Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow
Saint Philip II of Moscow was a Russian Orthodox monk, who became Metropolitan of Moscow during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. He was one of a few Metropolitans who dared to contradict royal authority, it is believed that the Tsar had him murdered on that account, he is venerated as a martyr in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was born Feodor Stepanovich Kolychev into one of the noblest boyar families of Muscovy, in the city of Galich. However, according to some sources, he was born in Moscow. Grand Prince Vasili III took young Theodore into the royal court, it is said. According to other accounts, he was involved in the conspiracy of Prince Andrey of Staritsa against Elena Glinskaya and, when their plans were discovered, he escaped to Solovetsky Monastery on the White Sea, yet another account says that his decision to become a monk occurred on Sunday, June 5, 1537, while he was standing in church for the Divine Liturgy, on hearing the words of Jesus: "No man can serve two masters". According to this account, he secretly left Moscow dressed as a muzhik, for a while he hid himself away from the world in the village of Khizna, near Lake Onega, earning his livelihood as a shepherd joining the monastery at Solovetsk.
At any rate, he entered the monastery at Solovki at the age of 30, a year and a half he was tonsured, receiving the religious name of Philip. In the monastery he worked as a baker. Eleven years Philip was made hegumen of the monastery. During his term in office, they constructed two cathedrals, a brick-yard, many water-mills and storehouses, a network of canals connecting 72 lakes, it is said. As a result, the monastery experienced a spiritual revival, he adopted a new monastic Rule for the community. Most of Philip's projects in Solovki survive to this day; the tsar heard about the indefatigable monk and asked him to fill the vacant metropolitan see of Moscow. Philip agreed on condition. On June 25, 1566 Philip was consecrated a bishop and enthroned as Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia. After only two years, Ivan the Terrible persisted with committing murders under the aegis of Oprichnina. During Great Lent, on the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross, March 2, 1568, when the Tsar came to the cathedral for Divine Liturgy, Philip refused to bless him and publicly rebuked him for the ongoing massacre.
The Massacre of Novgorod ensued, Philip's condemnation followed. Ivan deposed Philip from office by raising incredible charges of sorcery and dissolute living. Philip was arrested during Liturgy at the Cathedral of Dormition and imprisoned in a dingy cell of the Theophany Monastery, fettered with chains, with a heavy collar around his neck, was deprived of food for a few days in succession, he was transferred and immured at the Monastery of the Fathers at Tver. In November 1568, the tsar summoned the Holy Synod. A year on December 23, 1569, he was strangled by the Tsar's minion, Malyuta Skuratov at Otroch, two days before Christmas; as if aware of his approaching death, Philip had asked to receive Holy Communion three days earlier. After his martyrdom, monks from Solovki Monastery asked for permission to transfer the body of St. Philip to their monastery; when they opened up the tomb they found the body of the hierarch was incorrupt, various healings began to be reported. The transfer of his remains from Tver to the Solovki Monastery took place in 1590.
In 1652, Patriarch Nikon persuaded Tsar Alexis to bring Philip's relics to Moscow, where he was glorified that same year. His memory is celebrated three times a year: His main feast day falls on January 9; the feast of the translation of his relics is celebrated on July 3. On October 5 he is celebrated as one of the Hierarchs of Moscow; the celebration of a special day to honor Saints Peter and Jonah as "Metropolitans and Wonderworkers of All Russia" was established by Patriarch Job in 1596. In 1875, St. Innocent, Metropolitan of Moscow proposed. Ivan the Terrible, a Soviet era film about Ivan IV of Russia Tsar, a 2009 Russian drama film directed by Pavel Lungin. Attwater and Catherine Rachel John; the Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-051312-4 Hieromartyr Philip the Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia Orthodox icon and synaxarion for January 9 Translation of the relics of Hieromartyr Philip the Metropolitan of Moscow July 3 Synaxis of the Hierarchs of Moscow October 5 Translation of the Relics of our Father among the Saints Metropolitan Philip
Phragmites
Phragmites is a genus of four species of large perennial grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, maintained by Kew Garden in London, accepts the following four species: Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. – cosmopolitan Phragmites japonicus Steud. – Japan, Ryukyu Islands, Russian Far East Phragmites karka Trin. Ex Steud. – tropical Africa, southern Asia, some Pacific Islands Phragmites mauritianus Kunth – central + southern Africa, Mauritius The cosmopolitan common reed has the accepted botanical name Phragmites australis. Trin. Ex Steud. About 130 other synonyms have been proposed, some have been used. Examples include. Arundo phragmites L. and Phragmites vulgaris Crép.. Recent studies have characterised morphological distinctions between the introduced and native stands of Phragmites australis in North America; the Eurasian phenotype can be distinguished from the North American phenotype by its shorter ligules of up to 0.9 millimetres as opposed to over 1.0 millimetre, shorter glumes of under 3.2 millimetres against over 3.2 millimetres, in culm characteristics.
