There is a significant
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
population in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, most being the descendants of past migrants. According to data collected by the
National Institute of Statistics and Geography
The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI by its name in es, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática) is an autonomous agency of the Mexican Government dedicated to coordinate the National System of Stat ...
in 2000, they numbered 15,850,
however, the total number is likely larger.
In Mexico, they are commonly known as ''gitanos'' or ''rom''.
History
The first gypsy group in Mexico were the Spanish
gitanos
The Romani in Spain, generally known by the exonym () or the endonym ''Calé'', belong to the Iberian Cale Romani subgroup, with smaller populations in Portugal (known as ) and in Southern France. Their sense of identity and cohesion stems f ...
that arrived during the
Colonial era.
Some of the mid-19th century migrants may have arrived to Mexico via
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
In the late 19th and early 20th century migrants from
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
began arriving.
In 1931, after a substantial colony of these latter gypsies had settled, and following complaints of delinquency, the law was changed to prohibit further settlement in Mexico.
Culture
In the mid 1900s, Romani caravans were known for showing movies in rural towns (''cine ambulante'', traveling cinema).
Today, their economic activities mainly revolve around the sale of textiles, cars, trucks and jewelry and also the teaching of singing and dancing.
As a result of adoption of
Evangelical Protestantism
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...
, there has been an almost complete abandonment of
fortune-telling
Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical wi ...
as a profession among the Romani of Mexico City.
Notable individuals
*
Alfonso Mejia-Arias - musician, writer and politician
See also
*
La Lagunilla Market
La Lagunilla Market is a traditional public market in Mexico City, located about ten blocks north of the city's main plaza, in a neighborhood called La Lagunilla. The market is one of the largest in the city and consists of three sections: one f ...
- popular with Romani merchants
Further reading
* D. W. Pickett, "The Gypsies of Mexico", ''Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society'', 1966
References
{{Romani diaspora
Mexican