Moldovans, sometimes referred to as Moldavians, are a Romance ethnic group who speak the Moldavian dialect of the Romanian language, locally also referred to as the Moldovan language. They form the largest ethnic group of the Republic of Moldova and a significant minority in Romania, Italy, Ukraine and Russia. There is an ongoing controversy, in part involving the linguistic definition of ethnicity, over whether Moldovans' self-identification constitutes an ethnic group distinct and separate from Romanians, or a subset. The extent of self-identification as Romanians in the Republic of Moldova varies.