Coordinates	4 °34 ′47.65 ″N81 °16 ′18.76 ″N
Group	Romani people ''Rromane dźene''
Flag
Pop	Up to 5 million in the worldor6-11 million in the worldor10-12 million in EuropeSee Romani people by country for the entire list of countries and other estimations. The following list uses official data, the unofficial estmation might differ substantially.
Region1	Spain
Pop1	650,000 (1.62%)
Ref1
Region2	Romania
Pop2	535,140 (2.46%)
Ref
Region3	Turkey
Pop3	500,000 (0.72%)
Ref3
Region4	France
Pop4	500,000 (0.79%)
Ref4
Region5	Bulgaria
Pop5	370,908 (4.67%)
Ref5
Region6	Hungary
Pop6	205,720 (2.02%)
Ref6
Region7	Greece
Pop7	200,000 (1.82%)
Ref7
Region8	Russia
Pop8	182,766 (0.13%)
Ref8
Region9	Italy
Pop9	130,000(0.22%)
Ref9
Region10	Serbia
Pop10	108,193 (1.44%)
Ref10
Region11	United Kingdom
Pop11	90,000 (0.15%)
Languages	Romani, languages of native region
Region12	Slovakia
Pop12	89,920 (1.71%)
Ref12
Region13	Germany
Pop13	70,000 (0.09%)
Ref13	}}

|region14=Rep. of Macedonia |pop14=53,879 (2.85%) |ref14= |religions=Christianity(Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism),Islam,Hinduism |related-c = Dom people, Lom people, other Indo-Aryans }}

The Romani, who are known collectively in the Romani language as Romane or Rromane (depending on the dialect concerned) and also as Romany, Romanies, Romanis, Roma or Roms, are an ethnic group living mostly in Europe, who trace their origins to the Indian Subcontinent. Romani are also widely known in the English-speaking world by the exonym Gypsies.

Romani are widely dispersed, with their largest concentrated populations in Europe, especially the Roma of Central and Eastern Europe and Anatolia, followed by the Kale of Southwestern Europe and Southern France.

The Americas are also home to large numbers of Romani. This is especially true of Brazil, to which Kale were deported by the government of Portugal during the colonial era. and via more recent migrations, some people have gone to Romani have also migrated to other parts of the New World.

The Romani language is divided into several dialects, which add up to an estimated number of speakers larger than two million. The total number of Romani people is at least twice as large (several times as large according to high estimates). Many Romani are native speakers of the language current in their country of residence, or of mixed languages combining the two.

Terminology

Rom, Romani

Romani usage

In the Romani language, ''rom'' is a masculine noun, meaning "man, husband", with the plural ''roma''. ''Romani'' is the feminine adjective, while ''romano'' is the masculine adjective. Some Romanies use ''Rom'' or ''Roma'' as an ethnic name, while others (such as the Sinti, or the Romanichal) do not use this term as a self-ascription for the entire ethnic group.

Sometimes, ''rom'' and ''romani'' are spelled with a double ''r'', i.e., ''rrom'' and ''rromani''. In this case ''rr'' is used to represent the phoneme (also written as ''ř'' and ''rh''), which in some Romani dialects has remained different from the one written with a single ''r''. The ''rr'' spelling is common particularly in Romania, in order to distinguish from the endonym for Romanians (''sg. român, pl. români'').

English usage

In the English language (according to the Oxford English Dictionary), ''Rom'' is a noun (with the plural ''Roma'' or ''Roms'') and an adjective, while ''Romani'' (''Romany'') is also a noun (with the plural ''Romanies'' or ''Romanis'') and an adjective. Both ''Rom'' and ''Romani'' have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative for Gypsy. ''Romani'' was initially spelled ''Rommany'', then ''Romany'', while today the ''Romani'' spelling is the most popular spelling. Occasionally, the double ''r'' spelling (e.g., ''Rroma'', ''Rromani'') mentioned above is also encountered in English texts. Although ''Roma'' is used as a designation for the branch of the Romani people with historic concentrations in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, it is increasingly encountered during recent decades as a generic term for the Romani people as a whole.

Because all Romanies use the word ''Romani'' as an adjective, the term began to be used as a noun for the entire ethnic group.

Today, the term ''Romani'' is used by most organizations—including the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the US Library of Congress.

The standard assumption is that the demonyms of the Romani people, Lom and Dom share the same origin.

Gypsy

The English term ''Gypsy'' (or ''Gipsy'') originates from the Greek word for "Egyptian", (''Aigyptioi'', whence modern Greek ''gifti''), in the belief that the Romanies, or some other Gypsy groups (such as the Balkan Egyptians), originated in Egypt, and in one narrative were exiled as punishment for allegedly harbouring the infant Jesus. This exonym is sometimes written with capital letter, to show that it designates an ethnic group. The term 'gypsy' appears when international research programmes, documents and policies on the community are referred to. However, as a term 'gypsy' is considered derogatory by many members of the Roma community because of negative and stereotypical associations with the term.

As described in Victor Hugo's novel ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', the medieval French referred to the Romanies as ''egyptiens''. The term has come to bear pejorative connotations. The word ''Gypsy'' in English has become so pervasive that many Romani organizations use it in their own organizational names.

In North America, the word ''gypsy'' is commonly used as a reference to lifestyle or fashion, and not to the Romani ethnicity. The Spanish term ''gitano'' and the French term ''gitan'' may have the same origin as a reference to Egypt.

Population and subgroups

For a variety of reasons many Romanies choose not to register their ethnic identity in official censuses. There are an estimated four million Romani people in Europe (as of 2002), although some high estimates by Romani organizations give numbers as high as 14 million. Significant Romani populations are found in the Balkan peninsula, in some Central European states, in Spain, France, Russia, and Ukraine. Several more million Romanies may live out of Europe, in particular in the Middle East and in the Americas.

