In addition to the above minorities, there are various
ethnolinguistic communities in Greece with a distinct identity and language, but whose members largely identify ethnically as Greeks and do not consider themselves a "minority".
Albanian-speaking Albanian economic migrants are not to be confused with the
Greek Orthodox Arvanites, a group who traditionally speak a form of
Tosk Albanian in addition to Greek and self-identify as Greeks, having played a significant role in the
Greek War of Independence and Greek culture in general. The
Chams were an ethnic Albanian community that formerly inhabited the area of
Thesprotia, part of the Greek region of
Epirus. Most of them were expelled into Albania through government-supported
ethnic cleansing at the end of
World War II. There are other Albanian speaking communities found across other regions of Greece. In the
Florina region Albanian speakers can be found in the villages of
Flampouro,
Drosopigi,
Idroussa and
Tripotamos. Furthermore, an estimated 39 mainly or partly Albanian-speaking villages can be found in
Western Thrace and
Central Macedonia. After 1991, with the collapse of
communism in Albania, a huge number of Albanian immigrants live and work in Greece. In the 2001 census, 274,390 ethnic Albanians are reported residing in Greece, mostly
economic migrants. Albanians constitute 63.7% of the total documented
migrant population in Greece, followed by Bulgarians, Georgians, Romanians, Russians, and Ukrainians.
Romance-speakers Aromanians In Greece, the
Aromanians are called
Vlachs (, /
'Vlaçi/). There are numerous festivals celebrating Aromanian culture all over Greece. Their language,
Aromanian (known in Greek as τα βλάχικα /'vlaçika/), is in danger of extinction and mostly spoken by the elderly. There are, however, small numbers of Aromanians in Greece who call for greater recognition of the Aromanian language, such as
Sotiris Bletsas. It is hypothesized that these Vlachs originated from the Roman colonisation of the Balkans and are the descendants of Latinised native peoples and
Roman legionaries who had settled in the Balkans. German researcher
Thede Kahl claims to have also documented some cases of assimilation of the Aromanian population in regions which are now largely Greek-speaking. The
Panhellenic Federation of Cultural Associations of Vlachs has publicly stated that they do not want Aromanian recognized as a minority language nor do they want it inserted into the education system, and the same organization also protested when Thede Kahl discussed in a paper whether they could be designated a "minority".
Megleno-Romanians Megleno-Romanians are concentrated in the
Moglena region of
Greek Macedonia. They speak the
Megleno-Romanian language which is known as
Vlăhește by its speakers. An estimated 4,000 speakers can be found in the region spanning the
Pella and
Kilkis regional units of
Central Macedonia. The largest Megleno-Romanian settlement is
Notia.
Romani The history of
Romani in
Greece goes back over 600 years to the 15th century. The name Gypsy sometimes used for the Romani people was first given to them by the
Greeks who supposed them to be Egyptian in origin. Due to their
nomadic nature, they are not concentrated in a specific geographical area but are dispersed all over the country. The majority of the Greek Romani are
Orthodox Christians who speak the
Vlax Romani language in addition to
Greek. Most of the Romani who live in
Western Thrace are
Muslims and speak a dialect of the same language. The Romani in
Greece live scattered through the whole territory of the country, but with larger concentration in the bigger cities (mainly
Athens and
Thessalonica). Notable centres of Romani life in
Greece are
Agia Varvara, which has a very successful Romani community, and
Ano Liosia, where conditions are bad. Romani largely maintain their own customs and traditions. Although a large number of Romani has adopted a sedentary and urban way of living, there are still nomadic settlements in some areas. The nomads at the settlements often differentiate themselves from the rest of the population. They number 200,000 according to the Greek government. According to the National Commission for Human Rights that number is closer to 250,000 and according to the Greek Helsinki Watch group to 300,000. In parts of northern Greece, in the regions of
Macedonia (Μακεδονία) and
Thrace (Θράκη), Slavonic languages continue to be spoken by people with a wide range of self-identifications. The actual linguistic classification of these dialects is unclear, although most linguists will classify them as either
Bulgarian or
Macedonian taking into account numerous factors, including the resemblance and mutual intelligibility of each dialect to the standard languages (
abstand) and the speakers' self-identification. (As however the vast majority do not have a
Bulgarian or
Macedonian national identity, linguists base their decisions on
abstand alone.) Now, these people mainly identify as ethnic Greeks. The Christian portion of Greece's Slavic-speaking minority are commonly referred to as
Slavophones (from the Greek Σλαβόφωνοι
Slavophōnoi — literally "Slavic-speakers") or
Dopii (which means "locals" in Greek). The vast majority of them espouse a Greek national identity and are bilingual in Greek. They live mostly in the
region of Western Macedonia and adhere to the
Greek Orthodox Church. The fact that the majority of these people self-identify as Greek makes their number uncertain. The second group is made up of those who seem to reject any national identity (Greek or Slav Macedonian) but have distinct ethnic identity, which they may call "indigenous" (dopia), Slavomacedonian, or Macedonian. The smallest group is made up of those who have a clear Macedonian national identity and consider themselves as part of the same nation that predominates in the neighboring
Republic of North Macedonia. A crucial element of that controversy is the very name
Macedonian, as it is also used by a much more numerous group of people with a Greek national identity to indicate their
regional identity. Slavic speakers also use the term "Macedonians" or "Slavomacedonians", though in a regional rather than an ethnic sense. Until and including the 1951 census, the question of mother tongue was asked throughout Greece, so this gives a rough idea as to the size of this group, and later estimates are usually based on this figure. The national identity of this community has frequently been loaded with political implications. The
Politis-Kalfov Protocol signed on September 29, 1925 purported to recognize the Slav-speakers of Greek Macedonia as
Bulgarians, but this protocol was never ratified. A short lived agreement was signed August 1926, which recognized them as a
Serbian minority. In the 1951 census, 41,017 people claimed to speak the
Slavic language. ==See also==