Romanization was not required.

Arguments for:

Arguments against:

Migration from South

A Romanic population from came from South and assimilated the Dacians. Some historians theorize that all the Dacians were killed in the battles for Dacia, but that is not generally accepted, since the Romans never conquered the whole Dacian teritory. This theory is largely supported by Hungarian historians, supporting the irredentist's claim of Transylvania.

Arguments for:

Arguments against:

External Links