Total population | |
---|---|
170,000 [1] -300,000 [1] | |
Languages | |
Sinte Romani, Romani language, Balkan Romani language, Turkish language, German | |
Religion | |
Christianity, Islam |
Romani people in Germany are estimated at around 170,000 [1] - 300,000, [1] constituting around 0.2-0.4% of the German population. One-third of Germany's Romani belong to the Sinti group. [2] Most speak German or Sinte Romani.
The Romani people originate from the Northern India, [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] presumably from the northwestern Indian states Rajasthan [7] [8] and Punjab. [7] Linguistic studies have argued that roots of Romani languages lie in India: the languages have grammatical characteristics of Indian languages and share with them a part of the basic lexicon, for example, body parts or daily routines. [9] More exactly, Romani shares the basic lexicon with Hindi and Punjabi. It shares many phonetic features with Marwari, while its grammar is closest to Bengali. [10]
Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Romani originated in northwestern India and migrated as a group. [4] [5] [11] According to a genetic study in 2012 about the ancestors of present scheduled tribes and scheduled caste populations of northern India, traditionally referred to collectively as the Ḍoma, are the likely ancestral populations of modern European Roma. [12]
In February 2016, during the International Roma Conference, the Indian Minister of External Affairs stated that the people of the Roma community were children of India. 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. [13]
There are different groups of Romani people in Germany. The first record in Hildesheim dates from 1407, and in Silesia, they were already present in 1401. These are the Secanos, who migrated to the Polish-Lithuanian kingdom in several waves from the 15th to the 17th century. They later made up the Polska Roma in Poland, and thus the Baltic Roma and Ruska Roma (Heladytka (Soldaten) Roma) also emerged. There are also Sinti in Germany who have been present in Germany for a very long time. But it cannot be confirmed by the name Sinti how long this Roma Group group has been in Germany, as the name Sinti only appeared in the 18th century.[ citation needed ]
There are different Christian Roma groups like the Lalleri, Kalderash, Čurara, Boyash, Wallachian Roma, Gitanos, and Muslim Roma/Xoraxane like Arlije, Gurbeti, Romanlar in Turkey. Some People of Roma ethnicity came as Gastarbeiter to Germany from countries such as Turkey, former Yugoslavia, Greece, Spain and Italy. Especially Turkish speaking Xoraxane-Roma from Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, declaread themselves as Turks only and are viewed as Turks by Germans. Since the Kosovo War in 1998-1999, Romani people in Kosovo, Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians also came to Germany. [14]
The Romani, also spelled Romany or Rromani and colloquially known as the Roma, are an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin who traditionally lived a nomadic, itinerant lifestyle. Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Romani originated in the Indian subcontinent, in particular the region of present-day state of Rajasthan. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed by historians to have occurred c. 1000 CE. Their name is from the Sanskrit word डोम which means a member of the Dom caste of travelling musicians and dancers. The Roma population moved west into the Ghaznavid Empire and later into the Byzantine Empire. The Roma are thought to have arrived in Europe around the 13th to 14th century. Although they are widely dispersed, their most concentrated populations are believed to be in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.
Roma, traditionally Țigani, constitute one of Romania's largest minorities. According to the 2011 census, their number was 621,573 people or 3.3% of the total population, being the second-largest ethnic minority in Romania after Hungarians. There are different estimates about the size of the total population of people with Romani ancestry in Romania, varying from 4.6 per cent to over 10 percent of the population, because many people of Romani descent do not declare themselves Roma. For example, in 2007 the Council of Europe estimated that approximately 1.85 million Roma lived in Romania, based on an average between the lowest estimate and the highest estimate available at the time. This figure is equivalent to 8.32% of the population.
The Romani in Spain, generally known by the endonym Calé, or the exonym gitanos, belong to the Iberian Romani subgroup known as Calé, with smaller populations in Portugal and in Southern France. Their sense of identity and cohesion stems from their shared value system, expressed among gitanos as las leyes gitanas.
Romani people in Bulgaria constitute Europe's densest Roma minority. The Romani people in Bulgaria may speak Bulgarian, Turkish or Romani, depending on the region.
Romani people are an ethnic minority in the Czech Republic, currently making up 2–3% of the population. Originally migrants from North Western India sometime between the 6th and 11th centuries, they have long had a presence in the region. Since the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the Romani population have experienced considerable hardship, having been a main target of Nazi extermination programs during World War II, and the subject of forced relocation, sterilisation, and other radical social policies during the Communist era. In the successor state, the Czech Republic, challenges remain for the Romani population with respect to education and poverty, and there are frequent tensions with the white majority population over issues including crime and integration.
