| Total population | ||||||
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| 2,000 | ||||||
| Regions with significant populations | ||||||
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Romani people, Dom people, Domba, other Indo-Aryans |
The Lom people, also called Bosha (sometimes spelled Posha), are an ethnic group of Transcaucasia, also known as "Armenian Gypsies" [1]. Their Lomavren language is a mixed language combining Indo-Aryan and Armenian. The Lom like the Dom are sometimes considered a separate branch of the proto-Romani people who remained in Eastern Asia Minor and Armenia in the 11th century, while the ancestors of the contemporary Romani people immigrated further west in the 13th - 14th centuries. The names Dom, Lom and Rom are likely to have the same origin, see Names of the Romani people for details.
The exact number of existing Bosha is difficult to determine, due to the dispersed and often mostly-assimilated nature of the group. Estimates suggest only a few thousand of the people can be found across Armenia and Georgia, while Government census reports only 50 living in the former.[2]
Concentrations of Bosha can be found in Yerevan and Gyumri in Armenia. Some of the Bosha in Armenia have adopted the Armenian language and assimilated with the larger Armenian population.[3] In Georgia they live in such cities as Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Akhalkalaki and Akhaltsikhe.[1] They are noted for such occupations as Basket weaving and metalsmithing, which are common among settled Roma.
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