Less isolated by rugged terrain and with greater, although limited, contact with foreign cultures, the Tosk generally was more outspoken and imaginative than the Geg. Contacts with invaders and foreign occupiers had influence and, before 1939, some Tosks had traveled to foreign countries to earn sufficient funds to buy land or to obtain an education. The clan or tribal system, which by the nineteenth century was far less deeply rooted and extensive in the south than in the north, began to disappear after independence was achieved in 1912. Of the minority ethnic groups, persons of Greek descent are the most numerous. Estimates based on World War II and earlier data indicate that they compose approximately 2 percent of the population. They are most numerous in the southwestern coastal area of Dhermi and Himare and the region extending southward to the Greek border from Gjirokaster. They have adopted Albanian folkways and dress. Although their first language is Greek, they speak Albanian as well. Persons of Vlach, Bulgar, Serb, and Gypsy origin make up about 1 percent of the population. The Vlachs in Albania have lost much of their homogeneity and adopted the ways of their Tosk neighbors. The typical Vlach is akin to the modern Romanian. Both are descendants of Romanized Dacians or Thracians of the pre-Christian era. Under Communist rule the Vlachs, mostly herdsmen, have been incorporated into the collectivized economy. Previously, they grazed their flocks in the mountains in the summer and then returned to the valleys in the winter. They are most numerous in the Pindus Mountains and in the Fier, Korce, and Vlore areas. Persons of Bulgar origin live mostly in the border area near Lake Prespa; a few persons of Serb derivation live in the Shkoder area; and Gypsies are scattered in various places. There are large numbers of persons of Albanian origin living outside the country. Estimates based on Yugoslav data indicated the total number in Yugoslavia in 1970 was approximately 1 million, of which about 70 percent were in Kosovo. Data is generally lacking on the exact number in other areas, and estimates vary widely. There may be as many as 250,000 in Italy and Sicily, 350,000 in Greece, and 80,000 in the United States. They are found also in Bulgaria, Egypt, Romania, and Turkey. The degree to which persons living outside the country have retained Albanian customs and language varies. Indications are that they have retained their clannishness to a considerable degree. LANGUAGES Albanian, of Indo-European origin, is the only surviving language of the early Thraco-Illyrian group and is spoken by all or nearly all inhabitants. Some of the minority ethnic groups also speak the tongue of the country from which their families originated.