The presence of Romani people in Ukraine was first documented in the early 15th century. The Romani maintained their social organizations and folkways, shunning non-Romani contacts, education and values, often as a reaction to anti-Romani attitudes and persecution. They adopted the language and faith of the dominant society, being Orthodox in most of Ukraine, Catholic in Western Ukraine and Zakarpattia Oblast, and Muslim in Crimea.
Romani people in Hungary are Hungarian citizens of Romani descent. According to the 2011 census, they comprise 3.18% of the total population, which alone makes them the largest minority in the country, although various estimations have put the number of Romani people as high as 8.8% of the total population. They are sometimes referred as Hungarian Gypsies, but that is sometimes considered to be a racial slur.
The number of Romani people in Ireland is roughly estimated, as the Central Statistics Office collects its data based on nationality and not ethnic origin. For this reason a precise demographic profile of the Romani in Ireland is not available. Some estimates of Roma in Ireland give the population at 1,700 in 2004, rising to between 2,500 and 3,000 in 2005. Irish Roma have been present in Ireland for centuries, originating from historical migrations from Britain and Continental Europe. Although they mixed with Irish Travellers and settled Irish natives, they have preserved their Romani identity across generations. However, the majority of the Roma population in Ireland today derive from recent migrations, primarily from Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Italy.
The Romani people of Greece, or Romá, are called Tsinganoi, Athinganoi (Αθίγγανοι), or the more derogatory term Gyftoi. On 8 April 2019, the Greek government stated that the number of Greek Roma citizens in Greece is around 110,000. Other estimates have placed the number of Romani people resident in Greece as high as 350,000.
The Romani people in Turkey or Turks of Romani background are Turkish citizens and the biggest subgroup of the Turkish Roma. They are Sunni Muslims mostly of Sufi orientation, who speak Turkish as their first language, in their own accent, and have adopted Turkish culture. Many have denied their Romani background over the centuries in order to establish a Turkish identity, to become more accepted by the host population. They identify themselves as Turks of Oghuz ancestry. More specifically, some have claimed to be members of the Yörüks, Amuca, Gajal or Tahtacı.
Romani people in France, generally known in spoken French as gitans, tsiganes or manouches, are an ethnic group that originated in Northern India. The exact number of Romani people in France is unknown; estimates vary from 500,000 to 1,200,000.
According to the last census from 2021, there were 67,179 persons counted as Romani people in Slovakia, or 1.23% of the population. However, the number of Roma is usually underreported, with estimates placing the Roma population at 7–11% of the population. Thus the actual number of Roma may be over half a million.
Romani people in North Macedonia are one of the constitutional peoples of the country.
There have been Romani people in Croatia for more than 600 years and they are concentrated mostly in the northern regions of the country.
Romani Americans are Americans who have full or partial Romani ancestry. It is estimated that there are one million Romani people in the United States. Though the Romani population in the United States has largely assimilated into American society, the largest concentrations are in Southern California, the Pacific Northwest, Southwestern United States, Texas, Louisiana, Florida and the Northeast as well as in cities such as Chicago, Cleveland, and St. Louis.
Romani people in Austria have lived in the country since the Middle Ages. According to the 2001 census, there were 6,273 Romani speakers in Austria, or less than 0.1% of the population. Estimations count between 10,000 and 25,000. A more recent estimation count between 40,000 and 50,000 Romani people or about 0.5%. Most indigenous Romani people in Austria belong to the Burgenland-Roma group in East-Austria. The majority live in the state of Burgenland, in the city of Oberwart and in villages next to the District of Oberwart. The Burgenland-Roma speak the Vlax Romani language.
The Romani people in Canada are citizens of Canada who are of Romani descent. According to the 2021 Canadian census there were 6,545 Canadians who claimed Romani ancestry. They are sometimes referred as "gypsies", but that is considered to be a racial slur.
Romani people in Albania are believed to constitute a large minority in Albania, though in the country's official census in 2011, only 8301 were counted in what was reported to be a deliberate undercounting by Albanian authorities.
According to the 2002 census, there were 3,246 Romani individuals living in Slovenia. They constitute 0.5 percent of the total population. The Slovenia Roma speak Balkan Romani and Italian. The Roma have been living in Slovenia since the 15th century.
Romani people in Belarus are Belarusian citizens of Romani descent. The Roma of Belarus, though relatively small compared to other Eastern European countries, have a history dating back over 500 years. Throughout Belarusian history, the Roma have often faced discrimination for various reasons, particularly under Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the administration of Alexander Lukashenko.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link)Roma Rajastan Penjab.
Zatímco romská lexika je bližší hindštině, marvárštině, pandžábštině atd., v gramatické sféře nacházíme mnoho shod s východoindickým jazykem, s bengálštinou.