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[[File:Стойбище ненцев.jpg|thumb|[[Nenets people]] in Russia, 2014]]
In '''Europe''' the settled lifestyle has long been the norm, but some small '''[[nomad]]ic''' communities exist or have existed recently.
[[Nomadism]] has rarely been practiced in [[Europe]] in the [[modern period]], being restricted to the margins of the continent, notably [[Arctic peoples]] such as the (traditionally) semi-nomadic [[Saami people]] in the north of Scandinavia,<ref name="galdu.org">{{Cite web |last=Solbakk |first=John T. |title=Reindeer husbandry – an exclusive Sámi livelihood in Norway |url=http://www.galdu.org/govat/doc/eng_reindeer.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927172745/http://www.galdu.org/govat/doc/eng_reindeer.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2007 |access-date=10 August 2007 |website=www.galdu.org}}</ref> or the [[Nenets people]] in Russia's [[Nenets Autonomous Okrug]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Forbes |first1=Bruce C. |last2=Stammler |first2=Florian |last3=Kumpula |first3=Timo |last4=Meschtyb |first4=Nina |last5=Pajunen |first5=Anu |last6=Kaarlejärvi |first6=Elina |date=2009-12-29 |title=High resilience in the Yamal-Nenets social–ecological system, West Siberian Arctic, Russia |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=106 |issue=52 |pages=22041–22048 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0908286106 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=2791666 |pmid=20007776}}</ref> In ancient and early medieval times, [[Eurasian nomads]] dominated the eastern [[steppe]] areas of Europe, such as the [[Scythians]], [[Huns]], [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], [[Pechenegs]], [[Cumans]] or [[Kalmyk people]] in Russia's [[Kalmykia]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tikhomirov |first=Andrey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kHsVEAAAQBAJ&dq=Povos+N%C3%B4madas+da+Europa&pg=PT14 |title=Povos românicas. Migrações indo-européias |date=2022-05-15 |publisher=Litres |isbn=978-5-04-229976-6 |language=en}}</ref>
Historically, at least until the [[Early Middle Ages]], nomadic groups were much more widespread, especially in the [[Pontic steppe]] of Eastern Europe (part of Europe in the contemporary geographical definition, but as part of the [[Eurasian Steppe]] historically considered part of Asian [[Scythia]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Costa |first=Wanderley Messias da |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3-jzvfubTYkC&dq=Povos+N%C3%B4madas+da+Europa&pg=PA80 |title=Geografia Política e Geopolítica:Discursos sobre o Território e o Poder |date=2008 |publisher=EdUSP |isbn=978-85-314-1074-1 |language=pt-BR}}</ref> The last nomadic populations of this region (such as the [[Kalmyk people]], [[Nogais]], [[Kazakhs]] and [[Bashkirs]]) became mostly sedentary in the Early Modern period under the [[Russian Empire]]. Seasonal migration over short distance is known as [[transhumance]] (as e.g. [[transhumance in the Alps|in the Alps]] or [[Vlachs]] in the Balkans) and is not normally considered "nomadism".{{Cn|date=February 2024}}
By far the most important and best known of these communities are the [[Roma people]], often known in [[English language|English]] as "Gypsies". This is a community of [[India]]n origin, which entered Europe in early modern times.
Sometimes also described as "nomadic" (in the figurative or extended sense) is the [[Itinerant groups in Europe|itinerant]] lifestyle of various groups subsisting on craft, trade or seasonal labour rather than on livestock.<ref>[[Oxford English Dictionary]]: "nomad, n.: "A member of a people that travels from place to place to find fresh pasture for its animals, and has no permanent home. Also (''in extended use''): an itinerant person; a wanderer." (emphasis not in original)</ref> [[Romani people]] and [[Irish Travellers]] are the best known of these.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nogueira |first=Adeilson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U0KkDwAAQBAJ&q=Povos+N%C3%B4madas+da+Europa |title=Ciganos, A História De Um Povo |date=2019 |publisher=Clube de Autores |language=pt-PT}}</ref> See [[itinerant groups in Europe]] for those.
However there are also some smaller communities which have sometimes been labelled ''Gypsies'' for convenience or by accident. The Roma used to refer to some of these groups as ''[[didicoy]]''.
