Anthropologically, they are Caucasian and the Romani language belongs to the Indo-Aryan family of languages. Roma are no more secretive about their affairs any other ethnic group. But having been persecuted for centuries just for being Roma, they are naturally inclined to be somewhat reluctant when speaking about their personal affairs to strangers. The word tribe as employed by anthropologists is not applicable to Roma. Tribes consist of large numbers of people who do not necessarily have to be related to one another.
Clans consist of people related by blood and marriage who claim descent from a common ancestor.
New Romani clans can still be formed today in this way. The RCAC Web Site is maintained by Ronald Lee and Nina Bottaccini. This page was last updated July 1999. RCAC thanks Nadia and Peter of Romani.org for hosting this site.