Romani people

2023-03-17T08:38:20Z

45.159.249.206: robot: Creating/updating articles

{{Short description|Indo-Aryan ethnic group}}
{{Distinguish|text=[[Roman people]], a historical ethnic group, or [[Romanians]]}}
{{other uses|Romani (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect-multi|4|Gypsy|Gypsies|Gipsy|Gipsies|other uses|Gypsy (disambiguation)|and|Gipsy (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{pp-pc1}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Romani people
| image = [[File:Romani people around the world.svg|center|frameless|260x260px]]
| image_caption =
| flag = Roma flag.svg
| flag_caption = [[Flag of the Romani people|Romani flag]] created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 [[World Romani Congress]]
| pop = 2–12 million<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.ethnologue.com/language/rmy |format = online |editor-last = Lewis |editor-first = M. Paul |year = 2009 |title = Ethnologue: Languages of the World |edition = 16th |place = Dallas, [[Texas|TX]] |publisher = SIL |quote = [[Ian Hancock]]'s 1987 estimate for 'all Gypsies in the world' was 6 to 11 million. |access-date = 15 September 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12977975 |work = BBC News |title = EU demands action to tackle Roma poverty |date = 5 April 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = The Roma |url = http://www.nationalia.info/new/8761/peoples-and-nations-today-the-roma |publisher = Nationalia |access-date = 20 November 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.britannica.com/topic/Rom |title = Rom |website = Encyclopædia Britannica |quote = ... estimates of the total world Roma population range from two million to five million. |access-date = 15 September 2010 }}</ref>
| region2 = [[United States]]
| pop2 = 1,000,000 estimated with Romani ancestry<ref group="note">5,400 per [[2000 US census|2000 census]].</ref><ref>Smith, J. (2008). The marginalization of shadow minorities (Roma) and its impact on opportunities (Doctoral dissertation, Purdue University).</ref>
| ref2 = <ref name="time">{{cite news |author = Kayla Webley |url = http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2025316,00.html |title = Hounded in Europe, Roma in the U.S. Keep a Low Profile |agency = Time |date = 13 October 2010 |access-date = 3 October 2015 |quote = Today, estimates put the number of Roma in the U.S. at about one million. }}</ref>
| region3 = [[Brazil]]
| pop3 = 800,000 (0.4%)
| ref3 = <ref>{{cite web |trans-title = Lack of public policy for Romani is a challenge for the administration |url = http://noticias.r7.com/brasil/noticias/falta-de-politicas-publicas-para-ciganos-e-desafio-para-o-governo-20110524.html |language = pt |title = Falta de políticas públicas para ciganos é desafio para o governo |publisher = R7 |year = 2011 |access-date = 22 January 2012 |quote = The Special Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality estimates the number of "ciganos" (Romanis) in Brazil at 800,000 (2011). The 2010 [[Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics|IBGE]] Brazilian National Census encountered Romani camps in 291 of Brazil's 5,565 municipalities. |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120111101119/http://noticias.r7.com/brasil/noticias/falta-de-politicas-publicas-para-ciganos-e-desafio-para-o-governo-20110524.html |archive-date = 11 January 2012 |url-status=dead |df = dmy-all }}</ref>
| region4 = [[Spain]]
| pop4 = 750,000–1,500,000 (1.9–3.7%)
| ref4 = <ref>{{cite web |title = Roma integration in Spain |url = https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-and-eu/roma-integration-eu-country/roma-integration-spain_en |website = European Commission |language = en |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref><ref name=immigration /><ref>{{Cite news |author= |url=http://www.gfbv.it/3dossier/sinti-rom/img/n7a.jpg |title=Estimated by the Society for Threatened Peoples |newspaper= |publisher=[[Society for Threatened Peoples]] |date=2007-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816213211/http://www.gfbv.it/3dossier/sinti-rom/img/n7a.jpg |archive-date=2021-08-16 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.eumap.org/reports/2002/eu/international/sections/spain/2002_m_spain.pdf |title = The Situation of Roma in Spain |publisher = Open Society Institute |year = 2002 |quote = The Spanish government estimates the number of ''Gitanos'' to be a maximum of 650,000. |access-date = 15 September 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071201172552/http://www.eumap.org/reports/2002/eu/international/sections/spain/2002_m_spain.pdf |archive-date = 1 December 2007 }}</ref><ref name="Diagnostico Social de la Comunidad Gitana en Espana – CIS">{{cite web |url = http://www.mscbs.gob.es/ssi/familiasInfancia/inclusionSocial/poblacionGitana/docs/diagnosticosocial_autores.pdf |title = Diagnóstico social de la comunidad gitana en España : Un análisis contrastado de la Encuesta del CIS a Hogares de Población Gitana 2007 |website = mscbs.gob.es |year = 2007 |quote = Tabla 1. La comunidad gitana de España en el contexto de la población romaní de la Unión Europea. Población Romaní: 750.000 [...] Por 100 habitantes: 1.87% [...] se podrían llegar a barajar cifras [...] de 1.100.000 personas |access-date = 8 March 2019 |archive-date = 8 August 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190808120335/http://www.mscbs.gob.es/ssi/familiasInfancia/inclusionSocial/poblacionGitana/docs/diagnosticosocial_autores.pdf |url-status = dead }}</ref>
| region5 = [[Romania]]
| pop5 = 569,500–1,850,000 (3.4–8.32%)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-esential-25994251-primele-rezultate-ale-recensamantului-2022-populatia-romaniei-scazut-19-053-815-locuitori.htm/amp|title=Primele rezultate ale Recensământului 2022: Populația României a scăzut la 19.053.815 locuitori|trans-title=The first results of the 2022 Census: Romania's population decreased to 19,053,815 inhabitants|language=ro|website=[[HotNews]]|date=30 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-eu/roma-equality-inclusion-and-participation-eu-country/romania_en|title=Funding, strategy, facts and figures and contact details for national Roma contact points in Romania}}</ref>
| region6 = [[Turkey]]
| pop6 = 500,000–2,750,000 (3.8%)
| ref6 = <ref name=immigration>{{cite web  |url = http://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680088ea9 |title = Roma and Travellers Team. Tools and Texts of Reference. Estimates on Roma population in European countries (excel spreadsheet) |work=rm.coe.int Council of Europe Roma and Travellers Division }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,4565c2253b,4677ea9b2,46ef87ab32,0.html |title = Roma rights organizations work to ease prejudice in Turkey |first=Yigal |last=Schleifer |date=22 July 2005 |access-date = 17 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121010211734/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,4565c2253b,4677ea9b2,46ef87ab32,0.html |archive-date = 10 October 2012 }}</ref><ref name="Turkey">{{cite web |url = http://www.milliyet.com.tr/turkiye-deki-kurtlerin-sayisi-/yasam/magazindetay/06.06.2008/873452/default.htm |title = Türkiye'deki Kürtlerin sayısı! |trans-title = The number of Kurds in Turkey! |date = 6 June 2008 |access-date = 2 January 2016 |language = tr }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Türkiye'deki Çingene nüfusu tam bilinmiyor. 2, hatta 5 milyon gibi rakamlar dolaşıyor Çingenelerin arasında |url = http://webarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/2005/05/08/639714.asp |newspaper = Hurriyet |place = [[Turkey|TR]] |language = tr |date = 8 May 2005 |access-date = 2 January 2016 }}</ref>
| region7 = [[France]]
| pop7 = 500,000–1,200,000
| ref7 = <ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.euractiv.com/security/situation-roma-france-crisis-proportions-report/article-150507 |title = Situation of Roma in France at crisis proportions |publisher = EurActiv Network |quote = According to the report, the settled Gypsy population in France is officially estimated at around 500,000, although other estimates say that the actual figure is much closer to 1.2 million. |date = 7 December 2005 |access-date = 21 October 2015 }}</ref><ref name="350000 en France en 2010">{{cite news |first = Bernard |last = Gorce |url = http://www.la-croix.com/Actualite/France/Roms-gens-du-voyage-deux-realites-differentes-_NG_-2010-07-22-603910 |title = Roms, gens du voyage, deux réalités différentes |newspaper = [[La Croix (newspaper)|La Croix]] |date = 22 July 2010 |access-date = 21 October 2016 |quote = [Manual Trans.] 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). }}</ref>
| region8 = [[Bulgaria]]
| pop8 = 325,343<ref group="note">This is a census figure. Some 736,981 (10% of the population) did not declare any ethnicity. There was not any option for a person to declare multiple ethnicities. In a [http://www.nsi.bg/bg/content/12037/basic-page/%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD-%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4-%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%BE-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%8F%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BE-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BE-%D0%B8-%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%89%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D1%84%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B4 report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225173324/https://www.nsi.bg/bg/content/12037/basic-page/%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD-%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4-%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%BE-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%8F%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BE-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BE-%D0%B8-%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%89%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D1%84%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B4 |date=25 February 2021 }} of the census’ authors, the ethnic results of this census are identified as a "gross manipulation".</ref>–750,000 (4.9–10.3%)
| ref8 = <ref name="NSI">{{cite web |url = http://censusresults.nsi.bg/Census/Reports/2/2/R7.aspx |script-title = bg:Население по местоживеене, възраст и етническа група |trans-title = Population by place of residence, age and ethnic group |language = bg |website = Bulgarian National Statistical Institute |access-date = 22 June 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120602032148/http://censusresults.nsi.bg/Census/Reports/2/2/R7.aspx |archive-date = 2 June 2012 |url-status = dead }} Self declared</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url = http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-249_en.htm |title = Roma Integration – 2014 Commission Assessment: Questions and Answers |publisher = European Commission |location = Brussels |date = 4 April 2014 |access-date = 28 April 2016 }} EU and Council of Europe estimates</ref>
| region9 = [[Hungary]]
| pop9 = 309,632<ref group="note">This is a census figure. There was an option to declare multiple ethnicities, so this figure includes Romani of multiple backgrounds. According to the 2016 microcensus 99.1% of Hungarian Romani declared Hungarian ethnic identity also.</ref>–870,000 (3.21–8.8%)
| ref9 = <ref name="KSH">{{cite book|last=Vukovich|first=Gabriella|url=http://www.ksh.hu/docs/hun/xftp/idoszaki/mikrocenzus2016/mikrocenzus_2016_12.pdf|title=Mikrocenzus 2016 – 12. Nemzetiségi adatok|trans-title=2016 microcensus – 12. Ethnic data|language=hu|work=Hungarian Central Statistical Office|location=Budapest|year=2018|access-date=9 January 2019|isbn=978-963-235-542-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1 = János |first1 = Pénzes |last2 = Patrik |first2 = Tátrai |last3 = Zoltán |first3 = Pásztor István|title=A roma népesség területi megoszlásának változása Magyarországon az elmúlt évtizedekben
| trans-title = Changes in the Spatial Distribution of the Roma Population in Hungary During the Last Decades |language=hu|journal = Területi Statisztika |year=2018 |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=3–26 |doi = 10.15196/TS580101 |s2cid = 197566729 |url = http://www.ksh.hu/docs/hun/xftp/terstat/2018/01/ts580101.pdf }}</ref>
| region10 = [[Argentina]]
| pop10 = 300,000
| ref10 = <ref group="note">Approximate estimate</ref><ref name="Hazel Marsh" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.errc.org/roma-rights-journal/emerging-romani-voices-from-latin-america|title=Emerging Romani Voices from Latin America|website=European Roma Rights Centre|access-date=3 March 2021}}</ref>
| region11 = [[United Kingdom]]
| pop11 = 225,000 (0.4%)
| ref11 = <ref>{{cite web |title = Roma integration in the United Kingdom |url = https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-and-eu/roma-integration-eu-country/roma-integration-united-kingdom_en |website = European Commission – European Commission |language = en }}</ref><ref name=immigration /><ref>{{Citation |contribution = RME |contribution-url = http://www.ethnologue.com/language/rme |title = Ethnologue }}</ref>
| region12 = [[Russia]]
| pop12 = 205,007<ref group="note" name="auto">This is a census figure.</ref>–825,000 (0.6%)
| ref12 = <ref name=immigration />
| region13 = [[Serbia]]
| pop13 = 147,604<ref group="note">This is a census figure. Some 368,136 (5.1% of the population) did not declare any ethnicity. There was not any option for a person to declare multiple ethnicities.</ref>–600,000 (2.1–8.2%)
| ref13 = <ref>{{cite web |url = http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/WebSite/userFiles/file/Aktuelnosti/Prezentacija_Knjiga1.pdf |script-title = sr:Попис становништва, домаћинстава и станова 2011. у Републици Србији: Национална припадност |trans-title = Census of population. Households and apartments in 2011 in the Republic of Serbia: Ethnicity |language = sr |publisher = State Statistical Service of the Republic of Serbia |page = 8 |date = 29 November 2012 |access-date = 17 July 2017 |archive-date = 8 July 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180708082957/http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/WebSite/userFiles/file/Aktuelnosti/Prezentacija_Knjiga1.pdf |url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.errc.org/cms/upload/file/serbia-country-profile-2011-2012.pdf |title = Serbia: Country Profile 2011–2012 |website = European Roma Rights Centre |page = 7 |access-date = 17 July 2017 }}</ref><ref name=immigration />
| region14 = [[Italy]]
| pop14 = 120,000–180,000 (0.3%)
| ref14 = <ref name=DiGiacomo>{{cite web |url = http://www.21luglio.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Rapporto-annuale-Associazione-21-luglio.pdf |title = Giornata Internazionale dei rom e sinti: presentato il Rapporto Annuale 2014 (PDF) |access-date = 23 December 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170203064522/http://www.21luglio.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Rapporto-annuale-Associazione-21-luglio.pdf |archive-date = 3 February 2017 |url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name=immigration />
| region15 = [[Greece]]
| pop15 = 111,000–300,000 (2.7%)
| ref15 = <ref>{{cite web |title = Premier Tsipras Hosts Roma Delegation for International Romani Day |website = greekreporter – place |date = 9 April 2019|publisher = Nick Kampouris |url = https://greece.greekreporter.com/2019/04/09/premier-tsipras-hosts-roma-delegation-for-international-romani-day/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Greece NGO |newspaper = Greek Helsinki Monitor |place = LV |publisher = Minelres |url = http://www.minelres.lv/reports/greece/greece_NGO.htm }}</ref>
| region16 = [[Germany]]
| pop16 = 105,000 (0.1%)
| ref16 = <ref name=immigration /><ref>{{Citation |contribution-url = http://www.berlin-institut.org/online-handbuchdemografie/bevoelkerungsdynamik/regionale-dynamik/roma-in-deutschland.html |publisher = Berlin-Institut für Bevölkerung und Entwicklung |title = Regionale Dynamik |contribution = Roma in Deutschland |access-date = 21 February 2013 |archive-date = 29 April 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170429055947/http://www.berlin-institut.org/online-handbuchdemografie/bevoelkerungsdynamik/regionale-dynamik/roma-in-deutschland.html |url-status = dead }}</ref>
| region17 = [[Slovakia]]
| pop17 = 105,738<ref group="note">This is a census figure. Some 408,777 (7.5% of the population) did not declare any ethnicity. There was not any option for a person to declare multiple ethnicities.</ref>–490,000 (2.1–9.0%)
| ref17 = <ref>{{cite web |title = Roma integration in Slovakia |url = https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-and-eu/roma-integration-eu-country/roma-integration-slovakia_en |website = European Commission – European Commission |language = en }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher = Statistics |place = [[Slovakia|SK]] |url = http://portal.statistics.sk/files/Sekcie/sek_600/Demografia/SODB/Tabulky/Tabulky_AJ_SODB/tab11.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070715152521/http://portal.statistics.sk/files/Sekcie/sek_600/Demografia/SODB/Tabulky/Tabulky_AJ_SODB/tab11.pdf |archive-date = 15 July 2007 |title = Population and Housing Census. Resident population by nationality }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |website = SME |place = SK |url = http://romovia.sme.sk/c/6947495/po-deviatich-rokoch-spocitali-romov-na-slovensku-ich-zije-viac-ako-400-tisic.html |title = Po deviatich rokoch spočítali Rómov, na Slovensku ich žije viac ako 400-tisíc |language = sk |date = 25 September 2013 |access-date = 25 September 2013 |publisher = SITA }}</ref>
| region18 = [[Iran]]
| pop18 = 2,000–110,000
| ref18 = <ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.iranian.com/SaeedTavakkol/2005/October/Gypsy/index.html |title = Gypsy |work=www.iranian.com |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170515170948/http://www.iranian.com/SaeedTavakkol/2005/October/Gypsy/index.html |archive-date = 15 May 2017 |df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gypsy-i#:~:text=The%20identity%20of%20these%20groups%20being%20uncertain%2C%20there,p.%202%29.%20Their%20origins%20are%20just%20as%20obscure |title= GYPSY i. Gypsies of Persia |date=12 Dec 2002 |work= Encyclopædia Iranica}}</ref>
| region19 = [[North Macedonia]]
| pop19 = 46,433 (2.53%)
| ref19 = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stat.gov.mk/publikacii/2022/POPIS_DZS_web_EN.pdf |title=Total resident population, households and dwellings in the Republic of North Macedonia, census 2021 |publisher=State Statistical Office of the Republic of North Macedonia |pages=32–33 |access-date=13 February 2023}}</ref>
| region20 = [[Sweden]]
| pop20 = 50,000–100,000
| ref20 = <ref name=immigration /><ref>{{Citation |contribution-url = http://minoritet.prod3.imcms.net/1013 |title = Minoritet |contribution = Sametingen. Information about minorities in Sweden |language = sv |publisher = IMCMS |access-date = 30 March 2013 |archive-date = 26 March 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170326075902/http://minoritet.prod3.imcms.net/1013 |url-status = dead }}</ref>
| region21 = [[Ukraine]]
| pop21 = 47,587<ref group="note">This is a census figure. Less than 1% of the population did not declare any ethnicity.</ref>–260,000 (0.6%)
| ref21 = <ref name=immigration /><ref>{{cite web |url = http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/results/nationality_population/nationality_popul1/select_5/?botton=cens_db&box=5.1W&k_t=00&p=100&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&n_page=5 |script-title = uk:Всеукраїнський перепис населення '2001: Розподіл населення за національністю та рідною мовою |trans-title = Ukrainian Census, 2001: Distribution of population by nationality and mother tongue |language = uk |publisher = State Statistics Service of Ukraine |place = [[Ukraine|UA]] |date = 2003 |access-date = 15 September 2017 }}</ref>
| region22 = [[Portugal]]
| pop22 = 40,000–52,000 (0.5%)
| ref22 = <ref name=immigration /><ref name="minorityrights.org" />
| region23 = [[Austria]]
| pop23 = 40,000–50,000 (0.6%)
| ref23 = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://medienservicestelle.at/migration_bewegt/2012/04/05/etwa-40-000-roma-und-sinti-leben-in-osterreich/|title=Etwa 40.000 Roma und Sinti leben in Österreich|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062645/http://medienservicestelle.at/migration_bewegt/2012/04/05/etwa-40-000-roma-und-sinti-leben-in-osterreich/|archive-date=4 March 2016|access-date=17 August 2022}}</ref>
| region24 = [[Kosovo]]{{efn|name=status}}
| pop24 = 36,000<ref group="note">This is a census figure including Romani, [[Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians]].</ref> (2%)
| ref24 = <ref name=immigration /><ref>{{Cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tQKyAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA142 |title = Historical Dictionary of the Gypsies (Romanies) |edition = 2nd |publisher = Scarecrow Press |isbn = 978-0-8108-6440-5 |last1 = Kenrick |first1 = Donald |year=2007 |page = 142}}</ref>
| region25 = [[Netherlands]]
| pop25 = 32,000–40,000 (0.2%)
| ref25 = <ref name=immigration />
| region26 = [[Poland]]
| pop26 = 17,049<ref group="note" name="auto" />–32,500 (0.1%)
| ref26 = <ref name=immigration /><ref>{{cite web |url = http://countrystudies.us/poland/32.htm |title = Poland – Gypsies |website = Country studies |place = [[United States|US]] |access-date = 28 August 2015 }}</ref>
| region27 = [[Croatia]]
| pop27 = 16,975<ref group="note" name="auto" />–35,000 (0.8%)
| ref27 = <ref name=immigration /><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/census2011/results/htm/e01_01_05/E01_01_05.html |title = Population by Ethnicity – Delailed Classification, 2011 Census |publisher = Croatian Bureau of Statistics |access-date = 21 June 2015 }}</ref>
| region28 = [[Mexico]]
| pop28 = 15,850
| ref28 = <ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.ipsnews.net/2010/10/gypsies-or-how-to-be-invisible-in-mexico |author = Emilio Godoy |title = Gypsies, or How to Be Invisible in Mexico |date = 12 October 2010 |publisher = Inter Press Service |access-date = 30 July 2016 }}</ref>
| region29 = [[Chile]]
| pop29 = 15,000–20,000
| ref29 = <ref name="Marsh, 2016">{{cite web |url=http://www.latinolife.co.uk/node/289 |title=The Roma Gypsies of Latin America |author=Hazel Marsh |access-date=27 November 2017 |publisher=www.latinolife.co.uk |archive-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423164035/https://www.latinolife.co.uk/node/289 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| region30 = [[Moldova]]
| pop30 = 12,778<ref group="note" name="auto" />–107,100 (3.0%)
| ref30 = <ref name=immigration /><ref>2004 census</ref>
| region31 = [[Finland]]
| pop31 = 10,000–12,000 est. (0.2%)
| ref31 = <ref>{{cite web |url = https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/74503/suomen_romanit.pdf?sequence=1 |title = Suomen romanit – Finitiko romaseele |publisher = Government of Finland |access-date = 8 January 2020 }}</ref>
| region32 = [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
| pop32 = 8,864<ref group="note" name="auto" />–58,000 (1.5%)
| ref32 = <ref name=immigration /><ref>1991 census</ref>
| region33 = [[Colombia]]
| pop33 = 2,649–8,000
| ref33 = <ref name="Hazel Marsh">{{cite web |first = Hazel |last = Marsh |url = http://www.latinolife.co.uk/node/289 |title = The Roma Gypsies of Colombia |publisher = latinolife.co.uk |access-date = 17 July 2017 |archive-date = 23 April 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210423164035/https://www.latinolife.co.uk/node/289 |url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/boletines/grupos-etnicos/presentacion-grupos-etnicos-poblacion-gitana-rrom-2019.pdf| title = presentacion-grupos-etnicos-poblacion-gitana-rrom-2019 |work=dane.gov.co}}</ref>
| region34 = [[Albania]]
| pop34 = 8,301<ref group="note">This is a census figure. There was an additional 3,368 [[Balkan Egyptians]]. 390,938 (1% of the population) did not declare any ethnicity. The census is regarded as unreliable by the Council of Europe</ref>
| ref34 = <ref name=immigration /><ref name="minorityrights.org">[http://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/old-site-downloads/download-127-RomaGypsies-A-European-Minority.pdf Roma /Gypsies: A European Minority], Minority Rights Group International</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.instat.gov.al/media/180932/1.1.13.xls |format = XLS |title = Albanian census 2011 |publisher = instat.gov.al |access-date = 7 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924035427/http://www.instat.gov.al/media/180932/1.1.13.xls |archive-date = 24 September 2015 |df = dmy-all }}</ref>
| region35 = [[Belarus]]
| pop35 = 7,316<ref group="note" name="auto" />–47,500 (0.5%)
| ref35 = <ref>{{cite web |url = http://belstat.gov.by/homep/ru/perepic/2009/vihod_tables/5.8-0.pdf |title = Republic of Belarus, 2009 Census: Population by Ethnicity and Native Language |access-date = 21 April 2018 |language = ru |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100918165045/http://belstat.gov.by/homep/ru/perepic/2009/vihod_tables/5.8-0.pdf |archive-date = 18 September 2010 |df = dmy-all }}</ref>
| region36 = [[Latvia]]
| pop36 = 7,193<ref group="note" name="auto" />–12,500 (0.6%)
| ref36 = <ref name=immigration />
| region37 = [[Canada]]
| pop37 = 5,255–80,000
| ref37 = <ref>{{cite web |url = http://home.cogeco.ca/~rcctoronto/pdfs/fs08canada.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070614111814/http://home.cogeco.ca/~rcctoronto/pdfs/fs08canada.pdf |archive-date = 14 June 2007 |title = Roma in Canada fact sheet |publisher = home.cogeco.ca }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?TABID=2&LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=1118296&GK=0&GRP=0&PID=105396&PRID=0&PTYPE=105277&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2013&THEME=95&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=&D1=0&D2=0&D3=0&D4=0&D5=0&D6=0 |title = 2011 National Household Survey: Data tables |author = Statistics Canada |date = 8 May 2013 |access-date = 11 February 2014 |author-link = Statistics Canada }}</ref>
| region38 = [[Montenegro]]
| pop38 = 5,251<ref group="note" name="auto" />–20,000 (3.7%)
| ref38 = <ref name="monstat1">{{cite web |url = http://www.monstat.org/userfiles/file/popis2011/saopstenje/saopstenje(1).pdf |title = Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in Montenegro 2011 |date = 12 July 2011 |access-date = 13 July 2011 }}</ref>
| region39 = [[Czech Republic]]
| pop39 = 5,199<ref group="note">This is a census figure. Some 25% of the population did not declare any ethnicity.</ref>–40,370<ref group="note">This is a census figure.</ref> ([[Romani language|Romani speakers]])–250,000 (1.9%)<ref>{{cite web |url = http://vdb.czso.cz/sldbvo/#!stranka=podle-tematu&tu=30718&th=&v=&vo=H4sIAAAAAAAAAFvzloG1uIhBMCuxLFGvtCQzR88jsTjDN7GAlf3WwcNiCReZGZjcGLhy8hNT3BKTS_KLPBk4SzKKUosz8nNSKgrsHRhAgKecA0gKADF3CQNnaLBrUIBjkKNvcSFDHQMDhhqGCqCiYA__cLCiEgZGvxIGdg9_Fz__EMeCEgY2b38XZ89gIIvLxTHEP8wx2NEFJM4ZHOIY5u_t7-MJ1OIP5IdEBkT5OwU5RgH5IUB9fo4ePq4uEPNYw1yDolzhPstJzEvX88wrSU1PLRJ6tGDJ98Z2CyYGRk8G1rLEnNLUiiIGAYQ6v9LcpNSitjVTZbmnPOhmArq34D8QlDDwAG10C_KFWcoe4ugU6uPtWMLA4eni6hcSEAZ0FYe_k3OQmaGJUwUA4lOtR1sBAAA.&vseuzemi=null&void= |title = Sčítání lidu, domů a bytů |publisher = czso.cz }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Roma integration in the Czech Republic |url = https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-and-eu/roma-integration-eu-country/roma-integration-czech-republic_en |website = European Commission – European Commission |language = en }}</ref>
| region40 = [[Australia]]
| pop40 = 5,000–25,000
| ref40 = <ref>{{cite web |url = https://open.abc.net.au/explore/15645 |title = A History of Australian Romanies, now and then |author = Yvonne Slee |series = Now and Then |publisher = Open ABC |place = Australia |access-date = 28 July 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160811042839/https://open.abc.net.au/explore/15645 |archive-date = 11 August 2016 |url-status = dead }}</ref>
| region41 = [[Slovenia]]
| pop41 = 3,246
| ref41 = <ref name=immigration />
| region42 = [[Lithuania]]
| pop42 = 2,571
| ref42 = <ref name=immigration />
| region43 = [[Denmark]]
| pop43 = 5,500
| ref43 = <ref>{{cite web|url= https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-eu/roma-equality-inclusion-and-participation-eu-country/denmark_en#factsandfigures|title=Denmark|publisher=European Commission}}</ref>
| region44 = [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]
| pop44 = 22,435
| ref44 = <ref name=immigration />
| region45 = [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]
| pop45 = 1,200
| ref45 = <ref name=immigration />
| region46 = [[Belgium]]
| pop46 = 30,000
| ref46 = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-eu/roma-equality-inclusion-and-participation-eu-country/belgium_en#factsfigures|title=Belgium}}</ref>
| region47 = [[Cyprus]]
| pop47 = 1,250
| ref47 = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-eu/roma-equality-inclusion-and-participation-eu-country/cyprus_en|title=Cyprus}}</ref>
| languages = [[Romani language]], [[Para-Romani]] varieties, languages of native regions
| religions = Predominantly [[Christianity]]<ref name="Gall, Timothy L. 1998 pp. 316, 318">{{Citation |editor-last = Gall |editor-first = Timothy L |title = Worldmark Encyclopedia of Culture & Daily Life |volume = 4. Europe |place = Cleveland, OH |publisher = Eastword |year = 1998 |pages = 316, 318 |quote = 'Religion: An underlay of Hinduism with an overlay of either Christianity or Islam (host country religion)'; Roma religious beliefs are rooted in Hinduism. Roma believe in a universal balance, called kuntari... Despite a 1,000-year separation from India, Roma still practice 'shaktism', the worship of a god through his female consort... }}</ref> [[Islam]]<ref name="Gall, Timothy L. 1998 pp. 316, 318" /> [[Shaktism]] tradition of [[Hinduism]]<ref name="Gall, Timothy L. 1998 pp. 316, 318" /> [[Romani folklore|Romani mythology]] [[Buddhism]] (minority)<ref name="vish">{{cite web |last1=Vishvapani |title=Hungary's Gypsy Buddhists & Religious Discrimination |url=https://www.wiseattention.org/blog/2011/11/29/gypsy-buddhists/ |website=www.wiseattention.org |date=29 November 2011 |access-date=4 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="bhal">{{cite journal |last1=Bhalesain |first1=Pravin |title=Gypsies embracing Buddhism:A step forward for Building a Harmonious Society in Europe |journal=Undv.org/Vesak2011/Panel2 |date=2011 |url=http://www.undv.org/vesak2011/panel2/14PBhalesainFINAL.pdf |access-date=4 June 2021}}</ref> [[Judaism]] (conversion through marriage to Jewish spouses)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_b_history_romanireligion&lang=&articles=true | title=RADOC }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of the Gypsies (Romanies)|page=134|url=https://www.gitanos.org/documentos/1.1-KEN-his_HistoricalDictionaryoftheGypsies.pdf}}</ref>
| related-c = [[Ghorbati]], [[Dom people|Doms]], [[Lom people|Lom]], [[Dom (caste)|Ḍoma]]; other [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryans]]
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| related_groups =
}}
{{Romani people}}
The '''Romani''' (also spelled '''Romany''' or '''Rromani''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|oʊ|m|ə|n|i}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɒ|-}}), colloquially known as the '''Roma''', are an [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] [[ethnic group]] and traditionally nomadic [[Itinerant groups in Europe|itinerant]]s. They live in [[Europe]] and [[Anatolia]], and have [[Romani diaspora|diaspora]] populations located worldwide with significant concentrations in the [[Americas]].

