Roma have been in Slovakia since the 14th century. The first written document about the Roma population in Slovakia is a document from 1322, in which the presence of Roma in Spiš is mentioned by the Spišské novoveske mayor Ján Kunch. Later, larger groups of Roma arrived in Slovakia. In 1423, Sigismund of Luxembourg issued a document at Spiš Castle that guaranteed the Roma certain guarantees of protection and self-governing judicial powers.
The difference in number of Roma in the 2021 census and the number of Roma residents in the latest Atlas of Roma Communities from 2019 is almost threefold. While the 2019 atlas indicates that at least 417,535 Roma people live in Slovakia, in the 2021 census, only 156,164 Roma people declared themselves Roma.
- História Rómskej menšiny v SR. In: RTVS. 09.12.2024. https://www.rtvs.sk/radio/nev/clanky/nev-romsky/385940/historia-romskej-mensiny-v-sr