Indigenous peoples of Europe

"Europeans" redirects here. For other uses, see Europeans (disambiguation).

The indigenous peoples of Europe are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. According to German monograph Minderheitenrechte in Europa co-edited by Pan and Pfeil (2002) there are 87 distinct peoples of Europe, of which 33 form the majority population in at least one sovereign state, while the remaining 54 constitute ethnic minorities. The total number of national minority populations in Europe is estimated at 105 million people, or 14% of 770 million Europeans.

Modern ethnic Europeans are a recent and ongoing evolution. Race deniers believe that the original anatomically modern human migrants to Europe from Africa arrived 40,000 years ago; according to them, these prehistoric Europeans were predominantly dark skin, short of stature, lactose intolerance, and looked dramatically different in comparison to modern Europeans. The genetic lineage of Europe mysteriously transformed about 4,500 years ago, with changes in diet, body size and skin pigmentation; when Central Asian and West Asian migrants arrived with taller height and light skin genes, respectively. There is no precise or universally accepted definition of the terms "ethnic group" or "nationality". In the context of European ethnography in particular, the terms ethnic group, people (without nation state), nationality, national minority, ethnic minority, linguistic community, linguistic group, linguistic minority and genetic haplogroup are used as mostly synonymous, although preference may vary in usage with respect to the situation specific to the individual countries of Europe.

Overview map of the distribution of the major languages of Europe

Overview

Further information: Demographics of Europe

There are eight peoples of Europe (defined by their language) with more than 30 million members residing in Europe. These eight groups between themselves account for some 465 million or about 65% of European population:

1. Russians (ca. 95 million residing in Europe),
2. Germans (ca. 82 million),
3. French (ca. 60 million),
4. British (ca. 60 million),
5. Italians (55 million),
6. Spanish (ca. 50 million),
7. Ukrainians (38–55 million),
8. Poles (ca. 38 million).

About 20–25 million residents (3%) are members of diasporas of non-European origin. The population of the European Union, with some five hundred million residents, accounts for two thirds of the European population.

Both Spain and the United Kingdom are special cases, in that the designation of nationality, Spanish and British, may controversially take ethnic aspects, subsuming various regional ethnic groups, see nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain and native populations of the United Kingdom. Switzerland is a similar case, but the linguistic subgroups of the Swiss are not usually discussed in terms of ethnicity, and Switzerland is considered a "multi-lingual state" rather than a "multi-ethnic state".

Linguistic classifications

Languages of Europe. Interpretive map, date unspecified

Further information: Languages of Europe

Of the total population of Europe of some 730 million (as of 2005), over 80% or some 600 million fall within three large branches of Indo-European languages, viz., Slavic, Italic (Romance) and Germanic. The largest groups that do not fall within these three are the Greeks (about 12 million) and the Albanians (about 8 million). Beside the Indo-European languages there are two other major language families on the European continent: Turkic languages and Uralic languages. The Semitic languages that dominate the coast of the northern Africa as well as the Near East are preserved on the Malta islands, a Mediterranean archipelago. Basque is a linguistic isolate unrelated to any other languages inside or outside of Europe.

Indo-European languages

There are approximately 641 million residents in the family of the Indo-European languages divided into linguistic branches and peoples.

Albanian languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Albanian	Albanians	Ghegs, Tosks	7.6	Total speakers worldwide
Albanian Europe	Total		*7.6

Armenian languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Armenian	Armenians		5.6	Total speakers worldwide
Armenian Europe	Total		*5.6

Baltic languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Lithuanian	Lithuanians	Prussian Lithuanians, Samogitians	3.1
Latvian	Latvians	Kursenieki, Latgalians	1.4
Baltic Europe	Total		*4.5

Celtic languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Brythonic	Bretons		4.3	Bretagne and Loire-Atlantique provinces of France, does not include Bretons in Canada and elsewhere, also subsumed under French.
	Cornish		0.5	UK, does not include Cornish in Australia and elsewhere, also subsumed under British or White British.
	Welsh		3	UK, does not include Welsh in USA and elsewhere, also subsumed under British or White British.
Goidelic	Irish	Gaeltacht	6; 70 including descendants worldwide	All but 10,000–20,000 speak English as a first language. Some living in Northern Ireland can also subsumed under British or White British.
	Manx		0.04	Also subsumed under British or White British.
	Scots	Gàidhealtachd	6	Also subsumed under British or White British.
Celtic Europe	Total		*2–22	Approximately 2 million speakers of Celtic languages, but depending on the definition, some 20 million may be considered "Celtic".

