The Romani, also spelled Romany or Rromani ( or ), colloquially known as the Roma (: Rom), are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who traditionally led a nomadic, itinerant lifestyle. Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Romani originated in northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent.Fraser A.M. The Gypsies. 2nd ed. Blackwell; Oxford, UK: Cambridge, MA, USA: 1995. The Peoples of Europe.Martínez-Cruz B., Mendizabal I. Origins, admixture and founder lineages in European Roma. Eur. J. Hum. Genet. 2016;24:937–943. doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2015.201.Mendizabal I., Lao O., Marigorta U.M., Wollstein A., Gusmão L., Ferak V., Ioana M., Jordanova A., Kaneva R., Kouvatsi A., et al. Reconstructing the Population History of European Romani from Genome-Wide Data. Curr. Biol. 2012;22:2342–2349. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.039.Liégeois J.-P., Acton T.A. Roma, Gypsies, Travellers. Council of Europe; Strasbourg, France: Sales Agent, Manhattan Pub. Co.; Croton-on-Hudson, NY, USA: 1994. Collection Education. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed by historians to have occurred around 1000 CE. Their original name, derived from the Sanskrit (), may refer to the Doma, a Dalit caste traditionally associated with musicians and dancers. The Romani population moved west into the Ghaznavid Empire and later into the Byzantine Empire. The Romani arrived in Europe around the 13th to 14th century, via the Balkans. Although they are dispersed, their most concentrated populations are in Europe, especially central, eastern, and southern Europe, as well as western Asia (mainly Turkey and Iran).
In the English language, the Romani are widely known by the exonym Gypsies (or Gipsies), which is considered a pejorative by some Romani due to its connotations of illegality and irregularity, as well as its historical use as a racial slur. In the United Kingdom, the term Gypsies (or Romany Gypsies) is preferred by many of the Kale and Romanichal, and is used to refer to them in official documentation. The attendees of the first World Romani Congress in 1971 unanimously voted to reject the use of all exonyms for the Romani, including Gypsy. The exonym Tsigani and its variants are commonly used in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in the Balkans. However, this term can also be considered a pejorative.
Since the 19th century, some Romani have migrated to the Americas. There are an estimated 1 million Romani in the United States and 800 thousand in Brazil, most of whose ancestors emigrated in the 19th century from Eastern Europe. Brazil also includes a notable Romani community descended from deportees from the Portuguese Empire during the Portuguese Inquisition. Since the late 19th century, Romani have migrated to other countries in South America and Canada. Though often confused with Irish Travellers and the Yenish people in Western Europe, the Romani are culturally different.
The Romani language is an Indo-Aryan language with strong Persian, Armenian, Greek, and South Slavic influence. Balkan Romani also shows an extensive Turkish influence. It is divided into several dialects, which together are estimated to have more than 2 million speakers. Because the language has traditionally been oral, many Romani are native speakers of the dominant language in their country of residence, or else of mixed languages combining the dominant language with a dialect of Romani in varieties sometimes called para-Romani.
Names
Other designations
In English, the exonym Gypsy (or Gipsy) is the most commonly used term for the group."Now sometimes considered derogatory or offensive, the term Gypsy has been steadily replaced in official contexts by Romani or (in plural) Roma. Nevertheless, Gypsy remains the most widely used term for this group among English-speakers." "Gypsy, N. & Adj." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, December 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1201363216. It originates from the Middle English , short for . The Castilian term and the French have similar etymologies. They are ultimately derived from the Greek (), meaning 'Egyptian', via Latin. This designation owes its existence to the belief, common in the Middle Ages, that the Roma, or some related group (such as the Indian Dom people), were itinerant Egyptians.
These exonyms are sometimes written with a capital letter, to show that they designate an ethnic group. While some Roma use the term, some Roma consider it derogatory because of its negative and stereotypical associations. The Council of Europe considers that "Gypsy" or equivalent terms, as well as administrative terms such as "Gens du Voyage", are not in line with European recommendations. In Britain, many Roma proudly identify as "Gypsies", and, as part of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller grouping, this is the name used to describe all para-Romani groups in official contexts. 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 using this word.
Another designation of the Roma is Cingane (alternatively Çingene, Tsinganoi, Zigar, Zigeuner, Tschingaren), likely deriving from the Persian word (), itself derived from the Turkic word , meaning poor person. It is also possible that the origin of this word is Athinganoi, the name of a Christian sect with whom the Roma (or some related group) could have become associated in the past.
Demographics
Estimates
No official/reliable counts of Roma populations worldwide were available as of 2005. Many Roma refuse to register their ethnic identity in official censuses for reasons such as fear of discrimination.
The European Romani population was estimated to be 10 million in Europe (as of 2019). Some Romani organizations gave earlier estimates as high as 14 million (2007)., Council of Europe, compilation of population estimates. Archived from the original, 6 October 2009. Significant Romani populations inhabit the Balkans and spread across Europe. In the European Union, an estimated 6 million Roma live (2019).
Outside Europe, several million more Roma may live, particularly in the Americas. Today, Turkey has the largest Romani population.
