Romani people

Romani people
Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress
Total population
2–12 million[1][2][3][4]
United States1,000,000 estimated with Romani ancestry[note 1][5][6]
Brazil800,000 (0.4%)[7]
Spain750,000–1,500,000 (1.9–3.7%)[8][9][10][11][12]
Romania569,500–1,850,000 (3.4–8.32%)[13][14]
Turkey500,000–2,750,000 (3.8%)[9][15][16][17]
Bulgaria325,343[note 2]–750,000 (4.9–10.3%)[18][19]
Hungary309,632[note 3]–870,000 (3.21–8.8%)[20][21]
France300,000–1,200,000 (0.21%)[22][23][24][25]
Argentina300,000[note 4][26][27]
United Kingdom225,000 (0.4%)[28][9][29]
Russia205,007[note 5]–825,000 (0.6%)[9]
Serbia147,604[note 6]–600,000 (2.1–8.2%)[30][31][9]
Italy120,000–180,000 (0.3%)[32][9]
Greece111,000–300,000 (2.7%)[33][34]
Germany105,000 (0.1%)[9][35]
Slovakia105,738[note 7]–490,000 (2.1–9.0%)[36][37][38]
Albania100,000-140,000 (3.62%-5.06%)[39]
Iran2,000–110,000[40][41]
North Macedonia46,433 (2.53%)[42]
Sweden50,000–100,000[9][43]
Ukraine47,587[note 8]–260,000 (0.6%)[9][44]
Portugal52,000 (0.5%)[9][45][46]
Austria40,000–50,000 (0.6%)[47]
Kosovo36,000[note 9] (2%)[9][48]
Netherlands32,000–40,000 (0.2%)[9]
Poland17,049[note 5]–32,500 (0.1%)[9][49]
Croatia16,975[note 5]–35,000 (0.8%)[9][50]
Mexico15,850[51]
Chile15,000–20,000[26]
Moldova12,778[note 5]–107,100 (3.0%)[9][52]
Finland10,000–12,000 est. (0.2%)[53]
Bosnia and Herzegovina8,864[note 5]–58,000 (1.5%)[9][54]
Colombia2,649–8,000[26][55]
Belarus7,316[note 5]–47,500 (0.5%)[56]
Latvia7,193[note 5]–12,500 (0.6%)[9]
Canada5,255–80,000[57][58]
Montenegro5,251[note 5]–20,000 (3.7%)[59]
Czech Republic5,199[note 10]–40,370[note 5] (Romani speakers)–250,000 (1.9%)[60][61]
Australia5,000–25,000[62]
Slovenia3,246[9]
Lithuania2,571[9]
Denmark5,500[63]
Ireland22,435[9]
Georgia1,200[9]
Belgium30,000[64]
Cyprus1,250[65]
Switzerland25,000–35,000[9]
Languages
Romani, Para-Romani varieties, languages of native regions
Religion
Predominantly Christianity[66]
Islam[66]
Shaktism tradition of Hinduism[66]
Romani mythology
Buddhism (minority)[67][68]
Judaism (conversion through marriage to Jewish spouses)[69]
Related ethnic groups
Ghorbati, Doms, Lom, Ḍoma, Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians; other Indo-Aryans

The Romani, also spelled Romany or Rromani (/ˈrməni/ ROH-mə-nee or /ˈrɒməni/ ROM-ə-nee) and colloquially known as the Roma (sg.: Rom), are an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin[70][71][72] who traditionally lived a nomadic, itinerant lifestyle. Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Romani originated in the Indian subcontinent, in particular the region of present-day Rajasthan.[73] Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed by historians to have occurred around 1000 CE.[74][75][76] Their original name is from the Sanskrit word डोम, doma and means a member of the Dom caste of travelling musicians and dancers.[77][78] The Roma population moved west into the Persian Ghaznavid Empire and later into the Byzantine Empire.[79][80] The Roma are thought to have arrived in Europe around the 13th to 14th century.[81] Although they are widely dispersed, their most concentrated populations are located in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Spain, and Turkey.

In the English language, Romani people are known by the exonym Gypsies or Gipsies,[82] which some Roma consider a racial slur.[83][84] However, this is not always the case; for example, the term is actually preferred by most English and Welsh Romanies, and is used to refer to them in official documentation.[85][86][87] The attendees of the first World Romani Congress in 1971 unanimously voted to reject the use of all exonyms for the Romani, including "Gypsy".[88]

Since the 19th century, some Romani have also migrated to the Americas. There are an estimated 1 million Roma in the United States[6] and between 800,000 and 1 million in Brazil, most of whose ancestors emigrated in the 19th century from eastern Europe. Brazilian Romani are mostly descendant from German/Italian Sinti (in the South/Southeast regions), and Roma and Calon people. Brazil also includes a notable Romani community descended from Sinti and Roma deportees from the Portuguese Empire during the Portuguese Inquisition.[89] In migrations since the late 19th century, Romani have also moved to other countries in South America and Canada. Though often confused with Irish Travellers and the Yenish people in western Europe, the Romani are culturally different.[90][91][92]

The Romani language is an Indo-Aryan language with strong Balkan and Greek influence.[93] It is divided into several dialects, which together are estimated to have more than two million speakers.[94] Because the language has traditionally been oral, many Romani are native speakers of the dominant language in their country of residence, or else of mixed languages combining the dominant language with a dialect of Romani in varieties sometimes called para-Romani.[95]

  1. ^ Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009). "Ethnologue: Languages of the World" (online) (16th ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL. Retrieved 15 September 2010. Ian Hancock's 1987 estimate for 'all Gypsies in the world' was 6 to 11 million.
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  6. ^ a b Kayla Webley (13 October 2010). "Hounded in Europe, Roma in the U.S. Keep a Low Profile". Time. Retrieved 3 October 2015. Today, estimates put the number of Roma in the U.S. at about one million.
  7. ^ "Falta de políticas públicas para ciganos é desafio para o governo" [Lack of public policy for Romani is a challenge for the administration] (in Portuguese). R7. 2011. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2012. The Special Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality estimates the number of "ciganos" (Romanis) in Brazil at 800,000 (2011). The 2010 IBGE Brazilian National Census encountered Romani camps in 291 of Brazil's 5,565 municipalities.
  8. ^ "Roma integration in Spain". European Commission. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "Roma and Travellers Team. Tools and Texts of Reference. Estimates on Roma population in European countries (excel spreadsheet)". rm.coe.int Council of Europe Roma and Travellers Division.
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  11. ^ "The Situation of Roma in Spain" (PDF). Open Society Institute. 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2010. The Spanish government estimates the number of Gitanos to be a maximum of 650,000.
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  23. ^ Gorce, Bernard (22 July 2010). "Roms, gens du voyage, deux réalités différentes". La Croix. Retrieved 21 October 2016. [Manual Translation] The ban prevents statistics on ethnicity to give a precise figure of French Roma, but we often quote the number 350,000. For travellers, the administration counted 160,000 circulation titles in 2006 issued to people aged 16 to 80 years. Among the travellers, some have chosen to buy a family plot where they dock their caravans around a local section (authorized since the Besson Act of 1990).
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  71. ^ Hernández-Arrieta, Stefany (7 August 2023). "The definition of being Romani". Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) - El·lipse. Retrieved 16 February 2024. This population [...] migrated from northern India to Europe over 1,500 years ago [...] The Romani community are genetically diverse, and Romani groups established in different locations are highly varied.
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