Phragmites australis subsp. Americanus – the North American genotype has been described as a distinct subspecies, subsp. Americanus, Phragmites australis – the Eurasian genotype is sometimes referred to as subsp. Australis, but this is a synonym. Phragmites australis subsp. Altissimus Clayton is an accepted subspecies of P. australis. Phragmites australis var. marsillyanus Kerguélen is an accepted variety of Phragmites australis. In North America, the status of Phragmites australis was a source of debate, it was considered an exotic species and invasive species, introduced from Europe. However, there is evidence of the existence of Phragmites as a native plant in North America long before European colonization of the continent, it is now known. Americanus are markedly less vigorous than European forms; the recent marked expansion of Phragmites in North America may be due to the more vigorous, but similar-looking European subsp. Australis. Phragmites lowers the local plant biodiversity. Phragmites forms dense thickets of vegetation, unsuitable habitat for native fauna.
Phragmites displaces native plants species such as wild rice and native wetland orchids. Phragmites has a high above ground biomass that blocks light to other plants allowing areas to turn into Phragmites monoculture quickly. Decomposing Phragmites increases the rate of marsh accretion more than would occur with native marsh vegetation. Phragmites australis subsp. Australis is causing serious problems for many other North American hydrophyte wetland plants, including the native Phragmites australis subsp. Americanus. Gallic acid released by Phragmites is degraded by ultraviolet light to produce mesoxalic acid hitting susceptible plants and seedlings with two harmful toxins. Phragmites is so difficult to control that one of the most effective methods of eradicating the plant is to burn it over 2-3 seasons; the roots grow so strong that one burn is not enough. Ongoing research suggests that goats could be used to control the species. Since 2017, over 80% of the beds of Phragmites in the Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management Area have been damaged by the invasive "roseau cane scale", Nipponaclerda biwakoensis, threatening wildlife habitat throughout the affected regions of the WMA.
While considered a noxious weed, in Louisiana the reed beds are considered critical to the stability of the shorelines of wetland areas and waterways of the Mississippi Delta, the die-off of reed beds is believed to accelerate coastal erosion. Phragmites australis, common reed forms extensive stands, which may be as much as 1 square kilometre or more in extent. Where conditions are suitable it can spread at 5 metres or more per year by horizontal runners, which put down roots at regular intervals, it can grow in damp ground, in standing water up to 1 metre or so deep, or as a floating mat. The erect stems grow to 2–6 metres tall, with the tallest plants growing in areas with hot summers and fertile growing conditions; the leaves are long for 20 -- 50 centimetres and 2 -- 3 centimetres broad. The flowers are produced in late summer in about 20 -- 50 cm long; the numerous long, sharp pointed spikelets appear greyer due to the growth of long, silky hairs. These help disperse the minute seeds, it is a helophyte common in alkaline habitats, it tolerates brackish water, so is found at the upper edges of estuaries and on other wetlands which are inundated by the sea.
A study demonstrated that Phragmites australis has similar greenhouse gas emissions to native Spartina alterniflora. However, other studies have demonstrated that it is associated with larger methane emissions and greater carbon dioxide uptake than native New England salt marsh vegetation that occurs at higher marsh elevations. Common reed is suppressed where it is grazed by livestock. Under these conditions it either grows as small shoots within the grassland sward, or it disappears altogether. In Europe, common reed is invasive, except in damp grasslands where traditional grazing has been abandoned. Common reed is important (together
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church, alternatively known as the Moscow Patriarchate, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The Primate of the ROC is the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'; the ROC, as well as the primate thereof ranks fifth in the Orthodox order of precedence below the four ancient patriarchates of the Greek Orthodox Church, those of Constantinople, Alexandria and Jerusalem. Since 15 October 2018, the ROC is not in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, having unilaterally severed ties in reaction to the establishment of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, finalised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 5 January 2019; the Christianization of Kievan Rus' seen as the birth of the ROC, is believed to have occurred in 988 through the baptism of the Kievan prince Vladimir and his people by the clergy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, whose constituent part the ROC remained for the next six centuries, while the Kievan see remained in the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate until 1686.