In the [[English language]] the Romani people are widely known by the [[Exonym and endonym|exonym]] '''Gypsies''' (or '''Gipsies'''),<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Gipsies |volume=12 |pages=37–43 |first=Moses |last=Gaster}}</ref> which is considered pejorative by some Romani people due to its connotations of illegality and irregularity as well as its historical use as a [[list of ethnic slurs|racial slur]].<ref name="Randall">{{cite web |last = Randall |first = Kay |title = What's in a Name? Professor take on roles of Romani activist and spokesperson to improve plight of their ethnic group |url = http://www.utexas.edu/features/archive/2003/romani.html |access-date = 30 January 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050205135317/http://www.utexas.edu/features/archive/2003/romani.html |archive-date = 5 February 2005 }}</ref><ref name=pickering>{{cite web|last= Pickering|title= The Romani|url= https://www.nmu.edu/sites/DrupalEnglish/files/UserFiles/Files/Pre-Drupal/SiteSections/Students/AwardEntries/Romani_Pickering_2010.pdf|year=2010|publisher= [[Northern Michigan University]]|access-date= May 24, 2021|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last= Bambauer|first= Nikki|title= The Plight of the Romani People-Europe's Most Persecuted Minority|publisher= JFCS Holocaust Center|url= https://holocaustcenter.jfcs.org/plight-romani-people/|date= August 2, 2018|quote= The Romani people are frequently referred to as “gypsies,” but many of them consider this exonym a derogatory term.}}</ref> For versions (some of which are [[cognate]]s) of the word in many other languages (e.g., {{Lang-fr|Tzigane or gitan}}, {{Lang-es|gitano}}, {{lang-it|zingaro}}, {{Lang-pt|cigano}}, {{Lang-ro|țigan}} and {{Lang-de|Zigeuner}}) this perception is either very small or non-existent.<ref>{{Cite web|title='Spain's gypsies are more invisible than ever' - The Local|url=https://www.thelocal.es/20131122/the-crisis-makes-spains-gypsies-even-more-invisible/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=www.thelocal.es|date=22 November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Revista USP 117 {{!}} Texto: A construção das identidades ciganas no Brasil|url=http://jornal.usp.br/especial/revista-usp-117-a-construcao-das-identidades-ciganas-no-brasil/|access-date=2021-05-21|language=pt-BR}}</ref> At the first [[World Romani Congress]] in 1971, its attendees unanimously voted to reject the use of all exonyms for the Romani people, including ''Gypsy'', due to their aforementioned negative and stereotypical connotations.<ref name=pickering/>

Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Roma originated in the [[Indian subcontinent]]; in particular, the region of [[Rajasthan]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Marinov |first=Aleksandar G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kl2jDwAAQBAJ |title=Inward Looking: The Impact of Migration on Romanipe from the Romani Perspective |date=2019-10-03 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78920-362-2 |pages=31 |language=en |quote=It is unclear what made this people leave the Indian sub-continent but they are generally believed to have originated from central India, possibly in the modern Indian state of Rajasthan, migrating to the northwest around 250 BC.}}</ref>{{sfn|Hancock|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MG0ahVw-kdwC&pg=PR20 xx]|ps=: 'While a nine century removal from India has diluted Indian biological connection to the extent that for some Romani groups, it may be hardly representative today, Sarren (1976:72) concluded that we still remain together, genetically, Asian rather than European'}}<ref name="BroughtonEllingham1999">{{cite book |author1 = Simon Broughton |author2 = Mark Ellingham |author3 = Richard Trillo |title = World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East |url = https://archive.org/details/roughguidetoworl00simo |url-access = registration |access-date = 8 December 2015 |year = 1999 |publisher = Rough Guides |isbn = 978-1-85828-635-8 |page = [https://archive.org/details/roughguidetoworl00simo/page/147 147] }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Silverman |first=Carol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lw-Byail0EkC&pg=PA49 |title=Romani Routes: Cultural Politics and Balkan Music in Diaspora |date=2012-05-24 |publisher=OUP USA |isbn=978-0-19-530094-9 |pages=49 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Snodgrass |first=Mary Ellen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DMGpDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA260 |title=The Encyclopedia of World Folk Dance |date=2016-08-08 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-5749-8 |pages=260 |language=en}}</ref> They are [[Romani diaspora|dispersed]], but their most concentrated populations are located in Europe, especially [[Central Europe|Central]], [[Eastern Europe|Eastern]] and [[Southern Europe]], [[Southern France]], as well as [[Western Asia]] (mainly Turkey). The Romani people arrived in West Asia and Europe around the 14th century.<ref name="kenrick_intro">{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tQKyAAAAQBAJ&pg=PR37 |last = Kenrick |first = Donald |title = Historical Dictionary of the Gypsies (Romanies) |edition = 2nd |publisher = Scarecrow Press |date = 5 July 2007 |page = xxxvii |isbn = 978-0-8108-6440-5 |quote = The Gypsies, or Romanies, are an ethnic group that arrived in Europe around the 14th century. Scholars argue about when and how they left India, but it is generally accepted that they did emigrate from northern India some time between the sixth and 11th centuries, then crossed the Middle East and came into Europe. }}</ref>

Since the 19th century, some Romani people have also migrated to the Americas. There are an estimated one million [[Romani Americans|Roma in the United States]]<ref name="time" /> and 800,000 in [[Romani people in Brazil|Brazil]], most of whose ancestors emigrated in the 19th century from Eastern Europe. Brazil also includes a notable Romani community descended from people deported by the [[Portuguese Empire]] during the [[Portuguese Inquisition]].<ref>{{cite web |last = Corrêa Teixeira |first = Rodrigo |title = A história dos ciganos no Brasil |url = http://www.dhnet.org.br/direitos/sos/ciganos/a_pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110718044951/http://www.dhnet.org.br/direitos/sos/ciganos/a_pdf/teixeira_hist_ciganos_brasil.pdf |archive-date = July 2011 |format = PDF |website = Dhnet.org.br |access-date = 9 November 2017 }}</ref> In migrations since the late 19th century, Romani people have also moved to other countries in South America and to Canada. Though often confused with them, the Romani people are culturally different from [[Irish Travellers]] and the [[Yenish people]], two groups who may be related to each other.{{Sfn |Sutherland |1986}}{{Page needed |date=September 2015}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Matras|first=Yaron |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YfQ9BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA27|title=The Romani Gypsies|page=27|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674368385|date=2015}}</ref>

[[Romani language|Romani]] is an Indo-Aryan language with strong Balkan and Greek influence.{{sfn|Matras|2002|page=2240}} It is divided into several [[dialect]]s, which together are estimated to have more than two million speakers.{{sfn|Matras|2002|p=239}} Because it has traditionally been an oral language, many Romani people are native speakers of the [[Lingua franca|dominant language]] in their country of residence or of [[mixed language]]s combining the dominant language with a dialect of Romani; those [[Variety (linguistics)|varieties]] are sometimes called [[Para-Romani]].<ref>{{cite web |title = Romani |url = http://romani.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/downloads/2/Matras_Rmni_ELL.pdf |website = Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics |place = Oxford |publisher = Elsevier |access-date = 30 August 2009 |page = 1 |quote = In some regions of Europe, especially the western margins (Britain, the Iberian peninsula), Romani-speaking communities have given up their language in favor of the majority language, but have retained Romani-derived vocabulary as an in-group code. Such codes, for instance Angloromani (Britain), Caló (Spain), or Rommani (Scandinavia) are usually referred to as Para-Romani varieties. }}</ref>

The Romani began to leave India about 1,000 years ago. They most likely left to escape the invasion of Afghan general [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] early in the 11th century. Mahmud's troops probably pushed the Romani out of northern India and into the area that is now Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://media.nationalgeographic.org/assets/file/romani_MIG.pdf|title=Migrations of the Romani People}}</ref>

== Population and subgroups ==

=== Romani population ===
{{Main|Romani populations}}
For a variety of reasons many Romanis choose not to register their ethnic identity in official censuses. There are an estimated 10 million Romani people in Europe (as of 2019),<ref>{{cite news |title=Roma integration in the EU |url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-and-eu/roma-integration-eu_en |publisher=European Commission |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> although some Romani organizations give estimates as high as 14 million.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/romatravellers/Documentation/strategies/statistiques_en.asp |title = Compilation of population estimates |publisher = Council of Europe |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070622154153/http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/romatravellers/documentation/strategies/statistiques_en.asp |archive-date = 22 June 2007 }}</ref> Significant Romani populations are found in the [[Balkans]], in some Central European states, in Spain, France, Russia and Ukraine. In the [[European Union]], there are an estimated 6 million Romanis.<ref>{{cite news |title=Roma ghettos in the heart of the EU |url=https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/09/06/inenglish/1567776057_755361.html |work=[[El País]] |date=6 September 2019}}</ref> Several million more Romanis may live outside Europe, in particular in the Middle East and in the Americas.<ref>{{Citation |contribution-url = http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/my-big-fat-american-gypsy-wedding/about-the-show/gypsies-in-america/ |title = My big, fat American Gypsy wedding |contribution = There are Gypsies in America? Where? |publisher = TLC |date = 17 April 2012 |access-date = 29 May 2015 |archive-date = 15 February 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190215004455/http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/my-big-fat-american-gypsy-wedding/about-the-show/gypsies-in-america/ |url-status = dead }}</ref>

===Romani homeland===
There is no single Romani "homeland".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.streetroots.org/news/2013/09/10/roma-people-without-land | title=Roma: A people without a land }}</ref> A home country for the Romani people has been proposed, under the name [[Romanistan]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2006/9/12/245656/- | title=Romanistan: The Gypsy Republic (A fable) }}</ref>

=== Romani subgroups ===

{{See also|Romani people in Poland|Polska Roma}}

[[File:Kolme romaninaista.jpg|thumb|Three [[Finnish Kale|Finnish Romani]] women in [[Helsinki]], Finland, in the 1930s]]
Like the Roma in general, many different [[ethnonym]]s are given to subgroups of Roma. Sometimes a subgroup uses more than one [[endonym]], is commonly known by an [[exonym]] or erroneously by the endonym of another subgroup. The only name approaching an all-encompassing self-description is ''Rom''.{{sfn|Hübshmanová|2003}} Even when subgroups do not use the name, they all acknowledge a common origin and a dichotomy between themselves and ''[[Gadjo (non-Romani)|Gadjo]]'' (non-Roma).{{sfn |Hübshmanová|2003}} For instance, while the main group of Roma in [[List of territorial entities where German is an official language|German-speaking countries]] refer to themselves as [[Sinti]], their name for their original language is ''Romanes''.

Subgroups have been described as, in part, a result of the castes and subcastes in India, which the founding population of ''Rom'' almost certainly experienced in their South Asian ''[[urheimat]]''.{{sfn|Hübshmanová|2003}}<ref>{{cite book |last = Horvátová |first = Jana |title = Kapitoly z dějin Romů |url = http://www.varianty.cz/cdrom/podkapitoly/d01kapitoly.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050312184629/http://www.varianty.cz/cdrom/podkapitoly/d01kapitoly.pdf |archive-date= 12 March 2005 |year = 2002 |publisher= Lidové noviny |place = Praha |language = cs |page = 12 |quote= Mnohočetnost romských skupin je patrně pozůstatkem diferenciace Romů do původních indických kast a podkast. [The multitude of Roma groups is apparently a relic of Roma differentiation to Indian castes and subcastes.] }}</ref>

[[File:Debret casa ciganos.jpg|thumb|{{Citation |title = Interior of a gipsy's house in Brazil |year = c. 1820 |author-link = Jean-Baptiste Debret |last = Debret |first = Jean-Baptiste }}]]

[[File:Gypsies camping - probably Swansea (20740154331).jpg|thumb|''Gypsies camping''. Welsh Romanies near [[Swansea]], 1953]]

Many groups use names apparently derived from the Romani word ''kalo'' or ''calo'', meaning "black" or "absorbing all light". This closely resembles words for "black" or "dark" in [[Indo-Aryan languages]] (e.g. [[Sanskrit]] काल [[Kāla (time)#Etymology|''kāla'']]: "black", "of a dark colour").{{sfn |Hübshmanová|2003}} Likewise, the name of the [[Domba|Dom]] or Domba people of North India–to whom the Roma have genetic,<ref>[http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0048477 N. Rai et al., 2012, "The Phylogeography of Y-Chromosome Haplogroup H1a1a-M82 Reveals the Likely Indian Origin of the European Romani Populations"] (23 September 2016)</ref> cultural and linguistic links–has come to imply "dark-skinned", in some Indian languages.<ref>Isabel Fonseca, ''Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and their Journey'', Random House, p. 100.</ref> Hence names such as ''kale'' and ''calé'' may have originated as an [[exonym]] or a euphemism for Roma.

