It has been difficult to establish the exact number of the Sarakatsani over the years, since they were dispersed and migrated in summer and winter and were not considered a distinct group such that census data have not included separate information on them. As well, they were often confused with other population groups, especially the Vlachs. However, in the mid-1950s their number was estimated at 80,000 in Greece, but it was a period in which the process of urbanization had already started for large numbers of Greeks, and the number of the Sarakatsani who had already ceased to be transhumant shepherds sometime in the past was unknown.