_p304_GRUPO_DE_CIGANOS.jpg) 1892 description of a group of Romani from the Alentejo | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| est. 30,000 – 50,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Lisbon, Setúbal, Alentejo and Algarve | |
| Languages | |
| Portuguese, Caló | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism |
The Romani people in Portugal, known in spoken Portuguese as ciganos (Portuguese pronunciation: [siˈɣɐnuʃ]), but also alternatively known as calés, calós, and boémios, are a minority ethnic group. The exact numbers of Romani people in the country are unknown—estimates vary from 40,000 to 60,000.[1][2]
As implied by some of their most common local names, the Portuguese Romani belong to the Iberian Kale group, like most of the fellow Lusophone Brazilian ciganos, and the Spanish Romani people, known as gitanos, that share their same ethnic group. Their presence in the country in and around Minho has been registered in the second half of the 15th century when they crossed the border from neighbouring Spain. Early on, due to their sociocultural differences and nomadic lifestyle, the ciganos were the object of fierce discrimination and persecution.[3] As a group of people, the Romani have had a disproportionate representation in annual arrests, incarceration numbers and police reports across the country and throughout time.[4]
The number of Romani people in Portugal is difficult to estimate, since it is forbidden to collect statistics about race or ethnic categories in the country. According to data from Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance[5] there are about 40,000 to 60,000 spread all over the country.[1][2][6] According to the Portuguese branch of Amnesty International, there are about 30,000 to 50,000 around 2010.[7] The national High Commissioner for Migrations places the number at around 37,000.[8]
- ^ a b Gomes, Catarina (5 February 2017). "Só 2,5% dos ciganos completaram o ensino secundário". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ a b Lourenço, Jaime (29 June 2023). "Comunidade cigana: as inverdades que levam à discriminação e exclusão". UALMedia (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ (in Portuguese) Joel Serrão, Ciganos, in Dicionário de História de Portugal, Lisboa, 2006.
- ^ "Criminalidade, Etnicidade e Desigualdades O crime nos reclusos dos PALOP, Leste Europeu e de etnia cigana e as percepções dos guardas prisionais e dos elementos da direcção acerca deles" (PDF).
- ^ (in Portuguese) ECRI (2002), Relatório da Comissão Europeia contra o Racismo e a Intolerância - Segundo Relatório sobre Portugal, Estrasburgo, p. 23 (In Portuguese). Archived 2008-12-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ (in Portuguese) "Comissão critica Portugal por discriminar ciganos" in Diário de Notícias, 13/02/2007 Archived 2009-01-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ As reported by the newspaper Público on April 7, 2010 "Amnistia Internacional alerta para marginalização dos ciganos em Portugal - Sociedade - PUBLICO.PT". Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2010..
- ^ "Comunidade cigana em Portugal é de 37 mil indivíduos e 91,3% não tem o 3.º ciclo". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Lusa. 19 May 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2021.