Romanian diaspora

The Romanian diaspora is the ethnically Romanian population outside Romania and Moldova. The concept does not usually include the ethnic Romanians who live as natives in nearby states, chiefly those Romanians who live in Ukraine and Serbia. Therefore, the number of all Romanians abroad is estimated at about 4–12 million people, depending on one's definition of the term "Romanian" as well as the inclusion/exclusion of ethnic Romanians living in nearby countries where they are indigenous. The definition of "who is a Romanian?" may range from rigorous conservative estimates based on self-identification and official statistics to estimates that include people of Romanian ancestry born in their respective countries as well as people born to ethnic-minorities from Romania.

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In 2006, the Romanian diaspora was estimated at about 8 million people by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu, most of them living in the former USSR, Western Europe (esp. Italy, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, and France), North America, South America, and Australia.[1] It is unclear if Băsescu included the indigenous Romanians living in the immediate surroundings of the Romanian state such as those in Moldova, Ukraine, or Serbia.

In December 2013, Cristian David, the government minister for the Department of Romanians Everywhere, declared that a new reality illustrates that between 6–8 million Romanians live outside Romania's borders. This includes 2–3 million indigenous Romanians living in neighbouring states such as Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, the Balkans and especially the Republic of Moldova. The number also includes circa 2.7–3.5 million Romanians in Western Europe.[2]

The Romanian diaspora has emerged as a powerful political force in elections since 2009.[3][4] For the 2014 presidential election, voting in the diaspora was poorly organized and resulted in protests in several major European cities. The diaspora vote played a key role in the final result.[4]

Below is a list of self-declared ethnic Romanians in the countries where they live, excluding those who live in Romania and Moldova but including those who live in Ukraine (including Chernivtsi Oblast), Serbia (including Vlachs), Hungary, and Bulgaria.

The numbers are based on official statistical data in the respective states where such Romanians reside or – wherever such data is unavailable – based on official estimates made by the Romanian department for Romanians abroad (figures for Spain, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Portugal, and Turkey are for Romanian citizens, and may include individuals of any ethnicity).

Ethnic Romanians are primarily present in Europe and North America. However, there are ethnic Romanians in Turkey, both in the Asian and European parts of the country, descendants of Wallachian settlers invited by the Ottoman Empire from the early fourteenth to the late nineteenth centuries. There are about 2,000 Romanian immigrants in Japan since the late twentieth century.[5]

Distribution by country

Country	Year	Population	Origin, notes
Italy	2020	1,145,718[6]	Immigrants (additional 118,516 Moldovans)
Germany	2019	722,404[7]	Immigrants (additional 14,815 Moldovans)[8] (the overall number of people with Romanian ancestry in Germany includes many Romanian-Germans as well)
Spain	2020	593,532 / 671,985 (2020)[lower-alpha 1]	Immigrants (additional 17,868 Moldovans)
United States	2015	468,994[12] (ancestry) 165,199 (born in Romania)	Immigrants
United Kingdom	2019	450,000[13]	Immigrants (additional 18,000 Moldovans)
Canada	2016	238,050[14]	Immigrants (additional 14,915 Moldovans)
Ukraine	2001	150,989[15]	Indigenous to Zakarpattia Oblast, Odessa Oblast and Chernivtsi Oblast (additional 258,619 Moldovans)
Austria	2020	123,461[16]	Immigrants, of whom 36,000 live in Vienna[17]
France	2016	118,400[18]	Immigrants
Belgium	2019	96,034[19]	Immigrants
Israel	2020	86,200[20]	Immigrants (mostly Romanian Jews)
Greece	2011	46,523[21]	Immigrants (additional 10,391 Moldovans). There are also 209,000 Aromanian[22] and 3,000 Megleno-Romanian[23] speaking people in Greece; however, they are not considered an ethnic but a linguistic/cultural minority.
Netherlands	2019	34,185[24]	Immigrants (additional 986 Moldovans)
Sweden	2019	32,294[25]	Immigrants (additional 938 Moldovans)
Portugal	2018	30,504[26]	Immigrants (additional 8,460 Moldovans)
Hungary	2011	30,924[27]	Indigenous to Eastern Hungary; Immigrants
Serbia	2011	29,332[28]	Indigenous to Vojvodina and the Timok Valley (additional 35,330 Vlachs and 243 Cincars)
Ireland	2016	29,186[29]	Immigrants
Denmark	2017	24,422[30]	Immigrants (additional 686 Moldovans)
Cyprus	2011	24,376[31]	Immigrants
Switzerland	2015	21,593[32]	Immigrants
Australia	2011	20,998[33]	Immigrants
Norway	2019	18,625[34]	Immigrants
Czechia	2018	14,684[35]	Immigrants (additionally 5,811 Moldovans)
Kazakhstan	2009	14,666[36]	Displaced and deported during World War II (including Moldovans)
Turkey		14,000[37]	Immigrants
Japan		10,000[38]	Immigrants
Slovakia	2017	8,474[39]	Immigrants
Brazil		7,393[40]	Immigrants and Brazilians with Romanian ancestry
United Arab Emirates		6,444[41]	Immigrants
Luxembourg	2019	5,209[42]	Immigrants
Jordan		4,000[41]	Immigrants
Russia	2010	3,201[43]	Immigrants/Displaced during World War II (additional 586,122 Moldovans)
New Zealand		3,100	Immigrants
South Africa		3,000	Immigrants
Qatar		2,000[41]	Immigrants
Finland	2013	1,742[44]	Immigrants
China		1,320[41]	Immigrants
Argentina		1,000[41]	Immigrants
Chile		1,000[41]	Immigrants
Bulgaria	2011	891[45]	Indigenous to Vidin Province and parts of Northern Bulgaria (additional 3,684 Vlachs)
Palestine		850[41]	Immigrants
Kuwait		696[41]	Immigrants
South Korea		634[41]	Immigrants
Mexico		600[41]	Immigrants
Ethiopia		485	Immigrants
Egypt		420[41]	Immigrants
India		400[41]	Immigrants
Singapore		400[41]	Immigrants
Paraguay		398[41]	Immigrants
Oman		382[41]	Immigrants
Colombia		350[41]	Immigrants
San Marino	2018	283[46]	Immigrants
Monaco		250[41]	Immigrants
Philippines	2019	209[47]	Immigrants
Uruguay		200[41]	Immigrants
Peru		174[41]	Immigrants
Indonesia		155[41]	Immigrants
Venezuela	2020	150[41]	Immigrants
Thailand		106[41]	Immigrants
Cuba		100[41]	Immigrants
North Macedonia		100[41]	Immigrants (additional 9,900 Aromanians[48] and 2,100 Megleno-Romanians)[49]
Vietnam		100[41]	Immigrants
Lithuania	2011	77[50]	Immigrants
Pakistan		75[41]	Immigrants
Latvia	2011	63[51]	Immigrants (additional 1,919 Moldovans)
Dominican Republic		30[41]	Immigrants
Liechtenstein		15[41]	Immigrants
Albania			There live up to 300,000 Aromanians, but Albanian authorities do not recognize them as Romanian minority.[52]
Total		4,364,496	The estimate is the sum of the countrywide estimates listed. To this are added 1,618,650 people belonging to ethnic groups Romanian authorities claim to be part of the Romanian population (e.g., Moldovans, Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians). The total estimate is roughly 5.9 million.

See also

• Moldovan diaspora

Notes

References