Subgroups
Romani people may belong to distinct subgroups based in part on territorial, cultural and dialectal differences, as well as self-designation.
Romani subgroups may have more than one ethnonym. They may use more than one endonym and be commonly known by an exonym or by the endonym of another subgroup. The only name approaching an all-encompassing self-description is Rom. Even when subgroups do not use the name, they all acknowledge a common origin and a dichotomy between themselves and Gadjo (non-Roma). For instance, while the main group of Roma in German-speaking countries refer to themselves as Sinti, their name for their language is Romanes.
Subgroups have been described, in part, as a result of the castes and subcastes in India, which the founding population of Rom almost certainly experienced in their South Asian urheimat.
Many subgroups use names 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: "black", "of a dark color"). Likewise, the name of the Dom or Domba people of North India, with whom the Roma have genetic,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) cultural, and linguistic links, has come to imply "dark-skinned" in some Indian languages.Isabel Fonseca, Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and their Journey, Random House, p. 100. Hence, names such as kale and calé may have originated as an exonym or euphemism for Roma.
While not subgroups, Romani people often use the term Xoraxane to refer to Turkified or Muslim Roma and Dasikane to refer to Christian Roma.
Other endonyms for Roma include: Arlije (also Erlides, Yerli, meaning "local", from the Turkish word Yerli) in the Balkans and Turkey to describe sedentary Muslim Roma Bashaldé – Hungarian-Slovak Roma diaspora in the US from the late 19th century Bergitka Roma (also Carpathian Roma), Poland, mainly Goral lands Çerge also Čergarja (nomad), Nomadic Lifestyle Muslim Roma in the Balkans and Turkey Calé, the endonym used by both the Spanish Roma () and Portuguese Roma (ciganos). Caló is the language spoken by the Calé Gurbeti Muslim Roma in Northern Cyprus, Turkey and Balkans Kaale or Kàlo in Finland and Sweden Kā̊lē – the primary endonym used by the Romani subgroup in Wales, although Kalé is the most prominent orthography in academia (Romanichal also live in Wales) Lalleri, from Austria, Germany, and the western Czech Republic (including the former Sudetenland) Lovari, chiefly in Central Europe, formerly known as horse traders, whose name derives from the Hungarian word for horse Polska Roma, largest Romani subgroup in Poland Rom in Italy Roma in Romania, commonly known by ethnic Romanians as țigani, have a number of subgroups defined by occupation: Argintari "silversmiths" Aurari "goldsmiths" 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", and Ludar (sing.), Ludari (pl.), and Rudari may mean "woodworkers" or "miners"., quoted in (see lemma rudár (sing.), rudári (pl.) followed by both definitions: "gold-miner" and "wood crafter"). (There is a semantic overlap due to the homophony or merging of lemmas with different meanings from at least two languages: the Serbian rudar "miner", and ruda "stick", "staff", "rod", "bar", "pole" (in Hungarian, rúd, and in Romanian, rudă) Churari (from Romanian ciurari "sieve-makers") Colari "carpet dealers" Florari "flower-sellers" Kalderash, from Romanian căldărar, literally "bucket-maker", meaning "kettle-maker", "tinsmith", "tinker"; also in Poland, Moldova and Ukraine Lăutari "musicians" (lăută = lute) Ungaritza (blacksmiths, bladesmiths) Ursari ""dancing bears" trainers" (from Romanian urs "bear") Zlătari "goldsmiths working with extracting and processing gold" (Not to be confused with Rudari miners)" Romové (or Roma), Czech Republic Rómovia (or Roma), Slovakia Romanichal, in the United Kingdom
Romanisæl, in Norway and Sweden Romanlar, Turkish-speaking Muslim Roma in Turkey, also called Çingene or Şopar, with all subgroups, who are named after their professions, like: Ayıcı (bear-leader) Cambaz (acrobatics and horse trading) Çiçekçi (flower-seller) Demirci (blacksmith) Kalaycı (tinsmith) Kuyumcu (goldsmith) Müzisyen (musician) Sepetçi (basket-maker) Subaşı (soldier or butler) Sünnetçi (circumciser) Şarkıcı (singer) etc., but the majority of Turkish Roma work as day laborers too Roms or Manouche (from manush, "people" in Romani) in France Romungro or Carpathian Roma from eastern Hungary and neighbouring parts of the Carpathians Sepečides, meaning "basket-maker"; Muslim Roma in West Thrace, Greece Sinti or Zinti, predominantly in Germany, and northern Italy Zargari, Muslim Roma in Iran, who once came from Rumelia/Southern Bulgaria from the Maritsa Valley in Ottoman times and settled in Persia
Diaspora
Roma form distinct populations throughout Europe.
In the 19th century, Roma began migrating from Europe to the Americas. However, Romani slaves were first shipped to the Americas with Columbus in 1498.Peter Boyd-Bowman (ed.), Indice geobiográfico de cuarenta mil pobladores españoles de América en el siglo XVI, vol. 1: 1493–1519 (Bogota: Instituto Caro y Cuervo, 1964), 171. Spain sent Romani slaves to its Louisiana colony between 1762 and 1800.The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery, Volume 1; Volume 7