Roma people in Serbia

Roma people are one of ethnic groups in Serbia. According to the 2002 census, there were 108,193 Roma in Serbia or 1.44% of the population. Of those, 79,136 Roma are concentrated in Central Serbia and 29,057 in Vojvodina. Another 40,000 Roma are estimated to live in Kosovo together with the subgroups of Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians.

History

The first reference to the Roma people in Serbia is found in a 1348 document, by which Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia, Emperor of Serbs and Greeks donated some Gypsy slaves to the Monastery of Prizren, in Kosovo. [Djordjević , T.R. (1924). Iz Srbije Kneza Milosa. Stanovnistvo—naselja. Beograd: Geca Kon.]

IQ-testing of Roma in Serbia

In 2006, The University of Western Ontario, Canada and the Serbian Academy of Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia tested

The general factor of intelligence (g) was tested on Roma people. They tested 323 16- to 66-year-olds (111 males; 212 females) in three different communities over a two-year-period on the Raven's Colored and/or Standard Progressive Matrices and four measures of executive function. Out of the total of 60 Matrices, the Roma solved an average of 29, placing them at the 3rd percentile on 1993 U.S. norms, yielding an IQ equivalent of 70. On the executive function tests, the Roma averaged at about the level of Serbian 10-year-olds. The Matrices showed a small mean sex difference favoring males. External validity was demonstrated by correlating the scores on Matrices with measures such as cranial capacity (r = 0.13, P < 0.01), spousal similarity (r = 0.17, P < 0.05), age at birth of first child (r = 0.26, P < 0.01), number of offspring (r = − 0.20, P < 0.01), and responsible social attitudes (r = 0.10, P < 0.05). Comparisons with extant data showed that items found difficult or easy by the Roma were those found difficult or easy by White, Indian, Colored, and Black South African 14- to 16-year-olds and by Black South African undergraduates (rs = 0.90). There was no evidence of any idiosyncratic cultural effect. Instead, Roma/non-Roma differences were found to be most pronounced on g. This was shown by item-total correlations (estimates of the item's g loading), which predicted the magnitude of Roma/non-Roma differences on those same items, regardless of from which sample the item-total correlations were calculated, and by confirmatory factor analysis. The results indicate the remarkable cross-cultural generalizability of item properties across South Asians, Europeans, and sub-Saharan Africans and that these reflect g more than culturally specific ways of thinking. [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W4M-4M4TNS7-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=d8f3fec39ebf9b39acec1c08c07c4339]

Roma political parties in Serbia

*Roma Union of Serbia
*Roma Party

Notable Roma from Serbia

*Trifun Dimić, romologist and literate.
*Dr. Raјko Đurić, professor, journalist, literate and politician.
*Srđan Šajn, politician.
*Janika Balaž, a famous tamburitza musician.
*Džej Ramadanovski, folk singer.
*Boža Nikolić, folk singer

References

Further reading

*Dr. Rajko Đurić, Istorija Roma, Beograd, 2006.

ee also

*Roma in Central and Eastern Europe
*Roma people of Vojvodina

External links

* [http://www.humanrights.gov.yu/files/doc/Romi_u_Srbiji-ENG.doc Romany Settlements, Living Conditions and Possibilities of Integration of the Roma in Serbia - Social Research Results]