Romani People

Romani people

Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted by the 1971 World Romani Congress
Total population
2–20 million
Regions with significant populations
United States	1,000,000 estimated with Romani heritage (5,400 per 2000 census)
Brazil	800,000
Turkey	700,000–5,000,000 /~2,750,000/
Spain	650,000–1,500,000
Romania	621,573–2,500,000
France	350,000–500,000
Bulgaria	325,343–800,000
Hungary	315,583–990,000
Greece	300,000–350,000
United Kingdom	90,000–300,000 /~225,000/
Russia	182,766–1,200,000
Serbia	147,604–500,000 /~250,000/
Italy	120,000–180,000
Germany	120,000–140,000
Slovakia	105,738–600,000
Macedonia	53,879
Sweden	50,000–100,000
Ukraine	47,587–400,000
Czech Republic	40,370 (Romani speakers)–300,000
Argentina	~300, 000
Portugal	40,000–70,000
Kosovo	40,000
Netherlands	32,000–48,000
Poland	15,000–60,000
Moldova	12,778–200,000
Croatia	16,975–40,000
Bosnia and Herzegovina	8,864–60,000
Albania	8,301–150,000
Canada	5,255–80,000
Finland	11,000–50,000
Australia	5,000–25,000
Mexico	15,850
Colombia	~8,000
Slovenia	2,300
Lithuania	<3,000
Languages
Romani language, Para-Romani varieties, languages of native regions
Religion
Of the religious predominantly Christianity Islam Shaktism branch of Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Dom, Lom, Domba; other Indo-Aryans

The Romani (also spelled Romany; /ˈroʊməni/, /ˈrɒ-/), or Roma, are a traditionally nomadic ethnic group, living mostly in Europe and the Americas and originating from the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, presumably from where the states Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab exist today. The Romani are widely known among English-speaking people by the exonym "Gypsies" (or "Gipsies"), which some people consider pejorative due to its connotations of illegality and irregularity.

Romani are dispersed, with their concentrated populations in Europe – especially Central, Eastern and Southern Europe including Turkey, Spain and Southern France. They originated in Northern India and arrived in Mid-West Asia, then Europe, around 1,000 years ago, either separating from the Dom people or, at least, having a similar history; the ancestors of both the Romani and the Dom left North India sometime between the sixth and eleventh century.