Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

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 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Sinte Romani Sinte Romani (also known as Sintitikes, Manuš) is the variety of Romani spoken by the Sinti people in Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, some parts of Northern Italy and other adjacent regions. Sinte Romani is characterized by ...

History

Origins

The Romani people originate from the Northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, presumably from the northwestern Indian states

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

and

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. 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. More exactly, Romani shares the basic lexicon with

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and Punjabi. It shares many phonetic features with

Marwari Marwari may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the Marwar region of Rajasthan, India, largely in the Thar Desert ** Marwari people, an Indian ethnic group originating in the Marwar region ** Marwari language, the language of the Marwari ...

, while its grammar is closest to

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

. Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Romani originated in northwestern India and migrated as a group. According to a genetic study in 2012 about the ancestors of present scheduled tribes and scheduled caste populations of northern

, traditionally referred to collectively as the

Ḍoma The Doma (), also known as ''Dom'', ''Domra'', ''Domba'', ''Domaka'', ''Dombara'' and ''Dombari'', are castes, or groups, scattered across India. The Doma/Dom were a caste of drummers. According to Tantra scriptures, the Dom were engaged in the ...

, are the likely ancestral populations of modern European Roma. 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 The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

to recognize the Roma community spread across 30 countries as a part of the

Indian diaspora Overseas Indians (ISO 15919, ISO: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) are people of Indian descent who reside or originate outside of India (Including those that were directly under the British Raj). Acc ...

Migration to Germany

There are different Christian Roma groups like the Lalleri,

Kalderash The Kalderash are a subgroup of the Romani people. They were traditionally coppersmiths and metal workers and speak a number of Romani dialects grouped together under the term Kalderash Romani, a sub-group of Vlax Romani. The Kalderash of the ...

, Čurara,

Boyash Boyash or Bayash (endonym: ''Bȯjáṡ'', Romanian language, Romanian: ''Băieși'', Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Beás'', Slovak language, Slovak: ''Bojáš'', Serbo-Croatian, South Slavic: ''Banjaši'', ''Bojaši'') are a Romani people, ...

, Wallachian Roma,

Gitanos The Romani in Spain, generally known by the Endonym and exonym, endonym ''Calé'', or the Endonym and exonym, exonym (), belong to the Romani people#Romani subgroups, Iberian Romani subgroup known as Calé, with smaller populations in Portugal ...

, and

Muslim Roma Muslim Romani people or Muslim Roma are people who are ethnically Romani and profess Islam. They may also be known as Muslim Gypsies, with some Roma preferring to use the term, not perceiving it as derogatory. They primarily live in the Balkan ...

/ Xoraxane like

Arlije The sedentary Arlije are the main group of the Romani people in North Macedonia, and the majority live in Šuto Orizari Municipality. They are Muslim Romani. There are various subgroups of the Arlije, named after their traditional occupations, l ...

Gurbeti Gurbeti (also Kurbet or Kurbat or غربتی in Persian) are a sub-group of the Romani people living in Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Serbia, Cyprus, and the former Yugoslavia whose members are Eastern Orthodox and predominantly Muslim Ro ...

Romanlar in Turkey The Romani people in Turkey () are a Romani subgroup in the Republic of Türkiye. They are Sunni Muslims mostly of Sufi orientation. The majority speak Turkish as their first language and have adopted Turkish culture. Many have denied their ...

. Some People of Roma ethnicity came as

Gastarbeiter ; ; both singular and plural) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally considered t ...

to Germany from countries such as

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 ...

, former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. 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 The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

in 1998-1999,

Romani people in Kosovo Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romania ...

Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians The Ashkali ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Ашкалије, Aškalije, separator=" / ", link=no), otherwise known as Hashkali ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Хашкалије, Haškalije, separator=" / ", link=no) and/or Balkan Egyptians ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Балкански ...

also came to Germany.

Notable individuals

References

External links