Germanic languages

Superbranch	Branch	People	Number in millions	Notes
North	Scandinavians	Danes, South Schleswig Danes, Faroese, Gotlanders, Icelanders, Norwegians, Swedes, Finland Swedes	22	P&P
West–Continental	German speakers	Alsatians, Austrians, Bavarians, German-speaking Belgians, Germans, North Schleswig Germans, Lorrainers, Luxembourgers, South Tyroleans, Swabians, Alemannic Swiss	89	P&P
	Dutch speakers	Flemings, Netherlanders	23	P&P
West–North Sea	Anglo-Frisian speakers	English	45	also subsumed under British or White British
		Frisians	0.5	P&P
Germanic Europe	Total		*180

Hellenic languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Greek	Greeks	Pontic Greeks, Greek Cypriots	17	Total speakers worldwide
Hellenic Europe	Total		*17

Indic languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Romani	Romani people		4
Indic Europe	Total		*4–10

Iranic languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Alanian	Ossetians	Iron, Digor	0.6
Persian	Tats		0.02
Iranic Europe	Total		*0.62

Romance languages

Branch	Groups and people	People and sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Western	Francophonie	Aranese, French, Occitans, Provencals, Romands, Walloons	72	P&P
	Gibraltarians		0.03	Also summed under White British as they speak English mainly as first language
	Italians	Corsican Italians, Dalmatian Italians, Istrian Italians, Sammarinese, Sardinians, Sicilians, Swiss Italians	61	P&P
	Portuguese		12	P&P
	Spaniards	Castilians; non-Castilian ethno-linguistic groups: Andalusians, Aragonese, Asturians, Catalans, Galicians	50	P&P
Eastern	Rhaeto-Romanics	Friulian, Ladins, Romansh	0.6
	Vlachs	Aromanians, Istro-Romanians, Megleno-Romanians, Moldovans, Moravian Vlachs, Morlachs, Romanians	24–26	P&P
Latin Europe	Total		*200 million

Slavic languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
East	Belarusians		10	P&P
	Russians		95	82 in European Russia, 8.3 in Ukraine, 0.7 in Belarus, 1 in the Baltic States, 0.3 in Moldova and Transnistria; up to 0.5 in the Russian communities throughout the EU, especially in Germany
	Rusyns
	Ukrainians	Boykos, Hutsuls, Lemkos, Poleszuks	41	37.5 million in Ukraine; 2 million in European Russia
South	Bosniaks		2.3	The World Factbook.
	Bulgarians	Pomaks	12	Total speakers worldwide
	Croats	Bunjevci, Burgenland Croats, Šokci	6.5	The World Factbook.
	Macedonians	Torbeš	1.6	P&P
	Montenegrins		0.6	P&P
	Serbs		11	Total speakers worldwide
	Slovenes		2	P&P
West	Czechs		11	P&P
	Kashubs		0.5	P&P
	Poles		38	37.5 million in Poland; around 20 million people of Polish ancestry living abroad
	Silesians		1.9	P&P
	Slovaks		5	P&P
	Sorbs		0.06	P&P
Slavic Europe	Total		*235 million

Language isolates

Caspian

Caspian languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Avar–Andic	Akhvakh, Andis, Avars, Bagvalal, Botlikh, Chamalal, Godoberi, Karata, Tindi		0.8
Dargwa	Dargin		0.5
Didoic	Bezhta, Hinukh, Hunzibs, Khwarshi, Tsez
Khinalug	Khinalugs
Lak	Laks		0.15
Lezgic	Aguls
	Archin
	Budukh
	Jek
	Kryts
	Lezgin		0.4
	Rutuls		0.03
	Tabasarans		0.13
	Tshakhurs		0.01
	Udin
Nakh	Batsbi
	Chechens Ingush		1.7
Caspian Europe	Total		*5

Kartvelian

Kartvelian languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Karto-Zan	Georgians		4
	Zans	Lazi
		Mingrelians		Also subsumed under Georgians
Svan	Svans			Also subsumed under Georgians
Kartvelian Europe	Total		*4

Pontic

Pontic languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Abazgi	Abaza–Abkhaz	Ashkharua Abaza, Tapanta (Ashua) Abaza, Sadz Abkhaz, Bzipi Abkhaz, Abzhui Abkhaz (some not found in their ancestral homeland)	0.18 (1 million including the diaspora)	Also subsumed under Circassians in the wider sense of the term as the Abazinia, unlike Abkhazia, was part of historical Circassia and the Abazgi people in general are closely related to the Adyghe in origin.
Adyghe	Circassians	Abzakh, Besleney, Bzhedug, Hatuqwai, Kabardian, Mamkhegh, Natukhai, Shapsug, Temirgoy, Ubykh, Yegeruqwai, Zhaney (some not found in their ancestral homeland)	0.75 (2010 Census) (8 million including the diaspora)	These 12 tribes speak 3 main dialects: West Adyghe, Ubykh Adyghe (extinct), Kabardian Adyghe
Pontic Europe	Total		*1

Vasconic

Vasconic languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Basque	Basques		2
Vasconic Europe	Total		*2

Mongolic languages

Mongolic languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Oirat	Kalmyks		0.17
Mongolic Europe	Total		*0.17

