Lom people
 Bosha gypsies, 19th century |
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (up to 2,000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Lomavren, Armenian, Georgian, Turkish | |
| Religion | |
| Armenian Apostolic Church, Islam (In Turkey) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other Romani people |
The Lom people, also known as Bosha by non-Loms (Armenian: Բոշա; Georgian: ბოშა; Russian: Боша; Azeri: Poşa) or Armenian Romani (Russian: армянские цыгане; Armenian: հայ գնչուներ) or Caucasian Romani (Russian: кавказские цыгане), are an ethnic group in historic Armenia. Their Lomavren language is a mixed language, combining Indo-Aryan and Armenian.
The Lom, like the Dom people, are sometimes considered a separate branch of the proto-Romani people who remained in historic Armenia in the 11th century, while the ancestors of the contemporary Romani migrated further west in the 13th and 14th centuries. The names Dom, Lom and Rom are likely to have the same origin (see Names of the Romani people for details). The Lom are also said to be related to the Lambani people or the Indian Romani; the Lomavren language is also very similar to the Lambani language.
The exact number of existing Bosha is difficult to determine, due to the dispersed and often mostly-assimilated nature of the group. Estimates suggest only a few thousand of the people can be found across Armenia and Georgia, while Government census reports only 50 living in the former.
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