Romani people in the Republic of Macedonia

Romani people in the Republic of Macedonia

Macedonian Romani children (around 1900)
Total population
(53 879 (2002 census)
80 000 to 260 000 (Unofficial estimations))
Languages
Romani (Balkan Romani) and Macedonian
Religion
Sunni Islam [1]
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According to the last census from 2002, there were 53 879 people counted as Romani in the Republic of Macedonia, or 2.66% of the population. Another 3 843 people have been counted as "Egyptians" (0.2%). Altogether, 2.85% Romani and Egyptians have been registered in Macedonia.

Other sources claim the number to be between 80 000[2] and 260 000[3] Roma in Macedonia or approximately 4 to 12% of the total population.

The municipality of Šuto Orizari is the only municipality in the world with a Romani majority and the only municipality where Romani is an official language. Due to the demographics, both Romani and Macedonian are official in Šuto Orizari, the municipality being officially bilingual. The mayor of the municipality, Elvis Bajram, is an ethnic Roma.

In 2009, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia took measures to enlarge inclusion of Romani in the education process.[4]

The Republic of 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 a lot of Romani in high government positions. However, there is still a lot to be done concerning the education and integration of the Romani.[5]

History

Origin

The Romani people originate from Northern India,[6][7][8][9][10][11] presumably from the northwestern Indian states Rajasthan[10][11] and Punjab.[10]

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.[12]

More exactly, Romani shares the basic lexicon with Hindi and Punjabi. It shares many phonetic features with Marwari, while its grammar is closest to Bengali.[13]

Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Romani originated in northwestern India and migrated as a group.[7][8][14] According to a genetic study in 2012, the ancestors of present scheduled tribes and scheduled caste populations of northern India, traditionally referred to collectively as the Ḍoma, are the likely ancestral populations of the modern European Roma.[15]

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 to recognize the Roma community spread across 30 countries as a part of the Indian diaspora.[16]

References

  1. ↑ http://romafacts.uni-graz.at/index.php/culture/introduction/roma-muslims-in-the-balkans
  2. ↑ http://www.romnews.com/community/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=260
  3. ↑ http://europeandcis.undp.org/uploads/public/File/rbec_web/vgr/chapter1.1.pdf
  4. ↑ Government of the Republic of Macedonia
  5. ↑ Makfax
  6. ↑ Hancock 2002, p. xx: ‘While a nine century removal from India has diluted Indian biological connection to the extent that for some Romanian groups, it may be hardly representative today, Sarren (1976:72) concluded that we still remain together, genetically, Asian rather than European’
  7. 1 2 Mendizabal, Isabel (6 December 2012). "Reconstructing the Population History of European Romani from Genome-wide Data". Current Biology. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  8. 1 2 Sindya N. Bhanoo (11 December 2012). "Genomic Study Traces Roma to Northern India". New York Times.
  9. ↑ Current Biology.
  10. 1 2 3 K. Meira Goldberg; Ninotchka Devorah Bennahum; Michelle Heffner Hayes. "Flamenco on the Global Stage: Historical, Critical and Theoretical Perspectives". Books.google.ca. p. 50. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  11. 1 2 Simon Broughton; Mark Ellingham; Richard Trillo. "World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East". Books.google.ca. p. 147. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  12. ↑ Šebková, Hana; Žlnayová, Edita (1998), Nástin mluvnice slovenské romštiny (pro pedagogické účely) (PDF), Ústí nad Labem: Pedagogická fakulta Univerzity J. E. Purkyně v Ústí nad Labem, p. 4, ISBN 80-7044-205-0
  13. ↑ Hübschmannová, Milena (1995). "Romaňi čhib – romština: Několik základních informací o romském jazyku". Bulletin Muzea romské kultury. Brno: Muzeum romské kultury (4/1995). Zatímco romská lexika je bližší hindštině, marvárštině, pandžábštině atd., v gramatické sféře nacházíme mnoho shod s východoindickým jazykem, s bengálštinou.
  14. ↑ "5 Intriguing Facts About the Roma". Live Science.
  15. ↑ Rai, N; Chaubey, G; Tamang, R; Pathak, AK; Singh, VK (2012), "The Phylogeography of Y-Chromosome Haplogroup H1a1a-M82 Reveals the Likely Indian Origin of the European Romani Populations", PLoS ONE, 7 (11): e48477, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048477
  16. ↑ "Can Romas be part of Indian diaspora?". khaleejtimes.com. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
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