Other endonyms for Romani include, for example:
* [[Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians|''Ashkali'']] – Albanian-speaking Muslim Roma communities in the Balkans<ref>{{Citation |url = http://facta.junis.ni.ac.rs/pas/pas2001/pas2001-05.pdf |title = New Ethnic Identities in the Balkans: The Case of the Egyptians |publisher = NI |place = RS |year = 2001 }}</ref>
* ''[[Arlije]]'' (also ''Erlides'', ''Yerli'' meaning local, from the Turkish word Yerli) in [[Balkans]] and Turkey to describe sedentary Muslim roma.
* ''Bashaldé'' – [[Hungarians in Slovakia|Hungarian-Slovak]] Roma diaspora in the US from the late 19th century.<ref name="Hancock2010">{{cite book |author = Ian Hancock |title = Danger! Educated Gypsy: Selected Essays |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HOycWJwdyLgC&pg=PA130 |year = 2010 |publisher = Univ of Hertfordshire Press |isbn = 978-1-907396-30-4 |pages = 130– }}</ref>
* ''Çerge'' also ''Čergarja'' ([[Nomad]]), Nomadic Lifestyle Muslim Roma at [[Balkans]] and Turkey.
* ''Calé'' is the [[endonym]] used by both the [[Gitanos|Spanish Roma]] (''gitanos'') and [[Romani people in Portugal|Portuguese Roma]] ''ciganos'';<ref name="jurova_endonyma" /> ''[[Caló language|Caló]]'' is "the language spoken by the ''calé''".
* ''Dasikane'' or ''Daskane'', meaning ''slaves'' or ''servants'', a [[Religionym and confessionym]] for Orthodox Christian Roma in the Balkans.{{sfn |Hübshmanová|2003}}
* ''Sepečides'' meaning ''Basketmaker'', Muslim roma in west thrace Greece.
* [[Finnish Kale|''Kaale'']], in Finland and Sweden.<ref name="jurova_endonyma" />{{sfn|Hübshmanová|2003}}
* ''[[Garachi]]'' Shia Islam followers Roma people in [[Azerbaijan]]
* ''[[Gurbeti]]'' Muslim Roma in [[Northern Cyprus]], Turkey and Balkans.
* [[Kale (Welsh Romanies)|Kale]], ''Kalá'', or ''Valshanange'' – [[Welsh English]] endonym used by some Roma clans in Wales.<ref group="note">The [[Welsh orthography|Welsh language alphabet]] lacks the letter "k".</ref> ([[Romanichal]] also live in Wales.) Romani in Spain are also attributed to the Kale.<ref name="Diagnostico Social de la Comunidad Gitana en Espana – CIS" />
* ''Horahane'' or ''Xoraxai'', also known as "Turkish Roma", Muslim Roma, a [[Religionym and confessionym]] in the Balkans for [[Muslim Romani people]]. {{sfn|Hübshmanová|2003}}
* ''Lalleri'', from Austria, Germany, and the western [[Czech Republic]] (including the former [[Sudetenland]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=RomArchive |url=https://www.romarchive.eu/en/ |access-date=2022-06-12 |website=www.romarchive.eu}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Wisely |first=Andrew |title=War against "Internal Enemies": Dr. Franz Lucas's Sterilization of Sinti and Roma in Ravensbrück Men's Camp in January 1945 |year=2019 |journal=Central European History |volume=52 |issue=4 |access-date=21 September 2022 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/D56988948967F9F49F9CD2750EE56DEA/S0008938919000852a.pdf/war-against-internal-enemies-dr-franz-lucass-sterilization-of-sinti-and-roma-in-ravensbruck-mens-camp-in-january-1945.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920165350/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/central-european-history/article/abs/war-against-internal-enemies-dr-franz-lucass-sterilization-of-sinti-and-roma-in-ravensbruck-mens-camp-in-january-1945/D56988948967F9F49F9CD2750EE56DEA |archive-date=21 September 2022 |page=654 |doi=10.1017/S0008938919000852 |s2cid=214237801 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewy |first=Guenter |date=April 1999 |title=Himmler and the 'Racially Pure Gypsies' |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/002200949903400202 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |language=en |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=201–214 |doi=10.1177/002200949903400202 |pmid=21977563 |s2cid=37085059 |issn=0022-0094 |quote=One spokesman was to serve the Lalleri Gypsies, a closely-knit tribe originally from the German-speaking part of Bohemia and Moravia that in 1939 had become a German protectorate.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=GENOCIDE OF EUROPEAN ROMA (GYPSIES), 1939–1945 |url=https://romacenter.org/en/genocide-of-european-roma-gypsies-1939-1945/ |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=Romacenter.org |language=en |quote=In the autumn of 1941, German police authorities deported 5,007 Sinti and Lalleri Gypsies from Austria to the ghetto for Jews in Lodz, where they resided in a segregated section}}</ref>
* ''[[Lovari]]'', from Hungary,<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.omniglot.com/writing/romany.htm |title = Romani language and alphabet |publisher = Omniglot |access-date = 10 December 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130606010750/http://www.omniglot.com/writing/romany.htm |archive-date = 6 June 2013 |url-status = dead }}</ref> known in Serbia as ''Machvaya'', ''Machavaya'', ''Machwaya'', or ''Macwaia''. {{sfn |Hübshmanová|2003}}
* ''[[Lyuli]]'', in [[Central Asia]]n countries.
* [[Romanlar in Turkey]], Turkish speaking Muslim roma in Turkey, also called Çingene or Şopar, with all subgroups, who named after their professions, like:
** ''Cambazı'' ([[Acrobatics]] and [[horse trading]])
** ''Sünnetçi'' (Circumciser), like a [[Mohel]]
** ''Kuyumcu'' ([[Goldsmith]])
** ''Subaşı'' ([[Water carrier]])
** ''Çiçekçi'' ([[Flower seller]])
** ''Sepetçi'' ([[Basketmaker]])
** ''Ayıcı'' ([[Bear-leader]])
** ''Kalaycı'' ([[Tinsmith]])
** ''Müzisyen'' ([[Musician]])
** ''Şarkıcı'' ([[Singer]])
** ''Demirci'' ([[Blacksmith]]) etc., but the majority of Turkish Roma work as [[day labor]]ers too.{{sfn |Hübshmanová|2003}}
* ''[[Romani people in Italy|Rom]]'' in Italy.
* [[Romani people in Romania|''Roma'']] in Romania, commonly known by majority [[Romanian people|ethnic Romanians]] as ''Țigani'', including many subgroups defined by occupation:
** [[Boyash]], also known as ''Băieși'', ''Lingurari'', ''Ludar'', ''Ludari'', or ''Rudari'', who coalesced in the [[Apuseni Mountains]] of [[Transylvania]]. ''Băieși'' is a Romanian word for "miners". ''Lingurari'' means "spoon makers",<ref>{{Cite book |title = A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia |last = Crowe |first = David |publisher = St. Martin's Griffin |year = 1995 |isbn = 978-1-349-60671-9 |location = New York|page = 123 }}</ref> ''Ludar'', ''Ludari'', and ''Rudari'' may mean "woodworkers" or "miners".<ref>{{Citation |title = Dicționarul etimologic român |language = ro }}, quoted in {{Citation |url = https://dexonline.ro/definitie/rudar |title = DEX-online }} (see [[Lemma (morphology)|lemma]] ''rudár, rudári, s.m.'' followed by both definitions: gold-miner & wood crafter)</ref> (There is a semantic overlap due to the [[homophony]] or merging of [[Headword|lemmas]] with different meanings from at least two languages: the [[Serbian language|Serbian]] ''rudar'' miner, and ''ruda'' stick, staff, rod, bar, pole (in [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] ''rúd'',<ref>{{Citation |title = Sztaki |place = HU |url = http://dict.sztaki.hu/dict_search.php?L=ENG%3AHUN%3AEngHunDict&O=ENG&flash=&E=1&sid=86b98964fc5d964f0ee812b299c28fd5&vk=&in_form=1&W=rúd&M=1&P=0&C=1&T=1 }}</ref> and in [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''rudă'').<ref>{{Citation |url = http://dexonline.ro/definitie/rudă |title = Dex online |place = RO }}</ref>)
** ''Churari'',<ref>{{cite web |url = http://globalrecordings.net/research/dialect/16036 |title = Vlax Romani: Churari (Speech variety #16036) |publisher = Global recordings |access-date = 10 December 2013 }}</ref> from Romanian ''Ciurari'', "sieve makers", Zlătari "gold smiths"{{sfn|Hübshmanová|2003}}
** ''[[Ursari]]'' ([[Animal training#Wild animals|bear trainers]], from [[Moldovan language|Moldovan]]/Romanian ''urs'' "bear"),{{sfn|Hübshmanová|2003}}
** ''Ungaritza'' [[blacksmiths]] and [[bladesmith]]s<ref name= rom3>{{cite web|author= Research Directorate|title= Romania: Traditional Roma name for the various Roma clans and description of their traditional occupations; whether these occupations still exist today; distinguishing characteristics of the clans|location= Canada|publisher= [[Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada]]|year= 2001|url= https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be9c20.html|access-date= July 27, 2021}}</ref>
** ''Argintari'' [[silversmith]]s.<ref name= rom3/>
** ''Aurari'' [[goldsmith]]s.<ref name= rom3/>
** ''Florari'' [[flower seller]]s.<ref name= rom3/>
** ''[[Lăutari]]'' singers.<ref name= rom3/>
** ''[[Kalderash]]'', from Romanian ''căldărar'', ''lit.'' bucketmaker, meaning kettlemaker, tinsmith, tinker; also in [[Moldova]] and Ukraine.<ref name= rom3/>
* [[Czech Roma|Roma]] or ''Romové'', Czech Republic
* [[Slovak Roma|Roma]] or ''Rómovia'', Slovakia
* [[Romanichal]], in the United Kingdom,<ref name="jurova_endonyma" />{{sfn|Hübshmanová|2003}} emigrated also to the [[Roma in the United States|United States]], Canada and Australia<ref>{{Citation |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0XPJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT492 |title = Exploring Contemporary Migration |first1= Paul |last1= Boyle |first2= Keith H. |last2= Halfacree |first3= Vaughan |last3= Robinson |year= 2014 |isbn= 978-1-317-89086-7 }}</ref>
* [[Norwegian and Swedish Travellers|''Romanisæl'']], in Norway and Sweden.
* [[Romani people in France|''Roms'']] or ''Manouche'' (from ''manush'' "people" in Romani) in France.{{sfn|Hübshmanová|2003}}<ref>{{cite journal |last = Jurová |first= Anna |title = From Leaving The Homeland to the First Assimilation Measures |year = 2003 |journal = Čačipen Pal O Roma – A Global Report on Roma in Slovakia |access-date = 7 September 2013 |url = http://www.eurac.it/en/research/institutes/imr/Documents/romaglob_final.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131203125146/http://www.eurac.it/en/research/institutes/imr/Documents/romaglob_final.pdf |archive-date = 3 December 2013 |page = 17 |editor1-last = Vaščka |editor1-first = Michal |editor2-first = Martina |editor2-last = Jurásková |editor3-first = Tom |editor3-last = Nicholson |place = Slovak Republic |quote = The word "manush" is also included in all dialects of Romany. It means man, while "Manusha" equals people. This word has the same form and meaning in Sanskrit as well, and is almost identical in other Indian languages. }}</ref>
* ''[[Romungro]]'' or Carpathian Romani from eastern Hungary and neighbouring parts of the [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathians]]<ref>{{Citation |url = http://www.forrayrkatalin.hu/doski/PTE_gypsystudies_23_beliv.pdf |title = Gypsy Studies – Cigány Tanulmányok |publisher = Forraykatalin |place = HU |access-date = 9 July 2015 |archive-date = 13 May 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150513231913/http://www.forrayrkatalin.hu/doski/PTE_gypsystudies_23_beliv.pdf |url-status = dead }}</ref>
* ''[[Sinti]]'' or ''Zinti'', predominantly in Germany,<ref name="jurova_endonyma">{{cite journal |last = Jurová |first = Anna |title = From Leaving The Homeland to the First Assimilation Measures |year = 2003 |journal = Čačipen Pal O Roma – A Global Report on Roma in Slovakia |access-date = 7 September 2013 |url = http://www.eurac.it/en/research/institutes/imr/Documents/romaglob_final.pdf |page = 17 |editor1-last = Vaščka |editor1-first = Michal |editor2-first = Martina |editor2-last = Jurásková |editor3-first = Tom |editor3-last = Nicholson |place = Slovakia |quote = the Sinti lived in German territory, the Manusha in France, the Romanitsel in England, the Kale in Spain and Portugal, and the Kaale in Finland. }}</ref>{{sfn|Hübshmanová|2003}}<ref name="Kalaydjieva et al 2001">{{cite journal |last1=Kalaydjieva |first1=Luba |last2=Gresham |first2=David |last3=Calafell |first3=Francesc |title=Genetic studies of the Roma (Gypsies): A Review |journal=BMC Medical Genetics |date=2 April 2001 |volume=2 |issue=5 |page=5 |doi=10.1186/1471-2350-2-5 |pmid=11299048 |pmc=31389 }}</ref> and [[Northern Italy]]; ''Sinti'' do not refer to themselves as Roma, although their language is called ''Romanes''.{{sfn|Hübshmanová|2003}}
* ''[[Zargari people]]'', Shia Muslim Roma in Iran, who once came from Rumelia/Southern Bulgaria from the Maritsa Valley in Ottoman Time and settled in Persia.

=== Diaspora ===
{{Main|Romani diaspora}}
[[File:Romani people around the world.svg|thumb|Countries with a significant Romani population according to unofficial estimates. 
{{Legend|#004d77|+ 1,000,000}}
{{Legend|#007fc6|+ 100,000}}
{{Legend|#48d0ff|+ 10,000}}|300x300px]]
[[File:Romani Girl.jpg|thumb|Romani girl in [[Gujarat]], India]]
The Roma people have a number of distinct populations, the largest being the Roma who reached [[Anatolia]] and the [[Balkans]] about the early 12th century from a migration out of northwestern India beginning about 600 years earlier.<ref name="IsabelMendizabal">{{cite journal |last1=Mendizabal |first1=Isabel |last2=Lao |first2=Oscar |last3=Marigorta |first3=Urko M. |last4=Wollstein |first4=Andreas |last5=Gusmão |first5=Leonor |last6=Ferak |first6=Vladimir |last7=Ioana |first7=Mihai |last8=Jordanova |first8=Albena |last9=Kaneva |first9=Radka |last10=Kouvatsi |first10=Anastasia |last11=Kučinskas |first11=Vaidutis |last12=Makukh |first12=Halyna |last13=Metspalu |first13=Andres |last14=Netea |first14=Mihai G. |last15=de Pablo |first15=Rosario |last16=Pamjav |first16=Horolma |last17=Radojkovic |first17=Dragica |last18=Rolleston |first18=Sarah J.H. |last19=Sertic |first19=Jadranka |last20=Macek |first20=Milan |last21=Comas |first21=David |last22=Kayser |first22=Manfred |title=Reconstructing the Population History of European Romani from Genome-wide Data |journal=Current Biology |date=December 2012 |volume=22 |issue=24 |pages=2342–2349 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.039 |pmid=23219723 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Comas">{{cite news |author = Sindya N. Bhanoo |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/science/genomic-study-traces-roma-to-northern-india.html?_r=0 |title = Genomic Study Traces Roma to Northern India |work = [[The New York Times]] |date = 11 December 2012 }}</ref> They settled in the areas that are now Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Romania, [[Moldova]], Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain, by order of volume. From the Balkans, they migrated throughout Europe and Iberian Calé or Caló, and, in the nineteenth and later centuries, to the Americas. The Romani population in the United States is estimated at more than one million.<ref name="time note">"Today, estimates put the number of Roma in the U.S. at about one million."</ref> Brazil has the second largest Romani population in the Americas, estimated at 800,000 by the 2011 census.

The Romani people are mainly called ''ciganos'' by non-Romani ethnic Brazilians. Most of them belong to the ethnic subgroup ''Calés'' (Kale), of the Iberian peninsula. [[Juscelino Kubitschek]], Brazilian president during 1956–1961 term, was 50% Czech Romani by his mother's bloodline, and [[Washington Luís]], last president of the [[First Brazilian Republic]] (1926–1930 term), had Portuguese Kale ancestry.

Unfortunately, the persecution against the Romani people has led to the fact that many of the cultural practices have been extinguished, hidden or modified in order to survive in a country that has excluded them ethnically and culturally.

The very common Carnivals throughout the entire Brazilian territory are one of the few spaces in which the Romani people can still express their cultural traditions, being a moment in which they can practice their dances and rituals. Traditions include the so-called "carnival wedding" in which a child of the male sex is disguised as a bride or the famous "Romaní Dance" which is picturesquely simulated with the women of the town parading in their traditional attire.<ref>{{cite book|access-date=2022-12-10|date=2014-10-15|first=Fernanda Pattaro|language=es|last=Amaral|publisher=Clube de Autores|title=A Orillas Del Mar|isbn=9781502421203 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_xJEAAAQBAJ&q=pueblo+gitano+brasil}}</ref>

There is no official or reliable count of the Romani populations worldwide.<ref>[http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-02-01-roma-europe_x.htm "European effort spotlights plight of the Roma"], ''USA Today'', 1 February 2005</ref> Many Romani refuse to register their ethnic identity in official censuses for fear of discrimination.<ref>{{cite web |first = Marian |last = Chiriac |url = http://www.other-news.info/2004/09/it-now-suits-the-eu-to-help-the-roma/#more-172 |title = It Now Suits the EU to Help the Roma |publisher = Other-news.info |date = 29 September 2004 |access-date = 14 September 2017 |archive-date = 15 September 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170915070340/http://www.other-news.info/2004/09/it-now-suits-the-eu-to-help-the-roma/#more-172 |url-status = dead }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Self published source. Reliable source needed for contention.|date=September 2017}} Others are descendants of intermarriage with local populations, some who no longer identify only as Romani and some who don't identify as Romani at all.

As of the early 2000s, an estimated 3.8<ref name="PanPfeil2003">{{cite book |last1 = Pan |first1 = Christoph |last2 = Pfeil |first2 = Beate Sibylle |title = National Minorities in Europe: Handbook |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gRU_AQAAIAAJ |year = 2003 |publisher = Braumüller |isbn = 978-3-7003-1443-1 |page = 27f }}</ref>{{Page needed |date=September 2015}} to 9 million Romani people lived in Europe and [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]],<ref>{{Citation |last = Liégois |first = Jean-Pierre |year = 2007 |title = Roms en Europe |publisher = Éditions du Conseil de l'Europe }}</ref>{{Page needed |date=September 2015}} although some Romani organizations estimate numbers as high as 14 million.<ref>{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006045453/http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/romatravellers/Documentation/strategies/statistiques_en.asp |date=6 October 2009 |title="Roma Travellers Statistics"}}, Council of Europe, compilation of population estimates. Archived from [http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/romatravellers/Documentation/strategies/statistiques_en.asp the original], 6 October 2009.</ref> Significant Romani populations are found in the [[Balkan peninsula]], in some Central European states, in Spain, France, Russia, and Ukraine. The total number of Romani living outside Europe are primarily in the [[Middle East and North Africa]] and in the Americas and are estimated in total at more than two million. Some countries do not collect data by ethnicity.

The Romani people identify as distinct ethnicities based in part on territorial, cultural and [[dialect]]al differences, and self-designation.{{sfn|Hancock|2001|p=2}}{{sfn|Matras|2002|p=5}}<ref name="Names of the Romani People">{{cite web |title = Names of the Romani People |url = http://desicritics.org/2007/12/24/012125.php |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080507070621/http://desicritics.org/2007/12/24/012125.php |date=24 December 2007 |archive-date = 7 May 2008 |last=Dosoftei |first=Alin |publisher = Desicritics |access-date = 30 January 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url = http://zigane.pp.ru/history14.htm |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070429083140/http://zigane.pp.ru/history14.htm |archive-date = 29 April 2007 |first1 = N |last1 = Bessonov |first2 = N |last2 = Demeter |title = Ethnic groups of Gypsies |publisher = Zigane |place = [[Russia|RU]] }}</ref>

== Origin ==
{{Main|History of the Romani people}}
Genetic findings suggest an [[Indian people|Indian]] origin for Roma.<ref name="IsabelMendizabal" /><ref name="Comas" /><ref>{{Citation |title = Current Biology }}.</ref> Because Romani groups did not keep chronicles of their history or have oral accounts of it, most hypotheses about the Romani migration's early history are based on linguistic theory.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://rombase.uni-graz.at//cgi-bin/artframe.pl?src=data/hist/origin/origin.en.xml |title = Origin of Roma |first = Milena |last = Hübschmannová |year = 2002 |website = RomBase |publisher = Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz |access-date = 3 September 2013 }}</ref> There is also no known record of a migration from India to Europe from medieval times that can be connected indisputably to Roma.{{sfn |Matras|2002|p= 14}}

=== ''Shahnameh'' legend ===
According to a legend reported in the [[Persian language|Persian]] epic poem, the ''[[Shahnameh]]'', from [[Iran]] and repeated by several modern authors, the [[Sasanian]] king [[Bahram V|Bahrām V Gōr]] learned towards the end of his reign (421–439) that the poor could not afford to enjoy music, and he asked the king of India to send him ten thousand ''[[Lori people|luris]]'', lute-playing experts. When the luris arrived, Bahrām gave each one an ox, a donkey, and a donkey-load of wheat so that they could live on agriculture and play music for free for the poor. However, the luris ate the oxen and the wheat and came back a year later with their cheeks hollowed with hunger. The king, angered with their having wasted what he had given them, ordered them to pack up their bags and go wandering around the world on their donkeys.<ref name="GYPSY i">{{cite encyclopedia |last = Digard |first = Jean-Pierre |title = GYPSY i. Gypies of Persia |encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Iranica |access-date = 22 July 2013 |url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gypsy-i }}</ref>

=== Linguistic evidence ===
The linguistic evidence has indisputably shown that the roots of the Romani language lie in India: the language has grammatical characteristics of Indian languages and shares with them a large part of the basic lexicon, for example, regarding body parts or daily routines.<ref name="mluvnice">{{Citation |last1 = Šebková |first1 = Hana |last2 = Žlnayová |first2 = Edita |year = 1998 |url = http://rss.archives.ceu.hu/archive/00001112/01/118.pdf |title = Nástin mluvnice slovenské romštiny (pro pedagogické účely) |place = Ústí nad Labem |publisher = Pedagogická fakulta Univerzity J. E. Purkyně v Ústí nad Labem |page = 4 |isbn = 978-80-7044-205-0 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024041/http://rss.archives.ceu.hu/archive/00001112/01/118.pdf |archive-date = 4 March 2016 |df = dmy-all }}</ref>

Romani and [[Domari language|Domari]] share some similarities: [[agglutination]] of postpositions of the second layer (or [[case marking]] clitics) to the nominal stem, concord markers for the past tense, the neutralisation of gender marking in the plural, and the use of the oblique case as an accusative.{{sfn|Matras|2002|p=48}} This has prompted much discussion about the relationships between these two languages. Domari was once thought to be a "sister language" of Romani, the two languages having split after the departure from the Indian subcontinent{{snd}} but later research suggests that the differences between them are significant enough to treat them as two separate languages within the [[Central Indo-Aryan languages|Central zone]] ([[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]) group of languages. The Dom and the Rom therefore likely descend from two migration waves out of India, separated by several centuries.<ref name="Domari">{{cite web |title = What is Domari? |publisher = University of Manchester. Romani Linguistics and Romani Language Projects |url = http://romani.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/atmanchester/projects/domari.shtml |access-date = 23 July 2008 }}</ref><ref name=ROMANI_ORIGINS>{{cite web |title = On romani origins and identity |url = http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_b_history_origins&lang=en&articles=true |publisher = Radoc |access-date = 23 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110717140132/http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_b_history_origins&lang=en&articles=true |archive-date = 17 July 2011 |df = dmy-all }}</ref>

In [[phonology]], the Romani language shares several isoglosses with the Central branch of Indo-Aryan languages, especially in the realization of some sounds of the Old Indo-Aryan. However, it also preserves several dental clusters. In regards to verb morphology, Romani follows exactly the same pattern of northwestern languages such as [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]] and [[Shina language|Shina]] through the adoption of oblique enclitic pronouns as person markers, lending credence to the theory of their Central Indian origin and a subsequent migration to northwestern India. Though the retention of dental clusters suggests a break from central languages during the transition from Old to Middle Indo-Aryan, the overall morphology suggests that the language participated in some of the significant developments leading toward the emergence of [[Indo-Aryan languages#New Indo-Aryan|New Indo-Aryan languages]].<ref name=Elsevier />
{{Rom-Dom numerals}}

=== Genetic evidence ===
[[File:Francisco Iturrino Two Gypsies.jpg|thumb|upright|''Two Gypsies'' by [[Francisco Iturrino]]]]
Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Romani originated in northwestern India and migrated as a group.<ref name="IsabelMendizabal" /><ref name="Comas" /><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.livescience.com/40652-facts-about-roma-romani-gypsies.html |title = 5 Intriguing Facts About the Roma |website = Live Science |date = 23 October 2013 }}</ref> According to the study, the ancestors of present [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes|scheduled castes and scheduled tribes]] populations of [[North India|northern India]], traditionally referred to collectively as the [[Dom (caste)|Ḍoma]], are the likely ancestral populations of modern European Roma.<ref>{{Citation |author1 = N Rai |author2 = G Chaubey |author3 = R Tamang |author4 = A K Pathak |author5 = V K Singh |year = 2012 |title = The Phylogeography of Y-Chromosome Haplogroup H1a1a-M82 Reveals the Likely Indian Origin of the European Romani Populations |journal = PLOS ONE |volume = 7 |number = 11 |page = e48477 |doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0048477 |display-authors = etal |pmid = 23209554 |pmc = 3509117 |bibcode = 2012PLoSO...748477R |doi-access = free }}</ref>

In December 2012, additional findings appeared to confirm the "Roma came from a single group that left northwestern India about 1,500 years ago".<ref name="Comas" /> They reached the Balkans about 900 years ago<ref name="IsabelMendizabal" /> and then spread throughout Europe. The team also found the Roma to display genetic isolation, as well as "differential gene flow in time and space with non-Romani Europeans".<ref name="IsabelMendizabal" /><ref name="Comas" />

Genetic research published in ''[[European Journal of Human Genetics]]'' "has revealed that over 70% of males belong to a single lineage that appears unique to the Roma".<ref name="auto1">{{Citation |first1 = Luba |last1 = Kalaydjieva |first2 = Francesc |last2 = Calafell |first3 = Mark A |last3 = Jobling |first4 = Dora |last4 = Angelicheva |first5 = Peter |last5 = de Knijff |first6 = Zoe H |last6 = Rosser |first7 = Matthew |last7 = Hurles |first8 = Peter |last8 = Underhill |first9 = Ivailo |last9 = Tournev |first10 = Elena |last10 = Marushiakova |first11 = Vesselin |last11 = Popov |title = Patterns of inter- and intra-group genetic diversity in the Vlax Roma as revealed by Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA lineages |journal = European Journal of Human Genetics |volume = 9 |issue = 2 |url = http://genetics.stanford.edu/hpgl/publications/EJHG_2001_v9_p97.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141209205422/http://genetics.stanford.edu/hpgl/publications/EJHG_2001_v9_p97.pdf |archive-date = 9 December 2014 |pages = 97–104 |year = 2011 |doi = 10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200597 |pmid = 11313742 |s2cid = 21432405 |doi-access = free }}</ref>

