Romani diaspora

[4][5][6] They settled in the areas of present-day Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Croatia, Moldova, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Hungary, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia, by order of volume, and Spain.

The Romani people identify with distinct sub-ethnic groups based in part on territorial, religious, cultural and dialectal differences, and self-designation.

Romani people have additional internal distinctions, with groups identified as; Xoroxane (Muslim Roma in the Balkans); Xaladytka (Ruska Roma); Bashaldé; Churari; Ungaritza; Machvaya (Machavaya, Machwaya, or Macwaia) in Serbia; Romungro in Hungary and neighbouring Carpathian countries; Erlides (Yerlii, Arli); Argintari from silversmiths; Aurari from goldsmiths; Florari from florists; and Lăutari from singers.

Many of the former Communist countries like the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria have entered the European Union, and free travel is permitted.

They started from India, traveled towards the direction of Persia, Syria, Iraq and through Armenia into the Western Byzantine territories, then through the Balkans into Europe.

[120] Romani people constitute the third largest ethnic group (after Bulgarians and Turks) in Bulgaria, they are referred to as "цигани" (cigani) or "роми" (romi).

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain participate in these programs.

In 1812, when Napoleon I invaded Russia, the Romani diasporas of Moscow and Saint Petersburg gave large sums of money and good horses for the Russian army.

They took part in the war as soldiers, officers, infantrymen, tankmen, artillerymen, aviators, drivers, paramedical workers, and doctors.

Romani actors, singers, musicians, dancers (mostly women) performed for soldiers in the front line and in hospitals.

Early on, due to their socio-cultural difference and nomadic style of live, the Ciganos were the object of fierce discrimination and persecution.

[143] By law, French municipalities over 5,000 inhabitants have the obligation to allocate a piece of land to Romani travellers when they arrive.

[146] Romani in Italy are generally known as zingaro (with the plural zingari), a word also used to describe a scruffy or slovenly person or a tinker.

[150] Romani families from Romania, Bulgarian and Poland have been living and working in Iceland as part of the East European labour migrant communities.

Recently the term romer has been adopted as a collective designation which encompasses Romanisæl and Eastern European Roma migrant communities.

For example, in 1992, Bert Karlsson, a leader of Ny Demokrati, said, "Gypsies are responsible for 90% of crime against senior citizens" in Sweden.

According to the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs there were 7,456 Romani living in Latvia as of 1 January 2017, comprising 0.3% of the total population.

[163][164] One route taken by the medieval proto-Romani cut across Indian Subcontinent to Roman Egypt and Asia Minor to Europe.

In 1347 the Black Death had reached Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire; in 1390 the Turks defeated the Greek kingdom in Asia; and ten years later, the Battle of Aleppo marked the advance of the Mongols under Tamerlane.

In the Chronicle of Cyprus compiled by Florio Bustron, the Cingani are said to have paid tax to the royal treasury, at that time under King James II.

Later, in 1549, the French traveler Andre Theret found "les Egyptiens ou Bohemiens" in Cyprus and other Mediterranean islands.

He noted their simple way of life, supported by the production of nails by the men and belts by the women, which they sold to the local population.

[183] At the beginning of the 19th century, the first major Romani group, the Romanichal from Great Britain, arrived in North America, although some had also immigrated during the colonial era.

The ancestors of the majority of the contemporary local Romani population in the United States, who are Eastern European Roma, started to immigrate during the second half of the century, drawn by opportunities for industrial jobs.

[184] Immigration from Eastern Europe decreased drastically in the post-World War II era, during the years of Communist rule.

[191] Romani groups settled the Brazilian states of Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais primarily in the late 19th century.

The Machvaya came from present-day Serbia (then Austria-Hungary), the Kalderash from Romania, the Lovari from Italy, and the Horahane from Greece and Turkey.

It portrayed their lifestyles, ideas and occasionally featured the Chilean-born actors speaking in the Romani language, with subtitles in Spanish.

[193] In 1999, the Colombian Government recognized the Romani people as a national ethnic minority, and today, around 8,000 Roma are present in Colombia.

In spite of a ban introduced in 1720, a number of Romani families arrived in the country during the time when Angola was a Portuguese colony.