The Romani people are divided into a number of distinct populations, the largest being the Roma and the Iberian Calé or Caló, located originally, and currently still mostly, in Anatolia, Iberia, Central and Eastern Europe.
There is no official or reliable count of the Romani populations worldwide.[2] Many Romanies refuse to register their ethnic identity in official censuses for fear of discrimination[3]
There are an estimated 4 to 9 million Romani people in Europe and Asia Minor (as of 2000s).[4] although some estimates by Romani organizations give numbers as high as 14 million.[5] Significant Romani populations are found in the Balkan peninsula, in some Central European states, in Spain, France, Russia, and Ukraine. Several more million Romanies may live out of Europe, particularly in the Middle East and in the Americas.
The Romani people recognize divisions among themselves based in part on territorial, cultural and dialectal differences and self-designation. The main branches are:[6][7][8][9]
Among Romanies there are further internal differentiations, like Bashaldé; Churari; Luri; Ungaritza; Lovari (Lovara) from Hungary; Machvaya (Machavaya, Machwaya, or Macwaia) from Serbia; Romungro from Hungary and neighbouring carpathian countries; Erlides (also Yerlii or Arli); Xoraxai (Horahane) from Greece/Turkey; Boyash (Lingurari, Ludar, Ludari, Rudari, or Zlătari) from Romanian/Moldovan miners; Ursari from Romanian/Moldovan bear-trainers; Argintari from silversmiths; Aurari from goldsmiths; Florari from florists; and Lăutari from singers.
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This is a table of Romani people by country. The list does not include the Dom people often subsumed under "gypsies".
The official number of Romani people is disputed in many countries, because many Romani individuals often refuse to register their ethnic identity for fear of discrimination,[10] determining parallel unofficial censuses, surveys and estimations in order to reveal the true numbers.
| Country | Region | Population | Subgroups |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | Asia | 13,000[11] | Zargari |
| Albania | Southern Europe, Balkans | 1,300 (official) to 80,000–150,000 (estimated)[12][13] |
|
| Argentina | Overseas | 300,000 | Kalderash, Boyash, Kale |
| Australia | Overseas | 5,000+[14] | Romanichal, Boyash |
| Austria | Central Europe | 20,000–50,000[15][16] | Burgenland-Roma, Sinti, Lovari, Arlije from Macedonia, Kalderash from Serbia, Gurbeti from Serbia and Macedonia |
| Azerbaijan | Asia | 2,000 [17] | Garachi |
| Belarus | Eastern Europe | 10,000 (census data) or 50,000–60,000 (estimated data)[18][19] |
|
| Belgium | Western Europe | 10,000–15,000[15] | Romungro |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Southern Europe, Balkans | 60,000 or 80,000 and 400,000 Vlax Roma[20][21][22] |
|
| Brazil | Overseas | 678,000–1,000,000 | Kale, Kalderash, Machvaya, Xoraxane, Boyash |
| Bulgaria | Southern/Eastern Europe, Balkans | 370,908 (official census) to 800,000[23] |
Yerli, Gurbeti, Kalderash, Boyash, Ursari |
| Canada | Overseas | 80,000[24] | Kalderash, Romanichal |
| Chile | Overseas | 15,000–20,000 | Xoraxane |
| Colombia | Overseas | 79,000[25] | Kalderash |
| Croatia | Central / Southern Europe | 9,463 (census results)[26] Estimated: 30,000-40,000[27] 18,000-300,000[28] and 131,000 Sinte (by Ethnologue)[29] |
Lovari, Boyash |
| Czech Republic | Central Europe | 12,000 or 220,000[30] to 360,000[31][32] |
Romungro; Bohemian Roma |
| Denmark | Northern Europe | 1,500–2,000[15] | |
| Ecuador | Overseas | 2,000 | Kalderash |
| Finland | Northern Europe | 10,000+ [33][34] | Kàlo |
| France | Western Europe | 500,000 (official estimation) 1,200,000–1,300,000 (unofficial estimation)[35][36] |
Manush, Kalderash, Lovari, Sinti |
| Germany | Central / Western Europe | 210,000[37] | mostly Sinti, but also Balkan Roma, Vlax Roma |
| Greece | Southern Europe, Balkans | 200,000 or 300,000–500,000 [38][39] |
Arlije |
