The Albanian language constitutes a distinct branch in the Satem division of the Indo-European languages. It is the direct descendant of the ancient Illyrian of Roman times, together with some Thracian influences. Since Albania is an isolated and mountainous region, and there has been no attempt at standardizing a literary language until very recent years, the number of local dialects, varying in grammar and syntax, in vocabulary, and in phonetic structure, is enormous. At the present time, two principal dialectal divisions exist, Geg or Northern, and Tosk or Southern, which are more or less mutually intelligible. The inhabitants of Albania number one million, and at least another million speakers of the language live in the surrounding countries or across the seas.