The Romani people recognize divisions among themselves based in part on territorial, cultural and dialectal differences and self-designation. The main branches are:

#Roma, concentrated in central and eastern Europe and central Italy, emigrated also (mostly from the 19th century onwards) to the rest of Europe, but also on the other continents; #Iberian Kale, mostly in Spain (see Romani people in Spain), but also in Portugal (see Romani people in Portugal), Southern France and Latin America; #Finnish Kale, in Finland, emigrated also to Sweden; #Welsh Kale, in Wales; #Romanichal, in the United Kingdom, emigrated also to the United States and Australia; #Sinti, in German-speaking areas of Europe and some neighboring countries; #Manush, in French-speaking areas of Western Europe; #Romanisæl, in Sweden and Norway.

Among Romanies there are further internal differentiations, like Bashaldé; Churari; Luri; Ungaritza; Lovari (Lovara) from Hungary; Machvaya (Machavaya, Machwaya, or Macwaia) from Serbia; Romungro (Modyar or Modgar) from Hungary and neighbouring carpathian countries; Erlides (also ''Yerlii'' or ''Arli''); Xoraxai (Horahane) from Greece/Turkey; Boyash (Lingurari, Ludar, Ludari, Rudari, or Zlătari) from Romanian words for various crafts: ''Lingurari'' (spoon makers) ''Rudari'' (wood crafters or miners, i.e. "băieşi" (miners); the semantic overlapping occurring due to the homophony of two different notions: in Serbian, ''ruda'' "ore", hence ''rudar'' "miner," and ''ruda'' "stick, staff, rod, bar, pole" (in Hungarian ''rúd'', and in Romanian ''rudă'', lemma no. 2); ''Zlătari''/''Aurari'' (goldsmiths); Ursari (bear-trainers; in Romanian ''urs'' "bear"); ''Argintari'' (silversmiths); ''Florari'' (florists); ''Ciurari'' (sieve makers, hence the ''Churari'' above), and Lăutari (musicians).

Other groups

Some groups which are commonly thought of as Romani, either by surrounding populations or by Romani groups, do not consider themselves to be Romani. This applies to the Balkan Egyptians and the Ashkali.

Another people whom may or may not identify themselves as Roma(ni) are the Quinqui or ''Quinquins'' of northern Spain and southern France. The Quinquins are of mysterious origins, although the namesake ''Mercheros'' hint of their possible Moorish Spanish ethnoancestral origins, therefore some may contend they are Moors in origin. Much of Spain was under Islamic Rule by the Moors until the Spanish Inquisition eradicated the Moors and Islam in the Iberian peninsula by the late 14th and 15th centuries.

But that's never the case for the ''Irish Travellers'' who do not claim to be Romany. The ''Irish Travellers'' are of local Irish origins known to lived in a semi-nomadic existence in the rural peripheries of Ireland where they are a notable culturally distinct community. They are known to speak Shelta - their own language. The Irish Travellers also lived in Great Britain (i.e. Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales) and reportedly, some emigrated into the USA in the turn of the century (late 19th-early 20th centuries).

History

Origins

Linguistic and genetic evidence indicates the Romanies originated from the Indian subcontinent, emigrating from India towards the northwest no earlier than the 11th century. The Romani are generally believed to have originated in central India, possibly in the modern Indian state of Rajasthan, migrating to the northwest (the Punjab region, Sindh and Baluchistan of modern-day Pakistan and India) around 250 BC. In the centuries spent here, there may have been close interaction with such established groups as the Rajputs and the Jats. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is believed to have occurred between AD 500 and AD 1000. Contemporary populations sometimes suggested as sharing a close relationship to the Romani are the Dom people of Western Asia and North Africa and the Banjara of India.

The emigration from India likely took place in the context of the raids by Mahmud of Ghazni As these soldiers were defeated, they were moved west with their families into the Byzantine Empire. The 11th century ''terminus post quem'' is due to the Romani language showing unambiguous features of the Modern Indo-Aryan languages, precluding an emigration during the Middle Indic period.

Genetic evidence supports the mediaeval migration from India. The Romanies have been described as "a conglomerate of genetically isolated founder populations", while a number of common Mendelian disorders among Romanies from all over Europe indicates "a common origin and founder effect". A study from 2001 by Gresham et al. suggests "a limited number of related founders, compatible with a small group of migrants splitting from a distinct caste or tribal group". The same study found that "a single lineage ... found across Romani populations, accounts for almost one-third of Romani males." A 2004 study by Morar et al. concluded that the Romani population "was founded approximately 32–40 generations ago, with secondary and tertiary founder events occurring approximately 16–25 generations ago".

Possible connection with the Jat people

While the South Asian origin of the Romani people has been long considered a certitude, the exact South Asian group from whom the Romanies have descended has been a matter of debate. The discovery in 2009 of the "Jat mutation" that causes a type of glaucoma in Romani populations suggests that the Romani people are the descendants of the Jat people found in Northern India and Pakistan. This relation to Jats had earlier been suggested by Michael Jan de Goeje in 1883. The 2009 glaucoma study however contradicts an earlier study that compared the most common haplotypes found in Romani groups with those found in Jatt Sikhs and Jats from Haryana and found no matches.

Arrival in Europe

In 1322, an Irish Franciscan monk, Symon Semeonis encountered a migrant group, ''"the descendants of Cain"'', outside the town of Heraklion (Candia), in Crete. Symon's account is probably the earliest surviving description by a Western chronicler of the Romani people in Europe.

In 1350, Ludolphus of Sudheim mentioned a similar people with a unique language whom he called ''Mandapolos'', a word which some theorize was possibly derived from the Greek word ''mantes'' (meaning prophet or fortune teller).

Around 1360, the a fiefdom, called the ''Feudum Acinganorum'' was established in Corfu, which mainly used Romani serfs and to which the Romanies on the island were subservient.

By the 14th century, the Romanies had reached the Balkans; by 1424, Germany; and by the 16th century, Scotland and Sweden. Some Romanies migrated from Persia through North Africa, reaching the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century. The two currents met in France.

