Why do people think Romanians and Gypsies are the same thing?

[Anonymous]

Is it because of the Gypsies ethnic name "Romani" sounding so similar to the term "Romanian"? Is it because of Romania having a noticeable population of Gypsies?

Whenever I hear hateful comments about Romanians, it's often remarks like them all being "poor" and "thieves", all of which are negative perceptions of Gypsies all over the world.

[Jan_Classic]

Today it's possible for anyone for 2000$ to acquire romanian (EU) citizenship by proving your grandparents are ex-romanian gypsies, even if they're Africans. No joke. So Romanians are the gypsiest people on earth.

[Anonymous]

I've met some Romanian people who were a wonderfully nice family. I've never heard of this confusion before, but maybe that is because there are no gypsy communities where I am from.

[JulieXO]

I always thought the Gypsies in Eastern Europe wandered all the way from India. I never associated them with Romania.

[Aroso]

Why you think that people think so?

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's both of those reasons.