The population of the Republic of Macedonia is diverse. At the beginning of the 21st century, nearly two-thirds of the population identified themselves as Macedonians. Macedonians generally trace their descent to the Slavic tribes that moved into the region between the 6th and 8th centuries ce. Albanians are the largest and most important minority in the Republic of Macedonia. According to the 2002 census they made up about one-fourth of the population. The Albanians, who trace their descent to the ancient Illyrians, are concentrated in the northwestern part of the country, near the borders with Albania and Kosovo. Albanians form majorities in some 16 of Macedonia’s 84 municipalities. Other much smaller minorities (constituting less than 5 percent of the population each) include the Turks, Roma (Gypsies), Serbs, Bosniaks, and Vlachs (Aromani). The Turkish minority is mostly scattered across central and western Macedonia, a legacy of the 500-year rule of the Ottoman Empire. The majority of Vlachs, who speak a language closely related to Romanian, live in the old mountain city of Kruševo.