Genetic evidence supports the [[medieval]] migration from India. The Romani have been described as "a conglomerate of genetically isolated founder populations",<ref name="Kalaydjieva et al 2001"/> while a number of common [[List of Mendelian traits in humans|Mendelian]] disorders among Romanies from all over Europe indicates "a common origin and [[founder effect]]".<ref name="Kalaydjieva et al 2001"/> A 2020 whole-genome study confirmed the Northwest Indian origins, and also confirmed substantial Balkan and Middle Eastern ancestry.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution|doi=10.1093/molbev/msaa156 |title=Recent Common Origin, Reduced Population Size, and Marked Admixture Have Shaped European Roma Genomes |year=2020 |last1=Bianco |first1=Erica |last2=Laval |first2=Guillaume |last3=Font-Porterias |first3=Neus |last4=García-Fernández |first4=Carla |last5=Dobon |first5=Begoña |last6=Sabido-Vera |first6=Rubén |last7=Sukarova Stefanovska |first7=Emilija |last8=Kučinskas |first8=Vaidutis |last9=Makukh |first9=Halyna |last10=Pamjav |first10=Horolma |last11=Quintana-Murci |first11=Lluis |last12=Netea |first12=Mihai G. |last13=Bertranpetit |first13=Jaume |last14=Calafell |first14=Francesc |last15=Comas |first15=David |volume=37 |issue=11 |pages=3175–3187 |pmid=32589725 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

A study from 2001 by Gresham et al. suggests "a limited number of related founders, compatible with a small group of migrants splitting from a distinct caste or tribal group".<ref name="David_Gresham">{{Cite journal |last1 = Gresham |first1 = D |last2 = Morar |first2 = B |last3 = Underhill |first3 = PA |last4 = Passarino |first4 = G |last5 = Lin |first5 = AA |last6 = Wise |first6 = C |last7 = Angelicheva |first7 = D |last8 = Calafell |first8 = F |last9 = Oefner |first9 = PJ |title = Origins and Divergence of the Roma (Gypsies) |journal = American Journal of Human Genetics |volume = 69 |issue = 6 |pages = 1314–31 |year = 2001 |pmid = 11704928 |pmc = 1235543 |doi = 10.1086/324681 |last10 = Shen|first10 = Peidong |last11 = Tournev |first11 = Ivailo |last12 = De Pablo |first12 = Rosario |last13 = Kuĉinskas |first13 = Vaidutis |last14 = Perez-Lezaun |first14 = Anna |last15 = Marushiakova |first15 = Elena |last16 = Popov |first16 = Vesselin |last17 = Kalaydjieva |first17 = Luba }}</ref> The same study found that "a single lineage... found across Romani populations, accounts for almost one-third of Romani males".<ref name="David_Gresham" /> A 2004 study by Morar et al. concluded that the Romani population "was founded approximately 32–40 generations ago, with secondary and tertiary founder events occurring approximately 16–25 generations ago".<ref name="Morar2004">{{cite journal |last1=Morar |first1=Bharti |last2=Gresham |first2=David |last3=Angelicheva |first3=Dora |last4=Tournev |first4=Ivailo |last5=Gooding |first5=Rebecca |last6=Guergueltcheva |first6=Velina |last7=Schmidt |first7=Carolin |last8=Abicht |first8=Angela |last9=Lochmüller |first9=Hanns |last10=Tordai |first10=Attila |last11=Kalmár |first11=Lajos |last12=Nagy |first12=Melinda |last13=Karcagi |first13=Veronika |last14=Jeanpierre |first14=Marc |last15=Herczegfalvi |first15=Agnes |last16=Beeson |first16=David |last17=Venkataraman |first17=Viswanathan |last18=Warwick Carter |first18=Kim |last19=Reeve |first19=Jeff |last20=de Pablo |first20=Rosario |last21=Kučinskas |first21=Vaidutis |last22=Kalaydjieva |first22=Luba |title=Mutation History of the Roma/Gypsies |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |date=October 2004 |volume=75 |issue=4 |pages=596–609 |doi=10.1086/424759 |pmid=15322984 |pmc=1182047 }}</ref>

Haplogroup H-M82 is a major lineage cluster in the [[Balkan Romani]] group, accounting for approximately 60% of the total.<ref name="Perecic2005" /> [[Haplogroup H (Y-DNA)|Haplogroup H]] is uncommon in Europe but present in the Indian subcontinent and [[Sri Lanka]].

A study of 444 people representing three ethnic groups in North Macedonia found mtDNA haplogroups M5a1 and H7a1a were dominant in Romanies (13.7% and 10.3%, respectively).<ref>{{cite journal |title = Mitochondrial DNA control region analysis of three ethnic groups in the Republic of Macedonia |journal = Forensic Science International. Genetics |date = 16 June 2016 |pmc = 4234079 |pmid = 25051224 |doi = 10.1016/j.fsigen.2014.06.013 |volume = 13 |pages = 1–2 |last1 = Jankova-Ajanovska |first1 = R |last2 = Zimmermann |first2 = B |last3 = Huber |first3 = G |last4 = Röck |first4 = AW |last5 = Bodner |first5 = M |last6 = Jakovski |first6 = Z |last7 = Janeska |first7 = B |last8 = Duma |first8 = A |last9 = Parson |first9 = W }}</ref>

Y-DNA composition of [[Muslim Romani people]] from [[Šuto Orizari Municipality]] in [[North Macedonia]], based on 57 samples:<ref name="Pericic2005">{{cite journal |last1=Peričić |first1=Marijana |last2=Lauc |first2=Lovorka Barać |last3=Klarić |first3=Irena Martinović |last4=Rootsi |first4=Siiri |last5=Janićijević |first5=Branka |last6=Rudan |first6=Igor |last7=Terzić |first7=Rifet |last8=Čolak |first8=Ivanka |last9=Kvesić |first9=Ante |last10=Popović |first10=Dan |last11=Šijački |first11=Ana |last12=Behluli |first12=Ibrahim |last13=Đorđević |first13=Dobrivoje |last14=Efremovska |first14=Ljudmila |last15=Bajec |first15=Đorđe D. |last16=Stefanović |first16=Branislav D. |last17=Villems |first17=Richard |last18=Rudan |first18=Pavao |title=High-Resolution Phylogenetic Analysis of Southeastern Europe Traces Major Episodes of Paternal Gene Flow Among Slavic Populations |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |date=1 October 2005 |volume=22 |issue=10 |pages=1964–1975 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msi185 |pmid=15944443 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
* [[Haplogroup H (Y-DNA)|Haplogroup H]] – 59.6%
* [[Haplogroup E (Y-DNA)|Haplogroup E]] – 29.8%
* [[Haplogroup I (Y-DNA)|Haplogroup I]] – 5.3%
* [[Haplogroup R (Y-DNA)|Haplogroup R]] – 3.%, of which the half are [[R1b]] and many are [[R1a]]
* [[Haplogroup G (Y-DNA)|Haplogroup G]] – 1.8%
[[File:Bihari Sándor Bíró előtt.jpg|thumb|A [[Romani people in Hungary|Roma]] makes a complaint to a local magistrate in [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]], by [[Sándor Bihari]], 1886]]

Y-DNA Haplogroup H1a occurs in Romani at frequencies 7–70%. Unlike ethnic Hungarians, among Hungarian and Slovakian Romani subpopulations, [[Haplogroup E-V68|Haplogroup E-M78]] and [[Haplogroup I1|I1]] usually occur above 10% and sometimes over 20%. While among Slovakian and [[Tiszavasvari]] Romani the dominant haplogroup is H1a, among [[Tokaj]] Romani is [[Haplogroup J2]]a (23%), while among [[Taktaharkány]] Romani is [[Haplogroup I-M438|Haplogroup I2a]] (21%).<ref name="s009.radikal.ru">{{cite web |url = http://s009.radikal.ru/i308/1411/9e/fcf1cc38d1fa.png |format = PDF |title = Y chromosonal haplogroup distributionanddiversities in seven populations investigated |website = S009.radikal.ru |access-date = 20 December 2016 |archive-date = 26 September 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160926061221/http://s009.radikal.ru/i308/1411/9e/fcf1cc38d1fa.png |url-status = dead }}</ref> Five, rather consistent founder lineages throughout the subpopulations, were found among Romani – J-M67 and J-M92 (J2), H-M52 (H1a1), and I-P259 (I1). Haplogroup I-P259 as H is not found at frequencies of over 3 percent among host populations, while haplogroups E and I are absent in [[South Asia]]. The lineages E-V13, I-P37 (I2a) and R-M17 (R1a) may represent gene flow from the host populations. Bulgarian, Romanian and Greek Romani are dominated by Haplogroup H-M82 (H1a1), while among Spanish Romani J2 is prevalent.<ref name=roman>{{cite journal |last1=Martínez-Cruz |first1=Begoña |last2=Mendizabal |first2=Isabel |last3=Harmant |first3=Christine |last4=de Pablo |first4=Rosario |last5=Ioana |first5=Mihai |last6=Angelicheva |first6=Dora |last7=Kouvatsi |first7=Anastasia |last8=Makukh |first8=Halyna |last9=Netea |first9=Mihai G |last10=Pamjav |first10=Horolma |last11=Zalán |first11=Andrea |last12=Tournev |first12=Ivailo |last13=Marushiakova |first13=Elena |last14=Popov |first14=Vesselin |last15=Bertranpetit |first15=Jaume |last16=Kalaydjieva |first16=Luba |last17=Quintana-Murci |first17=Lluis |last18=Comas |first18=David |title=Origins, admixture and founder lineages in European Roma |journal=European Journal of Human Genetics |date=June 2016 |volume=24 |issue=6 |pages=937–943 |doi=10.1038/ejhg.2015.201 |pmid=26374132 |pmc=4867443 }}</ref> In [[Serbia]] among [[Kosovo]]{{efn|name=status}} and [[Belgrade]] Romani Haplogroup H prevails, while among [[Vojvodina]] Romani, H drops to 7 percent and E-V13 rises to a prevailing level.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Regueiro |first1=Maria |last2=Stanojevic |first2=Aleksandar |last3=Chennakrishnaiah |first3=Shilpa |last4=Rivera |first4=Luis |last5=Varljen |first5=Tatjana |last6=Alempijevic |first6=Djordje |last7=Stojkovic |first7=Oliver |last8=Simms |first8=Tanya |last9=Gayden |first9=Tenzin |last10=Herrera |first10=Rene J. |title=Divergent patrilineal signals in three Roma populations |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |date=January 2011 |volume=144 |issue=1 |pages=80–91 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.21372 |pmid=20878647 }}</ref>

Among non-Roma Europeans Haplogroup H is extremely rare, peaking at 7 percent among [[Albanians]] from [[Tirana]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bosch |first1=E. |last2=Calafell |first2=F. |last3=Gonzalez-Neira |first3=A. |last4=Flaiz |first4=C. |last5=Mateu |first5=E. |last6=Scheil |first6=H.-G. |last7=Huckenbeck |first7=W. |last8=Efremovska |first8=L. |last9=Mikerezi |first9=I. |last10=Xirotiris |first10=N. |last11=Grasa |first11=C. |last12=Schmidt |first12=H. |last13=Comas |first13=D. |title=Paternal and maternal lineages in the Balkans show a homogeneous landscape over linguistic barriers, except for the isolated Aromuns |journal=Annals of Human Genetics |date=July 2006 |volume=70 |issue=4 |pages=459–487 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-1809.2005.00251.x |pmid=16759179 |s2cid=23156886 }}</ref> and 11 percent among [[Bulgarian Turks#Genetic origins|Bulgarian Turks]]. It occurs at 5 percent among [[Hungarians]],<ref name="s009.radikal.ru" /> although the carriers might be of Romani origin.<ref name=roman /> Among non Roma-speaking Europeans at 2 percent among [[Slovaks]],<ref name="Petrejcíková et al 2010">{{cite journal |last1=Petrejcíková |first1=Eva |last2=Soták |first2=Miroslav |last3=Bernasovská |first3=Jarmila |last4=Bernasovský |first4=Ivan |last5=Sovicová |first5=Adriana |last6=Bôziková |first6=Alexandra |last7=Boronová |first7=Iveta |last8=Gabriková |first8=Dana |last9=Švícková |first9=Petra |last10=Maceková |first10=Sona |last11=Cverhová |first11=Valéria |title=The genetic structure of the Slovak population revealed by Y-chromosome polymorphisms |journal=Anthropological Science |date=2010 |volume=118 |issue=1 |pages=23–30 |doi=10.1537/ase.090203 |s2cid=83899895 |doi-access=free }}</ref> 2 percent among [[Croats]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.draganprimorac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Croatian-national-reference-Y-STR-haplotype-database_.-Molecular-biology-reports-2012.pdf |title = Croatian national reference Y-STR haplotype database |website = Draganprimorac.com |access-date = 20 December 2016 }}</ref> 1 percent among Macedonians from Skopje, 3 percent among [[Macedonian Albanians]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.bjmg.edu.mk/UploadedImages/pdf/11-18.pdf |title = Y Chromosome Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Typing by SNaPshot Minisequencing |website = Bjmg.edu.mk |access-date = 20 December 2016 }}</ref> 1 percent among [[Serbs]] from [[Belgrade]],<ref name="Pericic2005"/> 3 percent among Bulgarians from Sofia,<ref>{{cite journal |pmc = 3590186 |pmid = 23483890 |doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0056779 |volume = 8 |issue = 3 |title = Y-chromosome diversity in modern Bulgarians: new clues about their ancestry |year = 2013 |journal = PLOS ONE |pages = e56779 |last1 = Karachanak |first1 = S |last2 = Grugni |first2 = V |last3 = Fornarino |first3 = S |last4 = Nesheva |first4 = D |last5 = Al-Zahery |first5 = N |last6 = Battaglia |first6 = V |last7 = Carossa |first7 = V |last8 = Yordanov |first8 = Y |last9 = Torroni |first9 = A | last10 = Galabov | first10 = AS |last11 = Toncheva |first11 = D |last12 = Semino |first12 = O |bibcode = 2013PLoSO...856779K |doi-access = free }}</ref> 1 percent among Austrians and Swiss,<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.eupedia.com/europe/germany_austria_switzerland_dna_project.shtml |title = Participate to the DNA ancestry project for Germany, Austria and Switzerland |website = Eupedia.com |date = 10 January 2014 |access-date = 20 December 2016 }}</ref> 3 percent among Romanians from [[Ploiești]], 1 percent among [[Turkish people|Turks]].<ref name="Petrejcíková et al 2010" />

The Ottoman occupation of the Balkans also left a significant genetic mark on the Y-DNA of Romani people; creating a higher frequency of the haplogroups J and E3b in Roma populations from the region.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bánfai |first1=Zsolt |last2=Melegh |first2=Béla I. |last3=Sümegi |first3=Katalin |last4=Hadzsiev |first4=Kinga |last5=Miseta |first5=Attila |last6=Kásler |first6=Miklós |last7=Melegh |first7=Béla |title=Revealing the Genetic Impact of the Ottoman Occupation on Ethnic Groups of East-Central Europe and on the Roma Population of the Area |journal=Frontiers in Genetics |date=13 June 2019 |volume=10 |page=558 |doi=10.3389/fgene.2019.00558 |pmid=31263480 |pmc=6585392 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Full genome analysis ====
{{See also|Genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia}}[[File:Haplogrupo H (ADN-Y).PNG|thumb|The most common paternal haplogroup among Romani is the South Asian Y-chromosome H, most commonly found among [[Dravidian peoples]].<ref name="Perecic2005">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pericić M, Lauc LB, Klarić IM, Rootsi S, Janićijevic B, Rudan I, Terzić R, Colak I, Kvesić A, Popović D, Sijacki A, Behluli I, Dordevic D, Efremovska L, Bajec DD, Stefanović BD, Villems R, Rudan P | display-authors = 6 | title = High-resolution phylogenetic analysis of southeastern Europe traces major episodes of paternal gene flow among Slavic populations | journal = Molecular Biology and Evolution | volume = 22 | issue = 10 | pages=1964–1975 |date= October 2005 |pmid= 15944443 |doi = 10.1093/molbev/msi185 |doi-access= free }}</ref>]]
A full genome autosomal DNA study on 186 Roma samples from Europe in 2019 found that modern Roma people are characterized by a common [[Genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia|South Asian]] origin and a complex admixture of [[West Eurasians|West Eurasian]] lineages, mostly a composition of [[Balkans|Balkan]], [[Middle East]], and [[Caucasus]]-derived ancestries. The autosomal genetic data links the proto-Roma to groups in Northwest India (specifically [[Punjabis|Punjabi]] and [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] samples with low West Eurasian ancestry), as well as, [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] groups with high Ancient Ancestral South Indian (AASI) ancestry such as the [[Irula people|Irula]] and groups in [[East India|Eastern India]]. The paternal lineages of Roma are most common in Southern India among Dravidian-speaking populations. The authors argue that this may point to a [[founder effect]] among early Romani people during their ethnogenesis or shortly after they migrated out of the Indian subcontinent. In addition, they also theorized of a possible low-[[Caste system in India|caste]] origin for the Proto-Roma due to their low levels of West Eurasian ancestry.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Font-Porterias |first1=Neus |last2=Arauna |first2=Lara R. |last3=Poveda |first3=Alaitz |last4=Bianco |first4=Erica |last5=Rebato |first5=Esther |last6=Prata |first6=Maria Joao |last7=Calafell |first7=Francesc |last8=Comas |first8=David |date=2019-09-23 |title=European Roma groups show complex West Eurasian admixture footprints and a common South Asian genetic origin |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=15 |issue=9 |pages=e1008417 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1008417 |issn=1553-7390 |pmc=6779411 |pmid=31545809}}</ref>

=== Possible migration route ===
[[File:Movimiento gitano.jpg|thumb|upright=1.36|The migration of the Romanis through the Middle East and Northern Africa to Europe]]
The Romani may have emerged from what is the modern Indian state of [[Rajasthan]],<ref name=":0" /> migrating to the northwest (the [[Punjab region]] of the [[Indian subcontinent]]) around 250 BCE.<ref name=":0" /> Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed to have occurred beginning in about 500 CE.<ref name="Comas" />
It has also been suggested that emigration from India may have taken place in the context of the raids by [[Mahmud of Ghazni]]. As these soldiers were defeated, they were moved west with their families into the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref>{{cite book |title = The Roads of the Roma: a PEN anthology of Gypsy Writers |first1 = Ian F |last1 = Hancock |first2 = Siobhan |last2 = Dowd |first3 = Rajko |last3 = Djurić |year = 2004 |publisher = University of Hertfordshire Press |location = Hatfield, United Kingdom |isbn = 978-0-900458-90-3 |pages = 14–15 }}</ref> The author [[Ralph Lilley Turner]] theorised a central Indian origin of Romani followed by a migration to Northwest India as it shares a number of ancient [[isogloss]]es with [[Central Indo-Aryan languages]] in relation to realization of some sounds of [[Indo-Aryan languages#Old Indo-Aryan|Old Indo-Aryan]]. This is lent further credence by its sharing exactly the same pattern of northwestern languages such as [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]] and [[Shina language|Shina]] through the adoption of [[Oblique case|oblique]] [[clitic|enclitic]] pronouns as person markers. The overall morphology suggests that Romani participated in some of the significant developments leading toward the emergence of [[Indo-Aryan languages#New Indo-Aryan|New Indo-Aryan languages]], thus indicating that the proto-Romani did not leave the Indian subcontinent until late in the second half of the first millennium.<ref name=Elsevier>{{cite web |title = Romani |url = http://romani.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/downloads/2/Matras_Rmni_ELL.pdf |website = Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics |publisher = Oxford: Elsevier |access-date = 30 August 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title = Another Darkness Another Dawn |last = Taylor |first = Becky |publisher = Reaktion Books Ltd. |year = 2014 |location = London UK |pages = 22 |isbn = 978-1-78023-257-7 }}</ref>

In February 2016, during the International Roma Conference, then [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|Indian Minister of External Affairs]], [[Sushma Swaraj]] stated that the people of the Roma community were children of India.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.india.com/news/india/romas-are-indias-children-sushma-swaraj-943499/7/ |title = Romas are India's children: Sushma Swaraj |publisher = India.com |date = 12 February 2016 |access-date = 3 September 2017 }}</ref> The conference ended with a recommendation to the [[government of India]] to recognize the Roma community spread across 30 countries as a part of the [[Indian diaspora]].<ref name="diaspora">{{cite web |title = Can Romas be part of Indian diaspora? |publisher = khaleejtimes.com |url = http://www.khaleejtimes.com/international/india/can-romas-be-part-of-indian-diaspora |date = 29 February 2016 |access-date = 4 March 2016 }}</ref>

== Names ==
{{Main|Names of the Romani people}}

=== Endonyms ===
'''''Rom''''' means husband in the [[Romani language]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thecultural.me/romromni-romanoromani-453391|title=Rom/Romni, Romano/Romani}}</ref> It has the variants ''dom'' and ''lom'', which may be related to the [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] words ''dam-pati'' (lord of the house, husband), ''dama'' (to subdue), ''lom'' (hair), ''lomaka'' (hairy), ''loman'', ''roman'' (hairy), ''romaça'' (man with beard and long hair).<ref>{{cite web |last1 = Cherata |first1 = Lucian |title = ETIMOLOGIA CUVINTELOR "ȚIGAN" sI "(R)ROM" |url = http://www.scritub.com/sociologie/ETIMOLOGIA-CUVINTELOR-TIGAN-SI2053142415.php#_ftn38 |website = Scritube| language=ro |access-date = 17 February 2017 }}</ref> Another possible origin is from Sanskrit डोम ''[[Doms|doma]]'' (member of a [[caste system in India|low caste]] of travelling musicians and dancers). Despite their presence in the country and neighboring nations, the word is not related in any way to the name of Romania.

=== Romani usage ===
In the [[Romani language]], ''Rom'' is a masculine noun, meaning 'husband of the Roma ethnic group', with the plural ''Roma''. The feminine of ''Rom'' in the Romani language is ''Romni /Romli/Romnije or Romlije''. However, in most cases, in other languages ''Rom'' is now used for individuals regardless of gender.<ref name="words">{{Citation |contribution-url = http://www.inotherwords-project.eu/content/project/media-analysis/terminology/terminology-concerning-roma |contribution = Roma, Sinti, Gypsies, Travellers...The Correct Terminology about Roma |title = In Other Words project |publisher = Web Observatory & Review for Discrimination alerts & Stereotypes deconstruction |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121005191238/http://www.inotherwords-project.eu/content/project/media-analysis/terminology/terminology-concerning-roma |archive-date = 5 October 2012 }}</ref>

''Romani'' is the feminine adjective, while ''Romano'' is the masculine adjective. Some Romanies use ''Rom'' or ''Roma'' as an ethnic name, while others (such as the [[Sinti]], or the [[Romanichal]]) do not use this term as a self-ascription for the entire ethnic group.{{sfn|Hancock|2002|p=xix}}

Sometimes, ''rom'' and ''romani'' are spelled with a double ''r'', i.e., ''rrom'' and ''rromani''. In this case ''rr'' is used to represent the [[phoneme]] [[Uvular trill|{{IPA|/ʀ/}}]] (also written as ''ř'' and ''rh''), which in some Romani dialects has remained different from the one written with a single ''r''. The ''rr'' spelling is common in certain institutions (such as the [[Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales|INALCO Institute]] in Paris), or used in certain countries, e.g., Romania, to distinguish from the [[endonym]]/[[homonym]] for [[Romanians]] (''sg. român, pl. români'').{{sfn|Hancock|2002|p=xxi}}

In Norway, ''Romani'' is used exclusively for an older [[Northern Romani dialects|Northern Romani]]-speaking population (which arrived in the 16th century) while ''Rom/Romanes'' is used to describe [[Vlax Romani language|Vlax Romani]]-speaking groups which have arrived since the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Romani og romanes |url=https://www.sprakradet.no/Spraka-vare/Minoritetssprak/romani-og-romanes/ |website=Språkrådet |language=nb}}</ref>

=== English usage ===
[[File:Gypsy wagon, Grandborough Fields - geograph.org.uk - 1256879.jpg|thumb|A Romani wagon pictured in 2009 in [[Grandborough]] Fields in Warwickshire

Grandborough Fields Road is a popular spot for travelling people.]]
In the English language (according to the [[Oxford English Dictionary]]), ''Rom'' is a noun (with the plural ''Roma'' or ''Roms'') and an adjective, while ''Romani'' (''Romany'') is also a noun (with the plural ''Romani'', ''the Romani'', ''Romanies'', or ''Romanis'') and an adjective. Both ''Rom'' and ''Romani'' have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative for Gypsy.<ref>[[OED]] "Romany" first use 1812 in a slang dictionary; "Rom" and "Roma" as plural, first uses by [[George Burrow]] in the Introduction to his ''[[The Zincali]]'' (1846 edition), also using "Rommany"</ref> ''Romani'' was sometimes spelled ''Rommany'', but more often ''Romany'', while today ''Romani'' is the most popular spelling. Occasionally, the double ''r'' spelling (e.g., ''Rroma'', ''Rromani'') mentioned above is also encountered in English texts.

