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The Romanians (dated: Rumanians or Roumanians; in -roroˈmɨnʲpron or - historically, but now a seldom-used regionalism - rumâni; dated exonym: Vlachs) are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania. The Romanian people are a nation in the meaning of ethnos (Romanian: etnie), defined by the sense of sharing a common Romanian culture, descent, and having Romanian as mother tongue, not by citizenship or by being subjects to any particular country. The Romanian citizenship law legislated in March 1991 establishes the rights of second and third generation descendants of Romanian citizens to obtain a Romanian citizenship, if they speak fluent Romanian and are able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge in Romanian history and culture. 89.4 percent of Romania's people declared themselves as Romanians at the 2002 Romanian Census. In one interpretation of the census results in Moldova, Moldovans are counted as Romanians, which would mean that the latter form the majority in that country as well. Romanians are also an ethnic minority in several nearby countries. |