The Romani people, also known as the Roma, qualify as an ethnic minority group in Poland of Indo-Aryan origins. The Council of Europe regards the endonym "Roma" more appropriate when referencing the people, and "Romani" when referencing cultural characteristics. The term Cyganie is considered an exonym in Poland.
Diagram of Roma migration to Europe
Crowning of Roma King
Roma women in the Lublin Ghetto
Roma and Sinti Peoples at Radom, Poland, during the Second World War
Polska Roma are the largest and one of the oldest ethnolinguistic subgroups of Romani people living in Poland. Some Polska Roma also live in North America, Switzerland, Sweden, Great Britain and countries of the European Union. The term "Polska Roma" is both an ethnonym of the group and a term used in the academic literature. As such it is distinct from the terms "Polish Roma" or "Roma in Poland" which better denote the broader Roma population in Poland. Polish ethnographer Jerzy Ficowski, writing in the 1950s and 1960s used the term "Polish Lowlander Gypsies" to refer to the same group, though this terminology is no longer in widespread use.
Roma women in the Lublin ghetto, 1940
Roma girls near Konin, 1970
Edward Dębicki with the Roma musical group Terno in Gorzów Wielkopolski in 2007.