The term ''Roma'' is increasingly encountered<ref>{{Citation |page = 52 |first1 = Elena |last1 = Marushiakova |first2 = Vesselin |last2 = Popov |contribution = Historical and ethnographic background; gypsies, Roma, Sinti |editor-first = Will |editor-last = Guy |title = Between Past and Future: The Roma of Central and Eastern Europe [with a Foreword by Dr. Ian Hancock] |year = 2001 |place = UK |publisher = University of Hertfordshire Press }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |page = 13 |first1 = Illona |last1 = Klimova-Alexander |title = The Romani Voice in World Politics: The United Nations and Non-State Actors |year = 2005 |place = Burlington, VT |publisher = Ashgate }}</ref> as a generic term for the Romani people.<ref>{{cite web |first = Xavier |last = Rothéa |title = Les Roms, une nation sans territoire? |url = http://www.theyliewedie.org/ressources/biblio/fr/Rothea_Xavier_-_Les_roms.html |website = Theyliewedie.org |access-date = 31 July 2008 |language = fr }}</ref><ref name="Garner">{{cite book |first = Bryan A |last = Garner |title = Dictionary of Legal Usage |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YwLiALrHLCEC&pg=PA400 |year = 2011 |publisher = Oxford University Press |isbn = 978-0-19-538420-8 |pages = 400– }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = O'Nions |first = Helen |title = Minority rights protection in international law: the Roma of Europe |year = 2007 |publisher = Ashgate |isbn = 978-1-4094-9092-0 |page = 6 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lN1Nj_IjUiUC&pg=PA6 }}</ref>

Because not all Romani people use the word ''Romani'' as an adjective, the term became a noun for the entire ethnic group.{{sfn|Hancock|2002|p=xx}} Today, the term ''Romani'' is used by some organizations, including the [[United Nations]] and the US Library of Congress.{{sfn|Hancock|2002|p=xxi}} However, the [[Council of Europe]] and other organizations consider that ''Roma'' is the correct term referring to all related groups, regardless of their country of origin, and recommend that ''Romani'' be restricted to the language and culture: [[Romani language]], [[Romani society and culture|Romani culture]].<ref name="words" /> The United Kingdom government uses the term "Roma" as a sub-group of "[[White people|White]]" in its ethnic classification system.<ref>{{Cite web |title=List of ethnic groups |url=https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/ethnic-groups#2021-census |access-date=2022-05-26 |website=www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk |language=en}}</ref>

The standard assumption is that the [[demonym]]s of the Romani people, [[Lom people|Lom]] and [[Dom people|Dom]], share the same origin.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://imeu.net/news/article004439.shtml |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070523142528/http://imeu.net/news/article004439.shtml |archive-date = 23 May 2007 |title = Dom: The Gypsy community in Jerusalem |publisher = The Institute for Middle East Understanding |date = 13 February 2007 |access-date = 17 September 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite dictionary |url = http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Romany |title = Etymology of Romani |dictionary = Online Etymology Dictionary |first = Douglas |last = Harper |date = 13 February 2007 |access-date = 17 September 2010 }}</ref>

=== Other designations ===
{{Main|Names of the Romani people}}
The English term ''Gypsy'' (or ''Gipsy'') originates from the [[Middle English]] ''gypcian'', short for ''Egipcien''. The Spanish term ''Gitano'' and French ''Gitan'' have similar etymologies. They are ultimately derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|Αιγύπτιοι}} (''Aigyptioi''), meaning Egyptian, via [[Latin]]. This designation owes its existence to the belief, common in the Middle Ages, that the Romani, or some related group (such as the Middle Eastern [[Dom people]]), were itinerant Egyptians.<ref name= Soulis>{{Citation |last = Soulis |first = G |year = 1961 |title = The Gypsies in the Byzantine Empire and the Balkans in the Late Middle Ages |series = Dumbarton Oaks Papers |publisher = Trustees for Harvard University |pages = 15, 141–65 }}</ref><ref name="White 1999">{{cite journal |url = http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/goudenhoorn/72karin.html |title = Metal-workers, agriculturists, acrobats, military-people and fortune-tellers: Roma (Gypsies) in and around the Byzantine empire |first = Karin |last = White |year = 1999 |journal = Golden Horn |volume = 7 |issue = 2 |access-date = 26 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010320210002/http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/goudenhoorn/72karin.html |archive-date = 20 March 2001 |df = dmy }}</ref> This belief appears to be derived from verses in the [[Bible|Biblical]] [[Book of Ezekiel]] (29: 6 and 12–13) which refer to the Egyptians being scattered among the nations by an angry God. According to one narrative, they were exiled from Egypt as punishment for allegedly harbouring the [[Child Jesus|infant Jesus]].<ref name="Fraser1992">{{Harvnb |Fraser |1992}}.</ref> In his book ''The Zincali: an account of the Gypsies of Spain'', George Borrow notes that when they first appeared in Germany, it was under the character of Egyptians doing penance for their having refused hospitality to Mary and her son. As described in [[Victor Hugo]]'s novel ''[[The Hunchback of Notre-Dame]]'', the medieval French referred to the Romanies as ''Egyptiens''.

This [[Exonym and endonym|exonym]] is sometimes written with capital letter, to show that it designates an [[ethnic group]].<ref>{{Cite book |first = Ian |last = Hancock |title = A Handbook of Vlax Romani |publisher = Slavica Publishers |year = 1995 |page = 17 }}</ref> However, the word is sometimes considered derogatory because of its negative and stereotypical associations.<ref name="Garner" /><ref name="MerriamWebsterpocket1998">{{cite book |title = Pocket guide to English usage |year = 1998 |publisher = Merriam-Webster |location = Springfield, MA |isbn = 978-0-87779-514-8 |page = [https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersp00merr/page/178 178] |url = https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersp00merr/page/178 }}</ref><ref name="Baskin">{{cite book |last = Baskin |first = [by] H.E. Wedeck with the assistance of Wade |title = Dictionary of gypsy life and lore |publisher = Philosophical Library |location = New York |isbn = 978-0-8065-2985-1 |year = 1973 }}</ref><ref name=RomaReport>{{Citation |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131105000222/http://www.paveepoint.ie/pdf/Roma_Report.pdf |archive-date = 5 November 2013 |publisher = Pavee point |url = http://www.paveepoint.ie/pdf/Roma_Report.pdf |title = Report in Roma Educational Needs in Ireland }}</ref> The Council of Europe consider that "Gypsy" or equivalent terms, as well as administrative terms such as "Gens du Voyage" are not in line with European recommendations.<ref name="words" /> In Britain, many Romani proudly identify as "Gypsies".<ref>{{cite web |title= Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities |last= House of Commons Women & Equalities Committee |date= 5 April 2019|url= https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmwomeq/360/full-report.html#heading-6 |publisher= UK Parliament |access-date= 13 May 2021 |quote=}}</ref> In North America, the word ''Gypsy'' is most commonly used as a reference to Romani ethnicity, though lifestyle and fashion are at times also referenced by using this word.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=gypsy |title = Gypsy |website = The Free Dictionary }}</ref>

Another common designation of the Romani people, which can be considered derogatory, is ''Cingane'' (alt. Çingene, Tsinganoi, Zigar, Zigeuner, Tschingaren), likely deriving from the Persian word {{lang|fa|چنگانه}} ({{lang|fa-Latn|chingane}}), derived from the Turkic word {{lang|trk|çıgañ}}, meaning poor person.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.nisanyansozluk.com/kelime/%C3%A7ingene |title = Etymology of the Turkish word Çingene |website = Nişanyan Sözlük}}</ref> It is also possible that the origin of this word is ''[[Athinganoi]]'', the name of a Christian sect with whom the Romani (or some related group) could have become associated with in the past.<ref name="White 1999" /><ref name= Starr>{{Citation |last = Starr |first = J |year = 1936 |title = An Eastern Christian Sect: the Athinganoi |series = Dumbarton Oaks Papers |publisher = Trustees for Harvard University |pages = 29, 93–106 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.sca.org/ti/articles/2002/issue144/rom.html |title = A Brief History of the Rom |first = Karina |last = Bates |access-date = 26 August 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070810161445/http://www.sca.org/ti/articles/2002/issue144/rom.html |archive-date = 10 August 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url = http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/index/9Y2PJM6YAYT1UVHW.pdf |title = Book Reviews |journal = Population Studies |volume = 48 |issue = 2 |date = July 1994 |pages = 365–72 |doi = 10.1080/0032472031000147856 }}</ref>

== History ==
{{Main|History of the Romani people}}
{{See also| Timeline of Romani history}}

=== Arrival in Europe ===
According to a 2012 genomic study, the Romani reached the Balkans as early as the 12th century.<ref name="IsabelMendizabal"/> A document of 1068, describing an event in Constantinople, mentions "Atsingani", probably referring to Romani.<ref name="THiM">{{cite book |last1=Bereznay |first1=András |title=Historical Atlas of the Gypsies: Romani History in Maps |date=2021 |publisher=Méry Ratio|isbn=978-615-6284-10-5 |page=18/1}}</ref>

Later historical records of the Romani reaching south-eastern Europe are from the 14th century: in 1322, after leaving Ireland on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Irish [[Franciscan]] friar [[Symon Semeonis]] encountered a migrant group of Romani outside the town of Candia (modern [[Heraklion]]), in [[Crete]], calling them "the [[Kenites|descendants]] of [[Cain]]"; his account is the earliest surviving description by a Western chronicler of the Romani in Europe.

In 1350, [[Ludolph of Saxony]] mentioned a similar people with a unique language whom he called ''Mandapolos'', a word possibly derived from the Greek word ''mantes'' (meaning prophet or fortune teller).<ref>{{cite newsgroup |title = gypsies |first = Linda |last = Anfuso |date = 24 February 1994 |newsgroup = rec.org.sca |message-id = PaN9Hc2w165w@tinhat.stonemarche.org |url = http://www.florilegium.org/files/CULTURES/Gypsies-msg.html |access-date = 5 December 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070824232640/http://www.florilegium.org/files/CULTURES/Gypsies-msg.html |archive-date = 24 August 2007 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

In the 14th century, Romani are recorded in Venetian territories, including [[Methoni, Messenia|Methoni]] and [[Nafplio]] in the [[Peloponnese]], and Corfu.<ref name="THiM" /> Around 1360, a [[fiefdom]] called the ''[[Feudum Acinganorum]]'' was established in [[Corfu]], which mainly used Romani serfs and to which the Romani on the island were subservient.<ref>{{cite book |first1 = Charles |last1 = Keil |first2 = Dick |last2 = Blau |first3 = Angeliki |last3 = Keil |first4 = Steven |last4 = Feld |title = Bright Balkan Morning: Romani Lives and the Power of Music in Greek Macedonia |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rPxA6JA49B4C&pg=PA50 |date = 9 December 2002 |publisher = Wesleyan University Press |isbn = 978-0-8195-6488-7 |pages = 50–51 }}</ref>

By the 1440s, they were recorded in Germany;<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ee5eOkd62BEC&pg=PA11 |title = Ethnicity and Education in England and Europe: Gangstas, Geeks and Gorjas |author1 = Dr Ian Law |author2 = Dr Sarah Swann |page = 11 |date = 28 January 2013 |access-date = 20 December 2016 |isbn = 978-1-4094-9484-3 }}</ref> and by the 16th century, Scotland and Sweden.<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qfQ4iFhXx4YC&pg=PA42 |title = Language Contact: Theoretical and Empirical Studies |author = Ernst Hĺkon Jahr |page = 42 |access-date = 20 December 2016 |isbn = 978-3-11-012802-4 |year = 1992 }}</ref> Some Romani migrated from [[Persia]] through North Africa, reaching the [[Iberian Peninsula]] in the 15th century. The two currents met in France.<ref>{{cite book |url = https://archive.org/details/roughguidetoworl00simo |url-access = registration |title = World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East |publisher = Rough Guides |author1 = Simon Broughton |author2 = Mark Ellingham |author3 = Richard Trillo |page = [https://archive.org/details/roughguidetoworl00simo/page/148 148] |access-date = 20 December 2016 |isbn = 978-1-85828-635-8 |year = 1999 }}</ref>

[[File:Spiezer Schilling 749.jpg|thumb|upright|left|First arrival of the Romanies outside [[Bern]] in the 15th century, described by the chronicler as ''getoufte heiden'' ("baptized heathens") and drawn with dark skin and wearing [[Saracen]]-style clothing and weapons<ref>([[Spiezer Schilling]], p. 749)</ref>]]

Around the year 1000, an event in northern India, about the time of Muslim invaders, likely triggered the Roma’s mass exodus. The precise event is still unknown, but the possible reasons include a conflict that resulted in their persecution, a natural disaster, or even recruitment into a mercenary military. The Roma people journeyed towards the Caucasus and [[China]], as well as through the Middle East and Greece towards the Balkans; they covered all corners of today's Central and Western Europe by the end of the 16th century. Romanis typically traveled in patriarchal extended families, consisting of up to hundreds of people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/roma-eastern-europe-still-searching-inclusion|title=The Roma of Eastern Europe: Still Searching for Inclusion|date=May 2005 }}</ref>

=== Early modern history ===
{{Globalize|section|Western and Central Europe|date=May 2022}}[[Image:Carl d´Unker-Gipsy Family in Prison.jpg|thumb|upright|''Gypsy Family in Prison'', 1864 painting by [[Carl d´Unker]]. An actual imprisoned family in Germany served as the models. The reason for their imprisonment remains unknown.]]
Their early history shows a mixed reception. Although 1385 marks the first recorded transaction for a Romani slave in [[Wallachia]], they were issued safe conduct by [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund]] in 1417. Romanis were ordered expelled from the [[Margraviate of Meissen|Meissen region]] of Germany in 1416, [[Lucerne]] in 1471, [[Milan]] in 1493, France in 1504, [[Catalonia]] in 1512, Sweden in 1525, [[Kingdom of England|England]] in 1530 (see [[Egyptians Act 1530]]), and Denmark in 1536. From 1510 onwards, any Romani found in Switzerland were to be executed; while in England (beginning in 1554) and Denmark (beginning of 1589) any Romani which did not leave within a month were to be executed. [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]] began deportations of Romanis to its colonies in 1538.<ref name="kenrick">{{Cite book |first = Donald |last = Kenrick |title = Historical Dictionary of the Gypsies (Romanis) |edition = 2nd |publisher = Scarecrow Press |date = 5 July 2007 |pages = xx–xxii |isbn = 978-0-8108-6440-5 |url = https://archive.org/details/atozofgypsiesrom0000unse }}</ref>

A 1596 English statute gave Romanis special privileges that other wanderers lacked. France passed a similar law in 1683. [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine the Great of Russia]] declared the Romanis "crown slaves" (a status superior to [[serfs]]), but also kept them out of certain parts of [[St. Petersburg, Russia|the capital]].<ref name="Norman Davies 1996 387–388">{{cite book |first = Norman |last = Davies |title = Europe: A History |author-link = Norman Davies |isbn = 978-0-19-820171-7 |year = 1996 |pages = [https://archive.org/details/europehistory00davi_0/page/387 387–88] |title-link = Europe: A History }}</ref> In 1595, [[Ștefan Răzvan]] overcame his birth into slavery, and became the [[Voivode]] ([[List of Moldavian rulers|Prince]]) of [[Moldavia]].<ref name="kenrick" />

[[File:Sclavi Tiganesti.jpg|thumb|upright|An 1852 [[Wallachia]]n poster advertising an auction of Romani slaves in [[Bucharest]], [[Romania]]]]

Since a royal edict by [[Charles II of Spain|Charles II]] in 1695, Spanish Romanis had been restricted to certain towns.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/roma/Source/FS2/3.3_roundup-spain_english.pdf |author = Antonio Gómez Alfaro |title = The Great "Gypsy" Round-up in Spain |page = 4 }}</ref> An official edict in 1717 restricted them to only 75 towns and districts, so that they would not be concentrated in any one region. In the [[Great Gypsy Round-up]], Romani were arrested and imprisoned by the [[Spanish Monarchy]] in 1749.

During the latter part of the 17th century, around the [[Franco-Dutch War]], both France and the Dutch Republic needed thousands of men to fight. Some recruitment took the form of rounding up vagrants and the poor to work the galleys and provide the armies' labour force. With this background, Romanis were targets of both the French and the Dutch.

After the wars, and into the first decade of the 18th century, Romanis were slaughtered with impunity throughout Holland. Romanis, called ‘heiden’ by the Dutch, wandered throughout the rural areas of Europe and became the societal pariahs of the age. ''Heidenjachten'', translated as "heathen hunt" happened throughout Holland in an attempt to eradicate them.<ref>{{Cite book |title = Another Darkness Another Dawn |last = Taylor |first = Becky |publisher = Reaktion Books Ltd. |year = 2014 |location = London UK |pages = 72 |isbn = 978-1-78023-257-7 }}</ref>

Although some Romani could be kept as slaves in Wallachia and Moldavia until [[abolitionism|abolition]] in 1856, the majority traveled as free nomads with their wagons, as alluded to in the spoked wheel symbol in the [[Flag of the Romani people|Romani flag]].{{sfn|Hancock|2001|p=25}} Elsewhere in Europe, they were subjected to [[ethnic cleansing]], abduction of their children, and [[Forced labor|forced labour]]. In England, Romani were sometimes expelled from small communities or hanged; in France, they were branded, and their heads were shaved; in [[Moravia]] and [[Bohemia]], the women were marked by their ears being severed. As a result, large groups of the Romani moved to the East, toward [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland]], which was more tolerant, and [[Ruska Roma|Russia]], where the Romani were treated more fairly as long as they paid the annual taxes.<ref>{{Citation |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8136812.stm |first = Delia |last = Radu |title = 'On the Road': Centuries of Roma History |publisher = BBC |newspaper = World Service |date = 8 July 2009 }}</ref>

=== Modern history ===
Romani began emigrating to North America in colonial times, with small groups recorded in [[Virginia]] and [[Louisiana (New France)|French Louisiana]]. Larger-scale [[Roma in the United States|Roma emigration to the United States]] began in the 1860s, with Romanichal groups from Great Britain. The most significant number immigrated in the early 20th century, mainly from the Vlax group of [[Kalderash]]. Many Romani also settled in South America.

[[File:Bundesarchiv R 165 Bild-244-52, Asperg, Deportation von Sinti und Roma.jpg|thumb|[[Sinti]] and other Romani about to be deported from Germany, 22 May 1940]]

==== World War II ====
{{Main|Romani Holocaust}}
During [[World War II]] and [[the Holocaust]], the [[Nazi Germany|Nazis]] committed a systematic [[genocide]] against the Romani people. In the [[Romani language]], this genocide is known as the ''Porajmos''.<ref name="Milton estimates">{{cite web |url = http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_e_holocaust_porrajmos&lang=en&articles=true |title = Romanies and the holocaust: a reevaluation and an overview |website = Radoc.net |first = Ian |last = Hancock |access-date = 14 February 2009 |archive-date = 5 March 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305105001/http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_e_holocaust_porrajmos&lang=en&articles=true |url-status = dead }}</ref> Romanies were marked for extermination and sentenced to forced labor and imprisonment in [[concentration camp]]s. They were often killed on sight, especially by the [[Einsatzgruppen]] (paramilitary death squads) on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005130 |title = United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |access-date = 2 December 2012 }}</ref> The total number of victims has been variously estimated at between 220,000 and 1,500,000.<ref name="hancock2005">{{Cite book |chapter = True Romanies and the Holocaust: A Re-evaluation and an overview |chapter-url = http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_e_holocaust_porrajmos&lang=en&articles= |last = Hancock |first = Ian |title = The Historiography of the Holocaust |isbn = 978-1-4039-9927-6 |pages = 383–96 |year = 2005 |publisher = [[Palgrave Macmillan]] |access-date = 14 February 2009 |archive-date = 9 June 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190609233028/http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_e_holocaust_porrajmos&lang=en&articles= |url-status = dead }}</ref>

The Romani people were also persecuted in Nazi [[puppet state]]s. In the [[Independent State of Croatia]], the [[Ustaša]] killed almost the entire Roma population of 25,000. The concentration camp system of [[Jasenovac concentration camp|Jasenovac]], run by the Ustaša militia and the Croat political police, were responsible for the deaths of between 15,000 and 20,000 Roma.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005219 |title = GENOCIDE OF EUROPEAN ROMA (GYPSIES), 1939–1945 |publisher = Holocaust Encyclopedia |access-date = 27 January 2018 }}</ref>

==== Post-1945 ====
In [[Czechoslovakia]], they were labeled a "socially degraded stratum", and Romani women were sterilized as part of a state policy to reduce their population. This policy was implemented with large financial incentives, threats of denying future welfare payments, with misinformation, or after administering drugs.{{Sfn |Silverman |1995}}{{Sfn |Helsinki Watch |1991}}

An official inquiry from the Czech Republic, resulting in a report (December 2005), concluded that the Communist authorities had practised an assimilation policy towards Romanis, which "included efforts by social services to control the birth rate in the Romani community. The problem of sexual sterilisation carried out in the Czech Republic, either with improper motivation or illegally, exists," said the Czech Public Defender of Rights, recommending state compensation for women affected between 1973 and 1991.<ref>{{cite news |date = 12 March 2007 |first = Marina |last = Denysenko |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6409699.stm |title = Sterilised Roma accuse Czechs |work = BBC News }}</ref> New cases were revealed up until 2004, in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland "all have histories of coercive sterilization of minorities and other groups".<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2006/August/200608171045451CJsamohT0.678158.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080213203349/http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2006/August/200608171045451CJsamohT0.678158.html |archive-date = 13 February 2008 |title = Coercive Sterilization of Romani Women Examined at Hearing: New report focuses on Czech Republic and Slovakia |first = Jeffrey |last = Thomas |date = 16 August 2006 |website = Washington File |publisher = Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State }}</ref>

== Society and traditional culture ==
{{Main|Romani society and culture}}
{{more citations needed section|date=June 2016}}
[[File:A Gipsy Family Fac simile of a Woodcut in the Cosmographie Universelle of Munster in folio Basle 1552.png|right|thumb|[[Sebastian Münster|Münster, Sebastian]] (1552), "A Gipsy Family", The [[Cosmographia (Sebastian Münster)|''Cosmographia'']] (facsimile of a woodcut), Basle]]
[[File:Auguste Raffet, Famille tsigane en voyage en Moldavie, 1837.jpg|thumb|Nomadic Roma family traveling in [[Moldavia]], 1837]]

The traditional Romanies place a high value on the [[extended family]]. [[Virginity]] is essential in unmarried women. Both men and women often marry young; there has been controversy in several countries over the Romani practice of [[child marriage]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2003-10-02 |title=Gypsy child couple separated |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3159818.stm |access-date=2022-08-08}}</ref> Romani law establishes that the man's family must pay a [[bride price]] to the bride's parents, but only traditional families still follow it.

