ABSTRACT
The relative neglect of Balkan Romance by linguists in favour of the Western Romance languages is attributable in part to the geopolitical isolation of the country where most Romanian speakers live. Romania has a population of over 20 million, of which some 90 per cent have Romanian as their first language. In the 2004 census, about 60 per cent of the population of Moldova declared their native language as Moldovan, and 16.5 per cent identify Romanian as their native language. Including speakers in other neighbouring countries brings the total number of speakers to about 23½ million. This failure of linguistic and national borders to coincide reflects the fluid political history of the Balkans. Romania itself is host to several minority language groups, including German-speaking Saxons (though emigration to Germany has reduced their number from over half a million to under 40,000) and Hungarians (about one and a quarter million). Both these minorities are concentrated in Transylvania, the presence of so many Hungarian speakers resulting from the transition of the province from Hungary to Romania at the end of the First World War.
