| Total population | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ca. 2,158,400 [2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regions with significant populations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Middle east, North Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Languages | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Domari, Persian, Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish, Egyptian Arabic, Levantine Arabic, Iraqi Arabic, Greek. |
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| Related ethnic groups | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Romani people, Lom people, Domba, other Indo-Aryans |
The Dom (also called "Domi"; Arabic: دومي / ALA-LC: Dūmī; دومري / Dūmrī) of the Middle East are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group. Some authors relate them to the Domba people of India.
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They have an oral tradition and express their culture and history through music, poetry and dance. Initially it was considered that they are a branch of the Romani people, but recent studies of the Domari language suggest that they departed earlier from the Indian subcontinent,[1] probably around the 6th century.[2] The world wide used name for Gypsies to identify themselves was term “Rrom”,[3] which in Romani language means a man. The words Rom, Dom and Lom was used to describe proto-Romani people that split in 6th century. Several tribes moved forward into Western Europe and were called Rom, while the ones that remained in Persia and Turkey were called Dom.[4]
Among the various Domari subgroups, the Ghawazi are the most famous for their dancing and music. The Ghawazi dancers have been associated with the development of the Egyptian raqs sharqi style which ultimately gave rise to Western schools of belly dance.
The majority of the estimated population of 2.2 million live in Turkey, Egypt and Iran with significant numbers in Iraq. Smaller populations are found in Libya and other countries of the Middle East.
The actual population is unknown as some Dom are excluded from national censuses and others label themselves in national terms rather than as Dom. Nowadays, they speak the dominant languages of their larger societies, but Domari, their national language, continues to be spoken by more insular communities. Iranians and Afghans called them gurbati or kouli, both of which mean "foreigners". The Iranian singer, Googoosh made a song "Koeli", where she mentions the Dom people, the gypsies of Iran. Another group of Dom origin found in Iran are the Lori, who are found in the Baloch regions of south east Iran. Doms also exist in Pakistan controlled Gilgit-Baltistan in small numbers as well as Chitral, Swat, Kohistan and Ladakh regions of Pakistan and India. In Gilgit, Dom are coupled with the Kameen and Mons, who are also musicians, blacksmith and do similar menial jobs.
There's a large concentration of Dom/Gypsies in Jordan, researchers claim that "They accommodate Arab racism by hiding their ethnic identity." As they wouldn't be accepted into Arabian society once their true identity is revealed. [5]
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