| Hungary | Central/Eastern Europe | 205,984 (census);[40] 394,000-1,000,000 (estimated)[41][42][43] |
Romungro, Boyash, Lovari |
| Iraq | Asia | ? | Qawliya, Kalderash, Xoraxane |
| Ireland | Northern Europe | 3,000[44] | |
| Italy | Southern Europe | 90,000–180,000[15] + 152,000 illegal Roma in 700 camps[45] | Sinti, Abruzzesi Roma, Ursari, Kalderash, Xoraxane |
| Kazakhstan | Asia | 7,000 | Sinti[46] |
| Latvia | Eastern/Northern Europe | 8,205 (census 2005) or 13,000–15,000[47] | Lofitka Roma (in same Baltic Romani dialect family as Polska Roma and Ruska Roma) |
| Lebanon | Asia | 12,000 | Dom people |
| Lithuania | Eastern/Northern Europe | 3,000–4,000[15] | |
| Luxembourg | Western Europe | 100–150[15] | |
| Macedonia | Southern Europe, Balkans | 53,879 Roma and 3,843 Balkan Egyptians to 260,000[48] |
Yerli, Gurbeti, Cergari, Egyptians |
| Mexico | Overseas | unknown | Kale, Boyash, Machwaya, Lovari, Kalderash[49] |
| Moldova | Eastern Europe | 12,900 (census) to 20,000–25,000[15] or 150,000[50][51] |
Rusurja, Ursari, Kalderash |
| Montenegro | Southern Europe, Balkans | 2,601 to 20,000,[27] additionally 8,000 registered Roma refugees from Kosovo, the entire number of IDP Kosovarian Roma in Montenegro is twice as large.[27] |
|
| Netherlands | Western Europe | 35,000–40,000[15] | |
| Norway | Northern Europe | 6,500 or more[52] | Norwegian and Swedish Travellers (Romanoar, Tavringer), Vlax |
| Peru | Overseas | 8,400[53] | Kalderash, Calo |
| Poland | Central/Eastern Europe | 15,000–60,000[54][55] | Polska Roma |
| Portugal | Southern / Western Europe | 40,000[15][56][57] | |
| Romania | Southern/Central/Eastern Europe | 535,140 (census) 700,000 (estimated)[58][59][60] |
Kalderash, Ursari, Lovari, Vlax, Romungro |
| Russia | Eastern Europe | 182,766 (census 2002) or 450,000–1,000,000 (estimated)[61][62] |
Ruska Roma (descended from Polska Roma, from Poland), Kalderash (from Moldova), Servy (from Ukraine and Balkans), Ursari (from Bulgaria) Lovare, Vlax Roma (from Walachia). |
| Serbia | Southern Europe, Balkans | 108,193 or 400,000–800,000 [27][63] |
Ursari, Machvaya, Egyptians |
| Slovakia | Central/Eastern Europe | 92,500 or 550,000[64][65][66][67][68] | Romungro |
| Slovenia | Central / Southern Europe, Balkans | 3,246–10,000[15][69] | |
| South Africa | Overseas | 7,900 | Romanichal |
| Spain | Southern / Western Europe | 600,000–650,000 (official estimation)[70] 600,000–800,000 [71] or 1,500,000[72] |
Gitanos, Kalderash, Boyash |
| Sweden | Northern Europe | 15,000–20,000[15] or 28,092[73] | Swedish Travellers (Tavringer), Vlax (Kalderash, Lovara), Kàlo (Finnish Roma) |
| Switzerland | Central / Western Europe | 30,000–35,000[15] | |
| Thailand | Asia | 10,000-50,000 | |
| Turkey | Asia | 35,000[74] to 5,000,000[75] | Bosha, Yerli |
| Ukraine | Eastern Europe | 47,587 (census 2001) or 400,000 (estimated)[76] |
Kelderare (Hungarian name for Kotlyary; Zakarpattia), Kotlyary (other Ukrainian regions), Ruska Roma (northern Ukraine), Servy (Serby, southern and central Ukraine, from Serbia), Lovare (central Ukraine), Kelmysh, Crymy (in Crimea), Servica Roma (in Zakarpattia from Slovakia), Ungriko Roma (in Zakarpattia from Hungary)[77][78] |
| United Kingdom | Northern / Western Europe | 44,000–94,000+[79] | Romanichal, Welsh Kale |
| USA | Overseas | 1,000,000 (Romani organizations' estimations) | |
| Uruguay | Overseas | 2,000–5,000 |
A significant proportion of the world's Romanies live in Central and Eastern Europe, often in squatter communities with very high unemployment, while only some are fully integrated in the society. However, in some cases—notably the Kalderash clan in Romania, who work as traditional coppersmiths—they have prospered. Some Romani families choose to immigrate to Western Europe now that many of the former Communist countries like the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria have entered the European Union and free travel is permitted. During the 1970s and 1980s many Romanies from former Yugoslavia migrated to Western European countries, especially to Austria, Germany and Sweden.
