 Proportion of people declaring Romansh as their "language of best command" in Grisons (municipalities with more than 10% are shown), as of 2000. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 45,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Grisons | c. 40,000 (2017)[1] |
 Zurich | c. 5,000 (2017)[1] |
| Languages | |
| Romansh, Swiss German | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (majority Roman Catholic, Swiss Reformed) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other Swiss; Friulians, Ladins, Lombards (Insubrians, Orobians) | |
The Romansh people (also spelled Romansch, Rumantsch, or Romanche; Romansh: rumantschs, rumàntschs, romauntschs or romontschs) are a Romance[2][3] ethnic group, the speakers of the Romansh language, native to the Swiss canton of Grisons (Graubünden).
The Romansh speaking population is collectively known as Rumantschia in Romansh (alternatively rumantschadad, Vallader: rumantschità, Sursilvan: romontschadad). This term has come to replace the German official legal term of "Gemeinschaft der Bündner Romanen" introduced in 1982.[4]
As of 2017[update], they make up about 45,000 inhabitants of Switzerland, or 0.85% of its population, and about 30,000 inhabitants of the canton of Grisons (14.7% of its population).[5][1]
- ^ a b c "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Hauptsprachen und Kanton" (XLS) (official site) (in German, French, and Italian). Neuchâtel, Switzerland: Federal Statistical Office. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-11. 28,699 ± 4.9% (27,300–30,100). The largest community of speakers outside of Grisons, some 5,000 people, is in the canton of Zürich (cited as 5,265 ± 12.6%).
- ^ Minahan, James (2000). One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 776. ISBN 0313309841.
Romance (Latin) nations... Romansh
- ^ Rhaeto-Romance can be classified as either Gallo-Romance, or as a separate branch within the Western Romance languages. Rhaeto-Romance is a diverse group, with the Italian varieties influenced by Venetian and Italian and Romansh by Franco-Provençal.
- ^ Lexicon istoric retic s.v. Rumantschia
- ^ "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Hauptsprachen in der Schweiz" (XLS) (official site) (in German, French, and Italian). Neuchâtel, Switzerland: Federal Statistical Office. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-11. cited as 44,354 ± 4.0%. This amounts to a confidence interval of 42,500–46,200.