== See also ==
In Germany, Switzerland, France and Austria there exist so-called ''white Gypsies'' who are known under the names of ''Jenische'' (German), ''[Yéniche][http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%C3%A9niche]'' (French), and ''Yenish'' or ''[[Yeniche]]'' (English). Their language seems to be grammatically identical with other (Swiss) German dialects; the origin of the lexicon, however, incorporates [[German language|German]], [[Romani language|Romani]], [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]] and other words.
*[[Transhumance]]
* [[Vagrancy (people)]]
In Norway (and, to a lesser degree, in Denmark), there is a group of people who call themselves ''Reisende'' (Travellers). Confusingly, the ''Tater'' (the biggest Roma population in Norway and Sweden) also use this term to describe themselves. The Tater are related, by culture and blood, to the Romanichals in England and the Sinti in Germany. They are descended from the first Roma to arrive in Scandinavia in the 1500s. The Tater, or Roma Travellers, and the indigenous Norwegian Travellers are two distinct ethnic groups, the former speaking a form of Romani, the latter speaking a language called ''Rodi''. To add to the confusion, the indigenous Norwegian Travellers have lost their language and traditional culture. Today, some of their more vocal representatives claim to be Tater/Roma Travellers, describing themselves as ''rom'' or ''romani'', often adopting the Romani vocabulary of the Tater/Roma Travellers. Their origins and their links with the Roma are uncertain. To the Norwegian and Swedish Tater/Roma Travellers, the Norwegian Travellers are perceived as non-Roma by culture and lifestyle. Unlike the Tater, the non-Roma Travellers in Norway spoke Rodi instead of Romani, and they do not follow the unwritten laws and taboos of traditional Roma culture. While the Tater/Roma Travellers mainly used to travel by horse and cart (they travel today by trailers and trucks) across Norway and Sweden, the indigenous Travellers used to travel by boat on the southern and southwestern coast of Norway only. (Note that certain Tater/Roma Traveller families did travel by boat both in Sweden and on the northwestern coast of Norway.)
* [[Crimean–Nogai raids into East Slavic lands]]
* [[Nomadic tribes in India]]
There is a group of people in [[Ireland]] and the [[United Kingdom]] called ''Irish Gypsies'' or ''[[Irish Travellers]]''. In [[Scotland]], Scottish Travellers are known as ''ceardannan'' ([[Scottish Gaelic]] the craftsmen, or 'Black Tinkers'), or poetically as the "Summer Walkers", also known in English as ''tinkers'', such as Gitanos (Spain), Zingari (Italy), or Cigány (Hungary) for Roma). As this term became a pejorative among the settled community, the terms ''Irish Travellers'' or (in Scotland) ''Gypsy Travellers'' emerged as a more neutral name. They are not Roma, but their nomadic culture has been influenced by Roma. The language of the Irish Travellers, [[Shelta]], is mainly based on an [[Irish language|Irish Gaelic]] lexicon and an [[English language|English]] grammar, with influence from Romani. Similarly, Scottish Gypsy Travellers (who have a history of intermarriage with Scottish Romanies) speak Cant, a mixture of [[Scots language|Scots]], [[Scottish Gaelic language|Gaelic]] and Romani. The North Highland Travellers also spoke an almost defunct form of Gaelic backslang known as [[Beurla Regaird]], the Highland Travellers are believed to have arrived in Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and although it is not known from where or how it is known that although in recent centuries they have mixed with Romani and other travellers that cultural and genetic studies indicate substantial similarity with the [[Sami]] and [[Inuit]] and Northern [[Siberia|Siberian]] populations. <ref>[http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/sub_section.jsp?SectionID=6¤tId=199 The Summer Walkers]</ref> <ref>[http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/education/travelling_people/src1.jsp Origins of the Summer Walkers].</ref>
* [[Itinerant groups in Europe]]
The ''[[quinqui]]'' or ''[[mercheros]]'' of Spain are a minority group, formerly nomadic, who share a lot of the way of life of Spanish Roma. There are a few theories about their origin: they may be peasants who lost their land in the 16th century, descendants of Muslims who took to nomadism to avoid persecution, or marginalised people who have mixed with Roma. Most likely they are a mixture of all of the above. In spite of sharing persecution and mores with the Roma, the quinqui have often set themselves apart from them.
==References==
{{reflist}}
<references/>
[[Category:Nomadic Ethnicethnic groups in modern Europe]]
[[Category: Eurasian nomads]]
[[User:Tuftsmo|Tuftsmo]] 07:07, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
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