There is a sizable minority of Romani people in Romania, known as Ţigani in Romanian and, recently, as Rromi, of 535,140 people or 2.5% of the total population (2001 census). The Romanies are the most socially-disadvantaged minority group in Romania. There exist a variety of governmental and non-governmental programs for integration and social advancement, including the National Agency for the Roma and Romania's participation in the Decade of Roma Inclusion. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain participate in these programs. As an officially-recognized ethnic minority, the Romani people also have guaranteed representation in Parliament and official recognition of their language in localities where they make up more than 20% of the population.
The number of Romani people in Hungary is disputed. In the 2001 census 190,000 people called themselves Roma.
In Russian the Romani people are referred to as tzigane. The largest ethnic group of Romani people in Russia are the Ruska Roma. They are also the largest group in Belarus. They are adherents of the Russian Orthodox faith.
They came to Russia in the 18th century from Poland, and their language includes Polish, German, and Russian words.
The Ruska Roma were nomadic horse traders and singers. They traveled during the summer and stayed in cottages of Russian peasants during the winter. They paid for their lodging with money, or with the work of their horses.
In 1812, when Napoleon I invaded Russia, the Romani diasporas of Moscow and Saint Petersburg gave large sums of money and good horses for the Russian army. Many young Romani men took part in the war as uhlans.
At the end of the 19th century, Rusko Rom Nikolai Shishkin created a Romani theatre troupe. One of its plays was in the Romani language.
During World War II some Ruska Roma entered the army, by call-up and as volunteers. They took part in the war as soldiers, officers, infantrymen, tankmen, artillerymen, aviators, drivers, paramedical workers, and doctors. Some teenagers, old men and adult men were also partisans. Romani actors, singers, musicians, dancers (mostly women) performed for soldiers in the front line and in hospitals. A huge number of Roma, including many of the Ruska Roma, died or were murdered in territories occupied by the enemy, in battles, and in the blockade of Leningrad.
After World War II, music of the Ruska Roma became very popular. Romen Theatre, Romani singers and ensembles prospered. All Romanies living in the USSR began to perceive Ruska Roma culture as the basic Romani culture.
Romani people constitute the third largest ethnic group (after Bulgarians and Turks) in Bulgaria, they are referred to as "цигани" (tzigani) or "роми" (romi). According to the 2001 census, there were 370,908 Roma in Bulgaria, equivalent to 4.7% of the country's total population.[80] However, various estimates put that number anywhere up to 800,000.
Romanies in Spain are generally known as Gitanos and tend to speak Caló which is basically Andalusian Spanish with a large number of Romani loanwords.[81] Estimates of the Spanish Gitano population range between 600,000 and 1,500,000 with the Spanish government estimating between 650,000 and 700,000.[82] Semi-nomadic Quinqui consider themselves apart from the Gitanos.
The Romanies in Portugal are known as Ciganos, and their presence goes back to the second half of the 15th century. Early on, due to their socio-cultural difference and nomadic style of live, the Ciganos were the object of fierce discrimination and persecution.[83]
The number of Ciganos in Portugal is difficult to estimate, since there are no official statistics about race or ethnic categories. According to data from Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance[84] there are about 40,000 to 50,000 spread all over the country.[85] According to the Portuguese branch of Amnesty International, there are about 30,000 to 50,000.[86]
Romanies are generally known in spoken French as "Manouches" or "Tsiganes". "Romanichels" or "Gitans" are considered pejorative and "Bohémiens" is outdated. "Gens du Voyage" (Travellers) is a widely accepted term and does not bear any social stigma. The French National Gendarmerie tends to refer to "MENS" ("Minorités Ethniques Non-Sédentarisées"), a neutral administrative term meaning Travelling Ethnic Minorities. By law, French municipalities have the obligation to allocate a piece of land to Romani travellers when they arrive.