The ROC claims its exclusive jurisdiction over the Orthodox Christians, irrespective of their ethnic background, who reside in the former member republics of the Soviet Union, excluding Georgia and Armenia, although this claim is disputed in such countries as Estonia and Ukraine and parallel canonical Orthodox jurisdictions exist in those: the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church, the Metropolis of Bessarabia, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, respectively. It exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the autonomous Church of Japan and the Orthodox Christians resident in the People's Republic of China; the ROC branches in Belarus, Latvia and Ukraine since the 1990s enjoy various degrees of self-government, albeit short of the status of formal ecclesiastical autonomy. The ROC should not be confused with the Orthodox Church in America, another autocephalous Orthodox church, that traces its existence in North America to the time of the Russian missionaries in Alaska in the late 18th century; the ROC should not be confused with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, headquartered in the United States.
The ROCOR was instituted in the 1920s by Russian communities outside Communist Russia, which refused to recognize the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate de facto headed by Metropolitan Sergius Stragorodsky. The two churches reconciled on May 17, 2007; the Christian community that developed into what is now known as the Russian Orthodox Church is traditionally said to have been founded by the Apostle Andrew, thought to have visited Scythia and Greek colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea. According to one of the legends, Andrew reached the future location of Kiev and foretold the foundation of a great Christian city; the spot where he erected a cross is now marked by St. Andrew's Cathedral. By the end of the first millennium AD, eastern Slavic lands started to come under the cultural influence of the Eastern Roman Empire. In 863–69, the Byzantine monks Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, both from the region of Macedonia in the Eastern Roman Empire translated parts of the Bible into the Old Church Slavonic language for the first time, paving the way for the Christianization of the Slavs and Slavicized peoples of Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Southern Russia.
There is evidence that the first Christian bishop was sent to Novgorod from Constantinople either by Patriarch Photius or Patriarch Ignatios, c. 866–867. By the mid-10th century, there was a Christian community among Kievan nobility, under the leadership of Bulgarian and Byzantine priests, although paganism remained the dominant religion. Princess Olga of Kiev was the first ruler of Kievan Rus′, born a Christian, her grandson, Vladimir of Kiev, made Rus' a Christian state. The official Christianization of Kievan Rus' is believed to have occurred in 988 AD, when Prince Vladimir was baptised himself and ordered his people to be baptised by the priests from the Eastern Roman Empire; the Kievan church was a junior metropolitanate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Ecumenical Patriarch appointed the metropolitan, a Greek, who governed the Church of Rus'. The Kiev Metropolitan's residence was located in Kiev itself, the capital of the medieval Rus' state; as Kiev was losing its political and economical significance due to the Mongol invasion, Metropolitan Maximus moved to Vladimir in 1299.
Following the tribulations of the Mongol invasion, the Russian Church was pivotal in the survival and life of the Russian state. Despite the politically motivated murders of Mikhail of Chernigov and Mikhail of Tver, the Mongols were tolerant and granted tax exemption to the church; such holy figures as Sergius of Radonezh and Metropolitan Alexis helped the country to withstand years of Mongol rule, to expand both economically and spiritually. The Trinity monastery founded by Sergius of Radonezh became the setting for the flourishing of spiritual art, exemplified by the work of Andrey Rublev, among others; the followers of Sergius founded four hundred monasteries, thus extending the geographical extent of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. In 1439, at t
Germans of Romania
The Germans of Romania or Rumäniendeutsche are an ethnic group of Romania. During the interwar period in Romania, the total number of ethnic Germans amounted to as much as 786,000, a figure which had subsequently fallen to circa 36,000 as of 2011 in contemporary Romania; the Germans of Romania are not a single, homogeneous group, but rather a series of different sub-groups, each with their own culture, traditions and history. This stems from the fact that various German-speaking populations arrived on the territory of present-day Romania in different waves or stages of settlement as early as the High Middle Ages, firstly to southern and northeastern Transylvania subsequently during the Modern Age in other Habsburg-ruled lands, as well as in other areas of contemporary Romania. Therefore, given their rather complex geographic background, in order to understand their language, culture and history, one must regard them as the following independent groups: Transylvanian Saxons – the largest and oldest German community on the territory of modern-day Romania.
