ROMANIAN FACTS:

NATIVE: limba română / лимба ромынэ

NATIVE SPEAKERS: 24 million

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IN: Romania, Republic of Moldova, European Union

WRITING SYSTEMS: Latin (Romanian alphabet) and Cyrillic

REGULATED BY: Academia Română (The Romanian Academy) and Academia de Ştiinţe a Moldovei (Academy of Sciences of Moldova)

Language

Romanian is a Romance language spoken in Romania and Moldova. It is widely spoken throughout the Balkan region of Southern Europe. It is very similar to Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, but most closely to Italian. There is also a strong Balkan influence. The writing system in Romania and Moldova feature Latin script, but in Transnistria the Cyrillic alphabet is still used. There is a notable spelling difference between Romania and Moldova. Despite efforts by the Academy of Sciences of Moldova to standardize, many advertisements and documents still feature Moldovan spelling.

Economic Significance

History

Romanian is a part of the Balkan-Romance group that evolved from Vulgar Latin dialects that split from the Western Romance through the 5th–8th centuries. Little is understood about the language in the early modern period. The early 20^th century was a time of national reawakening of Romanian national consciousness. The language flourished in schools and in the media throughout the 20^th century.

Dialects

The two main dialects are northern and southern.