Once married, the woman joins the husband's family, where her main job is to tend to her husband's and her children's needs and take care of her in-laws. The power structure in the traditional Romani household has at its top the oldest man or grandfather, and men, in general, have more authority than women. Women gain respect and power as they get older. Young wives begin gaining authority once they have children.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Surdu |first1=Laura |last2=Surdu |first2=Mihai |date=2006 |title=Family Life |journal=Broadening the Agenda |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep27094.9 |pages=31–42}}</ref>

Traditionally, as can be seen on paintings and photos, some Roma men wear shoulder-length hair and a mustache, as well as an earring.
Roma women generally have long hair, and Xoraxane Roma women often dye it blonde with henna.

Romani [[social behavior]] is strictly regulated by Indian social customs<ref>{{Citation |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FQT2Gp16j68C&pg=PA210 |title = Gypsy Law: Romani Legal Traditions and Culture |page = 210 |first = Walter Otto |last = Weyrauch |year = 2001 |isbn = 978-0-520-22186-4|quote=Rom have preserved and modified Indian caste system}}</ref> ("[[marime]]" or "marhime"), still respected by most Roma (and by most older generations of [[Sinti]]). This regulation affects many aspects of life and is applied to actions, people and things: parts of [[Human anatomy|the human body]] are considered impure: the [[Sex organ|genital organs]] (because they produce emissions) and the rest of the lower body. Clothes for the lower body, as well as the clothes of [[Menstruation|menstruating]] women, are washed separately. Items used for eating are also washed in a different place. Childbirth is considered impure and must occur outside the dwelling place. The mother is deemed to be impure for forty days after giving birth.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADM192.pdf|title=INTRODUCTION TO ROMA CULTURE}}</ref>

Death is considered impure, and affects the whole family of the dead, who remain impure for a period of time. In contrast to the practice of [[cremation|cremating]] the dead, Romani dead must be buried.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.geocities.com/Paris/5121/death.htm |title = Romani Customs and Traditions: Death Rituals and Customs |publisher = Patrin Web Journal |access-date = 26 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070821022337/http://www.geocities.com/Paris/5121/death.htm |archive-date = 21 August 2007 }}</ref> Cremation and burial are both known from the time of the [[Rigveda]], and both are widely practiced in [[Hinduism]] today (the general tendency is for Hindus to practice cremation, though some communities in modern-day South India tend to bury their dead).<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.hindugateway.com/library/rituals/ |title = The Journey of a Lifebody |publisher = hindugateway.com |date = 1991 |access-date = 26 May 2008 |first = David M. |last = Knipe |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080930232759/http://www.hindugateway.com/library/rituals/ |archive-date = 30 September 2008 |df = dmy }}</ref> Animals that are considered to be having unclean habits are not eaten by the community.{{sfn|Hancock|2001|p=81}}

=== Belonging and exclusion ===
{{Main|Romanipen|Gadjo (non-Romani)}}
In Romani philosophy, ''Romanipen'' (also ''romanypen'', ''romanipe'', ''romanype'', ''romanimos'', ''romaimos'', ''romaniya'') is the totality of the Romani spirit, [[Romani society and culture|Romani culture]], [[Kris (Romani court)|Romani Law]], being a Romani, a set of Romani strains.<ref>{{cite book|title=Inward Looking: The Impact of Migration on Romanipe from the Romani Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kl2jDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA38|author=Aleksandar G. Marinov}}</ref>

An ethnic Romani is considered a [[Gadjo (non-Romani)|gadjo]] in the Romani society if they have no ''Romanipen''. Sometimes a non-Romani may be considered a Romani if they do have ''Romanipen''. Usually this is an adopted child. It has been hypothesized that this owes more to a [[Cultural framework|framework of culture]] than a simple adherence to historically received rules.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Saul |first1 = Nicholas |first2 = Susan |last2 = Tebbut |title = The Role of the Romanies: Images and Counter-Images of 'Gypsies'/Romanies in European Cultures |editor1-first = Nicholas |editor1-last = Saul |editor2-first = Susan |editor2-last = Tebbutt |publisher = Liverpool University Press |year = 2005 |pages = 218–219 |isbn = 978-0-85323-689-4 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AQw6qOCNj-UC&pg=PA218 }}</ref>

=== Religion ===
[[File:Tziganes aux Saintes-Maries de la Mer.jpg|thumb|Christian Romanies during the pilgrimage to [[Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer]] in France, 1980s]]
[[File:Two Gypsies in Cluj-Napoka, Romania.jpg|thumb|Two Orthodox Christian Romanies in [[Cluj-Napoca]], [[Romania]]]]
[[File:Gipsy and bear.jpg|thumb|Romani and bear ([[Belgrade]], Banovo brdo, 1980s)]]
Most Romani people are [[Christian]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Columbia Encyclopedia|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2018|edition=8th|location=New York, NY|via=Credo Reference}}</ref> others [[Muslim Roma|Muslim]]; some retained their ancient faith of [[Hinduism]] from their original homeland of India, while others have their own religion and political organization.<ref>{{citation |author = G. L. Lewis |contribution = ČINGĀNE |title = The Encyclopaedia of Islam |edition = 2nd |volume = 2 |publisher = Brill |year = 1991 |pages = 40a–41b |isbn = 978-90-04-07026-4 |title-link = The Encyclopaedia of Islam }}</ref> [[Theravada Buddhism]] influenced by the [[Dalit Buddhist movement]] have become popular in recent times among Hungarian Roma.<ref name="vish" /><ref name="bhal" />

Some Roma practice [[witchcraft]] and [[palmistry]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GpfSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA391|title=The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Religion and Social Justice|isbn=9781119572107 |last1=Palmer |first1=Michael D. |last2=Burgess |first2=Stanley M. |date=13 April 2020 }}</ref>

==== Beliefs ====
The modern-day Romani people adopted Christianity or Islam depending on the regions through which they had migrated.<ref>{{cite web |title = Restless Beings Project: Roma Engage |url = http://www.restlessbeings.org/projects/roma-gypsies |publisher = Restless Beings |access-date = 26 December 2012 |year = 2008–2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130101021139/http://www.restlessbeings.org/projects/roma-gypsies |archive-date = 1 January 2013 |url-status = dead }}</ref> [[Muslim Roma]] are found in Turkey, [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Albania]], [[Egypt]], [[Kosovo]], [[North Macedonia]], [[Serbia]], [[Bulgaria]] and [[Iran]], forming a very significant proportion of the Romani people. In neighboring countries such as Romania and Greece, most Romani inhabitants follow the practice of [[Orthodoxy]]. It is likely that the adherence to differing religions prevented families from engaging in intermarriage.<ref name=Boretzky>{{cite book |last1 = Boretzky |first1 = Norbert |title = Romani in Contact: The History, Structure and Sociology of a Language |date = 1995 |publisher = John Benjamins |location = Amsterdam, [[Netherlands|NL]] |page = 70 }}</ref>

[[File:Gitanos - Trono.jpg|thumb|Members of the [[:es:Cofradía de los Gitanos (Málaga)|Cofradía de los Gitanos]] parading the "throne" of Mary of the O during the [[Holy Week in Malaga]], Spain]]

==== Deities and saints ====
[[Ceferino Giménez Malla|Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla]] is recently considered a patron saint of the Romani people in Roman Catholicism.<ref>{{cite web |title = Blessed Ceferino Gimenez Malla 1861–1936 |url = http://www.savior.org/saints/malla.htm |website = Visit the Saviour |publisher = Voveo |access-date = 26 December 2012 |date = December 2012 }}</ref> [[Saint Sarah]], or Sara e Kali, has also been venerated as a patron saint in her shrine at [[Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer]], France. Since the turn of the 21st century, [[Sara e Kali]] is understood to have been [[Kali]], an Indian deity brought from India by the refugee ancestors of the Roma people; as the Roma became Christianized, she was absorbed in a syncretic way and venerated as a saint.<ref name="lee" />

[[File:Antoni Kozakiewicz - Kartomantka.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Gypsy [[Fortune-telling|fortune-teller]] in Poland, by [[Antoni Kozakiewicz]], 1884]]
Saint Sarah is now increasingly being considered as "a Romani Goddess, the Protectress of the Roma" and an "indisputable link with Mother India".<ref name="lee">{{cite web |title = The Romani Goddess Kali Sara |url = http://kopachi.com/articles/the-romani-goddess-kali-sara-ronald-lee/ |website = Romano Kapachi |access-date = 26 December 2012 |first = Ronald |last = Lee |year = 2002 }}</ref><ref name="radoc.net">{{cite web |url = http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_b_history_romanireligion&lang=en&articles=true%7ctitle=RADOC%7cwork=radoc.net%7ctitle=RADOC%7cwork=radoc.net |title = RADOC |access-date = 28 August 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924084430/http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_b_history_romanireligion&lang=en&articles=true%7ctitle=RADOC%7cwork=radoc.net%7ctitle=RADOC%7cwork=radoc.net |archive-date = 24 September 2015 |url-status=dead |df = dmy-all }}</ref>

==== Balkans ====
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - Studio Shot of European in Gypsy Costume One of 274 Vintage Photographs.jpg|thumb|Costume of a Romani woman]]
[[File:Stanisław_Masłowski_(1853-1926)_Cyganka,_watercolour_ca_1877.jpg|thumb|''Gipsy Woman'', [[Stanisław Masłowski]], [[watercolour]], [[1877]]]]
For the Roma communities that have resided in the Balkans for numerous centuries, often referred to as "Turkish Gypsies", the following histories apply for religious beliefs:
* Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro – Islam is the dominant religion among the Roma.<ref name="Roma" />
* Bulgaria – In northwestern Bulgaria, in addition to Sofia and Kyustendil, Christianity is the dominant faith among Romani people (a major conversion to Eastern Orthodox Christianity among Romani people has occurred). In southeastern Bulgaria, Islam is the dominant religion among Romani people, with a smaller section of the Romani population declaring themselves as "Turks", continuing to mix ethnicity with Islam.<ref name="Roma">{{cite web |title = Roma Muslims in the Balkans |url = http://romafacts.uni-graz.at/index.php/culture/introduction/roma-muslims-in-the-balkans |website = Education of Roma Children in Europe |publisher = Council of Europe |access-date = 26 December 2012 |first1 = Elena |last1 = Marushiakova |first2 = Veselin |last2 = Popov |year = 2012 }}</ref>
[[File:Dancing-Cansinos-1933.jpg|thumb|left|Margarita Cansino (later known as [[Rita Hayworth]]) with her father and dance partner [[Eduardo Cansino]], 1933]]
* Croatia – After the [[World War II|Second World War]] a large number of Muslim Roma relocated to Croatia (the majority moving from Kosovo). Their language differs from those living in Međimurje and those who survived Ustaše genocide.<ref name="Roma" />
* Greece – The descendants of groups, such as Sepečides or Sevljara, Kalpazaja, Filipidži and others, living in Athens, Thessaloniki, central Greece and [[Macedonia (Greece)|Greek Macedonia]] are mostly Orthodox Christians, with Islamic beliefs held by a minority of the population. Following the Peace Treaty of Lausanne of 1923, many Muslim Roma moved to Turkey in the subsequent population exchange between Turkey and Greece.<ref name="Roma" />
[[File:Muslim Gypsies from Bosnia, illustration, 1901.jpg|thumb|upright|Muslim Romanies in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (around 1900)]]
* Kosovo – The vast majority of the Roma population in Kosovo is Muslim.<ref name="Roma" />
* North Macedonia – The majority of Roma people are followers of [[Islam in Macedonia|Islam]].<ref name="Roma" />
* Romania – According to the [[Demographic history of Romania|2002 census]], the majority of the Romani minority living in Romania are [[Romanian Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christians]], while 6.4% are [[Pentecostal Union of Romania|Pentecostals]], 3.8% [[Roman Catholicism in Romania|Roman Catholics]], 3% [[Reformed Church in Romania|Reformed]], 1.1% [[Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic|Greek Catholics]], 0.9% [[Baptist Union of Romania|Baptists]], 0.8% [[Romanian Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists|Seventh-Day Adventists]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/RPL2002INS/vol1/tabele/t51a.pdf |title = Population dupa etnia si religie, pe medii |trans-title = Population by ethnicity and religion (on average) |language = ro |publisher = Romanian National Institute of Statistics |year = 2002 |access-date = 3 October 2015 }}</ref> In [[Dobruja]], there is a small community that are [[Islam in Romania|Muslim]] and also speak Turkish.<ref name="Roma" />
* Serbia – Most Roma people in Serbia are Orthodox Christian, but there are some Muslim Roma in Southern Serbia, who are mainly refugees from Kosovo.<ref name="Roma" />

==== Other regions ====

In Ukraine and Russia, the Roma populations are also Muslim as the families of Balkan migrants continue to live in these locations. Their ancestors settled on the Crimean peninsula during the 17th and 18th centuries, but some migrated to Ukraine, southern Russia and the Povolzhie (along the Volga River). Formally, Islam is the religion that these communities align themselves with and the people are recognized for their staunch preservation of the Romani language and identity.<ref name="Roma" />

In Poland and Slovakia, their populations are Roman Catholic, many times adopting and following local, cultural Catholicism as a [[Religious syncretism|syncretic]] system of belief that incorporates distinct Roma beliefs and cultural aspects. For example, many Polish Roma delay their [[Marriage in the Catholic Church|Church wedding]]{{Contradict-inline|reason=The top paragraph of this section says that there is controversy from marrying too young.|date=February 2022}} due to the belief that sacramental marriage is accompanied by divine ratification, creating a virtually indissoluble union until the couple consummate, after which the sacramental marriage is dissoluble only by the death of a spouse. Therefore, for Polish Roma, once married, one can't ever divorce. Another aspect of Polish Roma's Catholicism is a tradition of pilgrimage to the [[Jasna Góra Monastery]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.przewodnik-katolicki.pl/Archiwum/2016/Przewodnik-Katolicki-40-2016/Wiara-i-Kosciol/Wiara-po-romsku |title = Wiara po romsku}}</ref>

Most Eastern European Romanies are [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]], or [[Muslim]].<ref>{{Cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=W7l-fGIA2ZkC&pg=PA89 |title = Roma, Gypsies, Travellers |isbn = 9789287123497 |last1 = Liégeois |first1 = Jean-Pierre |date = 1 January 1994 }}</ref> Those in Western Europe and the [[Roma in the United States|United States]] are mostly Roman Catholic or [[Protestant]]{{snd}} in southern Spain, many Romanies are [[pentecostalism|Pentecostal]], but this is a small minority that has emerged in contemporary times. In Egypt, the Romanies are split into Christian and Muslim populations.<ref>{{Citation |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hUX4C0qrDmUC&pg=PA460 |title = Gypsy Council |page = 460 |first = Nicholas C |last = Eliopoulos |year = 2006 |isbn = 978-1-4653-3036-9 }}</ref>

=== Music ===
{{Main|Romani music}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=February 2020}}
[[File:20090627 Fanfare Ciocarlia group live in Athens at Restistance Festival by KOE 2.jpg|thumb|27 June 2009: [[Fanfare Ciocărlia]] live in [[Athens]]]]
[[File:Khamoro Roma Festival 2007 Prague.jpg|thumb|right|Street performance during the [[Khamoro]] [[World Roma Festival]] in [[Prague]], 2007]]
Romani music plays an important role in Central and Eastern European countries such as Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania, and the style and performance practices of Romani musicians have influenced European [[List of classical music composers|classical composers]] such as [[Franz Liszt]] and [[Johannes Brahms]]. The ''[[lăutari]]'' who perform at traditional Romanian weddings are virtually all Romani.<ref>{{cite book|title=Area Handbook for Romania - Volume 550, Issue 160|page=100}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Marketing in a Multicultural World: Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Cultural Identity}}</ref>

Probably the most internationally prominent contemporary performers in the ''lăutari'' tradition are [[Taraful Haiducilor]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348596804|title="Perverting the Taste of the People": Lăutari and the Balkan Question in Romania}}</ref> Bulgaria's popular "wedding music", too, is almost exclusively performed by Romani musicians such as [[Ivo Papasov]], a virtuoso clarinetist closely associated with this genre and Bulgarian pop-folk singer [[Azis]].

Many famous classical musicians, such as the [[Hungarian people|Hungarian]] pianist [[Georges Cziffra]], are Romani, as are many prominent performers of [[manele]]. [[Zdob și Zdub]], one of the most prominent rock bands in [[Moldova]], although not Romanies themselves, draw heavily on Romani music, as do [[Spitalul de Urgență]] in Romania, [[Shantel]] in Germany, [[Goran Bregović]] in Serbia, [[Darko Rundek]] in Croatia, [[Beirut (band)|Beirut]] and [[Gogol Bordello]] in the United States.

Another tradition of Romani music is the genre of the Romani [[brass band]], with such notable practitioners as [[Boban Marković]] of Serbia, and the brass ''lăutari'' groups [[Fanfare Ciocărlia]] and Fanfare din Cozmesti of Romania.

The distinctive sound of Romani music has also strongly influenced [[bolero]], [[jazz]], and [[flamenco]] (especially ''[[cante jondo]]'') in Spain.

Dances such as the flamenco and bolero of Spain were influenced by the Romani.<ref name="Gypsy dance origin">{{Citation |last1=Martinez |first1=Emma |title=Flamenco: All You Wanted to Know |date=24 February 2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bzd1CTtnjS8C&pg=PA21 |page=21 |format=[[Google books]] |isbn=978-1-60974-470-0}}</ref> [[Antonio Cansino]] blended Romani and Spanish flamenco and is credited with creating modern-day Spanish dance.{{sfn|Hancock|2002|p=129}} [[The Dancing Cansinos]] popularized flamenco and bolero dancing in the United States. Famous dancer and actress, [[Rita Hayworth]], is the granddaughter of Antonio Cansino.

European-style [[gypsy jazz]] ("jazz Manouche" or "Sinti jazz") is still widely practiced among the original creators (the Romanie People); one who acknowledged this artistic debt was guitarist [[Django Reinhardt]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing}}</ref> Contemporary artists in this tradition known internationally include [[Stochelo Rosenberg]], [[Biréli Lagrène]], [[Jimmy Rosenberg]], [[Paulus Schäfer]] and [[Tchavolo Schmitt]].

The [[Romani people in Turkey]] have achieved musical acclaim from national and local audiences. Local performers usually perform for special holidays. Their music is usually performed on instruments such as the [[goblet drum|darbuka]], [[clarinet|gırnata]] and [[cümbüş]].<ref name=family>{{Citation |url = http://www.rootsworld.com/turkey/cumbus.html |publisher = Rootsworld |title = Cümbüş means fun, Birger Gesthuisen investigates the short history of a 20th-century folk instrument }}</ref>

==Folklore==
{{Main|Romani mythology}}
Romani folktales and legends are known as paramichia. A hero among the Vlach Roma is Mundro Salamon or Wise Solomon. Other Romani groups call this hero O Godjiaver Yanko.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/anthropology-and-archaeology/people/gypsies|title=Gypsies}}</ref>

The Roma believe in the mulo or mullo, which means one who is dead. These beings are the Roma's version of the [[vampire]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.bgsu.edu/lotag/2010/04/17/gypsy-legends-on-vampires/|title=Gypsy Legends on Vampires}}</ref>

==Cuisine==
{{Main|Romani cuisine}}
The Roma believe that some foods are auspicious, or lucky (baxtalo), such as foods with pungent tastes like garlic, lemon, tomato, peppers, and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, pickles and sour cream.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/i-am-the-first-generation/|title=Romani Cuisine and Cultural Persistence|website=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]|date=27 June 2016 }}</ref> Hedgehogs are a delicacy among some Roma.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gypsies {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/anthropology-and-archaeology/people/gypsies |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

== Contemporary art and culture ==
Romani contemporary art emerged at the climax of the process that began in [[Central and Eastern Europe]] in the late 1980s, when the interpretation of the cultural practice of minorities was enabled by a paradigm shift, commonly referred to in specialist literature as the [[Cultural turn]]. The idea of the "cultural turn" was introduced; and this was also the time when the notion of cultural democracy became crystallized in the debates carried on at various public forums. [[Civil society]] gained strength, and civil politics appeared, which is a prerequisite for cultural democracy. This shift of attitude in scholarly circles derived from concerns specific not only to ethnicity but also to society, gender and class.<ref>{{cite news |title = Meet Your Neighbors |url = https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/neighbours_20090615.pdf |work = opensourcefoundations.org }}</ref>

== Language ==
{{Main|Romani language}}

Most Romani speak one of several dialects of the [[Romani language]],<ref>{{Cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xdtBAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA235 |title = Comparative-Historical Linguistics |isbn = 9789027276988 |last1 = Brogyanyi |first1 = Bela |last2 = Lipp |first2 = Reiner |date = 6 May 1993 }}</ref> an [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] language, with roots in Sanskrit. They also often speak the languages of the countries they live in. Typically, they also incorporate [[loanword]]s and [[calque]]s into Romani from the languages of those countries and especially words for terms that the Romani language does not have. Most of the ''Ciganos'' of Portugal, the [[Gitanos]] of Spain, the [[Romanichal]] of the UK, and [[Norwegian and Swedish Travellers|Scandinavian Travellers]] have lost their [[knowledge]] of pure Romani, and speak the [[mixed language]]s [[Caló (Spanish Romani)|Caló]],<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url = https://www.ethnologue.com/language/rmq |chapter = Caló: A language of Spain |publisher = SIL International |editor-first = Raymond G Jr. |editor-last = Gordon |year = 2005 |title = Ethnologue: Languages of the World |edition = 15th |location = Dallas, [[Texas|TX]] |isbn = 978-1-55671-159-6 }}</ref> [[Angloromany]], and [[Scandoromani]], respectively. Most of the Romani language-speaking communities in these regions consist of later immigrants from eastern or central Europe.<ref name="Manchester_Rom">{{cite web |last = Matras |first = Yaron |title = Romani Linguistics and Romani Language Projects |url = http://romani.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/whatis/status/numbers.shtml |website = Humanities |publisher = The University of Manchester |access-date = 24 February 2015 }}</ref>

There are no concrete statistics for the number of Romani speakers, both in Europe and globally. However, a conservative estimate is 3.5 million speakers in Europe and a further 500,000 elsewhere,<ref name="Manchester_Rom"/> though the actual number may be considerably higher. This makes Romani the second-largest [[minority language]] in Europe, behind [[Catalan language|Catalan]].<ref name="Manchester_Rom" />

In regards to the diversity of dialects, Romani works in the same way as most other European languages.<ref name="The status of Romani in Europe">{{cite journal |last = Matras |first = Yaron |title = The status of Romani in Europe |journal = Report Submitted to the Council of Europe's Language Policy Division |date = October 2005 |page = 4 |url = http://romani.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/downloads/1/statusofromani.pdf |access-date = 4 March 2015 }}</ref> Cross-dialect communication is dominated by the following features:
* All Romani speakers are [[bilingual]], accustomed to borrowing words or phrases from a [[second language]]; this makes it difficult to communicate with Romanis from different countries
* Romani was traditionally a [[language]] shared between extended family and a close-knit community. This has resulted in the inability to comprehend [[dialects]] from other countries, and is why Romani is sometimes considered to be several different languages.
* There is no tradition or literary standard for Romani speakers to use as a guideline for their language use.<ref name="The status of Romani in Europe" />