1780–1940. Furthermore, still to this date Suceava County is one of the Romanian counties with some of the most significant amount of ethnic Germans in the country. Throughout the passing of time, the German community in Romania has been and contributing to the culture of the country; the most noteworthy examples of such contributions are visible in the following aspects: Romanian architecture. In the time of Romania's transition from a middle-sized principality to a larger kingdom, members of the German House of Hohenzollern reigned over the Danubian United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia and eventually over the unified Kingdom of Romania both during the 19th and 20th centuries; the ruling Romanian monarchs who were part of this dynastic branch were the following ones: Pretenders to the throne of Romania: The data displayed in the table below highlights notable settlements of the German minority in Romania according to the 2011 Romanian census. Note that some particular figures might be estimative.
Below is represented the notable German minority population for some counties, according to the 2011 census. The German minority in unified Romania has been represented by a number of political parties which gained parliamentary presence during the early to mid-early 20th century, more the Group of Transylvanian Saxons, the German Party, the German People's Party. All those parties are not politically active anymore. Instead, the entire German-speaking community in post-1989 Romania is represented at official level by the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania; the forum is a political platform that has a centrist ideology which aims to support the minority rights of the Germans from Romania. Since 1989, the DFDR/FDGR has competed both in local and legislative elections, cooperating in the process with two historical parties of the Romanian politics, namely the National Liberal Party and the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party, most notably at local administrative level, in cities such as Sibiu, Timișoara, or Baia Mare (G
Dobruja
Dobruja or Dobrudja is a historical region in Eastern Europe, divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. It is situated between the lower Danube River and the Black Sea, includes the Danube Delta, Romanian coast, the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast; the territory of Dobruja is made up of Northern Dobruja, part of Romania, Southern Dobruja, which belongs to Bulgaria. The territory of the Romanian region Dobrogea is organised as the counties of Constanța and Tulcea, with a combined area of 15,500 km2 and a population of less than 900 thousand, its main cities are Constanța, Tulcea and Mangalia. Dobrogea is represented by dolphins in the coat of arms of Romania; the Bulgarian region Dobrudzha is divided among the administrative regions of Silistra. This section has a total area of 7,565 km2, with a combined population of some 310,000 people, the main towns being Dobrich and Silistra. With the exception of the Danube Delta, a marshy region located in its northeastern corner, Dobruja is hilly, with an average altitude of about 200–300 metres.
The highest point is the Țuțuiatu Peak in the Măcin Mountains, having a height of 467 m. The Dobrogea Plateau covers most of the Romanian part of Dobruja; the Ludogorie Plateau is found in Bulgaria. Lake Razelm is one of the most important lakes in Northern Dobruja. Dobruja lies in the temperate continental climatic area. Dobruja's level terrain and its bare location facilitate the influx of humid, warm air in the spring and autumn from the northwest, as well as that of northern and northeastern polar air in the winter; the Black Sea exerts an influence over the region's climate within 40–60 kilometres from the coast. The average annual temperatures range from 11 °C inland and along the Danube, to 11.8 °C on the coast and less than 10 °C in the higher parts of the plateau. The coastal region of Southern Dobruja is the most arid part of Bulgaria, with an annual precipitation of 450 millimetres. Dobruja is a windy region once known for its windmills. There is wind during about 85–90% of all days; the average wind speed is about twice higher than the average in Bulgaria.
Due to the limited precipitation and the proximity to the sea, rivers in Dobruja are short and with low discharge. The region has a number of shallow seaside lakes with brackish water; the most widespread opinion among scholars is that the origin of the term Dobruja is to be found in the Turkish rendition of the name of a 14th‑century Bulgarian ruler, despot Dobrotitsa. It was common for the Turks to name countries after one of their early rulers. Other etymologies never gained widespread acceptance. Abdolonyme Ubicini believed the name meant "good lands", derived from Slavic dobro, an opinion, adopted by several 19th‑century scholars; this derivation appears to contrast with the usual 19th‑century description of Dobruja as a dry barren land. I. A. Nazarettean combines the Slavic word with the Tatar budjak, thus proposing the etymology "good corner". A version matching contemporaneous descriptions was suggested by Kanitz, who associated the name with the Bulgarian dobrice. According to Gheorghe I.
