32 Facts About Istro-Romanians

Istro-Romanians are a Romance ethnic group native to or associated with the Istrian Peninsula.

However, due to several factors such as the industrialization and modernization of Istria during the socialist regime of Yugoslavia, many Istro-Romanians emigrated to other places, be they Croatian cities such as Pula and Rijeka or places such as New York City, Trieste and Western Australia.

The Istro-Romanians dwindled severely in number, being reduced to eight settlements on the Croatian side of Istria in which they do not represent the majority.

The Istro-Romanians prefer to use names derived from their native villages, which are Jesenovik, Kostrcani, Letaj, Nova Vas, Susnjevica, Zankovci, the Brdo area and the isolated Zejane.

However, the Istro-Romanians do not identify with this name, and the use of "Istro-Romanian" outside the context of linguistics can be controversial until a certain point.

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Many Istro-Romanians prefer to use a demonym derived from the name of their native village.

Istro-Romanians have been called in many ways by the peoples that lived alongside them or in their surroundings.

Theories about the Istro-Romanians descending from a Roman indigenous population in Istria were initially supported by Italian and some Romanian researchers.

Regardless of the place of origin, the Istro-Romanians are usually considered to be the last Balkan Romance people to break away from the others and migrate to the west, mainly becoming shepherds.

Istro-Romanians gave thirteen single nouns, eight nouns with determiners and two sentences from their language with the Italian translation.

Unlike the other Romance peoples such as the Romanians or the Aromanians, the Istro-Romanians did not suffer a national renaissance, probably due to the small size of their population and the influence of assimilation factors.

The Istro-Romanians were not recognized as a national minority unlike other peoples.

The Croatian representative impugned the existence of the Istro-Romanians and tried to prove that they were Slavs Although the subsequent proposals had the support of several Italian deputies, the Croatian majority rejected all of them.

Istro-Romanians improved the economic conditions of the villages and worked on their infrastructure.

Some Istro-Romanians began to leave Istria completely and emigrate to other countries such as Australia, the United States, Canada, France and Italy, a sizeable amount estimated to be composed by 500 people since 1945.

In 2008, the Moldovan politician Vlad Cubreacov initiated a draft resolution presented in Strasbourg called "Istro-Romanians must be saved", in which he urges Croatia and Romania to give more financial and institutional support.

Today, the Istro-Romanians are not officially recognized as a national minority in Croatia and are not protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Currently, very few Istro-Romanians identify themselves as Romanian, and never with much enthusiasm.

Those Istro-Romanians who preferred to declare a national affiliation chose Croatian and a few Italian.

Many Istro-Romanians think that the Croatian Government is not doing enough for the survival of their language and culture.

In Zejane, some Istro-Romanians still speak in Istro-Romanian with their grandchildren, and express less awareness about their extinction.

Nowadays, the biggest goal of the Istro-Romanians is the full recognition by Croatia as an ethnic minority and a wider use of their language in education, newspapers, TV broadcasting and radio, all of this with the support of the Croatian Government.

Territory where the Istro-Romanians live was once covered with forests, pastures and lakes, ideal for livestock or charcoal production.

All this caused a decrease in the number of Istro-Romanians, which have been reduced to only eight settlements today.

One of the favorite dances of the Istro-Romanians is the, initially with a circular shape and then developing in, that is, with high jumps.

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Today, some young Istro-Romanians have some distrust or even fear of giving voice to those songs.

Today, the Istro-Romanians cannot remember certain words of their language, and therefore some old lyrics and verses can no longer be read.

Today's Istro-Romanians have difficulty describing the traditional costumes of their ancestors and few know the names of each clothes.

Istro-Romanians speak the Istro-Romanian language, part of the Balkan Romance languages spoken exclusively natively in Istria, Croatia.

Those Istro-Romanians who left the villages and migrated to the cities often use Croatian as the family language.

Traditionally and historically, the Istro-Romanians were shepherds, an occupation that would disappear with the centuries.

Istro-Romanians are Christians, being the only Balkan Romance people belonging to the Catholic Church.