Romani people in Algeria historically included Gitanos who migrated there along with other Spanish people in the late 19th century, during the French colonial period; most of these left for France following Algeria's independence in 1962, resulting in a large community in the South of France.
[2] Ratcliffe (1933)[3] describes a Gitano encampment on the heights above Algiers, whose Catholic inhabitants sold lace and mended chairs.
Notable descendants of the Gitanos who used to live in Algeria include the film-maker Tony Gatlif and the footballer André-Pierre Gignac.
[4] Thomas (2000)[5] reports that two other groups may be present: the Afrikaya, described as "possibly Manouche or French-speaking Gypsies originally from France", and the Xoraxane, a Muslim Roma group more usually associated with the Balkans.
Roma in general ultimately come from South Asia, particularly from Northern India, having reached the Mediterranean region in Byzantine times.