Romanies began immigrating to North America in colonial times, with small groups recorded in Virginia and French Louisiana. Larger-scale immigration to the United States began in the 1860s, with groups of Romnaichal from Britain. The largest number immigrated in the early 1900s, mainly from the Vlax group of Kalderash. Many Romanies also settled in South America.

When the Romani people arrived in Europe, the initial curiosity of its residents soon changed to hostility against the newcomers. The Romani were enslaved for five centuries in Wallachia and Moldavia, until abolition in 1856.

Elsewhere in Europe, they were subject to ethnic cleansing, abduction of their children, and forced labor. In England, Romani were sometimes hanged or expelled from small communities; in France, they were branded and their heads were shaved; in Moravia and Bohemia, the women were marked by their ears being severed. As a result, large groups of the Romani moved to the East, toward Poland, which was more tolerant, and Russia, where the Romani were treated more fairly as long as they paid the annual taxes.

World War II

During World War II, the Nazis and the Ustaša embarked on a systematic attempt at genocide of the Romanies, a process known in Romani as the ''Porajmos''. Romanies were marked for extermination and sentenced to forced labor and imprisonment in concentration camps.

They were often killed on sight, especially by the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) on the Eastern Front. The total number of victims has been variously estimated at between 220,000 to 1,500,000; even the lowest number would make the Porajmos one of the largest mass murders in history.

Post-1945

In Communist Eastern Europe, Romanies experienced assimilation schemes and restrictions on cultural freedom. The Romani language and Romani music were banned from public performance in Bulgaria. In Czechoslovakia, they were labeled a "socially degraded stratum," and Romani women were sterilized as part of a state policy to reduce their population. This policy was implemented with large financial incentives, threats of denying future welfare payments, with misinformation, or after administering drugs (Silverman 1995; Helsinki Watch 1991).

An official inquiry from the Czech Republic, resulting in a report (December 2005), concluded that the Communist authorities had practiced an assimilation policy towards Romanies, which "included efforts by social services to control the birth rate in the Romani community" and that "the problem of sexual sterilization carried out in the Czech Republic, either with improper motivation or illegally, exists" with new revealed cases up until 2004, in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Society and traditional culture

The traditional Romanies place a high value on the extended family. Virginity is essential in unmarried women. Both men and women often marry young; there has been controversy in several countries over the Romani practice of child marriage. Romani law establishes that the man's family must pay a bride price to the bride's parents, but only traditional families still follow this rule.

Once married, the woman joins the husband's family, where her main job is to tend to her husband's and her children's needs, as well as to take care of her in-laws. The power structure in the traditional Romani household has at its top the oldest man or grandfather, and men in general have more authority than women. Women gain respect and authority as they get older. Young wives begin gaining authority once they have children.

Romani social behavior is strictly regulated by Hindu purity laws ("marime" or "marhime"), still respected by most Roma (and by most older generations of Sinti). This regulation affects many aspects of life, and is applied to actions, people and things: parts of the human body are considered impure: the genital organs (because they produce emissions), as well as the rest of the lower body. Fingernails and toenails must be filed with an emery board, as cutting them with a clipper is a taboo. Clothes for the lower body, as well as the clothes of menstruating women, are washed separately. Items used for eating are also washed in a different place. Childbirth is considered impure, and must occur outside the dwelling place. The mother is considered impure for forty days after giving birth.

Death is considered impure, and affects the whole family of the dead, who remain impure for a period of time. In contrast to the practice of cremating the dead, Romani dead must be buried. Cremation and burial are both known from the time of the Rigveda, and both are widely practiced in Hinduism today (although the tendency for higher caste groups is to burn, while lower caste groups in South India tend to bury their dead). Some animals are also considered impure, for instance cats because they lick themselves.

Belonging and exclusion

Romanipen (also ''romanypen'', ''romanipe'', ''romanype'', ''romanimos'', ''romaimos'', ''romaniya'') is a complicated term of Romani philosophy that means totality of the Romani spirit, Romani culture, Romani Law, being a Romani, a set of Romani strains.

An ethnic Romani is considered to be a Gadjo (non-Romani) in the Romani society if he has no Romanipen. Sometimes a non-Romani may be considered to be a Romani if he has Romanipen, (usually that is an adopted child). As a concept, Romanipen has been the subject of interest to numerous academic observers. It has been hypothesized that it owes more to a framework of culture rather than simply an adherence to historically received rules.

Romani leadership

In Roma communities in the United States and some areas of Europe, the ''rom baro'' is the tribal leader. A ''rom baro'' serves the same purpose as a big man in New Guinean tribal societies. He earns his position through merit and his decisions, although considered wise, do not have the automatic approval of the community. Other factors in the selection of a ''rom baro'' include knowledge of the language of the areas of planned travel, and resourcefulness in emergency situations.

Qualities expected of a ''rom baro'' include wealth, an aggressive wife, a large family, and a willingness to speak out and help.

Religion

Migrant Romani populations have adopted the dominant religion of their country of residence, while often preserving aspects of older belief systems and forms of worship. Most Eastern European Romanies are Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, or Muslim.

Those in Western Europe and the United States are mostly Roman Catholic or Protestant (particularly in southern Spain many are Pentecostal). In Turkey, Egypt, and the Balkans, the Romanies are split into Christian and Muslim populations.

Music

Romani music plays an important role in Central and Eastern European countries such as Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Hungary, Slovenia and Romania, and the style and performance practices of Romani musicians have influenced European classical composers such as Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms. The ''lăutari'' who perform at traditional Romanian weddings are virtually all Romani.

Probably the most internationally prominent contemporary performers in the ''lăutari'' tradition are Taraful Haiducilor. Bulgaria's popular "wedding music", too, is almost exclusively performed by Romani musicians such as Ivo Papasov, a virtuoso clarinetist closely associated with this genre and Bulgarian pop-folk singer Azis.

Many famous classical musicians, such as the Hungarian pianist Georges Cziffra, are Romani, as are many prominent performers of manele. Zdob şi Zdub, one of the most prominent rock bands in Moldova, although not Romanies themselves, draw heavily on Romani music, as do Spitalul de Urgenţă in Romania, Shantel in Germany, Goran Bregović in Serbia, Darko Rundek in Croatia, Beirut and Gogol Bordello in the United States.