Brătianu, the name is a Slavic derivation from the Turkic word Bordjan or Brudjars, which referred to the Turkic Proto-Bulgarians. One of the earliest documented uses of the name can be found in the Turkish Oghuz-name narrative, dated to the 15th century, where it appears as Dobruja-éli; the possessive suffix el-i indicated. The loss of the final particle is not unusual in the Turkish world, a similar evolution being observed in the name of Aydın Aydın-éli. Another early use is in the 16th‑century Latin translation of Laonicus Chalcondyles' Histories, where the term Dobroditia is used for the original Greek "Dobrotitsa's country". In the 17th century, the region was referred to in more accounts, with renditions such as Dobrucia, Dobrus, Dobroudja and others being used by foreign authors; the name meant just the steppe of the southern region, between the forests around Babadag in the north and the Silistra–Dobrich–Balchik line in the south. The term was extended to include the northern part and the Danube Delta.
In the 19th century, some authors used the name to refer just to the territory between the southernmost branch of the Danube in the north and the Karasu Valley in the south. The territory of Dobruja has been inhabited by humans since Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, as the remains at Babadag, Slava Rusă and Enisala demonstrate. Paleolithic people made tools of silex and ate fruits and other hunted animals. In this period fire was discovered, at its end the bow with arrows and the boat scul
Russians
Russians are a nation and an East Slavic ethnic group native to European Russia in Eastern Europe. Outside Russia, notable minorities exist in other former Soviet states such as Belarus, Moldova and the Baltic states. A large Russian diaspora exists all over the world, with notable numbers in the United States, Germany and Canada; the Russians share many cultural traits with other East Slavic ethnic groups Belarusians and Ukrainians. They are predominantly Orthodox Christians by religion; the Russian language is official in Russia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, spoken as a secondary language in many former Soviet states. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as "Russians". One is "русский", which most means "ethnic Russians". Another is "россияне", which means "citizens of Russia"; the former word refers to ethnic Russians, regardless of what country they live in and irrespective of whether or not they hold Russian citizenship. Under certain circumstances this term may or may not extend to denote members of other Russian-speaking ethnic groups from Russia, or from the former Soviet Union.
The latter word refers to all people holding citizenship of Russia, regardless of their ethnicity, does not include ethnic Russians living outside Russia. Translations into other languages do not distinguish these two groups; the name of the Russians derives from the Rus' people. According to the most prevalent theory, the name Rus', like the Finnish name for Sweden, is derived from an Old Norse term for "the men who row" as rowing was the main method of navigating the rivers of Eastern Europe, that it could be linked to the Swedish coastal area of Roslagen or Roden, as it was known in earlier times; the name Rus' would have the same origin as the Finnish and Estonian names for Sweden: Ruotsi and Rootsi. According to other theories the name Rus' is derived from Proto-Slavic *roud-s-ь, connected with red color or from Indo-Iranian; until the 1917 revolution, Russian authorities never called them "Russians", calling them "Great Russians" instead, a part of "Russians". The modern Russians formed from two groups of East Slavic tribes: Northern and Southern.
The tribes involved included the Krivichs, Ilmen Slavs, Radimichs and Severians. Genetic studies show that modern Russians do not differ from Belarusians and Ukrainians; some ethnographers, like Dmitry Konstantinovich Zelenin, affirm that Russians are more similar to Belarusians and to Ukrainians than southern Russians are to northern Russians. Russians in northern European Russia share moderate genetic similarities with Uralic peoples, who lived in modern north-central European Russia and were assimilated by the Slavs as the Slavs migrated northeastwards; such Uralic peoples included the Muromians. The territory of Russia has been inhabited since 2nd Millennium BCE by Indo-European, Ural-Altaic, various other peoples. Outside archaeological remains, little is known about the predecessors to Russians in general prior to 859 AD when the Primary Chronicle starts its records, it is thought that by 600 AD, the Slavs had split linguistically into southern and eastern branches. The eastern branch settled between the Dnieper Rivers in present-day Ukraine.
Both Belarusians and South Russians formed on this ethnic linguistic ground. From the 6th century onwards, another group of Slavs moved from Pomerania to the northeast of the Baltic Sea, where they encountered the Varangians of the Rus' Khaganate and established the important regional center of Novgorod; the same Slavic ethnic population settled the present-day Tver Oblast and the region of Beloozero. With the Uralic substratum, they formed the tribes of the Ilmen Slavs. Kievan Rus' was a loose federation of states. Modern Russians derive their name and cultural ancestry from Kievan Rus'. In 2010, the world's Russian population was 129 million people of which 86% were in Russia, 11.5% in the CIS and Baltic countries, with a further 2.5% living in other countries. 111 million ethnic Russians live in Russia, 80% of whom live in the European part of Russia, 20% in the Asian part of the country. After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union an estimated 25 million Russians began living outside of the Russian Federation, most of them in the former Soviet Republics.
