Dom people
دومري (Domari) | |
|---|---|
Domari encampment north of the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem (1914) | |
| Total population | |
| 2.2 million (estimated) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| The Levant, North Africa, the Balkans, Hungary and Eastern Anatolia | |
| Syria | 300,000 |
| Iraq | 200,000 |
| Egypt | 100,000 |
| Jordan | 70,000 |
| Sudan | 50,000 |
| Tunisia | 20,000 |
| Libya | 10,000 |
| Israel | 9,100 |
| Lebanon | 8,000 |
| Languages | |
| Majority: Domari Minority: Arabic · Hebrew · Kurdish | |
| Religion | |
| Islam, irreligion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians, Domba, Ghorbati, Lom, Romani, Abdal of Turkey, other Indo-Aryans | |
The Dom (also called Domi; Arabic: دومي / ALA-LC: Dūmī, دومري / Dūmrī, Ḍom / ضوم or دوم, or sometimes also called Doms) are descendants of the Dom caste with origins in the Indian subcontinent, who through ancient migrations are found scattered across the Middle East and North Africa, the Eastern Anatolia Region, and parts of the Balkans and Hungary. The traditional language of the Dom is Domari, an endangered Indo-Aryan language, thereby making the Dom an Indo-Aryan ethnic group.
The Doms were formerly grouped with other traditionally itinerant ethnic groups originating from medieval India: the Rom and Lom peoples. However, these groups left India at different times and used different routes. The Domari language has a separate origin in India from Romani, and Doms are not closer to the Romani people than other Indians, such as Gujaratis. Dom people do not identify themselves as Romanis.