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'''Dalmatian Italians''' are an Italian [[national minority]] in the region of [[Dalmatia]] (within [[Croatia]] and [[Montenegro]]) that is mostly historical. After the 1840s the ethnic group suffered from a trend of decreasing numbers and only around 1,000 of the grouping remain.
==History==
=== Roman Dalmatia and the Middle ages ===
Roman Dalmatia was fully latinized by 476 AD when the [[Western Roman Empire]] disappeared, according to scholar [[Theodor Mommsen]] in his book "The Provinces of the Roman Empire".
During the [[Barbarian Invasions]] [[Eurasian Avars|Avar]]s allied with certain [[Slavic peoples#Slavs in the historical period|Slavic tribes]], invaded and plundered [[Byzantine]] [[Illyria]]. This eventually led to the settlement of different [[Slavs|Slavic]] tribes in the [[Balkans]].
The original Roman population endured within the coastal cities and in the inhospitable [[Dinaric Alps]] (the latter were later known as "[[Morlachs]]" or Vlachs).
The Dalmatian cities retained their Romanic culture and [[Latin language|language]] in cities such as [[Zadar|Jadera]] (Zadar, Zara), [[Split|Spalatum]] (Split, Spalato) and [[Dubrovnik|Ragusa]] (Dubrovnik). Their own [[vulgar Latin]], developed in the [[Dalmatian language]], a now extinct [[Romance languages|Romance language]]. <br />
These coastal cities (politically part of the [[Byzantine Empire]]) maintained political, cultural and economic links with Italy, through the [[Adriatic sea]]. On the other side communications with the mainland were difficult because of the [[Dinaric Alps]]. Due to the sharp [[orography]] of Dalmatia, even communications between the different Dalmatian cities, occurred mainly trough the sea.
This helped Dalmatian cities to develop a unique Romance culture, despite the mostly Slavicized mainland.
==References==
==References==
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