Vlachs ( or ) is a historical term used for Eastern Romance-speaking peoples in the Balkans and Eastern Europe; several modern peoples descending from the Romanized population in present-day Romania and Moldova, the southern Balkan Peninsula and south and west of the Danube. They were identified during the 11th century (when they were described by George Kedrenos), and their prehistory during the Migration Period is a matter of scholarly speculation. According to one origin theory, the Vlachs originated from Latinized Dacians. According to some linguists and scholars, the Eastern Romance languages prove the survival of the Thraco-Romans in the lower Danube basin during the Migration Period and western Balkan populations known as "Vlachs" also have had Romanized Illyrian origins. Nearly all central- and southeastern European nations (Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Greece and Bulgaria) have native Vlach (or Romanian) minorities; in other countries, the Vlachs have assimilated to the Slavic population. The term was also commonly used for shepherds. Today, the Eastern Romance-speaking communities number 24,187,810 people.