Another tradition of Romani music is the genre of the Romani brass band, with such notable practitioners as Boban Marković of Serbia, and the brass ''lăutari'' groups Fanfare Ciocărlia and Fanfare din Cozmesti of Romania.

The distinctive sound of Romani music has also strongly influenced bolero, jazz, and flamenco (especially ''cante jondo'') in Europe. European-style gypsy jazz ("jazz Manouche" or "Sinti jazz") is still widely practiced among the original creators (the Romanie People); one who acknowledged this artistic debt was guitarist Django Reinhardt. Contemporary artists in this tradition known internationally include Stochelo Rosenberg, Biréli Lagrène, Jimmy Rosenberg, and Tchavolo Schmitt.

The Romanies of Turkey have achieved musical acclaim from national and local audiences. Local performers usually perform for special holidays. Their music is usually performed on instruments such as the darbuka and gırnata. A number of nationwide best seller performers are said to be of Romani origin.

Contemporary art and culture

Language

Most Romanies speak one of several dialects of Romani, an Indo-Aryan language. They also will often speak the languages of the countries they live in. Typically, they also incorporate loanwords and calques into Romani from the languages of those countries, especially words for terms that the Romani language does not have. Most of the ''Ciganos'' of Portugal, the Gitanos of Spain, the Romanichal of the UK, and Scandinavian Travellers have lost their knowledge of pure Romani, and respectively speak the mixed languages Caló, Angloromany, and Scandoromani.

There are independent groups currently working toward standardizing the language, including groups in Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, the USA, and Sweden. Romani is not currently spoken in India.

Persecutions

Historical persecution

One of the most enduring persecutions against the Romani people was the enslaving of the Romanies. In the Byzantine Empire, they were slaves of the state and it seems the situation was the same in Bulgaria and Serbia until their social organization was destroyed by the Ottoman conquest. Slavery existed on the territory of present-day Romania from before the founding of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 13th–14th century, until it was abolished in stages during the 1840s and 1850s. Legislation decreed that all the Romanies living in these states, as well as any others who would immigrate there, were slaves. Most of the slaves were of Roma (Gypsy) ethnicity.

The exact origins of slavery in the Danubian Principalities are not known. There is some debate over whether the Romani people came to Wallachia and Moldavia as free men or as slaves. Historian Nicolae Iorga associated the Roma people's arrival with the 1241 Mongol invasion of Europe and considered their slavery as a vestige of that era, the Romanians taking the Roma from the Mongols as slaves and preserving their status. Other historians consider that they were enslaved while captured during the battles with the Tatars. The practice of enslaving prisoners may also have been taken from the Mongols. While it is possible that some Romani people were slaves or auxiliary troops of the Mongols or Tatars, the bulk of them came from south of the Danube at the end of the 14th century, some time after the foundation of Wallachia. By then, the institution of slavery was already established in Moldavia and possibly in both principalities, but the arrival of the Roma made slavery a widespread practice. The Tatar slaves, smaller in numbers, were eventually merged into the Roma population.

The arrival of some branches of the Romani people in Western Europe in the 15th century was precipitated by the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans. Although the Romanies themselves were refugees from the conflicts in southeastern Europe, they were mistaken by the local population in the West, because of their foreign appearance, as part of the Ottoman invasion (the German Reichstags at Landau and Freiburg in 1496-1498 declared the Romanies as spies of the Turks). In Western Europe, this resulted in a violent history of persecution and attempts of ethnic cleansing until the modern era. As time passed, other accusations were added against local Romanies (accusations specific to this area, against non-assimilated minorities), like that of bringing the plague, usually sharing their burden together with the local Jews.

One example of official persecution of the Romani is exemplified by ''The Great Roundup'' of Spanish Romanies (Gitanos) in 1749. The Spanish monarchy ordered a nationwide raid that led to separation of families and placement of all able-bodied men into forced labor camps.

Later in the 19th century, Romani immigration was forbidden on a racial basis in areas outside Europe, mostly in the English speaking world (in 1885 the United States outlawed the entry of the Roma) and also in some South American countries (in 1880 Argentina adopted a similar policy).

Holocaust

The persecution of the Romanies reached a peak during World War II in the ''Porajmos'', the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis during the Holocaust. In 1935, the Nuremberg laws stripped the Romani people living in Nazi Germany of their citizenship, after which they were subjected to violence, imprisonment in concentration camps and later genocide in extermination camps. The policy was extended in areas occupied by the Nazis during the war, and it was also applied by their allies, notably the Independent State of Croatia, Romania and Hungary.

Because no accurate pre-war census figures exist for the Romanis, it is impossible to accurately assess the actual number of victims. Ian Hancock, director of the Program of Romani Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, proposes a figure of up to a million and a half, while an estimate of between 220,000 and 500,000 was made by Sybil Milton, formerly senior historian of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. In Central Europe, the extermination in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was so thorough that the Bohemian Romani language became extinct.

Forced assimilation

In the Habsburg Monarchy under Maria Theresia (1740–1780), a series of decrees tried to force the Romanies to sedentarize, removed rights to horse and wagon ownership (1754), renamed them as "New Citizens" and forced Romani boys into military service if they had no trade (1761), forced them to register with the local authorities (1767), and prohibited marriage between Romanies (1773). Her successor Josef II prohibited the wearing of traditional Romani clothing and the use of the Romani language, punishable by flogging.

In Spain, attempts to assimilate the Gitanos were under way as early as 1619, when Gitanos were forcibly sedentarized, the use of the Romani language was prohibited, Gitano men and women were sent to separate workhouses and their children sent to orphanages. Similar prohibitions took place in 1783 under King Charles III, who prohibited the nomadic lifestyle, the use of the Calo language, Romani clothing, their trade in horses and other itinerant trades. The use of the word ''gitano'' was also forbidden to further assimilation. Ultimately these measures failed, as the rest of the population rejected the integration of the Gitanos.