== Persecutions ==
{{Main|Anti-Romani sentiment}}

=== Historical persecution ===
One of the most enduring persecutions against the Romani people was their enslavement. [[Slavery in medieval Europe|Slavery was widely practiced in medieval Europe]], including the territory of present-day [[Romania]] from before the founding of the principalities of [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]] in the 13th–14th centuries.{{sfn|Achim|2004|p={{Page needed |date=September 2015}}}} Legislation decreed that all the Romani living in these states, as well as any others who immigrated there, were classified as slaves.<ref>{{Cite book |title = Istoria și tradițiile minorității rromani |page = 36 |year = 2005 |publisher = Sigma |location = Bucharest |author1-link = Delia Grigore |last1 = Grigore |first1 = Delia |first2 = Petre |last2 = Petcuț |first3 = Mariana |last3 = Sandu |language = ro }}</ref> Slavery was gradually [[Abolitionism|abolished]] during the 1840s and 1850s.{{sfn|Achim|2004|p={{Page needed |date=September 2015}}}}

The exact origins of [[Slavery in Romania|slavery]] in the [[Danubian Principalities]] are not known. There is some debate over whether the Romani people came to Wallachia and Moldavia as free men or were brought there as slaves. Historian [[Nicolae Iorga]] associated the Roma people's arrival with the 1241 [[Mongol invasion of Europe]] and he also considered their enslavement a vestige of that era, in which the [[Romanians]] took the Roma from the [[Mongols]] and preserved their status as slaves so they could use their labor. Other historians believe that the Romani were enslaved while they were being captured during the battles with the Tatars. The practice of enslaving [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] may have also been adopted from the Mongols.{{sfn|Achim|2004|p={{Page needed |date=September 2015}}}}

Some Romani may have been slaves of the Mongols or the Tatars or they may have served as auxiliary troops in the Mongol or Tatar armies, but most of them migrated from south of the [[Danube]] at the end of the 14th century, some time after the [[founding of Wallachia]]. By then, the institution of slavery was already established in Moldavia and it was possibly established in both principalities. After the Roma migrated into the area, slavery became a widespread practice among the majority of the population. The [[Tatars|Tatar]] slaves, smaller in numbers, were eventually merged into the Roma population.<ref>{{Citation |first = Ștefan |last = Ștefănescu |title = Istoria medie a României |volume = I |publisher = Editura Universității din București |place = Bucharest |year = 1991 |language = ro }}</ref>

Some branches of the Romani people reached [[Western Europe]] in the 15th century, fleeing from the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] conquest of the Balkans as refugees.<ref>{{cite news |title = Gypsy/Roma European migrations from 15th century till nowadays |url = https://www.academia.edu/1132677 |work = academia.edu }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Although the Romani were refugees from the conflicts in southeastern Europe, they were often suspected of being associated with the [[Ottoman wars in Europe|Ottoman invasion]] by certain populations in the West because their physical appearance was exotic. (The [[Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)#The Reichstag in the Holy Roman Empire|Imperial Diet]] at Landau and Freiburg in 1496–1498 declared that the Romani were spies for the Turks). In Western Europe, such suspicions and discrimination against people who constituted a visible minority resulted in persecution, often violent, with attempts to commit [[ethnic cleansing]] until the modern era. In times of social tension, the Romani suffered as scapegoats; for instance, they were accused of bringing the plague during times of [[epidemics]].<ref name="timeline">{{cite web |url = http://www.geocities.com/Paris/5121/timeline.htm |publisher = Patrin Web Journal |title = Timeline of Romani History |access-date = 26 August 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071111142247/http://www.geocities.com/Paris/5121/timeline.htm |archive-date = 11 November 2007 }}</ref>

On 30 July 1749, Spain conducted [[The Great Roundup of Gypsies (1749)|''The Great Roundup'']] of [[Romani people in Spain|Romani]] (Gitanos) in its territory. The Spanish Crown ordered a nationwide raid that led to the break-up of families because all able-bodied men were interned in forced labor camps in an attempt to commit ethnic cleansing. The measure was eventually reversed and the Romanis were freed as protests began to erupt in different communities, sedentary Romanis were highly esteemed and protected in rural Spain.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://web.jet.es/gea21/mteorico/apuntes/anexo3.htm |title = Cap. 2: 2.1 Apuntes sobre la situación de la comunidad gitana en la sociedad Española – Anexo III. 'Gitanos malos, gitanos buenos' |trans-title = Chap. 2: 2.1 Notes on the situation of the gypsy community in Spanish society – Affix III. 'Bad gypsies, good gypsies' |language = es |website = The Barañí Project – Roma Women |date = 29 February 2000 |access-date = 27 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010712072449/http://web.jet.es/gea21/mteorico/apuntes/anexo3.htm |archive-date = 12 July 2001 |df = dmy }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title = Another Darkness Another Dawn |last = Taylor |first = Becky |publisher = Reaktion Books Ltd. |year = 2014 |location = London UK |pages = 105 |isbn = 978-1-78023-257-7 }}</ref>

Later in the 19th century, Romani immigration was forbidden on a racial basis in areas outside Europe, mostly in the English-speaking world. In 1880, Argentina prohibited immigration by Roma, as did the United States in 1885.<ref name="timeline" />
[[File:Bundesarchiv R 165 Bild-244-48, Asperg, Deportation von Sinti und Roma.jpg|thumb|Deportation of Roma from [[Asperg]], Germany, 1940 (photograph by the ''Rassenhygienische Forschungsstelle'')]]

=== Forced assimilation ===
In the [[Habsburg monarchy]] under [[Maria Theresa of Austria|Maria Theresa]] (1740–1780), a series of decrees tried to integrate the Romanies in order to get them to [[sedentism|permanently settle]], removed their rights to horse and wagon ownership (1754) in order to reduce citizen-mobility, renamed them "New Citizens" and obliged Romani boys into military service just as any other citizens were if they had no trade (1761, and Revision 1770), required them to register with the local authorities (1767), and another decree prohibited marriages between Romanies (1773) in order to integrate them into the local population. Her successor [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Josef II]] prohibited the wearing of traditional Romani clothing along with the use of the [[Romani language]], both of which were punishable by flogging.<ref name="samer" /> During this time, the schools were obliged to register and integrate Romani children; this policy was the first of the modern policies of integration. In Spain, attempts to assimilate the Gitanos were under way as early as 1619, when the Gitanos were forcibly settled, the use of the [[Romani language]] was prohibited, Gitano men and women were sent to separate workhouses and their children were sent to orphanages. [[Charles III of Spain|King Charles III]] took a more progressive approach to Gitano assimilation, proclaiming that they had the same rights as Spanish citizens and ending the official denigration of them which was based on their [[Race (human categorization)|race]]. While he prohibited their nomadic lifestyle, their use of the [[Caló (Spanish Romani)|Calo language]], the manufacture and wearing of Romani clothing, their trade in horses and other itinerant trades, he also forbade any form of discrimination against them and he also forbade the guilds from barring them. The use of the word ''gitano'' was also forbidden in order to further their assimilation, it was replaced with "New Castilian", a designation which was also applied to former [[History of the Jews in Spain|Jews]] and [[Islam in Spain|Muslims]].<ref>{{ cite book |first=Angus |surname= Fraser |title = Los gitanos|publisher = Ariel|year = 2005|isbn = 978-84-344-6780-4}}</ref><ref>Texto de la pragmática en la [https://books.google.com/books?id=UnBFAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA367&dq=%22Declaro+que+los+que+llaman+y+se+dicen+gitanos+no+lo+son+por+origen+ni+por+naturaleza,+ni+provienen+de+raiz+infecta+alguna%22&hl=es&ei=6SjhTfOKGpK08QPQmvWXBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22Declaro%20que%20los%20que%20llaman%20y%20se%20dicen%20gitanos%20no%20lo%20son%20por%20origen%20ni%20por%20naturaleza%2C%20ni%20provienen%20de%20raiz%20infecta%20alguna%22&f=false ''Novísima Recopilación''. Ley XI], pg. 367 y ss.</ref>

Most historians believe that Charles III's [[Pragmatic sanction|pragmática]] failed for three main reasons, reasons which were ultimately derived from its implementation outside major cities as well as in marginal areas: The difficulty which the Gitano community faced in changing its nomadic lifestyle, the marginal lifestyle to which the community had been driven by society and the serious difficulties of applying the pragmática in the fields of education and work. One author ascribes its failure to the overall rejection of the integration of the Gitanos by the wider population.<ref name="samer">{{cite web |url = http://rombase.uni-graz.at//cgi-bin/art.cgi?src=data/hist/modern/maria.en.xml |title = Maria Theresia and Joseph II: Policies of Assimilation in the Age of Enlightened Absolutism |publisher = Karl-Franzens-Universitaet Graz |website = Rombase |date = December 2001 |first = Helmut |last = Samer }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.everyculture.com/Europe/Gitanos-History-and-Cultural-Relations.html |title = Gitanos. History and Cultural Relations |publisher = World Culture Encyclopedia |access-date = 26 August 2007 }}</ref>

Other policies of forced assimilation were implemented in other countries, one of these countries was Norway, where a law which permitted the state to remove children from their parents and place them in state institutions was passed in 1896.<ref>{{cite web |last = Kenrick |first = Donald |title = Roma in Norway |url = http://www.reocities.com/~patrin/norway.htm |publisher = Patrin Web Journal |access-date = 13 March 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130429054318/http://www.reocities.com/~patrin/norway.htm |archive-date = 29 April 2013 |url-status = dead }}</ref> This resulted in some 1,500 Romani children being taken from their parents in the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/central-committee/2002/the-church-of-norway-and-the-roma-of-norway |title = The Church of Norway and the Roma of Norway |publisher = [[World Council of Churches]] |date = 3 September 2002 }}</ref>

=== Porajmos (Romani Holocaust) ===
{{Main|Romani Holocaust}}
During [[World War II]] and [[The Holocaust]], the persecution of the Romanies reached a peak during the [[Romani Holocaust]] (the Porajmos), the [[genocide]] which was perpetrated against them by [[Nazi Germany]]. In 1935, the Romani people who lived in [[Nazi Germany]] lost their citizenship when it was stripped from them by the [[Nuremberg laws]], after that, they were subjected to violence and imprisonment in [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]] and later, they were subjected to [[genocide]] in [[extermination camp]]s. During the war, the policy was extended to areas which were occupied by the Nazis, and it was also implemented by their allies, most notably, by the [[Independent State of Croatia]], [[Romania in World War II|Romania]], and [[Hungary in World War II|Hungary]].

Because no accurate pre-war census figures exist for the Romanis, the actual number of Romani victims who were killed in the Romani Holocaust cannot be assessed. Most estimates of the number of Romani victims who were killed in the Romani Holocaust range from 200,000 to 500,000, but other estimates range from 90,000 to 1.5 million. Lower estimates do not include those Romanis who were killed in all [[Axis powers|Axis]]-controlled countries. A detailed study by Sybil Milton, a former senior historian at the [[U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum]] contained an estimate of at least 220,000, possibly as many as 500,000.<ref>{{Citation |url = http://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/rulings/cv/1996/685455.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040409001621/http://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/rulings/cv/1996/685455.pdf |archive-date = 9 April 2004 |title = Re. Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks) Special Master's Proposals |date = 11 September 2000 }}</ref> [[Ian Hancock]], Director of the Program of Romani Studies and the Romani Archives and Documentation Center at the [[University of Texas at Austin]], argues in favour of a higher figure of between 500,000 and 1,500,000.<ref>{{Citation |type = article |url = http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_e_holocaust_porrajmos&lang=en |contribution = Romanies and the Holocaust: A Reevaluation and an Overview |editor-last = Stone |editor-first = D |year = 2004 |title = The Historiography of the Holocaust |publisher = Palgrave |place = Basingstoke and New York |access-date = 14 February 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131113233924/http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_e_holocaust_porrajmos&lang=en |archive-date = 13 November 2013 |url-status=dead |df = dmy-all }}</ref>

In [[Central Europe]], the extermination in the [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]] was so thorough that the [[Bohemian Romani]] language became extinct.

== Contemporary issues ==
{{Main|Anti-Romani sentiment#Contemporary antiziganism}}
[[File:Romani population average estimate.png|thumb|left|upright=1.36|Distribution of the Romani people in Europe (2007 [[Council of Europe]] "average estimates", totalling 9.8 million)<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/romatravellers/documentation/strategies/statistiques_en.asp |title = Council of Europe website |access-date = 6 October 2009 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090221234346/http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/romatravellers/documentation/strategies/statistiques_en.asp |archive-date = 21 February 2009 }}. European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF). 2007. Archived from [http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/romatravellers/linkmissing_en.asp#P11_143 the original] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021234409/http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/romatravellers/linkmissing_en.asp#P11_143 |date=21 October 2013}} on 6 July 2007.</ref>]]

[[File:Sap34.jpg|thumb|Antiziganist protests in [[Sofia]], [[Bulgaria]], 2011]]

In [[Europe]], Romani people are associated with [[poverty]], blamed for high [[crime]] rates, and accused of behaving in ways that are considered antisocial or inappropriate by the rest of the European population.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/sunday-review/are-the-roma-primitive-or-just-poor.html |newspaper = The New York Times |type = review |title = Are the Roma primitive or just poor? |date = 19 October 2013 |last1 = Bilefsky |first1 = Dan }}</ref> Partly for this reason, discrimination against the Romani people has continued to be practiced to the present day,<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/demolita-bidonille-ponte-mammolo.html |title = Demolita la 'bidonville' di Ponte Mammolo |trans-title = The 'slum' of Mammolo Bridge demolished |language = it |place = [[Italy|IT]] |website = [[il Giornale]] |date = 5 December 2007 |access-date = 14 September 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first = Paola |last = Di Caro |url = http://www.corriere.it/politica/07_novembre_04/intervista_fini_impossibile_integrazione_rom.shtml |title = Fini: impossibile integrarsi con chi ruba |trans-title = Fini: it's impossible to integrate those who steal |language = it |work = [[Corriere della Sera]] |date = 4 November 2007 |access-date = 14 September 2017 }}</ref> although efforts are being made to address them.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-02-01-roma-europe_x.htm |title = European effort spotlights plight of the Roma |website = [[USA Today]] |date = 1 February 2005 |access-date = 10 May 2013 }}</ref>

[[Amnesty International]] reports continued to document instances of [[Antiziganism|Antizigan]] discrimination during the late 20th century, particularly in [[Romania]], [[Serbia]],<ref>{{cite press release |url = https://www.amnesty.org/en/press-releases/2010/04/europe-must-break-cycle-discrimination-facing-roma/ |title = Europe must break cycle of discrimination facing Roma |agency = Amnesty International |date = 7 April 2010 |access-date = 2 January 2016 }}</ref> [[Slovakia]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://web.amnesty.org/wire/February2002/Europe_Roma |title = Europe Roma |publisher = Amnesty International |date = February 2002 |access-date = 6 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071012191514/http://web.amnesty.org/wire/February2002/Europe_Roma |archive-date = 12 October 2007 }}</ref> [[Hungary]],<ref>{{cite web |author = Colin Woodard |url = http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2008/0213/p07s02-woeu.html |title = Hungary's anti-Roma militia grows |website = Christian Science Monitor |date = 13 February 2008 |access-date = 15 September 2010 }}</ref> [[Slovenia]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.humanrightspoint.si/node/12 |title = Roma |publisher = Human Rights Press Point |place = SI |access-date = 6 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120310074602/http://www.humanrightspoint.si/node/12 |archive-date = 10 March 2012 |df = dmy }}</ref> and [[Kosovo]].<ref>{{cite web |last = Polansky |first = Paul |author-link = Paul Polansky |url = http://www.gfbv.de/inhaltsDok.php?id=612 |title = Results of an Enquiry into the Situation of Roma und Ashkali in Kosovo (Dec.2004 to May 2005) – Roma and Ashkali in Kosovo: Persecuted, driven out, poisoned |publisher = GFBV |date = June 2005 |access-date = 6 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070806163105/http://www.gfbv.de/inhaltsDok.php?id=612 |archive-date = 6 August 2007 }}</ref> The European Union has recognized that discrimination against Romani must be addressed, and with the national Roma integration strategy they encourage member states to work towards greater Romani inclusion and upholding the [[Rights of the Roma in the European Union|rights of the Romani in the European Union]].<ref>{{cite web |title = National Roma Integration Strategies: a first step in the implementation of the EU Framework |url = http://ec.europa.eu/justice/discrimination/files/com2012_226_en.pdf |publisher = European Commission |date = 21 May 2012 |access-date = 3 May 2014 }}</ref>
{{bar box
|title=Roma estimate percentage of population in European countries<ref name="Roma-in-Europe">{{cite news |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/romania/10636448/Roma-on-the-rubbish-dump-British-religious-leaders-call-on-Romanian-mayor-to-reverse-forced-evictions.html |title = Roma on the rubbish dump |publisher = [[CIA World Factbook]] |access-date = 21 February 2014 |date = 17 February 2014 |last1 = Alexander |first1 = Harriet }}</ref>
|titlebar=#ddd
|left1='''Country'''
|right1='''Percent'''
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|[[Bulgaria]]|blue|10.33}}
{{bar percent|[[North Macedonia]]|blue|9.59}}
{{bar percent|[[Slovakia]]|blue|9.17}}
{{bar percent|[[Romania]]|blue|8.32}}
{{bar percent|[[Serbia]]*|blue|8.18}}
{{bar percent|[[Hungary]]|blue|7.05}}
{{bar percent|Turkey|blue|5.97}}
{{bar percent|Spain|blue|3.21}}
{{bar percent|[[Albania]]|blue|3.18}}
{{bar percent|[[Montenegro]]|blue|2.95}}
{{bar percent|[[Moldova]]|blue|2.49}}
{{bar percent|Greece|blue|2.47}}
{{bar percent|[[Czech Republic]]|blue|1.96}}
{{bar percent|[[Kosovo]]|blue|1.47}}
*projections for Serbia also include up to 97.000 [[IDPs|Roma IDPs]] in Serbia<ref>{{cite journal |first = UN |last = Relief |year = 2010 |title = Roma in Serbia (excluding Kosovo) on 1 January 2009 |journal = UN Relief |volume = 8 |issue = 1 |url = http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/romaidps_desk_review_final.pdf }}</ref>
}}

In [[Eastern Europe]], Roma children often attend [[Roma Special School]]s, separate from non-Roma children; these schools tend to offer a lower quality of education than the traditional education options accessible by non-Roma children, putting the Roma children at an educational disadvantage.<ref name="Expanding">{{cite book |last1=Ringold |first1=Dena |last2=Orenstein |first2=Mitchell Alexander |last3=Wilkens |first3=Erika |title= Roma in an Expanding Europe - Breaking the Poverty Cycle |date=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Usd7XU6a29oC |publisher=World Bank |isbn=0-8213-5457-4}}</ref>{{rp|83}}

The [[Romani people in Kosovo|Romanis of Kosovo]] have been severely persecuted by [[Kosovo Albanians|ethnic Albanians]] since the end of the [[Kosovo War]], and for the most part, the region's Romani community has been annihilated.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cahn |first1=Claude |title=Birth of a Nation: Kosovo and the Persecution of Pariah Minorities |journal=German Law Journal |date=1 January 2007 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=81–94 |doi=10.1017/S2071832200005423 |s2cid=141025735 }}</ref>

[[Czechoslovakia]] carried out a policy of sterilization of Romani women, starting in 1973.<ref>{{cite news |last = Denysenko |first = Marina |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6409699.stm |title = Sterilised Roma accuse Czechs |work = BBC.co.uk |date = 12 March 2007 |access-date = 15 September 2017 }}</ref> The dissidents of the [[Charter 77]] denounced it in 1977–78 as a [[genocide]], but the practice continued through the [[Velvet Revolution]] of 1989.<ref>{{cite web |first = Mindy Kay |last = Bricker |url = http://newsdesk.org/2006/06/12/for_gypsies_eug/ |title = For Gypsies, Eugenics is a Modern Problem / Czech Practice Dates to Soviet Era |newspaper = [[Newsdesk]] |date = 12 June 2006 }}</ref> A 2005 report by the [[Czech Republic]]'s independent ombudsman, Otakar Motejl, identified dozens of cases of coercive sterilization between 1979 and 2001, and called for criminal investigations and possible prosecution against several health care workers and administrators.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.ochrance.cz/en/dokumenty/dokument.php?doc=400 |title = Final Statement of the Public Defender of Rights in the Matter of Sterilisations Performed in Contravention of the Law and Proposed Remedial Measures |publisher = The Office of The Public Defender of Rights, Czech Republic |date = 23 December 2005 |access-date = 15 September 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071128041045/http://www.ochrance.cz/en/dokumenty/dokument.php?doc=400 |archive-date = 28 November 2007 }}</ref>

In 2008, following the rape and subsequent murder of an Italian woman in [[Rome]] at the hands of a young man from a local Romani encampment,<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/nov/02/italy.international |title = Italian woman's murder prompts expulsion threat to Romanians |work = The Guardian |date = 2 November 2007 |location = London |first = John |last = Hooper |access-date = 14 September 2017 }}</ref> the Italian government declared that Italy's Romani population represented a national security risk and it also declared that it was required to take swift action in order to address the ''emergenza nomadi'' (''nomad emergency'').<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/mar/30/roma-italy |title = Italy's new ghetto? |work = The Guardian |date = 30 March 2009 |location = London |first = Tana |last = de Zulueta |access-date = 14 September 2017 }}</ref> Specifically, officials in the Italian government accused the Romanies of being responsible for rising crime rates in urban areas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Italy fingerprints thousands of Gypsies |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna25520960 |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

The 2008 [[Death of Cristina and Violetta Djeordsevic|deaths of Cristina and Violetta Djeordsevic]], two Roma children who drowned while Italian beach-goers remained unperturbed, brought international attention to the relationship between Italians and the Roma people. Reviewing the situation in 2012, one Belgian magazine observed:{{blockquote|On International Roma Day, which falls on 8 April, the significant proportion of Europe's 12 million Roma who live in deplorable conditions will not have much to celebrate. And poverty is not the only worry for the community. Ethnic tensions are on the rise. In 2008, Roma camps came under attack in Italy, intimidation by racist parliamentarians is the norm in Hungary. Speaking in 1993, [[Václav Havel]] prophetically remarked that "the treatment of the Roma is a [[litmus test (politics)|Litmus test]] for [[democracy]]": and democracy has been found wanting. The consequences of the transition to [[capitalism]] have been disastrous for the Roma. Under [[communism]] they had jobs, free housing and schooling. Now many are unemployed, many are losing their homes and [[racism]] is increasingly rewarded with [[impunity]].<ref name="MO 2012">{{cite web |url = http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1757331-bleak-horizon |title = Bleak horizon |first = Hellen |last = Kooijman |place = EU |date = 6 April 2012 |publisher = Presseurop |access-date = 6 April 2012 }}</ref>}}

The 2016 [[Pew Research Center|Pew Research poll]] found that Italians, in particular, hold strong anti-Roma views, with 82% of Italians expressing negative opinions about Roma. In [[Greece]], 67%, in Hungary 64%, in [[France]] 61%, in [[Spain]] 49%, in [[Poland]] 47%, in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] 45%, in [[Sweden]] 42%, in [[Germany]] 40%, and in the [[Netherlands]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radionetherlandsarchives.org/the-gypsy-in-my-soul-sinti-and-roma-in-the-netherlands/ |title=The gypsy in my soul: Sinti and Roma in the Netherlands |website=Radio Netherlands Archives |date=19 September 1999}}</ref> 37% had an unfavourable view of Roma.<ref>"[http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/07/11/europeans-fear-wave-of-refugees-will-mean-more-terrorism-fewer-jobs/lede-chart-2/ Negative opinions about Roma, Muslims in several European nations]". [[Pew Research Center]]. 11 July 2016.</ref> The 2019 Pew Research poll found that 83% of Italians, 76% of Slovaks, 72% of Greeks, 68% of Bulgarians, 66% of Czechs, 61% of Lithuanians, 61% of Hungarians, 54% of Ukrainians, 52% of Russians, 51% of Poles, 44% of French, 40% of Spaniards, and 37% of Germans held unfavorable views of Roma.<ref>{{cite news |title=European Public Opinion Three Decades After the Fall of Communism — 6. Minority groups |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/10/14/minority-groups/ |work=Pew Research Center |date=14 October 2019}}</ref> IRES published in 2020 a survey which revealed that 72% of Romanians have a negative opinion about them.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sondaj IRES: 7 din 10 români nu au încredere în romi |url=https://romania.europalibera.org/a/sondaj-ires-7-din-10-rom%C3%A2ni-nu-au-%C3%AEncredere-%C3%AEn-romi/30707320.html |work=Radio Free Europe Romania (in Romanian) |date=8 February 2020}}</ref>

