"Romanians" may refer to citizens of the country "Romania", or to a nationality to whom the majority of the citizens of the said country belong, together with m

"Romanians" may refer to citizens of the country "Romania", or to a nationality to whom the majority of the citizens of the said country belong, together with many others who are citizens of the countries located around Romania. "Roma people" or "Romani people" is a synonym for gypsies, which is considered less offensive and politically correct, like using "African-Americans". "Roma people" exist in all Europe, but most of them are in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. There is no special connection between "Roma people" and "Romanians", except that Romania is one of the countries of Eastern Europe where many "Roma people" live. The accidental similarity between the politically correct name for "Roma people" and "Romanians" has produced thousands or tens of thousands of incorrect news and comments in the media of USA and Western Europe during the last few decades. The most plausible hypothesis about the origin of the name "Roma people" is that they have taken this name during their passage through the Byzantine Empire, because the Byzantine Greeks called themselves "Romaioi", i.e. "Romans".