history of Romania

Romania has been inhabited by humans since the paleolithic. During antiquity, the main population that lived in the area corresponding to modern-day Romania were the Dacians. Dacian civilisation prospered from the second century BC to the second century AD, resulting in the establishment of a Dacian kingdom as a regional power. Following several wars with the Roman Empire, Dacia was conquered in 106 AD, and the kingdom's core was turned into a Roman province. The province was abandoned by 276 AD following several invasions from various barbarian peoples. Many Romanian historians believe that the origin of the Romanians can be traced back to the Dacians and Romans intermixing, which in turn formed the basis of the Romanian ethnicity.

During the early Middle Ages, numerous migratory peoples moved across and settled the territory of Romania. A prominent Turkic population also settled Romanian territory, particularly the Cumans. Early Romanian culture was martially influenced by these peoples. Vlachs – Romance-language speakers in the Balkans – were first clearly attested in the 10th century, inhabiting areas on both sides of the Danube. By the 13th century, numerous small Vlach political entities abounded in areas such as Muntenia, Oltenia and Transylvania. These political entities gradually unified, and by the mid-14th century, the two major historical Romanian principalities had emerged, Wallachia and Moldavia.