Semitic languages

Semitic languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Hebrew	Jews		1.3	Also subsumed under various "Other", see below.
Maltese	Maltese		0.4	About half of the vocabulary is derived from standard Italian and Sicilian.
Semitic Europe	Total		*2

Europe has a population of about 2 million ethnic Jews (mostly also counted as part of the ethno-linguistic group of their respective home countries):

• Ashkenazi Jews (about 1.4 million, mostly German and French)
• Italian Jews (some 50,000, mostly Italian)
• Karaites (less than 4,000 in Poland and Lithuania)
• Mizrahi Jews (about 0.3 million, mostly French)
• Romaniotes (some 6,000, mostly Greek)
• Sephardi Jews (about 0.3 million, mostly French and Italian)

Turkic languages

Turkic languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Kipchak–Bulgar	Bashkirs		1.4
	Volga Tatars		4.5	In European Russia only
Kipchak–Cuman	Balkars–Karachays	Karachays, Balkars	0.3
	Crimean Tatars	Tat Tatars, Yaliboyu Tatars, Noğay Tatars	0.25
	Kumyks		0.4
Kipchak–Nogai	Nogai		0.09	Not to be confused with Cuman Noğay Tatars
	Kazakhs		1	in European Kazakhstan only
Oghur	Chuvash		1.5	in European Russia only
Oghuz	Azerbaijanis		9.16	in European Azerbaijan only
	Gagauz		0.15
	Turks	Chepni, Bulgarian Turks, Turks of Western Thrace, Yörüks	9 (excluding Turkey); 19 (including European Turkey)	9 million (not including Turkey), 10 million in Eastern Thrace (European Turkey); overall there is a total of 55–60 million Turks in Turkey. (see Turks in Europe)
Turkic Europe	Total		*35

Uralic languages

Uralic languages

Branch	People	Sub-groups	Number in millions	Notes
Balto-Finnic	Estonians	Setos, Võros	1
	Finns	Ingrian Finns, Karelians, Kven people, Sweden Finns	6
	Izhorians		0.001
	Livonians		0.0001
	Veps		0.008
Lappic	Sami		0.1
Permic	Komi	Izhma Komi, Permyak Komi	0.4
	Udmurts		0.7
Ugric	Hungarians	Csangos, Magyars, Székelys	13.5
Volgaic	Mari		0.6
	Mordvins	Erzya (Shoksha), Moksha, Qaratay, Teryukhan	0.85
Uralic Europe	Total		*25.5

By country

Pan and Pfeil (2002) distinguish 33 peoples which form the majority population in at least one sovereign state geographically situated in Europe. These majorities range from nearly homogeneous populations as in Albania or Poland, to comparatively slight majorities as in Latvia or Belgium. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro are multiethnic states in which no group forms a majority.