Other examples of forced assimilation include Norway, where a law was passed in 1896 permitting the state to remove children from their parents and place them in state institutions. This resulted in some 1,500 Romani children being taken from their parents in the 20th century.

Contemporary issues

Amnesty International reports continued instances of Antizigan discrimination during the 2000s, particularly in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania, Serbia Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Kosovo.

Czechoslovakia carried out a policy of sterilization of Romani women, starting in 1973. The dissidents of the Charter 77 denounced it in 1977-78 as a "genocide", but the practice continued through the Velvet Revolution of 1989. A 2005 report by the Czech government's independent ombudsman, Otakar Motejl, identified dozens of cases of coercive sterilization between 1979 and 2001, and called for criminal investigations and possible prosecution against several health care workers and administrators.

In 2008, following the brutal murder of a woman in Rome at the hands of a young man from a local Romani encampment, the Italian government declared that Italy's Romani population represented a national security risk and that swift action was required to address the ''emergenza nomadi'' (''nomad emergency''). Specifically, officials in the Italian government accused the Romanies of being responsible for rising crime rates in urban areas.

Forced repatriation

In the summer of 2010 French authorities demolished at least 51 illegal Roma camps and began the process of repatriating their residents to their countries of origin. This followed tensions between the French state and Roma communities, which had been heightened after French police killed a traveller who did not stop at a checkpoint; in retaliation, a group of armed Roma attacked the police station of Saint-Aignan. The French government has been accused of perpetrating these actions to pursue its political agenda. EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding stated that the European Commission should take legal action against France over the issue, calling the deportations "a disgrace". Purportedly, a leaked file dated 5 August, sent from the Interior Ministry to regional police chiefs included the instruction: "Three hundred camps or illegal settlements must be cleared within three months, Roma camps are a priority,"

Fictional representations

Many fictional depictions of Romani people in literature and art present Romanticized narratives of their supposed mystical powers of fortune telling or their supposed irascible or passionate temper paired with an indomitable love of freedom and a habit of criminality. Particularly notable are classics like ''Carmen'' by Prosper Mérimée and adapted by Georges Bizet, Victor Hugo's ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' and Miguel de Cervantes' ''La Gitanilla''.

The Romani were also heavily romanticized in the Soviet Union, a classic example being the 1975 ''Tabor ukhodit v Nebo''. A more realistic depiction of contemporary Romani in the Balkans, featuring Romani lay actors speaking in their native dialects, although still playing with established clichés of a Romani penchant for both magic and crime, was presented by Emir Kusturica in his ''Time of the Gypsies'' (1988) and ''Black Cat, White Cat'' (1998).

In contemporary literature

The Romani ethnicity is often used for characters in contemporary fantasy literature. In such literature, the Romani are often portrayed as possessing archaic occult knowledge passed down through the ages. This frequent use of the ethnicity has given rise to 'gypsy archetypes' in popular contemporary literature. A UK example is the Freya Trilogy by Elizabeth Arnold.

See also

Antiziganism

Balkan Egyptians and the Ashkali

Great Gypsy Round-up

King of the Gypsies

R. v. Krymowski

Rajasthani people

Timeline of Romani history

;General:

Nomadic peoples of Europe

Nomadic tribes in India

;Advocacy:

Decade of Roma Inclusion

European Roma Rights Centre

Gypsy Lore Society

International Romani Union

;Lists:

List of Romani groups

List of Romani people

List of Romani settlements

References

;Notes

;Bibliography (An extensive historical bibliography, "Gypsies in France, 1566 - 2011", is available at .)

Viorel Achim (2004). "The Roma in Romanian History." Budapest: Central European University Press. ISBN 963-9241-84-9.

Auzias, Claire. ''Les funambules de l'histoire''. Baye: Éditions la Digitale, 2002.

De Soto, Hermine. ''Roma and Egyptians in Albania: From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion''. Washington, DC, USA: World Bank Publications, 2005.

Fonseca, Isabel. ''Bury me standing: the Gypsies and their journey''. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1995.

Fraser, Angus ''The Gypsies'' : Blackwell Publishers, Oxford UK, 1992 ISBN 0-631-15967-3.

Genner, Michael. ''Spartakus'', 2 vols. Munich: Trikont, 1979-80.

"Germany Reaches Deal to Deport Thousands of Gypsies to Romania," ''Migration World Magazine'', Nov-December 1992.

Gray, RD; Atkinson, QD (2003). "Language-tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin." ''Nature.''

Gresham, D; ''et al.'' (2001). "Origins and divergence of the Roma (Gypsies)." ''American Journal of Human Genetics.'' 69(6), 1314-1331.

Hackl, Erich. (1991). ''Farewell Sidonia'', New York: Fromm International Pub. ISBN 0-88064-124-X. (Translated from the German, ''Abschied von Sidonie'' 1989)

Helsinki Watch. ''Struggling for Ethnic Identity: Czechoslovakia's Endangered Gypsies.'' New York, 1991.

Leland, Charles G. ''The English Gipsies and Their Language''. London: Trübner & Co., 1873.

Lemon, Alaina (2000). ''Between Two Fires: Gypsy Performance and Romani Memory from Pushkin to Post-Socialism.'' Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-2456-3

Luba Kalaydjieva; ''et al.'' (2001). "Patterns of inter- and intra-group genetic diversity in the Vlax Roma as revealed by Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA lineages." ''European Journal of Human Genetics.'' 9, 97-104.

Marushiakova, Elena; Popov, Vesselin. (2001) "Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire." Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press.

Matras, Yaron (2002). ''Romani: A Linguistic Introduction'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-512-02330-0.

McDowell, Bart (1970). "Gypsies, Wanderers of the World". National Geographic Society. ISBN 0-87044-088-8.

"Gypsies, The World's Outsiders." ''National Geographic'', April 2001, 72-101.

