Page "Istro-Romanian language" Paragraph 2

The number of Istro-Romanian speakers is very loosely estimated to be less than 500, the " smallest ethnic group in Europe " and listed among languages that are " seriously endangered " in the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages.

Due to its very small number of speakers living in about eight minor hamlets and two considerable villages, notably Žejane and Šušnjevica, there is no public education or news media in their native Istro-Romanian language.

There are also several hundred native speakers who live not only in Queens, New York ( as is mistakenly believed by newcomers to the study of the language ), but throughout the five boroughs of New York City, as well as in upstate New York and the neighboring states of New Jersey and Connecticut ; there are also still native speakers in California.

There are native speakers of Istro-Romanian in Italy, Canada, Argentina, Sweden, and Australia.