This distinction (settled vs. nomads) was first noticed immediately after Gypsies came to Europe and the Balkans and has lasted to the present. Even in those countries (mainly Eastern European) where sedentarization was forced onto Gypsies in the 50's and 60's of our century, former nomads have preserved a definite inclination to a mobile lifestyle, while settled Gypsies have the tendency to build lasting settlements even if circumstances force them to change their place of residence. The boundaries of the distinction "settled vs. nomads" are rather flexible and uncertain, they can often change (e.g. nomads can settle down and acquire the characteristics of sedentary groups) and yet they exist.

The interdependence of lifestyle, professional specialisation, and traditional occupation is also not absolute (though some occupations require nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle). Many variants are possible and it is hard to determine the occupations which are specific to nomads or settled Gypsies only (they can be common for the two types of communities).

We should not think that the transition from nomadic to settled lifestyle, which had two stages in Bulgaria, (in the 20's 30's of this century and it is almost completed in the 50's of this century) means a radical automatic change in lifestyle and complete break away from nomadic traditions. On the contrary, these traditions are most often modified and preserved in new forms. The possession of a house and a permanent residence opens new possibilities to continue with traditional occupations. Sometimes, but not always, these occupations were abandoned with the change in socioeconomic conditions. The processes of transition from nomadic to sedentary lifestyle are not synonymous, it is often the case that new modifications of nomadic traditions or their secondary restoration occur under the influence of specific socioeconomic conditions.

The situation of Gypsies (whose ancestors settled permanently in Bulgaria centuries ago) is quite diverse. It is hard to tell whether the sedentarization processes had begun and were faster in towns or villages, because of insufficient historical sources. Probably these processes were simultaneous and went on over a long time (for centuries) with varied intensity in the different historical eras. Their dimensions cannot be estimated with precision for the Bulgarian Middle Ages State and the time of the Ottoman Empire, but it is a fact that when Bulgaria regained its independence in 1878, settled Gypsies were the majority and their share continued to grow (until the "final decision" in the 50's).

In villages (for a long time the village was the basic residential unit in Bulgaria) blacksmiths and ironworkers were probably the first settled Gypsies. Sedentarism was scattered at first, but gradually Gypsy population grew and new groups whose occupations served the village population and who took up nomadism, became settled. Some of these newly settled groups contunued to lead a semi-nomadic way of life in order to find a market for their production. Today traditional occupations of "Yerlii" are most often preserved rather as memories and clans than as preserved groups - a phenomenon which reveals a long tradition of sedentarization and long processes of evolution in the Gypsy groups. This evolution affects not only the internal structure of the Gypsy community, but also their occupations it is clear that "market satiation" will lead to changes in traditional occupations. Thus, there is a kind of re-qualification, i.e. the acquisition of non-professional specialisation which is obviously not "traditional". There are also parallel and frequent examples of Gypsies living in villages who have no memories of traditional occupations and have been farmers for many generations. They rarely owned lands and would make a living as hired field workers.

The situation of sedentary Gypsies in the cities is rather different. The beginning of sedentarization in the big cities, on the other hand, is hard to refer back to a specific time in history. Documents from the Ottoman Empire mentioned Gypsy presence in cities since the arrival (and probably before that) of the Ottomans. The presence of the Ottoman army in Balkan cities and fortresses drew some Gypsies there mostly for serving the army. This process probably continued with changing speed and intensity over the centuries and Gypsy mahali emerged in every Balkan town. The existence of ethnic mahali (neighbourhoods of Gypsy, Turkish, Jewish, Armenian, etc. ethnic communities) is typical for the Balkans. Unlike Central Europe, Gypsy mahali were within city limits (though most often in the suburbs) or not far away from them. Their inhabitants had "black" unqualified jobs as servants or musicians. There were some exceptions in the town of Sliven where Gypsies had belonged to the industrial working class since the Bulgarian Renaissance (18th-19th c.). Sometimes Gypsy craftsmen would gather to live in their own mahali. These traditional occupations were so strong in Bulgaria that Gypsy guilds were formed which did not cease to exist after the Independence (1878) and even until the 40's - 50's of our century. Some of these guilds still exist today.

As a whole the historical development of Gypsy lifestyle and traditional occupations in Bulgaria has a manifested continuity despite the turns in historical destiny over the centuries. Most often there was no way to preserve traditional occupations because of the absence of demand for, their products, nevertheless some groups managed to find an alternative through various modifications.

This flexibility of traditional occupations is also typical of former nomads who have a certain stability of nomadic traditions while variants and transformations are also possible. This continuity is closely related to the internal structure of the Gypsy community - the more a group is preserved and functioning as such, the highest the continuity of traditional occupations and lifestyle (despite the possibility of various modifications).

