According to the last census from 2002, there were 53,879 people counted as

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

, the majority are Muslim Romani people in what is now

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

, or 2.66% of the population. Another 3,843 people have been counted as " Egyptians" (0.2%). One of the majority group are the

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

, and

Gurbeti Gurbeti (also Kurbet or Kurbat) are a sub-group of the Romani people living in Cyprus and North Cyprus, Turkey, Crimea, Albania, Serbia and former Yugoslavia whose members are Eastern Orthodox and predominantly Muslim Roma. The Gurbeti make up a ...

. Other sources claim the number to be between 80,000 and 260 000 Roma in North Macedonia or approximately 4 to 12% of the total population. The municipality of

Šuto Orizari Šuto Orizari ( mk, , Balkan Romani: ''Shuto Orizari''), often shortened as ''Šutka'' ( mk, Шутка, sq, Shutkë), is a neighbourhood in the City of Skopje, North Macedonia, and the seat of Šuto Orizari Municipality. It is often regarded ...

is the only municipality in the world with a Muslim Romani people majority and the only municipality where Balkan Romani is an official language alongside Macedonian. The mayor of the municipality, Kurto Dudush, is an ethnic Roma. In 2009, the

Government of the Republic of North Macedonia Politics in North Macedonia occur within the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. L ...

took measures to enlarge inclusion of Romani in the education process. North Macedonia is the region's leader in respecting the rights of the Romani people. It is the first country in the region with a minister of Romani ethnicity and also has many Romani in high government positions. However, there is still a lot to be done concerning the education and integration of the Romani.

History

Origin

The Romani people originate from Northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, presumably from the northwestern Indian states

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

and

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

. The linguistic evidence has indisputably shown that roots of Romani language lie in India: the language has grammatical characteristics of Indian languages and shares with them a big part of the basic lexicon, for example, body parts or daily routines. More exactly, Romani shares the basic lexicon with

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

and Punjabi. It shares many phonetic features with 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, the ancestors of present scheduled tribes and scheduled caste populations of northern

, traditionally referred to collectively as the

Ḍoma The Dom (Sanskrit ''ḍoma'', dialectally also Domra, Domba, Domaka, Dombari and variants) are castes, or groups, scattered across India. Dom were a caste of drummer. According to Tantra scriptures, the Dom were engaged in the occupations of sing ...

, are the likely ancestral populations of the 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: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

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

Indian diaspora Overseas Indians (IAST: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) are Indians who live outside of the Republic of India. According to the Government of India, ''Non-Resident Indians'' are citizens of Indi ...

Language

The Romani in North Macedonia speak three different Balkan Romani dialects: Arli (the most prominent of the three), Džambaz, and Burgudži.

Gallery

File:Macedonia roma 2002.PNG, Romani minority in North Macedonia (census 2002) File:Macedonia roma 2002 (average).PNG, Romani minority in North Macedonia (census 2002)

Religion

The majority are Muslim Romani people who are

Cultural Muslims Cultural Muslims are religiously non-practicing individuals who still identify with Islam due to family backgrounds, personal experiences, or the social and cultural environment in which they grew up. Definition In Central Asia and in former co ...

and some practised Sufism, with a minority of Christian who belong to the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

and a few to Evangelicalism.

Notable people

* Emil Abaz *

Rahim Burhan Rahim Burhan ( mk, Рахим Бурхан; born 24 November 1949) is a North Macedonia, Macedonian theatre director. Burhan became known as the founder and artistic director of the Roma-theatre "Pralipe" (engl. 'brotherhood') from Skopje. He gre ...

* Ferus Mustafov *

Esma Redžepova Esma Redžepova-Teodosievska ( mk, Есма Реџепова-Теодосиевска, ; 8 August 1943 – 11 December 2016) was a Macedonian Romani vocalist, songwriter and humanitarian. Because of her prolific repertoire, which included hund ...

Muharem Serbezovski Muharem "Mumo" Serbezovski ( mk, Мухарем Сербезовски; born 2 May 1950) is a Muslim Roma singer, popular in former Yugoslavia. He is also a writer and translator and was briefly in Bosnian politics in the 2000s. Although born in ...

References

External links

"Romani language in Macedonia in the Third Millennium: Progress and Problems"

Victor Friedman Victor A. Friedman (born October 18, 1949) is an American linguist, Slavist. He is the Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Service Professor in Humanities at the University of Chicago. He holds an appointment in the Department of Linguistics and an ...

.
"The Romani Language in the Republic of Macedonia: Status, Usage and Sociolinguistic Perspectives
Victor Friedman. {{Europe topic , Romani people in Romani in North Macedonia