Country	Majority	%	Regional majorities	Minorities
Albania	Albanians	95%		Greeks ~3%, other 2% (Aromanian, Romani, Macedonians, Bulgarians) and Serbs/Montenegrins.
Armenia	Armenians	98%		Yazidis 1.2%, Russians 0.4%, Assyrians 0.1%, Kurds 0.1%, others: Greeks, Ukrainians, Georgians and Poles.(2011 census) Official statistics/data of RA.
Austria	Austrians	91.1%		South Slavs 4% (includes Burgenland Croats, Carinthian Slovenes, Croats, Slovenes, Serbs and Bosniaks), Turks 1.6%, Germans 0.9%, and other or unspecified 2.4%. (2001 census)
Azerbaijan	Azeris	91.6%	Lezgin 2%	Armenians, Russians, Talysh, Avars, Turks, Tatars, Ukrainians and Poles.
Belarus	Belarusians	83.7%		Russians 8.3%, Poles 3.1%, Ukrainians 1.7%, and other 3.2%. (2009 census)
Belgium	Flemings	58%	Walloons 31%, Germans 1%	mixed or other (i.e. Luxembourgers, Eastern or Southern Europeans, Africans and Asians, and Latin Americans) 10%.
Bosnia and Herzegovina	—		Bosniaks 48%, Serbs 37.1% Croats 14.3%	other 0.6% (2000)
Bulgaria	Bulgarians	84%	Turks 8.8%	Roma 5%, Others 2% (including Russian, Armenian, Tatar, and Vlach). (2001 census)
Croatia	Croats	90%		Serbs 4.5%, other 5.9% (including Bosniaks, Hungarians, Slovenes, Czechs, Dalmatian Italians, Austrian-German, Romanian and Romani). (2001 census)
Cyprus	Greek Cypriots	99.5%	Turkish Cypriots
Czech Republic	Czechs	90.4%	Moravians 3.7%	Slovaks 1.9%, and other 4%. (2001 census)
Denmark	Danes	90%	Faroese	other Scandinavian, Germans, Frisians, other European, Greenlandic people and others.
Estonia	Estonians	68%	Baltic Russians 25.6%	Ukrainians 2.1%, Belarusians 1.3%, Finns 0.9%, and other (Baltic Germans, Estonian Swedes and Estonian Danes) 2.2%. (2000 census) Included are South Estonian speakers.
Finland	Finns	93.4%	Swedes 5.6%, Sami 0.1%	Russians 0.5%, Estonians 0.3%, Romani 0.1% and Turks 0.05%. (2006)
France	French	84%	(includes sometimes considered as "regional groups" like Bretons, Corsicans, Occitans, Alsatians, Normans, Picards, Savoyards, Basques, Catalans and Flemings).	other European 7%, North African 7%, Sub-Saharan African, Indochinese, Asian, Latin American and Pacific Islander. French with recent immigrant background (at least one great-grandparent) 33%.
Georgia	Georgians	84%	Ossetians 0.9%, Abkhazians 0.1%	Azeris 6.5%, Armenians 5.7%, Russian 1.5%, and other (i.e. Jews, Poles and Kists): 2.5% (2002 census).
Germany	Germans	81%-91%	includes Bavarians, Swabians, Saxons, Frisians, Sorbs, Silesians, Saarland Germans, Polish-Germans and Schleswig-Holstein Danes).	Germans without immigrant background 81%; Germans with immigrant background (including ethnic German repatriates and people of partial immigrant background) 10%; Foreigners 9%: Turks 2.1%, others 6.7% and non-European descent about 2 to 5%).
Greece	Greeks	93%	includes linguistic minorities 3%	Albanians 4%, and other (i.e. Aromanians/Megleno-Romanians, Cretan Turks and Macedonian/Greek Slavic 3%. (2001 census)
Hungary	Hungarians	92.3%		Romani 1.9%, Germans 1.2%, other (i.e. Croats, Romanians, Bulgarians, Turks and Ruthenians) or unknown 4.6%. (2001 census)
Iceland	Icelanders	94%		other (non-native/immigrants - mainly Polish, Russian, Greek, Portuguese and Filipino) 6%.
Ireland	Irish	87.4%		other white (large numbers of Latvian, Polish and Ukrainian migration) 7.5%, Asian 1.3%, black 1.1%, mixed 1.1%, and unspecified (i.e. Ulster Scots and Irish Travellers) 1.6%. (2006 census)
Italy	Italians	91.7%	German-speakers in South Tyrol and French-speaking minority in Val d'Aosta.	Sardinians, Sicilian Arbëreshë, Catalan, Greek, Ladin and Slovene minorities, other Europeans (mostly Romanians, Albanians, Ukrainians and Polish) 4%, North African Arabs 1% and others (i.e. Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Black African and Latin American) 2.5%.
Kazakhstan	Kazakhs	63.1%	Russians 23.7%	Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Uyghurs, Tatars, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Germans, Poles and Koreans.
Kosovo	Albanians	92%	Serbs 4%	other 4% (Bosniaks, Gorani, Romani, Turk and Ashkali and Egyptians).
Latvia	Latvians	62.1%	Baltic Russians 26.9%	Belarusian 3.3%, Ukrainian 2.2%, Polish 2.2%, Lithuanian 1.2%, Livonian (Finno-Estonian) 0.1% and other 2.0%. (2011)
Lithuania	Lithuanians	83.5%		Poles 6.74%, Russians 6.31%, Belorussians 1.23%, other (Lipka Tatars) 2.27% and Jews (Karaites and Yiddish-speaking) 0.01%. (2001 census)