Ringold, Dena. ''Roma & the Transition in Central & Eastern Europe: Trends & Challenges''. Washington, DC, USA: World Bank, 2000. pp. 3, 5, & 7.

Roberts, Samuel. ''The Gypsies: Their Origin, Continuance, and Destination''. London: Longman, 4th edition, 1842.

Silverman, Carol. "Persecution and Politicization: Roma (Gypsies) of Eastern Europe." ''Cultural Survival Quarterly'', Summer 1995.

Simson, Walter. ''History of the Gipsies''. London: S. Low, 1865.

Tebbutt, Susan (Ed., 1998) ''Sinti and Roma in German-speaking Society and Literature''. Oxford: Berghahn.

Turner, Ralph L. (1926) The Position of Romani in Indo-Aryan. In: Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society 3rd Ser. 5/4, pp. 145–188.

Danish Broadcasting Corporation A page in Danish about Romani treatment in Denmark

External links

European Parliament resolution on the situation of the Roma in the European Union - April 28, 2005

Final report on the human rights situation of the Roma, Sinti and travellers in Europe by the European Commissioner for Human Rights (Council of Europe) - February 15, 2006

Shot in remote areas of the Thar desert in Northwest India, "Jaisalmer Ayo: Gateway of the Gypsies" captures the lives of vanishing nomadic communities who are believed to share common ancestors with the Roma people - released 2004

;Non-governmental organisations

European Roma Rights Centre - European Romani NGO

Roma Rights Network - Romani INGO

;Museums and libraries

Museum of Romani Culture in Brno, Czech Republic (in Czech)

Specialized Library with Archive "Studii Romani" in Sofia, Bulgaria (Bulgarian, English)

Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma in Heidelberg, Germany (German, English)

Ethnographic Museum in Tarnów, Poland. Click "''ROMA (CYGANIE)''" on the menu at left. (Polish, English, Romani)

Who we Were, Who we Are: Kosovo Roma Oral History Collection. The most comprehensive collection of information on Kosovo's Roma in existence. (English)

Category:Indo-Aryan peoples Category:Eurasian nomads Category:Ethnic groups in Brazil Category:Ethnic groups in the Czech Republic Category:Ethnic groups in Europe Category:Ethnic groups in Greece Category:Ethnic groups in India Category:Ethnic groups in Hungary Category:Ethnic groups in Kosovo Category:Ethnic groups in Macedonia Category:Ethnic groups in Montenegro Category:Ethnic groups in Pakistan Category:Ethnic groups in Romania Category:Ethnic groups in Russia Category:Ethnic groups in Serbia Category:Ethnic groups in Slovakia Category:Ethnic groups in Spain Category:Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom Category:Ethnic groups in Vojvodina Category:Ethnic groups in the Balkans Category:Europe

ace:Sukèë Rom af:Roma an:Pueblo chitán az:Qaraçılar be:Цыганы be-x-old:Цыганы bs:Romi bg:Цигани ca:Gitanos cv:Чикансем cs:Romové da:Roma (folkeslag) pdc:Zigeiner de:Roma et:Mustlased el:Ρομά es:Pueblo gitano eo:Ciganoj eu:Ijito fa:کولی fr:Roms fy:Roma (folk) gl:Pobo xitano ko:롬 (민족) hi:रोमा (लोग) hr:Romi id:Orang Rom os:Цигайнаг адæм it:Rom (popolo) he:צוענים ka:ბოშები la:Zingari lv:Čigāni lb:Zigeiner lt:Čigonai hu:Romák mk:Роми nl:Roma (volk) ja:ロマ no:Sigøynere nn:Sigøynarar pl:Romowie pt:Ciganos ro:Romi rmy:Romane manusha ru:Цыгане rue:Циґане sq:Jevgjit scn:Gitani simple:Roma people sk:Rómovia sl:Romi sr:Роми sh:Romi fi:Romanit sv:Romer ta:ரோமா மக்கள் th:ชาวโรมานี tr:Romanlar uk:Цигани ur:رومینی vi:Người Di-gan yi:ציגיינער zh:罗姆人

Coordinates	4 °34 ′47.65 ″N81 °16 ′18.76 ″N
name	Rageh Omaar راجح عمر
birth date	July 19, 1967
birth place	Mogadishu, Somalia
alma mater	New College, Oxford
origin	Hargeisa, Somalia
occupation	BBC reporter (2000 - 2006), author, news presenter, columnist and Al Jazeera English reporter (2006 - present)
religion	Sunni Islam }}

Rageh Omaar (; , }}), (born 19 July 1967) is a Somali born British journalist and writer. His latest book ''Only Half of Me'' deals with the tensions between these two sides of his identity. He used to be a BBC world affairs correspondent, where he made his name reporting from Iraq. In September 2006, he moved to a new post at Al Jazeera English, where he presented the nightly weekday documentary series ''Witness'' until January 2010. ''The Rageh Omaar Report'', first aired February 2010, is a new one-hour, monthly investigative documentaries in which Rageh Omaar reports on the world's most important current affairs stories.

Early life

Rageh was born in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. He is the son of a wealthy businessman from the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia. A Muslim, Rageh's family is originally from Hargeisa.

Rageh moved to the United Kingdom when he was two years old. He was educated at two independent schools: the Dragon School in Oxford, Oxfordshire and Cheltenham College in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He later studied Modern History at New College at the University of Oxford.

Journalism

Rageh began his journalistic career as a trainee for ''The Voice'' newspaper. In 1991, he moved to Ethiopia where he freelanced as a foreign correspondent, working mainly for the BBC World Service. A year later, he returned to London to work as a producer and broadcast journalist for the BBC. He moved to South Africa after having been appointed the BBC's Africa correspondent. Omaar's wife and children were based there through 2004, and his regular commuting made domestic life difficult.

His career highlights include reporting live from war-torn Somalia and Iraq.

Coverage of the Iraq invasion

Omaar covered the Iraq invasion for the weekday BBC news bulletins and [[BBC News (TV channel)| BBC News]]. Many of his broadcasts were syndicated across the United States, where the Washington Post labeled him the ''Scud Stud''.

