According to the last census taken in 2002, the official number of Roma in Romania
was 535,140 persons, representing almost 2.5% of the population. There is, however, a
widespread consensus that this figure does not reflect the real number of Roma. It is generally
assumed that there is a considerable discrepancy between the number of those who
self-identify as Roma in the census and the number of those who are externally identified
as belonging to this group. And there is general agreement that the number of those who
according to external criteria are considered Roma is several times higher than the figure
provided by the census.
“The Roma” is an umbrella concept covering a wide range of realities: from groups displaying
relevant cultural aspects (occupation, dress, language use, etc.) that are generally
considered as features of the traditional Romani lifestyle, to persons living in extremely
marginal situations in conditions that are frequently associated with the Roma (Engebrigsten
2007; Fleck & Rughinis 2008; Kligman 2001; Ladányi & Szelényi 2001; MarianBalasa
2004); from persons who in a variety of situations use for self-identification the
category of Roma (in Rumanian, ?igan), to persons who are identified by others as Roma,
but would only situationally (if at all) make use of this ethnonym for self-identification
(Beissinger 2001; Rughinis 2010). Due to this complex interplay and the multidimensionality
of external and self-identification, it is rather difficult to use the classical techniques
of quantitative description in order to accurately describe the condition of this population.
In these circumstances it is unanimously accepted that the census data on the number
of Roma are not reliable.