Macedonia	Macedonians	64%	Albanians 25.2%, Turks 4%	Romani 2.7%, Serbs 1.8%, and other (i.e. Greeks, Bulgarians, Romanians and Croats) 2.2%. (2002 census)
Malta	Maltese	95.3%
Moldova	Moldovans	76%	Ukrainians 8.4%, Gagauz 4.4%	Russians 5.9%, Romanians 2.1%, Bulgarians 1.9%, and other 1.3% (2004 census).
Montenegro	—		Montenegrins 44.98%, Serbs 28.73%	Bosniaks 8.65%, Albanians 4.91%, and other (Croats, Greeks, Romani and Macedonians) 12,73%. (2011 census)
Netherlands	Dutch	80.7%	Frisians 3%	other European Union nationals 5%, Indonesians 2.4% including South Moluccans 1.5%, Turks 2.2%, Surinamese 2%, Moroccans 2%, Iranians 1% Netherlands Antilles & Aruban 0.8%, other 4.8% and Frisian-speaking dominant 1%. (2008 est.)
Northern Cyprus	Turkish Cypriots	98.7%	Greek Cypriots
Norway	Norwegians	85–87%	Sami 1.2–2.5%	Poles 1.4%. A variety of other ethnicities with background from 219 countries that together make up approximately 12% (Swedes, Pakistanis, Somalis, Iraqi Arabs and Kurds, Vietnamese, Germans, Lithuanians, Russians and Indians) (2012).
Poland	Poles	97%		Germans 0.4%, Belarusians 0.1%, Ukrainians 0.1%, other and unspecified (i.e. Silesians, Prussian Lithuanians and Kashubians) 2.7%, and about 5,000 Polish Jews reported to reside in the country. (2002 census)
Portugal	Portuguese	95%	Portuguese Mirandese speakers 15.000~ (i.e. Mirandese-language speakers)	other 5% - European Union (i.e. Spanish, British, German, French, Romanians, Bulgarians, Hungarians, and Croats) and non-EU nationals (i.e. Ukrainians, Moldavians, Russians, Serbs, and Albanians); Africans from Portuguese-speaking Africa, Brazilians, Chinese, Indians, Portuguese Gypsies and other Latin Americans.
Romania	Romanians	89.5%	Hungarians 6.6%, Romani 2.5%, Germans 0.3%	Ukrainians 0.3%, Russians 0.2%, Turks 0.2%, other 0.4%, Jewish 0.1% and Chinese 0.1%. (2002 census)
Russia	Russians	80%	Tatars 3.9%, Chuvashes 1%, Chechens 1%, Ossetians 0.4%, Kabardin 0.4%, Ingushes 0.3%, Kalmyks 0.1%	Ukrainians 1.4%, Bashkir 1.2%, Armenians 0.9%, Avars 0.7%, Mordvins 0.5% and other. (2010 census, includes Asian Russia, excludes unspecified people (3.94% of population)).
Serbia	Serbs	83%		Hungarians 3.9%, Romani 1.4%, Yugoslavs 1.1%, Bosniaks 1.8%, Montenegrin 0.9%, and other 8%. i.e. Macedonians, Slovaks, Romanians, Croats, Ruthenes, Bulgarians, Germans, Albanians, and other (2002 census).
Slovakia	Slovaks	86%	Hungarians 9.7%	Romani 1.7%, Ruthenian/Ukrainian 1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)
Slovenia	Slovenes	83.1%		Serbs 2%, Croats 1.8%, Bosniaks 1.1%, other (Dalmatian Italians, ethnic Germans, Hungarians and Romanians) and/or unspecified 12% (2002 census).
Spain	Spaniards	89%	Various nationalities or sub-ethnicities of the Spanish people, including Castilians and Leonese, Catalans/Valencians, Galicians, Basques	Gypsies, Jews, Latin Americans, Romanians, North Africans, sub-Saharan Africans, Chinese, Filipinos, Levant Arabs, British expatriates, and others.
Sweden	Swedes	88%	Finns (Tornedalians), Sami people	foreign-born or first-generation immigrants: Finns (Sweden-Finns), Yugoslavs (Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks), Danes, Norwegians, Russians, Arabs (Lebanese and Syrians), Syriacs, Greeks, Turks, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis, Thais, Koreans, and Chileans.
Switzerland	Swiss	79%	regional linguistic subgroups, including the Alamannic German-speakers, the Romand French-speakers, the Italian-speakers and Romansh people (see Romansh language).	Balkans (Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks or Albanians) 6%, Italians 4%, Portuguese 2%, Germans 1.5%, Turks 1%, Spanish 1%, Ukrainians 0.5% and others 1%.
Turkey	Turks	75%	Kurds 18%	Other 7%: Zaza, Laz, Jews, Greeks, Georgians, Circassians, Bulgarians, Bosniaks, Assyrians, Armenians, Arabs, Albanians and Romanians.
Ukraine	Ukrainians	77.8%	Russians 17.3%	Belarusians 0.6%, Moldovans 0.5%, Crimean Tatars 0.5%, Bulgarians 0.4%, Hungarians 0.3%, Romanians 0.3%, Poles 0.3%, Jews 0.2%, Armenians 0.1%, Urums 0.1% and other 1.8% (2001 census).
United Kingdom	White British	>85%	(consisting of English: ca. 75-80% Scottish: 8.0%, Welsh: 4.5%, Northern Irish: 2.8%, also Cornish, Manx, Romani and Channel Islanders). Included are the inhabitants of Gibraltar.	Black British, Asian British often consists of South Asian and East Indian peoples, Chinese British, various other Commonwealth Citizens and other Europeans.

