The sedentary Arlije are the main group of the

Romani people in North Macedonia Romani people in North Macedonia () are one of the constitutional peoples of the country. According to the last census from 2021, there were 46,433 people counted as Romani, or 2.53% of the population. The majority are Muslim Romani people. An ...

, and the majority live in

Šuto Orizari Municipality Šuto Orizari (; Balkan Romani: ''Shuto Orizari''; ), often shortened as ''Šutka'' (Шутка), is one of the ten municipalities that make up the City of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of North Macedonia. '' Šuto Orizari'' is also the na ...

. They are Muslim Romani. There are various subgroups of the Arlije, named after their traditional occupations, living in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

, Southern Serbia, and

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. Beside Macedonian and Albanian, they speak the Arli dialect of

Balkan Romani 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, ...

. The word Arlije (singular Arli) is derived from the Turkish word '' yerli'' (meaning "native" or "settled"), as does the name Erlides (, of a similar group living in Greece, and the Sofia-Erli in Bulgaria. The biggest settlement of Arlije is in Šuto Orizari in North Macedonia. In East Thrace at

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, they are called Yerli Romanlar and only speak

Rumelian Turkish Balkan Gagauz, Balkan Turkish or Rumelian Turkish (), is a Turkic language spoken in European Turkey, in Dulovo and the Deliorman area in Bulgaria, the Prizren area in Kosovo, and the Kumanovo and Bitola areas of North Macedonia. Dialects in ...

. Many Arlije have moved to Austria and Germany as guest workers. Some Arli men have married Austrian and German women.

Genetics

While the Early Romani people traces back to the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

gene flow In population genetics, gene flow (also known as migration and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic variation, genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent ...

from the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

also spilled over and established a higher frequency of the Y-haplogroups ''J and E3b'' in Balkan Roma Groups. The Greek doctor A. G. Paspati made also the statement in his Book, that Turkish men often married Roma woman. Greek-Slavic DNA also in the Balkan Roma people.

People of Arlije descent

* Šaban Bajramović * Esma Redžepova * Muharem Serbezovski

References

Romani Islam Romani in Kosovo Romani in North Macedonia Muslim ethnoreligious groups Muslim communities in Europe {{Romani-stub