Approximately 400,000 Roma live in France as part of established communities. Additionally, French Roma rights group FNASAT report that there are at least 12,000 Roma who come from Romania and Bulgaria living in illegal urban camps throughout the country. French authorities often close down these encampments. In 2009, more than 10,000 Roma were sent back to Romania and Bulgaria.[87]
Romanies in Italy are generally known as Zingari. Many Romanies are Romanian immigrants and therefore are also called Romanians. The Romanian immigrants are also sometimes erroneously called Slavs despite Romania being a non-Slavic country. It is often mistakenly extended the term "Roma" (in Italian "Rom") for the Romanies people and the correct term "Romanies" (in Italian "Romanì") is little used. Finally they are also called "nomads" even though many are not.
The Kale (or Kaale) Romanies of Finland are known in Finnish as mustalaiset ('blacks', cf. Romani: kalò, 'black') or romanit. Currently, there are approximately 10,000 Romanies living in Finland, mostly in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. In Finland, Romani people usually wear their traditional dress in everyday life.[88]
Romanies in Sweden were formerly known as zigenare for Roma and tattare for Romani Travellers. More recently the romer has been adopted as a collective designation referring to both groups, with resande (Travellers) also referring to the latter only. Currently, there are approximately 50,000 Romanies living in Sweden, many of them being Finnish Kale who immigrated in the 1960s. The latter, particularly women, often wear traditional dress in public.[89]
Romanies in Sweden have periodically suffered at the hands of the state. For example, the state has subjected children to being forcibly taken into foster care, or even forcibly sterilised Romani women. Prejudice against Romanies is widespread, with most stereotypes portraying Romanies as welfare cheats, shoplifters, and con artists. In the 1992, Bert Karlsson, one of the leaders of Ny Demokrati, declared that "Gypsies are responsible for 90% of crime against senior citizens" in Sweden.[90] Previously he had tried to ban the entry of Romanies to his Skara Sommarland theme park, because he considered them responsible for theft. Some shopkeepers, employers and landlords continue to discriminate Romanies.[91]
The situation is, however, improving. There are several Romani organisations that promote Romani rights and culture in Sweden. Since 2000, Romani chib is an officially recognised minority language in Sweden. The Swedish government also has a special standing Delegation for Romani Issues. There is now even a Romani folk high school in Gothenburg.[92]
Romanies in England are generally known as Romanichals or Romani Gypsies, while their Welsh equivalent are known as Kale. They have been known in the UK since at least the early 16th century and may number up to 120,000. There is also a sizable population of East European Roma who immigrated into the UK in the late 1990s/early 2000s, and also after EU expansion in 2004.
There are records of Romani people in Scotland in the early 16th century, the first recorded reference to "the Egyptians" would appear to be in 1492, in the reign of James IV, when an entry in the Book of the Lord High Treasurer records a payment "to Peter Ker of four shillings, to go to the king at Hunthall, to get letters subscribed to the 'King of Rowmais'". Two days after, a payment of twenty pounds was made at the king's command to the messenger of the 'King of Rowmais'.[93]
It is difficult to be clear about the numbers of Romanies today in Scotland, according to the Scottish Traveller Education Programme, there are probably about 20,000 Scottish Gypsies/Travellers.[94] Although it is unknown how many of this number are Romanies and it is recognised that Gypsies and Travellers in Scotland are not one homogenous group, but consist of several groups each with different histories and cultures, and could consist of many unrelated ethnic groups.
From this, the term "gypsy" in the United Kingdom has come to mean, in common culture, anyone who travels with no fixed abode (regardless of ethnic group). This use of the term is synonymous with "pikey" , which is seen by many as a derogatory term. In some parts of the UK they are commonly called "tinkers" from their work as tinsmiths.
The route taken by the medieval proto-Romanies cut across Persia and Asia Minor to Europe. There remains a significant number of Romanies in Asia Minor. Other Romani populations in the Middle East are the result of modern migrations from Europe. Also found in the Middle East are the various groups of the Dom people often identified as "gypsies", but likely deriving from a migration out of India several centuries earlier than that of the proto-Romanies.
