` ::Aw, that's nitpicking! Besides, do you think those peasants really cared whether they were Vlachs, Romanians, Moldovans or Romans (or Martians, or whatever)? Okay, how about this: ::As the appellative ``Romanian`` was gaining more and more popularity throughout the western Ottoman-dominated Moldavia during the 19th century, its introduction in Bessarabia, a province of the Russian Empire at the time, was welcomed mostly by Romania-oriented elite population groups, while the majority of local population remained largely indifferent to the question of nationality and referred to itself by the old demonym ``Moldavians``. ::I am somewhat uncomfortable with using ``Romania``, as the country technically existed only since the middle of the 19th century.   `