History

Prehistoric populations

Further information: Genetic history of Europe, Prehistoric Europe, Eurasian nomads, and Indo-European expansion

The Basques are assumed to descend from the populations of the Atlantic Bronze Age directly. The Indo-European groups of Europe (the Centum groups plus Balto-Slavic and Albanian) are assumed to have developed in situ by admixture of early Indo-European groups arriving in Europe by the Bronze Age (Corded ware, Beaker people). The Finnic peoples are mostly assumed to be descended from populations that had migrated to their historical homelands by about 3,000 years ago.

Reconstructed languages of Iron Age Europe include Proto-Celtic, Proto-Italic and Proto-Germanic, all of these Indo-European languages of the centum group, and Proto-Slavic and Proto-Baltic, of the satem group. A group of Tyrrhenian languages appears to have included Etruscan, Rhaetian and perhaps also Eteocretan and Eteocypriot. A pre-Roman stage of Proto-Basque can only be reconstructed with great uncertainty.

Regarding the European Bronze Age, the only secure reconstruction is that of Proto-Greek (ca. 2000 BC). A Proto-Italo-Celtic ancestor of both Italic and Celtic (assumed for the Bell beaker period), and a Proto-Balto-Slavic language (assumed for roughly the Corded Ware horizon) has been postulated with less confidence. Old European hydronymy has been taken as indicating an early (Bronze Age) Indo-European predecessor of the later centum languages.

Historical populations

Further information: History of Europe

Provinces of the Roman Empire in AD 117.

Iron Age (pre-Great Migrations) populations of Europe known from Greco-Roman historiography, notably Herodotus, Pliny, Ptolemy and Tacitus:

• Aegean: Greek tribes, Pelasgians/Tyrrhenians, and Anatolians.
• Armenian Highlands/Anatolia: Armenians
• Balkans: Illyrians (List of ancient tribes in Illyria), Dacians, and Thracians.
• Caucasus: Georgians
• Italian peninsula: Italic peoples, Etruscans, Adriatic Veneti, Ligurians and Greek colonies.
• Western/Central Europe: Celts (list of peoples of Gaul, List of Celtic tribes), Rhaetians and Swabians, Vistula Veneti, Lugii and Balts.
• Iberian peninsula: Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula (Iberians, Lusitani, Aquitani, Celtiberians) Basques and Phoenicians ( Carthaginians).
• Sardinia: Nuragic people, comprising the Corsi, Balares and Ilienses tribes.
• British Isles: Celtic tribes in Britain and Ireland and Picts/Priteni.
• Northern Europe: Finnic peoples, Germanic peoples (list of Germanic peoples).
• Southern Europe: Sicani.
• Eastern Europe: Scythians, Sarmatians.

Historical immigration

Further information: Scythians, Huns, Turkic expansion, and Islamic conquests

The Great Migrations of Late Antiquity.

Map showing the three main political divisions around 800: The Carolingian Empire (purple), the Byzantine Empire (orange) and the Caliphate of Córdoba (light green). (Borders are approximate.)

Ethno-linguistic groups that arrived from outside Europe during historical times are:

• Phoenician colonies in the Mediterranean, from about 1200 BC to the fall of Carthage after the Third Punic War in 146 BC.
• Iranian influence: Achaemenid control of Thrace (512–343 BC) and the Bosporan Kingdom, Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Ossetes.
• the Jewish diaspora reached Europe in the Roman Empire period, the Jewish community in Italy dating to around AD 70 and records of Jews settling Central Europe (Gaul) from the 5th century (see History of the Jews in Europe).
• The Hunnic Empire (5th century), converged with the Barbarian invasions, contributing to the formation of the First Bulgarian Empire
• Avar Khaganate (c.560s-800), converged with the Slavic migrations, fused into the South Slavic states from the 9th century.
• the Bulgars (or proto-Bulgarians), a semi-nomadic people, originally from Central Asia, eventually absorbed by the Slavs.
• the Magyars (Hungarians), a Ugric people, and the Turkic Pechenegs and Khazars, arrived in Europe in about the 8th century (see Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin).
• the Arabs conquered Cyprus, Crete, Sicily, some places along the coast of southern Italy, Malta, Hispania and, in the early 11th century, Emirate of Sicily (831–1072) and Al-Andalus (711–1492)
• the Berber dynasties of the Almoravides and the Almohads ruled much of Spain and Portugal.
• exodus of Maghreb Christians
• the western Kipchaks known as Cumans entered the lands of present-day Ukraine in the 11th century.
• the Mongol/Tatar invasions (1223–1480), and Ottoman control of the Balkans (1389–1878). These medieval incursions account for the presence of European Turks and Tatars.
• the Romani people (Gypsies) arrived during the Late Middle Ages
• the Mongol Kalmyks arrived in Kalmykia in the 17th century.

History of European ethnography

Europa Polyglotta, Linguarum Genealogiam exhibens, una cum Literis, Scribendique modis, Omnium Gentium ("multilingual Europe, exhibiting a genealogy of tongues together with the letters and modes of writing of all peoples"), from Synopsis Universae Philologiae (1741).

Ethnographic map of Europe, The Times Atlas (1896).

The earliest accounts of European ethnography date to Classical Antiquity. Herodotus described the Scythians and Thraco-Illyrians. Dicaearchus gave a description of Greece itself besides accounts of western and northern Europe. His work survives only fragmentarily, but was received by Polybius and others.

Roman Empire period authors include Diodorus Siculus, Strabo and Tacitus. Julius Caesar gives an account of the Celtic tribes of Gaul, while Tacitus describes the Germanic tribes of Magna Germania.