Although there are no official records confirming the arrival of Roma in Cyprus, it has been estimated by historical calculation that the first immigrants came between 1322 and 1400, when Cyprus was under the rule of the Lusignan (Crusader) kings. These Roma were part of a general movement from Asia Minor to Europe. Those who landed on Cyprus probably came across from the Crusader colonies on the eastern Mediterranean coast (present day Lebanon and Israel).[95]
There is no evidence to suggest that any one cause motivated the Roma to leave mainland Asia, yet there are historical events which would have caused widespread upheaval and prompted a move to the nearby island. In 1347 the contagious Black Death had reached Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium, in 1390 the Turks had defeated the Greek kingdom in Asia and ten years later the Battle of Aleppo marked the advance of the Mongols under Tamerlane.
Only in 1468 is there any written record of Roma in Cyprus. In the Chronicle of Cyprus compiled by Florio Bustron, the Cingani are said to have paid tax to the royal treasury, at that time King James II. Later, in 1549, the French traveler Andre Theret found "les Egyptiens ou Bohemiens" in Cyprus and other Mediterranean islands. He observed their simple way of life, supported by the production of nails by the men and belts by the women, which were sold to the local population.
It is likely that a second immigration took place some time after the Turks dominated the island in 1571 and that some Kalderash came in the 19th century. During the Middle Ages, Cyprus was on a regular shipping route from Bari in Italy to the Holy Land.
Currently, Roma in Cyprus refer to themselves as Kurbet, and their language as Kurbetcha — although most no longer speak it. Specifically Christian or Greek-speaking Roma are known as Mantides.[96]
(For additional names of Roma in Greek-speaking Cyprus, see Roma in Greece)
Romani people in Turkey are known as Çingene (Mostly), Çingen or Çingan, Çingit (West Black Sea region), Cono (South Turkey), Roman (Izmir) [97] and Gipleri (derived from the term "Egyptian"). They have integrated fully to the ethnic make up of the country, and in later years have started to recognize, and cherish their Romani background as well.[98] Blacksmithing and other handicrafts are their main occupations.
Some Eastern European Roma are known to have arrived in Israel in the late 1940s and early 1950s, being from Bulgaria or having intermarried with Jews in the post-WWII displaced persons camps or, in some cases, having pretended to be Jews when Zionist representatives arrived in those camps. The exact numbers of these Romanies living in Israel are unknown, since such individuals tended to assimilate into the Israeli Jewish environment. According to several recent accounts in the Israeli press, some families preserve traditional Romani lullabies and a small number of Romani expressions and curse words, and pass them on to generations born in Israel who, for the most part, are Jews and speak Hebrew. The Romani community in Israel has grown since the 1990s, as some Roma immigrated there from the former Soviet Union.
A community related to the Romanies and living in Israel and the Palestinian territories and in neighboring countries are known as Dom people.
Most Romani populations overseas were founded in the 19th century by emigration from Europe.
The beginning of the 19th century saw the first Romani group, the Romanichal, arrive in North America. The ancestors of the majority of the contemporary local Romani population, Eastern European Roma, started to migrate during the second half of the century. Among these groups were the Romani-speaking peoples like the Kalderash, Machvaya, Lovari and Churari, as well as the linguistically Romanianized groups, like the Boyash (Ludari). Most of them arrived either directly from Romania after their liberation from slavery between 1840–1850, or after a short-period in neighbouring states such as the Russia, Austria-Hungary, or Serbia. The Bashalde arrived from what is now Slovakia at about the same time.[99] This immigration decreased drastically during the Communist era in Eastern Europe, but resumed in the 1990s after the fall of Communism. Romani organizations currently estimate that there are about one million Romanies in the USA and 80,000 in Canada.[100]
Romani groups settled the Brazilian states of Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais in the late 19th century. They came from Serbia (the Machvaya), from Romania (the Kalderash), from Italy (the Lovari), as well as from Greece and Turkey (the Horahane) [101] Initially, the presence of Romanies in Brazil was explained by the Portuguese Inquisition persecuting the Ciganos of Portugal by exiling them overseas. Now there are 600,000 Romanies there, although the exact number cannot be known. Most of them are Kalderash, Macwaia, Rudari, Horahane, and Lovara. The Romani people are present in Argentina in a number of more than 300,000 individuals they live basically of the trading of used cars and jewelry travelling all over the country. There is also a sizeable population of Romani people in Chile. They are widely and easily recognized and they continue to hold on to their traditions and language and many continue to live semi-nomadic lifestyles traveling from city to city and living in small tented communities. A domestically produced television series (a soap opera) called Romane was based around the Romani people, it went into depth showing their lifestyles, ideas and even featured the Chilean born actors speaking in the Romani language with subtitles in Spanish occasionally.
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