Romani people in Hungary
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (315,583 (census 2011) Estimates: 450,000 to 1,000,000 ) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County
|
58,246 |
 Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County
|
44,133 |
 Pest County
|
20,065 |
 Budapest
|
19,530 |
 Heves County
|
19,312 |
 Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County
|
18,935 |
 Hajdú-Bihar County
|
18,132 |
 Baranya County
|
16,995 |
 Somogy County
|
16,167 |
 Nógrád County
|
15,177 |
| Languages | |
| mainly Hungarian (91–92% in 2001),Romani | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism and Calvinism | |
Romani people in Hungary (also known as Hungarian Roma or Romani Hungarians; Hungarian: magyarországi romák or magyar cigányok) are Hungarian citizens of Romani descent. According to the 2011 census, they compose 3.18% of the total population, which alone makes them the largest minority in the country, although various estimations have put the number of Romani people as high as 5–10 percent of the total population.
The Romani people originate from Northern India, presumably from the northwestern Indian states Rajasthan and Punjab.
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 and Punjabi. It shares many phonetic features with Marwari, while its grammar is closest to Bengali.
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 India, traditionally referred to collectively as the Ḍoma, are the likely ancestral populations of 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 to recognize the Roma community spread across 30 countries as a part of the Indian diaspora.
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