The Romani people, also 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 Roma originated in the Indian subcontinent, in particular the region of Rajasthan. Their first wave of westward migration is believed to have occurred sometime between the 5th and 11th centuries. They 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.
Gurbeti are a sub-group of the Romani people living in Cyprus and North Cyprus, Turkey, Crimea, Albania, Kosovo, 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 Mačva, many of whom work in agriculture. In Kosovo, other Romani groups viewed the Gurbeti negatively.
The Romani people are a distinct ethnic and cultural group of peoples living all across the globe, who share a family of languages and sometimes a traditional nomadic mode of life. Though their exact origins were unclear, recent studies show Kashmir in Northwest India is the most probable point of origin. Their language shares a common origin with, and is similar to, modern-day Gujarati and Rajasthani, borrowing loanwords from languages they encountered as they migrated from India. In Europe, even though their culture has been victimized by other cultures, they have still found a way to maintain their heritage and society. Indian elements in Romani culture are limited, with the exception of the language. Romani culture focuses heavily on family. The Roma traditionally live according to relatively strict moral codes. The ethnic culture of the Romani people who live in Central and Eastern Europe developed through a long, complex process of continuous active interaction with the culture of their surrounding European population.
Minorities in Greece are small in size compared to Balkan regional standards, and the country is largely ethnically homogeneous. This is mainly due to the population exchanges between Greece and neighboring Turkey and Bulgaria, which removed most Muslims and those Christian Slavs who did not identify as Greeks from Greek territory. The treaty also provided for the resettlement of ethnic Greeks from those countries, later to be followed by refugees. There is no official information for the size of the ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities because asking the population questions pertaining to the topic have been abolished since 1951.
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.
Anti-Romani sentiment is a form of bigotry which consists of hostility, prejudice, discrimination, racism and xenophobia which is specifically directed at Romani people. Non-Romani itinerant groups in Europe such as the Yenish, Irish and Highland Travellers are frequently given the name "gypsy" and as a result, they are frequently confused with the Romani people. As a result, sentiments which were originally directed at the Romani people are also directed at other traveler groups and they are frequently referred to as "antigypsy" sentiments.
The official language of Greece is Greek, spoken by 99% of the population. In addition, a number of non-official, minority languages and some Greek dialects are spoken as well. The most common foreign languages learned by Greeks are English, German, French and Italian.
The Romani diaspora refers to the presence and dispersion of Romani people across various parts of the world. Their migration out of the Indian subcontinent occurred in waves, with the first estimated to have taken place between the 1st and 2nd century AD. They are believed to have first arrived in Europe in the early 12th century, via the Balkans. They settled in the areas of present-day Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Croatia, Moldova, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Hungary, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia, by order of volume, and Spain. From the Balkans, they migrated throughout Europe and, in the 19th and later centuries, to the Americas. The Roma population in the United States is estimated at more than one million.
The official language of North Macedonia is Macedonian, while Albanian has co-official status. Macedonian is spoken by roughly two-thirds of the population natively, and as a second language by much of the rest of the population. Albanian is the largest minority language. There are a further five national minority languages: Turkish, Romani, Serbian, Bosnian, and Aromanian. The Macedonian Sign Language is the country's official sign language.
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 Turkish Roma, also referred to as Turkish Gypsy, Türk Çingeneler, Turski Tsigani, Turkogifti (τουρκο-γύφτοι), Țigani turci, Török Cigányok, Turci Cigani are self-Turkified and assimilated Muslim Roma (Horahane) who have adopted Turkish culture over the centuries, including adopting the Turkish language and used to speak the Rumelian Romani language. They adopted Turkish culture in order to establish a Turkish identity to become more recognized by the host population and have denied their Romani background to express their Turkishness. During a population census, they declared themselves as Turks instead of Roma. While they have always been allowed to live in Turkish communities as Turks, they face economic discrimination and have conflicting views among Turks while Christian Romani do not consider themselves as part of Romani society. They are cultural Muslims who adopted Sunni Islam of Hanafi madhab and religious male circumcision at the time of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate and Ottoman Empire.
The official languages of the Republic of Cyprus are Greek and Turkish. The everyday spoken language (vernacular) of Greek Cypriots is Cypriot Greek, and that of Turkish Cypriots is Cypriot Turkish. For official purposes, the standard languages are used.
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 Romani people 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.
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.
Ethnic groups in the Middle East are ethnolinguistic groupings in the "transcontinental" region that is commonly a geopolitical term designating the intercontinental region comprising West Asia without the South Caucasus, and also comprising Egypt in North Africa. The Middle East has historically been a crossroad of different cultures and languages. Since the 1960s, the changes in political and economic factors have significantly altered the ethnic composition of groups in the region. While some ethnic groups have been present in the region for millennia, others have arrived fairly recently through immigration. The largest socioethnic groups in the region are Egyptians, Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds, and Azerbaijanis but there are dozens of other ethnic groups that have hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of members.
Balkan Roma, Balkaniko Romanes, or Balkan Gypsy is a specific non-Vlax dialect of the Romani language, spoken by groups within the Balkans, which include countries such as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey etc. The Balkan Romani language is typically an oral language.
The Turks in Europe refers to Turkic peoples living in Europe, particularly those of Turkish origin.
Sepečides Romani, also known as Sevlengere Roma, is the Romani dialect of the traditionally basketweaving Roma originally from Thessaloniki. Their ancestors lived there as nomads during the Ottoman Empire until the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. The Sepečides dialect is considered to be non-Vlax. It belongs to the Southern Balkan group of Romani dialects, although the RomArchive claims the language is practically extinct.
Romani people in Germany are estimated at around 170,000–300,000, constituting around 0.2–0.4% of the German population. One-third of Germany's Romani belong to the Sinti group. Most speak German or Sinte Romani.
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.
