Roma & Sinti (Manouches)

The Roma People, often also referred to as Gypsies, are a heterogeneous ethnic group believed to have originated mostly in the Punjab and Rajasthan regions of India, and to have begun their migration to Europe and North Africa via the Iranian plateau around 1050. Traditionally most Roma spoke Romani (Romany), an Indo-Aryan language. Today, however, most Roma speak the dominant language of their region of residence. Worldwide, there are an estimated 8 to 10 million Roma, most of whom reside in Europe.

The Sinti (also known as “Manouche”) reside primarily in Alsace and other regions of France and Germany; the term “Sinti” derives etymologically from “Sindh”, a province in what is now Pakistan, to which the Sinti trace their ancestry.