East-West Church Ministry Report
Vol. 10, No. 3, Summer 2002, Covering the Former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe

Roma Demographics


COUNTRY

TOTAL POPULATION

EVANGELICAL PROTESTANTS1


Central & Eastern Europe  Operation World
Estimates		 Minority Rights Group 
Estimates		  
Albania                       
80,000+
90,000 - 100,000
"only a few"
Bosnia-Herzegovina
400,000
 40,000 - 50,000
  
Bulgaria
300,000
700,000 - 800,000
10,000 - 80,0002
Croatia
131,000
30,000 - 40,000
  
Czech Republic
300,000
250,000 - 300,000
  
Hungary
380,000
400,000 - 800,0003
  
Macedonia
200,000
220,000 - 260,000
  
Poland
30,000
50,000 - 60,000
  
Romania 
2,000,000
1,800,000 - 2,500,000
15,000 - 90,0002
Serbia & Montenegro
300,000
400,000 - 450,000
8,500 - 17,000
Slovakia
453,000
480,000 - 520,000
  
Slovenia  
8,000 - 10,000
  
Subtotal  
4,468,000 - 5,890,000
33,500 - 187,000

 
Former Soviet Union      
Belarus  
10,000 - 15,000
  
Estonia  
1,000 - 1,500
  
Latvia
8,000
2,000 - 3,500
  
Lithuania  
3,000 - 4,000
  
Moldova
105,000
50,000 - 200,0004
  
Russia
180,000
220,000 - 400,000
9,000
Ukraine
47,000
50,000 - 60,000
  
Subtotal
332,000
336,000 - 684,000
9,000
Totals
4,826,000
4,804,000 - 6,574,000
33,500 - 205,000

Sources: Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk, Operation World, Carlisle, England: WEC/Paternoster, 2001); European Roma Rights Center Fact Sheet (http://errc.org/); Rene Zanellato, Gypsy and Travelers International Evangelical Fellowship (GATIEF).

Editor's Note:  The European Roma Rights Center Fact Sheet, noted above, gives official statistics, but these figures so seriously undercount Roma that they are not included here. See Roma and Statistics (Princeton, NJ: Project on Ethnic Relations, 2000).

Notes

  1. Unless otherwise noted, estimates for Evangelical Protestants are from Johnstone and Mandryk, Operation World.
  2. Low estimate from Johnstone and Mandryk, Operation World; high estimate from Rene Zanellato, Gypsy and Travelers International Evangelical Fellowship.
  3. Based on NGO and Romani estimates rather than Minority Rights Group estimate of 550,000-600,000.
  4. NGO and Romani estimates from Veronica Leila Szente, "Field Report, Moldova," Roma Rights (Summer 1997), 1, rather than Minority Rights Group estimate of 20,000-25,000.

 "Roma Demographics," East-West Church & Ministry Report 10 (Summer 2002), 7.

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© 2002 East-West Church and Ministry Report
ISSN 1069-5664


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