A careful analysis of the overall ethnocultural system of the Gypsy community in Bulgaria yields some general principles for its building and functioning. This system is highly adaptable. Gypsies are able to fit in the available socioeconomic niches under various historical circumstances, using traditional occupations, their modifications or complete substitutes. The flexible Gypsy ethnocultural system can take various shapes - such as the radical change of lifestyle (from nomadic to settled or v.vs..), but there is always a certain extent of continuity either as a modification of traditional occupations under the new circumstances or as a preservation of certain traits.

Many examples can be given here, such as the large-scale distribution of Gypsy groups who used to make ironwares. They were certainly not the first blacksmiths ever to come to the Balkans, but they not only tried to respond to the demands of the village population but also settled in villages or travelled actively to sell ready wares and make repairs on location. Traditional production, organisation of labour and traditional produce were naturally modified or replaced by new goods which sold better in a new environment.

The flexibility and adaptability of Gypsies can be also observed in the cities when a radical change in occupations and lifestyle take place. The distinction traditional vs. contemporary is rather artificial for Gypsies and it is actually absent in many instances. There is a reaction, by "traditional means", to rapidly changing modern conditions which is effective (at least to an extent) even in big cities where essential ethnic and cultural characteristics can be obliterated (e.g. group distinction and respective cultural parameters).

The provisional distinction "tradition vs. the present" is obvious in other instances such as the use of technologies in traditional occupations. Despite all specific differences some universal principles still apply to all occupations - simplicity, speed, efficiency. Thus, Gypsies can preserve a number of really ancient technologies and rapidly adopt modern ways (either to replace or use together with traditional ones), as long as they fit the basic principles and requirements.

One should not think that these basic principles of the Gypsy ethnocultural system are manifested only in their lifestyle, standard of living and material production. They are equally strong in Gypsy spirituality, view of life, holidays, rituals and customs. The Gypsy ethnocultural system here is equally open and syncretic in respect of "outside" cultural influences, were they traditional or modern. New elements and phenomena are not in sharp contrast with the old ways and structures, they join them and become integrated. The ethnocultural system of Gypsies is open and syncretic in respect of religion and its customs and rituals. Gypsies usually adopt the religion of the surrounding population (though with great changes in nature and function) but do not simply copy their holidays and rituals. They merely transform them in the Gypsy environment. There is a very interesting phenomenon here - Gypsies often maintain and actually preserve (even with some changes in form and content) some customs and rituals which have been abandoned and forgotten by the surrounding population. All of the above should not leave the impression that Gypsies do not have their own ethnocultural forms and merely use a mechanical combination of borrowed structures and elements. Unfortunately, opinions on the "cultural parasitism" of Gypsies have often been voiced revealing a complete lack of understanding of basic characteristics of the Gypsy ethnocultural system. It is true that all present attempts to discover Gypsy-only forms brought and preserved from the land of origin are rather naive, considering the specifics of the system. And yet, its original Gypsy dimensions (including the influence of ancient Indian heritage) are present in a different form, through the preservation of a basic structural world view which determines the choice of external cultural patterns and functions. Such basic trends as the open, syncretic and "down to earth" (i.e. related to an exchange of sacred gifts for specific purposes of everyday life) nature of religious awareness and respective practices, the role of signs and vows, strongly expressed festivity, a specific attitude towards diseases and death, etc., determine to a great extent the reception of outside influence, its forms, functions and development within the framework of the ethnocultural system. These are the grounds for the rare instance of emergence and development of Gypsy specific cultural forms on an external ethnocultural basis. Most often external patterns are adapted and oriented towards the Gypsy environment and are gradually adopted as Gypsy-own.

Of course, not everything in the ethnocultural system of the Gypsy community can be reduced to adaptation and integration of selected external cultural forms and elements. We have already mentioned that the very type of Gypsy ethnic community (with its complex ethnosocial structure and internal subdivisions) is rather specific with practically no analogues in other European peoples. The same could be said of some basic ethnocultural characteristics of this community (e.g. their own potestaric bodies). The problem however, is elsewhere - in the actual impossibility to give an ethnic definition of the separate elements of the material and spiritual cultures, since such a distinction is only possible on the level of ethnocultural systems. Cultural phenomena are not initially ethnically defined, they become so as part of an ethnocultural system which gives them meaning. The development and enrichment of the ethnocultural system of Gypsies in Bulgaria is a continuous historical process determined by the specific Gypsy lifestyle in a foreign ethnic environment. It is related to many intercultural interactions and influences which cannot deprive this system of its ethnic principle of existence and functioning and its basic characteristics.