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The Võro language (võro kiil) is a language belonging to the Baltic-Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. Traditionally it is considered a dialect of South Estonian or Estonian, but it has its own literary language and is in search of official recognition as an autochthonous regional language of Estonia. Võro language has about 70,000 speakers (Võros) mostly in south-eastern Estonia, in the eight parishes of historical Võru County (Võromaa): Karula, Harglõ, Urvastõ, Rõugõ, Kanepi, Põlva, Räpinä, and Vahtsõliina. These parishes are currently centered (due to redistricting) in Võru and Põlva Counties with parts extending into Valga and Tartu counties. Speakers can also be found in the towns of Tallinn, Tartu and the rest of Estonia.