He has written a book about his time as the BBC's Iraq correspondent called ''Revolution Day''. The book deals with the effects of the Saddam Hussein regime, UN sanctions and of the war on Iraqi civilians.

In 2003, Omaar was the recipient of an Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy award for the best TV journalist.

Regrets over Iraq coverage

Rageh has expressed regret about the way in which he covered the invasion of Iraq during his time as a BBC correspondent: "We ran around, we did pieces on weapons inspectors, Saddam, the regime, and almost nothing about Iraqi people."

Indeed, the British Media Lens website used part of a Rageh Omaar report on Baghdad falling to US forces (in which they said that he 'all but swooned at the feet of the invading army'), to criticise the pro-war line of the British media:

"In my mind's eye, I often asked myself: what would it be like when I saw the first British or American soldiers, after six years of reporting Iraq? And nothing, nothing, came close to the actual, staggering reaction to seeing American soldiers - young men from Nevada and California - just rolling down in tanks. And they're here with us now in the hotel, in the lifts and the lobbies. It was a moment I'd never, ever prepared myself for."

Criticism of the BBC

Explaining why he left the BBC, he stated: "I wanted to be an independent journalist who did projects for the people I wanted. I wanted to be free". On being asked if he could have had more influence by staying he replied: "I don't think so. Many people from many backgrounds at the BBC have tried."

Omaar has also referred to the BBC as a ''"white man's club"'':

"It's the mentality. I'm in some ways guilty of this - I went to public school, I went to Oxford. I speak at a lot of schools with Somali kids and they say, "How do I become a journalist? We may be from the same community, but I don't have your accent." So it's a class thing rather than about being white necessarily. It's much more subtle."

Al Jazeera

Omaar is now a Middle Eastern correspondent for the London Division of Al Jazeera English, and hosts his own monthly investigative documentaries called ''The Rageh Omaar Report''.

Personal life

Family

In 2000, Omaar married Georgiana Rose "Nina" Montgomery-Cuninghame, the daughter of Sir John Montgomery-Cuninghame of Corsehill. The couple live in Chiswick, west London with their three children. Rageh has three siblings: an elder sister, Raqiya Omaar, who is a human rights lawyer, another sister Saynab Abdullahi Omaar and an older brother, Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar, who is the Foreign Minister of Somalia.

Activism

Rageh Omaar maintains close contact with his family in Somalia, is an activist for the Somali community, and regularly attends its lectures and events.

Quotations

May 2006, Interview with ''The Independent'': "In the eyes of Rageh Omaar, Western news organisations are perpetrating a "fraud" on their viewers with their misleading coverage of the war in Iraq, the conflict in which he established himself as an internationally-recognised journalist." May 2006, BBC One's ''This Week'': "When I reported from Baghdad, I never doubted that the invasion would end in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. What I was sceptical about was what would follow afterwards. There was a honeymoon period, and it lasted 24 hours, during that memorable day when the statue of Saddam Hussein was torn down. But that ended the day afterwards, and everything started unravelling from that moment on."

See also

Michael Symmons Roberts – author of the book, ''The Miracles of Jesus'', that accompanies the TV series

Other works

Television

''Race and Intelligence: Science's last taboo''. TV documentary for Channel 4 : October 2009.

''Pakistan's War''. TV documentary for Al Jazeera English (Mid-Winter Production 2008/09)

''Iran Season''. TV documentary for Al Jazeera English : January 2009

''Islam in America''. TV documentary for Al Jazeera English : October 2008

''An Islamic History of Europe''. TV documentary for BBC Four : August 2005

''The Miracles of Jesus''. TV documentary for BBC One : beginning on 6 August 2006

''Rageh Inside Iran''. TV documentary for BBC Four

''The Dead Sea Scrolls''. TV documentary BBC Four

''Immigration: The Inconvenient Truth'', a three part Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, on how immigration has affected Britain, using Enoch Powell's 1968 ''Rivers of Blood'' speech as a starting point (7 to 21 April 2008)

''The Vicar of Baghdad''. TV documentary ITV1

''The Life of Muhammad''. TV documentary for BBC 2. This is a three-part series, which had its first showing on July 11 2011 on BBC Two from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. The final edition of the series was on July 25,on BBC 2 9 -10 pm. People on the programme included Karen Armstrong.

Books

''Revolution Day: The Real Story of the Battle for Iraq'', Penguin Books (2005), ISBN 0-14-101716-3

''Only Half of Me: Being a Muslim in Britain'', Viking (2006), ISBN 0-670-91509-2

References

External links

Guardian Interview

BBC News: Our man in Baghdad

BBC News: BBC's Rageh Omaar signs book deal

BBC News: Reporter Rageh Omaar takes new role

Rageh Omaar to explore Jesus miracles

Rageh inside Iran from Iranian point of view ''Interesting Opinions''

Interview with The Stirrer at a book signing "The Stirrer"

Category:1967 births Category:Al Jazeera people Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford Category:BBC newsreaders and journalists Category:British non-fiction writers Category:British people of Somali descent Category:British reporters and correspondents Category:British Sunni Muslims Category:British television journalists Category:Ethnic Somali people Category:Living people Category:Old Cheltonians Category:Old Dragons Category:People from Mogadishu Category:Somalian emigrants to the United Kingdom Category:Somalian Muslims

ar:راجح عمر nl:Rageh Omaar so:Raage Oomaar

Coordinates	4 °34 ′47.65 ″N81 °16 ′18.76 ″N
name	Fanny Ardant
birth name	Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant
birth date	March 22, 1949
birth place	Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France
occupation	Actress
years active	1974–present
partner	Dominique Leverd (1975) 1 daughterFrançois Truffaut (1983) 1 daughterFabio Conversi (1990) 1 daughter
website	}}

Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than fifty motion pictures since 1976. Ardant won the César Award for Best Actress in 1997 for her performance in ''Pédale douce''.