Ethnic Russians migrated throughout the area of former Russian Empire and Soviet Union, sometimes encouraged to re-settle in borderlands by the Tsarist and Soviet government. On some occasions ethnic Russian communities, such as Lipovans who settled in the Danube delta or Doukhobors in Canada, emigrated as religious dissidents fleeing the central authority. After the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War starting in 1917, many Russians were forced to leave their homeland fleeing the Bolshevik regime, millions became refugees. Many white émigrés were participants in the White movement, although the term is broadly applied to anyone who may have left the country due to the change in regime. Today the largest ethnic Russian diasporas outside Russia live in former
Romani people in Romania
Romani people constitute one of Romania's largest minorities. According to the 2011 census, they number 621,573 people or 3.08% of the total population, being the second-largest ethnic minority in Romania after Hungarians. There are different estimates about the size of the total population of people with Romani ancestry in Romania, varying from 4.6 percent to over 10 percent of the population, because a lot of people of Romani descent do not declare themselves Roma. The Romani people originate from northern India from the northwestern Indian regions such as 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 Romani shares the basic lexicon with Hindi and Punjabi, it shares many phonetic features with Marwari. 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 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. In Romani, the native language of the Romani, the word for people is pronounced or depending on dialect. Starting from the 1990s, the word has been used in the Romanian language, although it has been used by Romani activists in Romania as far back as 1933. There are two spellings of the word in Romanian: rom, rrom; the first spelling is preferred by the majority of Romani NGOs and it is the only spelling accepted in Romanian Academy's Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române.
The two forms reflect the fact that for some speakers of Romani there are two rhotic phonemes: /r/ and /ʀ/. In the government-sponsored writing system /ʀ/ is spelt rr; the final i in rromi is the Romanian plural. The traditional and colloquial Romanian name for Romani, is "țigani". Depending on context, the term may be considered to be pejorative in Romania. In 2009-2010, a media campaign followed by a parliamentarian initiative asked the Romanian Parliament to accept a proposal to change back the official name of country's Roma to Țigan, the traditional and colloquial Romanian name for Romani, in order to avoid the possible confusion among the international community between the words Roma — which refers to the Romani ethnic minority — and Romania; the Romanian government supported the move on the grounds that many countries in the European Union use a variation of the word Țigan to refer to their Gypsy populations. The Romanian upper house, rejected the proposal. In combination with the Mongol invasion of Europe the first Romani had reached the territory of present-day Romania around the year 1241.
At the beginning of the 14th century, when the Mongols withdrew from Eastern Europe, the Romani who were left were taken as prisoners and slaves. According to documents signed by Prince Dan I the first captured Romani in Wallachia dates back to year 1385. In fact, the Romani people, the Romani language, have their origin in northern India; the presence of the Roms within the territory of present-day Romania dates back to the 14th century. The population of Roms fluctuated depending on diverse political events; until their liberation on February 20, 1856, most Roms lived in slavery. They could not leave the property of their owners. Around the year 1850, about 102,000 Romani lived in the Danubian Principalities, comprising 2.7% of the population. After their liberation in 1856, a significant number of Roms left Moldavia. In 1886 the number of Roms was estimated at 3.2 % of Romania's population. The 1899 census counted around 210,806 "others", of whom half were Romani. In Bessarabia, annexed by the Russian Empire in 1812, the Roms were liberated in 1861.
Many of them migrated to other regions of the Empire, while important communities remained in Soroca and the surroundings of Cetatea Albă, Chișinău, Bălți. The 1918 union with Transylvania, Banat and Bessarabia increased the number of ethnic Romani in Romania; the first census in interwar Romania took place in 1930. The territory lost in 1940 caused a drop in the number of Romani, leaving a high number in Southern Dobruja and Northern Transylvania. During the Second World War, the Fascist regime of Ion Antonescu deported 25,000 Romani to Transnistria. In all, from the territory of present-day Romania, 36,000 Romani perished during that time; the accession of Romania to the European Union in 2007 led many members of the Romani minority, the most disadvantaged ethnic group in Romania, to migrate en masse to various Western European countries (mostly to Spain, Austr
