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 Rajasthan. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed by historians to have occurred around 1000 CE. Their original name is from the Sanskrit word डोम, doma and means a member of the Dom caste of travelling musicians and dancers. The Roma population moved west into the Persian 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 located in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Spain, and Turkey.
According to the United Nations, Ukraine has a population of 36,744,636 as of 2023. In July 2023, Reuters reported that due to the refugee outpouring into Western Europe, the population of Kyiv-controlled areas may have decreased to as low as 28 million. This is a steep decline from 2020, when it had a population of almost 42 million people. This is in large part due to the ongoing Ukrainian refugee crisis and loss of territory caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The most recent census of a post-Soviet Ukraine occurred over 20 years ago, in 2001. Thus, much of the information presented here could be inaccurate and/or outdated.
Gurbeti are a sub-group of the Romani people living in Cyprus and North Cyprus, Turkey, Crimea, Albania, Serbia and the former Yugoslavia whose members are Eastern Orthodox and predominantly Muslim Roma. The Gurbeti make up approximately two thirds of the population of Roma in Macva, many of whom work in agriculture. In Kosovo, other Romani groups viewed the Gurbeti negatively.
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.
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 Crimean Roma are a sub-ethnic group of the Muslim Roma heavily assimilated among Crimean Tatars to the point that they are often considered to be the fourth subgroup of Crimean Tatars. Currently, they live in many countries of the former Soviet Union, including Russia. They speak the Crimean Tatar language and their own Crimean Romani dialect. Crimean Roma traditionally practice Islam.
As of January 2021, the estimated total population of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol was at 2,416,856. This is up from the 2001 Ukrainian Census figure, which was 2,376,000, and the local census conducted by Russia in December 2014, which found 2,248,400 people.
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 Romani in Ireland give the population at 1,700 in 2004, rising to between 2,500 and 3,000 in 2005. The majority derived from Romani populations originating in Ukraine and Hungary.
The Ruska Roma, also known as Russian Gypsies or Xaladitka Roma, are the largest subgroup of Romani people in Russia and Belarus. Initially known as Ruska Roma, they live mostly in Russia and Belarus, but also in Eastern and Central Ukraine, the United States, France, and Canada. They formed in the Northwestern part of the Russian Empire from Polska Roma who immigrated to the country in the 18th century.
Muslim Romani people are people who are ethnically Roma and profess Islam. There are many different Roma groups and subgroups that predominantly practice Islam, as well as individual Romani people from other subethnic groups who have accepted Islam. Xoraxane Roma in Balkan Romani language, are non-Vlax Romani people, who adopted Sunni Islam of the Hanafi madhhab at the time of the Ottoman Empire. Some of them are Derviş of Sufism belief, and the biggest Tariqa of Jerrahi is located at the largest Arlije and Gurbeti Muslim Roma settlement in Europe in Šuto Orizari, locally called Shutka in North Macedonia have their own Romani Imam and the Muslim Roma in Šuto Orizari use the Quran in Balkan Romani language. Many Romanlar in Turkey, are members of the Hindiler Tekkesi a Qadiriyya-Tariqa, founded in 1738 by the Indian Muslim Sheykh Seyfullah Efendi El Hindi in Selamsız. Roma Muslims in Turkey and the Balkans are mostly cultural Muslims or nominal Muslims.
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 and St. Louis.
The Romani are an ethnic group that has lived in Austria 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 Germany are estimated to around 170,000-300,000, constituting around 0.2-0.4% of the population. One-third of Germany Romani belong to the Sinti group. Most speak German or Sinte Romani.
A variety of social, economical, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic factors contributed to the sparking of unrest in eastern and southern Ukraine in 2014, and the subsequent eruption of the Russo-Ukrainian War, in the aftermath of the early 2014 Revolution of Dignity.
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.
Hedina Tahirović-Sijerčić is a Bosnian Gurbeti Romani journalist, broadcaster, writer, translator, linguistic researcher and teacher, currently residing in Canada. She was a popular television and radio broadcaster in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and later went on to become a writer, publishing children's books, poetry, and memoirs. She is a scholar of the Gurbeti dialect of the Romani language and has published several dictionaries and archives of folk tales, and is active in efforts to preserve Romani culture. Her writing has won several awards in Poland, Croatia, and Sarajevo.