Early life

Ardant was born in Saumur Maine-et-Loire, France, to a military attaché father. She grew up in Monaco until age 17 when she moved to Aix-en-Provence to study at the Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence. In her early twenties her interest turned to acting and in 1974 she made her first appearance on stage.

Career

By the early 1980s she was a major motion picture star, gaining international recognition for her role opposite Gérard Depardieu in ''La Femme d'à côté'' (''The Woman Next Door''). The film, directed by François Truffaut, brought Ardant her first César Award nomination for best actress in 1982 and in 1984 she was nominated again for ''Vivement dimanche!''. Eventually she became Truffaut's companion, giving birth to their daughter, Joséphine Truffaut, on 28 September 1983. Initially, her youthful beauty brought popularity but over time her sophistication and acting skills have made her one of France's most admired actresses. She proved her versatility, playing a comedic role in ''Pédale douce'' for which she won the 1997 César Award for Best Actress.

Fluent in English and Italian, Ardant has starred in several Hollywood and British films. Her most recent English-language film was the Franco Zeffirelli production ''Callas Forever'', in which she portrayed opera diva Maria Callas. It opened the 14th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on 9 January 2003. In 2003, Ardant received the Stanislavsky Award at the Moscow International Film Festival (for the outstanding achievement in the career of acting and devotion to the principles of Stanislavsky's school).

In 2009 she became a director and screenwriter, with ''Cendres et sang'' (''Ashes and Blood''). In 2011 she starred in the music video for ''Elle me dit'' by Mika

Controversy

She once expressed admiration for Renato Curcio, ex leader of the militant Red Brigades (''Brigate Rosse''), saying that it was good of him to adhere to his principles. She later discovered that it would be difficult to attend a film festival in Venice, as her declaration had created much scandal in Italy. The Governor of Veneto said that he would prefer that Ardant not visit his region. She then pleaded for forgiveness from victims of terrorism.

Filmography

''Les chiens'' (1979)

''Les Uns et les Autres'' (1981)

''The Woman Next Door'' (1981)

''Desiderio'' (1983)

''Confidentially Yours'' (1983)

''Benvenuta'' by André Delvaux (1983)

''La vie est un roman'' (1983)

''L'amour à mort'' (1984)

''Swann in Love'' (1984)

''Next Summer'' (1986)

''Mélo''

''Conseil De Famille'' (1986)

''La Famiglia'' (''The Family'') (1987)

''Love and Fear'' (1988)

''Australia'' (1989)

''Afraid of the Dark'' (1991)

''Nothing But Lies'' (1992)

''Colonel Chabert'' (1994)

''Sabrina'' (1995)

''Beyond the Clouds'' (1995)

''Désiré'' (1996)

''Pédale douce'' (1996)

''Ridicule'' (1996)

''La cena'' (1998)

''Elizabeth'' (1998)

''Augustin, roi du Kung-fu'' (1999) – Herself

''La débandade'' (1999)

''Balzac: A Life of Passion'' (1999)

''Le fils du français'' (1999)

''Sin noticias de Dios'' (2001)

''Change moi ma vie'' (2001)

''Le Libertin'' (2001)

''No News from God'' (''Sin noticias de Dios'') (2002)

''8 Women'' (2002)

''Callas Forever'' (2002)

''Nathalie...'' (2003)

''L'Odeur du sang'' (2004)

''El Año del diluvio'' (2004)

'' Emeth'' (2006)

'' Paris, je t'aime'' (2006)

'' La chambre d'ami'' (2006)

'' Bord Cadre'' (2006)

'' Le Beau Monde'' (2006)

'' Roman de gare'' (2007)

'' L'Ora di Punta'' (2007)

'' The Secrets'' (2007)

'' Hello Goodbye'' (2008)

'' Il Divo'' (2008)

'' Ashes and Blood'' (2009)

'' You Never Left'' (2010)

Television

''Le Mutant'' (1978)

''La Muse et la Madone'' (1979)

''Ego'' (1979)

''Les Dames de la côte'' (1979)

''Les Bons bourgeois'' (1981)

''Le Chef de famille'' (1982)

''Sarah'' (2003)

Awards and nominations

César Awards

{| style="font-size: 90%;" class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Group!! Award !! Film !! Result |- |1997 || César Awards || Best Actress || ''Pédale douce'' || style="background: #ddffdd" | Won |- |}

{| style="font-size: 90%;" class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Group!! Award !! Film !! Result |- |1982 || César Awards || Best Actress || ''The Woman Next Door (La Femme d'à côté)'' || style="background: #ffdddd" | Nominated |- |1984 || César Awards || Best Actress || ''Confidentially Yours (Vivement dimanche !)'' || style="background: #ffdddd" | Nominated |- |2002 || César Awards || Best Actress || ''8 Women (8 Femmes))'' || style="background: #ffdddd" | Nominated |- |}

Molière Awards

{| style="font-size: 90%;" class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Group!! Award !! Film !! Result |- |1993 || Molière Awards || Best Actress || ''L'Aide-mémoire'' || style="background: #ffdddd" | Nominated |- |1997 || Molière Awards || Best Actress || ''Master Class'' || style="background: #ffdddd" | Nominated |- |}

References

Bibliography

''Anarchisme et surréalisme'', Mémoire de l'I.E.P. d'Aix-en-Provence, 1971.

External links

Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:People from Saumur Category:Alumni of Sciences Po Category:European Film Awards winners (people) Category:French film actors Category:French stage actors Category:French television actors

an:Fanny Ardant bg:Фани Ардан de:Fanny Ardant el:Φανί Αρντάν es:Fanny Ardant fr:Fanny Ardant id:Fanny Ardant it:Fanny Ardant la:Fanny Ardant hu:Fanny Ardant nl:Fanny Ardant ja:ファニー・アルダン pl:Fanny Ardant pt:Fanny Ardant ro:Fanny Ardant ru:Ардан, Фанни fi:Fanny Ardant sv:Fanny Ardant tr:Fanny Ardant uk:Фанні Ардан vi:Fanny Ardant zh:芬妮·亞當