As of 2019, reports of anti-Roma incidents are increasing across Europe.<ref>{{cite news |title=We need to talk about the rising wave of anti-Roma attacks in Europe |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/roma-antiziganist-romani-discrimination-italy-matteo-salvini-ukraine-a9024196.html |work=The Independent |date=28 July 2019}}</ref> Discrimination against Roma remains widespread in Kosovo,<ref>{{cite news |title=Unemployment keeps Kosovo's Roma on the margins |url=https://www.dw.com/en/unemployment-keeps-kosovos-roma-on-the-margins/a-42522226 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=17 February 2018}}</ref> Romania,<ref>{{cite news |title=To Europe's shame, Roma remain stigmatised outsiders – even when they live in mansions |url=http://theconversation.com/to-europes-shame-roma-remain-stigmatised-outsiders-even-when-they-live-in-mansions-95468 |work=The Conversation |date=25 April 2019}}</ref> Slovakia,<ref>{{cite news |title=Discrimination against Roma remains widespread in Slovakia says Amnesty International report |url=https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20766918/discrimination-against-roma-remains-widespread-in-slovakia-says-amnesty-international-report.html |work=The Slovak Spectator |date=22 February 2018}}</ref> [[Bulgaria]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Anti-Roma protests take place in Bulgarian city of Gabrovo |url=https://apnews.com/7ade2fc2871e40e7a7396468155a2164 |work=The Associated Press |date=12 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='Everybody hates us': on Sofia's streets, Roma face racism every day |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/20/bulgaria-sofia-racism-roma-everybody-hates-us-anti-gypsy-abuse |work=The Guardian |date=20 October 2019}}</ref> and the Czech Republic.<ref>{{cite news |title=Roma ghettos in the heart of the EU |url=https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2019/09/06/inenglish/1567776057_755361.html |work=[[El País]] |date=6 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Zpráva o stavu romské menšiny: V Česku bylo loni podle odhadů 830 ghett se 127 tisíci obyvateli|url=https://www.irozhlas.cz/zpravy-domov/zprava-v-cesku-bylo-loni-podle-odhadu-830-ghett-se-127-tisici-obyvateli_1910121847_miz|access-date=28 July 2020|website=iROZHLAS|language=cs}}</ref> Roma communities across Ukraine have been the target of violent attacks.<ref>{{cite news |title=Deadly Attack Escalates Violent Trend Against Ukrainian Roma |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-roma-deadly-attack-escalates-violent-trend/29318822.html |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=25 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Attacked and abandoned: Ukraine's forgotten Roma |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/europe/2018/11/attacked-abandoned-ukraine-forgotten-roma-181121121230852.html |work=Al-Jazeera |date=23 November 2018}}</ref>

Roma refugees fleeing the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]] have faced discrimination in Europe, including in [[Poland]],<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/may/10/ukraine-roma-refugees-poland | title = 'Meet us before you reject us': Ukraine's Roma refugees face closed doors in Poland | work = The Guardian | date = 10 May 2022 | access-date = 18 May 2022 }}</ref> the [[Czech Republic]],<ref>{{cite news | url = https://euobserver.com/world/154968 | title = Roma refugees from Ukraine face Czech xenophobia | work = EU Observer | date = 17 May 2022 | access-date = 18 May 2022 }}</ref> and [[Moldova]]<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjbapq/undocumented-roma-refugees-facing-discrimination-as-they-flee-ukraine | title = Undocumented Roma Refugees Facing Discrimination As They Flee Ukraine | work = Vice | date = 23 March 2022 | access-date = 18 May 2022 }}</ref>

Concerning [[employment]], on average, across the European states which were surveyed, 16% of Roma women were in paid work in 2016 compared to a third of men.<ref>{{cite news |title=Roma people: 10 ways Europe's biggest minority faces discrimination |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-roma-rights/roma-people-10-ways-europes-biggest-minority-faces-discrimination-idUSKCN1RK01Y |work=Reuters |date=8 April 2019}}</ref>

=== Forced repatriation ===
{{Main|Expulsion of Romani people from France}}
In the summer of 2010, French authorities demolished at least 51 Roma camps and began the [[French Romani repatriation|process of repatriating]] their residents to their countries of origin.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-11020429 |title = France sends Roma Gypsies back to Romania |date = 20 August 2010 |agency = BBC News |access-date = 28 February 2016 }}</ref> This followed tensions between the French state and Roma communities, which had been heightened after a traveller drove through a French police checkpoint, hit an officer, attempted to hit two more officers, and was then shot and killed by the police. In retaliation a group of Roma, armed with hatchets and iron bars, attacked the police station of Saint-Aignan, toppled traffic lights and road signs and burned three cars.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10681796 |title = Troops patrol French village of Saint-Aignan after riot |date = 10 July 2010 |publisher = BBC |access-date = 22 August 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11027288 |title = Q&A: France Roma expulsions |date = 15 September 2010 |publisher = BBC |access-date = 16 September 2010 }}</ref> The French government has been accused of perpetrating these actions to pursue its political agenda.<ref>{{cite news |title = France Begins Controversial Roma Deportations |date = 19 August 2010 |url = http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/sarkozy-finds-a-scapegoat-france-begins-controversial-roma-deportations-a-712701.html |work = Der Spiegel |access-date = 20 August 2010 }}</ref> [[European Commissioner for Justice and Consumers|EU Justice Commissioner]] [[Viviane Reding]] stated that the [[European Commission]] should take legal action against France over the issue, calling the deportations "a disgrace". A leaked file dated 5 August, sent from the [[Minister of the Interior (France)|Interior Ministry]] to regional police chiefs, included the instruction: "Three hundred camps or illegal settlements must be cleared within three months, Roma camps are a priority."<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11301307 |title = EU may take legal action against France over Roma |date = 14 September 2010 |work = BBC News |access-date = 15 September 2010 }}</ref>

== Organizations and projects ==
* [[World Romani Congress]]
* [[European Roma Rights Centre]]
* [[Gypsy Lore Society]]<ref name="GLS">{{cite web|title=The Gypsy Lore Society|format=Journal|url=http://www.gypsyloresociety.org/}}</ref>
* [[International Romani Union]]
* [[Decade of Roma Inclusion]], multinational project
* [[International Romani Day]] (8 April)
* [[Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues]]
* [[National Advisory Board on Romani Affairs]] (Finland)

== Artistic representations ==
{{Main|Romani people in fiction}}
Many depictions of Romani people in literature and art present romanticized narratives of the mystical powers of [[fortune telling]] or they portray Romani people as people who have an irascible or passionate temper which is paired with an indomitable love of freedom and a habit of criminality. Romani were a popular subject in [[Venetian school (art)|Venetian painting]] from the time of [[Giorgione]] at the start of the 16th century; the inclusion of such a figure adds an exotic oriental flavour to scenes. A [[Venice|Venetian]] [[Renaissance art|Renaissance]] painting by [[Paris Bordone]] (c. 1530, [[Strasbourg]]) of the [[Holy Family]] in Egypt makes [[Elizabeth (biblical figure)|Elizabeth]] a Romani [[Fortune-telling|fortune-teller]]; the scene is otherwise located in a distinctly European landscape.<ref>{{cite book |last = Jacquot |first = Dominique |title = Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg — Cinq siècles de peinture |date = 2006 |publisher = Éditions des Musées de Strasbourg |location = Strasbourg |isbn = 978-2-901833-78-9 |page = 76 }}</ref>

Particularly notable are classics like the story ''[[Carmen (novella)|Carmen]]'' by [[Prosper Mérimée]] and the [[Carmen|opera based on it]] by [[Georges Bizet]], [[Victor Hugo]]'s ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'', [[Herge]]'s ''[[The Castafiore Emerald]]'', [[Miguel de Cervantes]]' ''La Gitanilla'' and [[George Borrow]]'s ''[[Lavengro]]'' and ''[[The Romany Rye]]''. The Romani were also depicted in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'', ''[[As You Like It]]'', ''[[Othello]]'' and ''[[The Tempest]]'', all by [[William Shakespeare]].

The Romani were also heavily romanticized in the [[Soviet Union]], a classic example being the 1975 film ''[[Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven|Tabor ukhodit v Nebo]]''.
A more realistic depiction of contemporary [[Romani in the Balkans]], featuring Romani lay actors speaking in their native dialects, although still playing with established clichés of a Romani penchant for both magic and crime, was presented by [[Emir Kusturica]] in his ''[[Time of the Gypsies]]'' (1988) and ''[[Black Cat, White Cat]]'' (1998). The films of [[Tony Gatlif]], a French director of Romani ethnicity, like ''Les Princes'' (1983), ''[[Latcho Drom]]'' (1993) and ''Gadjo Dilo'' (1997) also portray Romani life.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:Rest during the Flight to Egypt-Paris Bordon mg 9985.jpg|[[Paris Bordone]], ''[[The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Bordone)|The Rest on the Flight into Egypt]]'', {{circa|1530}}, [[Elizabeth (biblical figure)|Elizabeth]], at right, is shown as a Romani [[Fortune-telling|fortune-teller]]
File:August von Pettenkofen - Gipsy Children - WGA17393.jpg|[[August von Pettenkofen]]: ''Gypsy Children'' (1885), [[Hermitage Museum]]
File:Gypsy family (1884 by Mihály Munkácsy.jpg|[[Mihály Munkácsy]]: ''Gypsy Family'' (1884, oil on canvas)
File:Vincent van Gogh - Les roulottes, campement de bohémiens.jpg|[[Vincent van Gogh]]: ''The Caravans – Gypsy Camp near Arles'' (1888, oil on canvas)
File:Carmen (Bibliothèque-Musée de lOpéra) (4568143185).jpg|[[Carmen (novella)|Carmen]]
File:La Esmeralda from Victor Hugo and His Time.jpg|[[Esméralda (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame)|Esméralda]]
File:Nicolae Grigorescu - Ursăreasa din Bolduri.jpg|[[Nicolae Grigorescu]] ''Gypsy from Boldu'' (1897), [[Palace of Culture (Iași)|Art Museum of Iași]]
File:Sarah Egerton as Meg Merrilies.png|[[Guy Mannering#Characters|Meg Merrilies]] from [[Walter Scott]]'s novel ''[[Guy Mannering]]'' (1815)
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Anti-Hindu sentiment]]
* [[Anti-Indian sentiment]]
* [[Racism in Europe]]
* [[Environmental racism in Europe]]
* [[Gitanos]]
* [[Gypsy Scourge]]
* [[History of the Romani people]]
* [[King of the Gypsies]]
* ''[[R v Krymowski]]''
* [[Rajasthani people]]
* [[Romani society and culture]]
* [[Romani dress]]
* [[Romani diaspora]]
* [[Ethnic groups in Europe]]
* [[Romani folklore]]

'''General'''
* [[Traveler (disambiguation)]]
* [[Itinerant groups in Europe]]
* [[Nomadic tribes in India]]
* [[Dalit]]

'''Lists'''
* [[List of Romani people]]
* [[List of Romani settlements]]

'''Other'''
* [[Indian people]]
* [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group="note"}}

'''Kosovo status'''
{{notelist|notes=
{{efn|name=status|{{Kosovo-note}}}}
}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite book |last = Achim |first = Viorel |year = 2004 |title = The Roma in Romanian History |place = Budapest |publisher = [[Central European University]] Press |isbn = 978-963-9241-84-8 }}
* {{Citation |last = Fraser |first = Angus |title = The Gypsies |publisher = Blackwell |place = Oxford, UK |year = 1992 |isbn = 978-0-631-15967-4 }}
* {{citation |last = Hancock |first = Ian |year = 2001 |title = Ame sam e rromane džene |publisher = The Open Society Institute |place = New York }}
* {{cite book |last = Hancock |first = Ian F. |year = 2002 |orig-year = 2001 |title = Ame Sam E Rromane Dz̆ene |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MG0ahVw-kdwC |publisher = Univ of Hertfordshire Press |isbn = 978-1-902806-19-8 }}
* {{Citation |author = Helsinki Watch |publisher = Helsinki Watch |title = Struggling for Ethnic Identity: Czechoslovakia's Endangered Gypsies |place = New York |year = 1991 }}
* {{cite web |last = Hübshmanová |first = Milena |year = 2003 |url = http://rombase.uni-graz.at//cgi-bin/artframe.pl?src=data/ethn/topics/names.en.xml |title = Roma – Sub Ethnic Groups |publisher = Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz |website = Rombase }}
* {{cite book |last = Lemon |first = Alaina |year = 2000 |title = Between Two Fires: Gypsy Performance and Romani Memory from Pushkin to Post-Socialism |publisher = Durham: [[Duke University]] Press |isbn = 978-0-8223-2456-0 }}
* {{cite book |last1 = Matras |first1 = Yaron |last2 = Popov |first2 = Vesselin |year = 2001 |title = Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire |publisher = Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press }}
* {{cite book |last = Matras |first = Yaron |year = 2005 |title = Romani: A Linguistic Introduction |publisher = Cambridge: Cambridge University Press |isbn = 978-0-521-02330-6 }}
* {{cite book |last = Matras |first = Yaron |year = 2002 |title = Romani: A Linguistic Introduction |publisher = Cambridge University Press |isbn = 978-0-521-63165-5 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=D4IIi0Ha3V4C |access-date = 16 July 2009 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{Citation |title = Gypsies, The World's Outsiders |newspaper = National Geographic |date = April 2001 |pages = 72–101 }}
* {{cite book |last = Nemeth |first = David J. |year = 2002 |title = The Gypsy-American |publisher = Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen }}
* {{cite book |last = Sutherland |first = Ann |title = Gypsies: The Hidden Americans |publisher = Waveland |year = 1986 |isbn = 978-0-88133-235-3 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XYQfAAAAQBAJ }}
* {{cite journal |last = Silverman |first = Carol |title = Persecution and Politicization: Roma (Gypsies) of Eastern Europe |journal = Cultural Survival Quarterly |year = 1995 }}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |author = Radenez Julien |title = Recherches sur l'histoire des Tsiganes |year=2014 |url = http://www.youscribe.com/catalogue/tous/savoirs/recherches-sur-l-histoire-des-tsiganes-2754759 }}
* {{cite book |author1 = Kalwant Bhopal |author-link1=Kalwant Bhopal |author2 = Martin Myers |title = Insiders, Outsiders and Others: Gypsies and Identity |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YlqFBR50PPMC |year = 2008 |publisher = Univ of Hertfordshire Press |isbn = 978-1-902806-71-6 }}
* {{Citation |last = Auzias |first = Claire |title = Les funambules de l'histoire |place = Baye |edition = Éditions la Digitale |year = 2002 |language = fr }}
* {{cite book |author = Werner Cohn |title = The Gypsies |url = http://www.wernercohn.com/Resources/The_Gypsies.pdf |year = 1973 |publisher = Addison-Wesley Publishing Company |isbn = 978-0-201-11362-4 }}
* {{cite journal |last = De Soto |first = Hermine |title = Roma and Egyptians in Albania: From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion |place = Washington, DC|publisher = World Bank Publications |year = 2005 }}
* {{cite book |last = Fonseca |first = Isabel |title = Bury me standing: the Gypsies and their journey |url = https://archive.org/details/burymestandinggy00fons |url-access = registration |place = New York |publisher = AA Knopf |year = 1995 |isbn = 978-0679406785 }}
* {{cite book |author1 = V. Glajar |author2 = D. Radulescu |title = Gypsies in European Literature and Culture |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LZDFAAAAQBAJ |year = 2008 |publisher = Palgrave Macmillan US |isbn = 978-0-230-61163-4 }}
* {{cite journal |last1 = Gray |first1 = RD |last2 = Atkinson |first2 = QD |year = 2003 |title = Language-tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin |journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |doi = 10.1038/nature02029 |volume = 426 |issue = 6965 |pages = 435–439 |pmid = 14647380 |bibcode = 2003Natur.426..435G |title-link = Indo-European languages |s2cid = 42340 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gresham |first1=David |last2=Morar |first2=Bharti |last3=Underhill |first3=Peter A. |last4=Passarino |first4=Giuseppe |last5=Lin |first5=Alice A. |last6=Wise |first6=Cheryl |last7=Angelicheva |first7=Dora |last8=Calafell |first8=Francesc |last9=Oefner |first9=Peter J. |last10=Shen |first10=Peidong |last11=Tournev |first11=Ivailo |last12=de Pablo |first12=Rosario |last13=Kuĉinskas |first13=Vaidutis |last14=Perez-Lezaun |first14=Anna |last15=Marushiakova |first15=Elena |last16=Popov |first16=Vesselin |last17=Kalaydjieva |first17=Luba |title=Origins and Divergence of the Roma (Gypsies) |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |date=December 2001 |volume=69 |issue=6 |pages=1314–1331 |doi=10.1086/324681 |pmid=11704928 |pmc=1235543 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Kalaydjieva |first1=Luba |last2=Calafell |first2=Francesc |last3=Jobling |first3=Mark A |last4=Angelicheva |first4=Dora |last5=de Knijff |first5=Peter |last6=Rosser |first6=ZoëH |last7=Hurles |first7=Matthew E |last8=Underhill |first8=Peter |last9=Tournev |first9=Ivailo |last10=Marushiakova |first10=Elena |last11=Popov |first11=Vesselin |title=Patterns of inter- and intra-group genetic diversity in the Vlax Roma as revealed by Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA lineages |journal=European Journal of Human Genetics |date=February 2001 |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=97–104 |doi=10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200597 |pmid=11313742 |s2cid = 21432405 |doi-access=free }}
* {{citation |last = Ringold |first = Dena |title = Roma & the Transition in Central & Eastern Europe: Trends & Challenges |place = Washington, DC |publisher = World Bank |year = 2000 }}.
* {{citation |last = Turner |first = Ralph L |year = 1926 |title = The Position of Romani in Indo-Aryan |journal = Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society |series = 3rd |volume = 5 |number = 4 |pages = 145–188 }}
* {{cite book |last = McDowell |first = Bart |title = Gypsies, wanderers of the world |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0heTAAAAIAAJ |year=1970 |publisher = National Geographic Society. Special Publications Division |isbn = 978-0870440885 }}
* Sancar Seckiner's comprehensible book South (Güney), 2013, consists of 12 article and essays. One of them, ''Ikiçeşmelik'', highlights Turkish Romani People's life. Ref. {{ISBN|978-605-4579-45-7}}.
* Sancar Seckiner' s new book Thilda's House (Thilda'nın Evi), 2017, underlines struggle of Istanbul Romani People who have been swept away from nearby Kadikoy. Ref. {{ISBN|978-605-4160-88-4}}.

== External links ==

{{Commons category|Romani people}}

'''European countries Roma links'''
* {{Citation |url = http://www.sintiundroma.de/en/sinti-roma.html |title = History the Roma and Sinti in Germany }}.
* {{Citation |place = [[Austria|AT]] |chapter-url = http://romafacts.uni-graz.at/index.php/history/general-introduction/general-introduction |title = History of the Roma in Austria |chapter = General introduction |publisher = Uni Graz }}.
* {{cite web |url = http://www.rommuz.cz/en/history-and-language/ |archive-url = https://archive.today/20131028133534/http://www.rommuz.cz/en/history-and-language/ |url-status=dead |archive-date = 28 October 2013 |title = History of the Roma in Czech Republic |publisher = Rommuz |place = CZ }}.
* {{Citation |url = http://www.romasinti.eu/#/ZoniWeisz/Deportation |title = Deportation |publisher = Romas Inti |place = [[European Union|EU]] }}. History of some Roma Europeans
* {{Citation |title = Gypsies in France, 1566–2011 |url = http://www.fyifrance.com/gypsybib.htm |publisher = FYI France }}
; The concentration, labor, ghetto camps that the Roma were persecuted in during World War II
* {{Citation |url = http://en.auschwitz.org/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11&Itemid=3 |title = Auschwitz |access-date = 28 October 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120506023540/http://en.auschwitz.org/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11&Itemid=3 |archive-date = 6 May 2012 |url-status = dead }}.
* {{Citation |contribution-url = http://www.holocaust.cz/en/history/camps/hodonin |title = History: Camps |contribution = Hodonin |publisher = Holocaus |place = CZ }}.
* {{Citation |url = http://www.lety-memorial.cz/history_en.aspx |title = History |publisher = Lety memorial |place = CZ |access-date = 28 October 2013 |archive-date = 26 March 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170326075119/http://www.lety-memorial.cz/history_en.aspx |url-status = dead }}.
* {{cite web |url = http://www.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade3?SAME_LEVEL=1&LEVEL=5&NAV=X&DETAIL=&PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2005-0151+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN |archive-url = https://archive.today/20071226015809/http://www.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade3?SAME_LEVEL=1&LEVEL=5&NAV=X&DETAIL=&PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2005-0151+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN |url-status=dead |archive-date = 26 December 2007 |publisher = European Parliament |type = resolution |title = The situation of the Roma in the European Union |date = 28 April 2005 }}.
* {{cite web |url = https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=962605&Site=COE |title = Final report on the human rights situation of the Roma, Sinti and travellers in Europe |publisher = The European Commissioner for [[Human rights|Human Rights]] ([[Council of Europe]]) |date = 15 February 2006 }}.
* Shot in remote areas of the Thar desert in Northwest India, {{YouTube|Zirn1H4vE0Y|Jaisalmer Ayo: Gateway of the Gypsies}} captures the lives of vanishing nomadic communities who are believed to share common ancestors with the Roma people{{snd}} released 2004

'''Non-governmental organisations'''
* {{citation |url = http://www.errc.org/ |title = European Roma Rights Centre }}.
* {{citation |url = http://www.gypsyloresociety.org/ |title = The Gypsy Lore Society }}. Beginning in [https://historydaily.org/60-vintage-photos-from-forgotten-moments-in-history/24 1888], the [[Gypsy Lore Society]] started to publish a journal that was meant to dispel rumors about their lifestyle.

'''Museums and libraries'''
* {{citation |title = Museum of Romani Culture |place = [[Brno]], [[Czech Republic|CZ]] |language = cs |url = http://www.rommuz.cz/ }}.
* {{citation |url = http://www.studiiromani.org/ |title = Studii romani |type = specialized library with archive |place = [[Sofia]], [[Bulgaria|BG]] |access-date = 21 August 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060821022409/http://www.studiiromani.org/ |archive-date = 21 August 2006 |url-status=dead |df = dmy-all }}.
* {{citation |url = http://www.sintiundroma.de/content/index.php?sID=2&navID=0&tID=0&aID=0 |title = Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma |place = [[Heidelberg]], [[Germany|DE]] }}.
* {{citation |url = http://www.muzeum.tarnow.pl/ |title = Ethnographic Museum |place = [[Tarnów]], [[Poland|PL]] |language = pl }}.
* {{cite web |url = http://www.balkanproject.org/roma/index.shtml |title = Who we Were, Who we Are: Kosovo Roma Oral History Collection |date = March 2004 }} The most comprehensive collection of information on [[Kosovo]]'s Roma in existence.

{{Romani topics}}
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[[Category:Romani people| ]]
[[Category:Romani| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Europe]]
[[Category:Indo-Aryan peoples]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in South Asia]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in North Africa]]
[[Category:Stateless nationalism]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in South America]]

Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

Romani people