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Genetik/Peoples/Romani people

Romani people

Цыгане · Q8060

language area per Glottologcensus counts
569,477
Romania, census 2021 (national and/or ethnic group, UN)
1,362,060
sum of censuses in 17 countries, 2001-2022
Indo-European
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Romania: 569,477 people in the 2021 census.

Official figures exist for 17 countries; together they add up to 1,362,060. This is not an estimate of the world total: the censuses were held in different years (2001-2022) and define belonging differently, and countries without such data are not counted.

In Russia's 2020 census (reference date 1 October 2021), 173,400 people identified with the nationality "Цыгане" (Romani people)1. That is 0.13% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 20 other self-designations to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Romani. Glottolog classifies it in the Indo-European family.

Where they live: census figures

Each figure comes from the country's official census. Censuses define belonging differently (self-identification, citizenship, mother tongue, ancestry); the type is given on each row.

Romania2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [2]
569,477
Bulgaria2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [3]
266,720
Russia2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Цыгане» · [1]
173,400
Serbia2022 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [4]
131,936
Slovakia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [5]
67,179
Ukraine2001 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [6]
47,587
North Macedonia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [7]
46,433
Czechia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · usual residents; ethnicity voluntary; persons stating two ethnicities counted under both · [8]
21,691
Moldova, Republic of2014 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [9]
9,323
Belarus2019 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [10]
6,848
Montenegro2011 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [11]
6,251
Latvia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [12]
4,838
Kazakhstan2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [13]
4,200
Slovenia2002 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [14]
3,246
Lithuania2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [15]
2,251
Estonia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [16]
676
Tajikistan2010 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Romani (Gypsy)» · [17]
4
Sum across 17 countries1,362,060

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex, urban and rural, Russian regions

Sex

Men 83,649 · 48.2%Women 89,751 · 51.8%

Urban and rural

Urban 69,140 · 39.9%Rural 104,260 · 60.1%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Stavropol Krai
38,045
Rostov Oblast
14,625
Krasnodar Krai
11,590
Tambov Oblast
5,290
Voronezh Oblast
5,197
Ulyanovsk Oblast
4,341
Penza Oblast
4,272
Kabardino-Balkar Republic
4,122
Astrakhan Oblast
3,950
Volgograd Oblast
3,632

Source [1]: Rosstat, 2020 census, vol. 5, table 1

Languages and their lineage

Romani

  1. Indo-Europeanindo1319
  2. Classical Indo-Europeanclas1257
  3. Indo-Iranianindo1320
  4. Indo-Aryanindo1321
  5. Middle-Modern Indo-Aryanmidd1375
  6. Continental Indo-Aryancont1248
  7. Midlands Indo-Aryanmidl1245
  8. Shaurasenicshau1239
  9. Indo-Aryan Central zoneindo1322
  10. Romaniroma1329

Domari

  1. Indo-Europeanindo1319
  2. Classical Indo-Europeanclas1257
  3. Indo-Iranianindo1320
  4. Indo-Aryanindo1321
  5. Middle-Modern Indo-Aryanmidd1375
  6. Continental Indo-Aryancont1248
  7. Midlands Indo-Aryanmidl1245
  8. Shaurasenicshau1239
  9. Indo-Aryan Central zoneindo1322
  10. Domaridoma1258

People-to-language links: Wikidata (properties P103 and P2936), checked against ISO 639-3 codes. Language classification: Glottolog 5.3.

Peoples of the same language family

PakistanisRussiansMarathiGermansSpaniardsMexicansUkrainiansEnglishIrishAmericansItaliansRomaniansNepali (Khas-Arya)DutchBelarusiansTajiksCzechsScotsSerbsBulgariansSlovaksArmeniansCubansLithuanians

Sources

  1. Rosstat. National composition of the population of the Russian Federation. Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census (reference date 1 October 2021), vol. 5, table 1. Tom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx (archived copy)
  2. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Romania, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  3. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Bulgaria, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  4. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Serbia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  5. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Slovakia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  6. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Ukraine, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  7. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. North Macedonia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  8. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Czechia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  9. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Republic of Moldova, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  10. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Belarus, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  11. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Montenegro, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  12. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Latvia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  13. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Kazakhstan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  14. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Slovenia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  15. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Lithuania, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  16. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Estonia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  17. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Tajikistan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  18. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)