The 4th century Tabula Peutingeriana records the names of numerous peoples and tribes. Ethnographers of Late Antiquity such as Agathias of Myrina Ammianus Marcellinus, Jordanes or Theophylact Simocatta give early accounts of the Slavs, the Franks, the Alamanni and the Goths.

Book IX of Isidore's Etymologiae (7th century) treats de linguis, gentibus, regnis, militia, civibus (of languages, peoples, realms, armies and cities). Ahmad ibn Fadlan in the 10th century gives an account of the Bolghar and the Rus' peoples. William Rubruck, while most notable for his account of the Mongols, in his account of his journey to Asia also gives accounts of the Tatars and the Alans. Saxo Grammaticus and Adam of Bremen give an account of pre-Christian Scandinavia. The Chronicon Slavorum (12th century) gives an account of the northwestern Slavic tribes.

Gottfried Hensel in his 1741 Synopsis Universae Philologiae published what is probably the earliest ethno-linguistic map of Europe, showing the beginning of the pater noster in the various European languages and scripts. In the 19th century, ethnicity was discussed in terms of scientific racism, and the ethnic groups of Europe were grouped into a number of "races", Mediterranean, Alpine and Nordic, all part of a larger "Caucasian" group.

The beginnings of ethnic geography as an academic subdiscipline lie in the period following World War I, in the context of nationalism, and in the 1930s exploitation for the purposes of fascist and Nazi propaganda so that it was only in the 1960s that ethnic geography began to thrive as a bona fide academic subdiscipline.

The origins of modern ethnography are often traced to the work of Bronisław Malinowski who emphasized the importance of fieldwork. The emergence of population genetics further undermined the categorisation of Europeans into clearly defined racial groups. A 2007 study on the genetic history of Europe found that the most important genetic differentiation in Europe occurs on a line from the north to the south-east (northern Europe to the Balkans), with another east-west axis of differentiation across Europe, separating the "indigenous" Basques and Sami from other European populations. Despite these stratifications it noted the unusually high degree of European homogeneity: "there is low apparent diversity in Europe with the entire continent-wide samples only marginally more dispersed than single population samples elsewhere in the world."

National minorities

Further information: Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

Further information: Multilingual countries and regions of Europe

The total number of national minority populations in Europe is estimated at 105 million people, or 14% of Europeans.

The member states of the Council of Europe in 1995 signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The broad aims of the Convention are to ensure that the signatory states respect the rights of national minorities, undertaking to combat discrimination, promote equality, preserve and develop the culture and identity of national minorities, guarantee certain freedoms in relation to access to the media, minority languages and education and encourage the participation of national minorities in public life. The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities defines a national minority implicitly to include minorities possessing a territorial identity and a distinct cultural heritage. By 2008, 39 member states have signed and ratified the Convention, with the notable exception of France.

Indigenous minorities

Further information: Indigenous peoples and Definitions and identity of indigenous peoples

A Sami family in northern Norway around 1900

Most of Europe's indigenous peoples, or ethnic groups known to have the earliest known historical connection to a particular region, have gone extinct or been absorbed by (or, perhaps, contributed to) the dominant cultures. Those that survive are largely confined to remote areas. Groups that have been identified as indigenous include the Sami of northern Scandinavia, the Basques of northern Spain and southern France, the Bretons of western France and a many of the western indigenous peoples of Russia. Groups in Russia include Finno-Ugric peoples such as the Komi and Mordvins of the western Ural Mountains, Samoyedic peoples such as the Nenets people of northern Russia.

Non-indigenous minorities

Main article: Immigration to Europe

Further information: Jews and Judaism in Europe, Islam in Europe, Hinduism in Europe, Buddhism in Europe, and Afro-Europeans

Many cultures, nationalities, and ethnic groups have made new homes in Europe. Some came to Europe centuries or even millennia ago, while others immigrated more recently in the 20th century, often from former colonies of the British, French, and Spanish empires.

Out of about 728 million Europeans, non-indigenous populations come to some 22 to >29 million in total, or about 3% to >4%, depending on the definition:

• Western Asians
  • Jews: approx. 2.0 million, mostly in the UK, France and Germany. They are descended from the Israelites of the Middle East (Southwest Asia), originating from the historical kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
    • Ashkenazi Jews: approx. 1.4 million, mostly in Germany and France, probably via southern Europe in the Roman era and coalescing in France and Germany towards the end of the first millennium. The Nazi Holocaust wiped out the vast majority during World War II and forced many to flee.
    • Sephardi Jews: approx. 0.3 million, mostly in France. They arrived via Spain and Portugal in the pre-Roman and Roman eras, and were forcibly converted or expelled in the 15th and 16th centuries.
    • Mizrahi Jews: approx. 0.3 million, mostly in France, via Islamic-majority countries of the Middle East.
    • Italqim: approx. 50,000, mostly in Italy, since the 2nd century BCE.
    • Romaniotes: approx. 6,000, mostly in Greece, with communities dating at least from the 1st century CE.
    • Crimean Karaites (Karaim): less than 4,000, mostly in Poland and Lithuania. They arrived in Crimea in the Middle Ages.
  • Assyrians: mostly in Sweden and Germany, as well in Russia.
  • Kurds: approx. 2.5 million, mostly in the UK, Germany, Sweden and Turkey.
  • Iraqi diaspora: mostly in the UK, Germany and Sweden.
  • Lebanese diaspora: especially in France, Netherlands, Germany, Cyprus and the UK.
  • Syrian diaspora: Largest number of Syrians live in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
• Africans
  • North Africans (Arabs and Berbers): approx. 5 million, mostly in France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden. The bulk of North African migrants are Moroccans, although France also has a large number of Algerians.
  • Horn Africans: approx. 200,000 Somalis, mostly in the UK, Netherlands and Scandinavia.
  • Sub-Saharan Africans (many ethnicities including Afro-Caribbeans and others by descent): approx. 5 million but rapidly growing, mostly in the UK and France, with smaller numbers in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and elsewhere.
• Latin Americans: approx. 2.2 million, mainly in Spain and to a lesser extent Italy and the UK. See also Latin American Britons (80,000 Latin American born in 2001).
  • Brazilians: around 70,000 in Portugal and Italy each, and 50,000 in Germany.
  • Chilean refugees escaping the Augusto Pinochet regime of the 1970s formed communities in France, Sweden, the UK, former East Germany and the Netherlands.
  • Venezuelans: around 520,000 mostly in Spain (200,000), Portugal (100,000), France (30,000), Germany (20,000), UK (15,000), Ireland (5,000), Italy (5,000) and the Netherlands (1,000).
• South Asians: approx. 3 - 4 million, mostly in the UK but reside in smaller numbers in Germany and France.
  • Romani (Gypsies): approx. 4 or 10 million (although estimates vary widely), dispersed throughout Europe but with large numbers concentrated in the Balkans area, they are of ancestral South Asian and European origin.
  • Indians: approx. 2 million, mostly in the UK, also in Germany and smaller numbers in Ireland.
  • Pakistanis: approx. 1,000,000, mostly in the UK, but also in Norway and Sweden.
  • Tamils: approx. 250,000, predominantly in the UK.
  • Bangladeshi residing in Europe estimated at over 500,000, the bulk live in the UK.
  • Afghans, about 100,000 to 200,000, most happen to live in the UK, but Germany and Sweden are destinations for Afghan immigrants since the 1960s.
• East Asians
  • Chinese: approx. 1.7 million, mostly in France, Russia, the UK, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.
  • Filipinos: above 1 million, mostly in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy.
  • Japanese: mostly in the UK and a sizable community in Düsseldorf, Germany.
  • Koreans: 100,000 estimated (excludes a possible 100,000 more in Russia), mainly in the UK, France and Germany. See also Koryo-saram.
  • Southeast Asians of multiple nationalities, ca. total 1 million, such as Indonesians in the Netherlands, Thais in the UK and Sweden, Vietnamese in France and former East Germany, and Cambodians in France. See also Vietnamese people in the Czech Republic.
  • Mongolians are a sizable community in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.
• North Americans
  • U.S. and Canadian expatriates: American British and Canadian British, Canadiens and Acadians in France, as well Americans/Canadians of European ancestry residing elsewhere in Europe.
    • African Americans (i.e. African American British) who are Americans of black/African ancestry reside in other countries. In the 1920s, African-American entertainers established a colony in Paris (African American French) and descendants of World War II/Cold War-era black American soldiers stationed in France, Germany and Italy are well known.
• Others
  • Pacific Islanders: A small population of Tahitians of Polynesian origin in mainland France, Fijians in the United Kingdom from Fiji and Māori in the United Kingdom of the Māori people of New Zealand.
  • Amerindians and Inuit, a scant few in the European continent of American Indian ancestry (often Latin Americans in Spain, France and the UK; Inuit in Denmark), but most may be children or grandchildren of U.S. soldiers from American Indian tribes by intermarriage with local European women. In Germany, the Native American Association of Germany founded in 1994 as a socio-cultural organization estimates 50,000 North American Indians (descendants) live in the country.

European identity

Historical

Further information: History of Western civilization

Personifications of Sclavinia, Germania, Gallia, and Roma, bringing offerings to Otto III; from a gospel book dated 990.

Medieval notions of a relation of the peoples of Europe are expressed in terms of genealogy of mythical founders of the individual groups. The Europeans were considered the descendants of Japheth from early times, corresponding to the division of the known world into three continents, the descendants of Shem peopling Asia and those of Ham peopling Africa. Identification of Europeans as "Japhetites" is also reflected in early suggestions for terming the Indo-European languages "Japhetic".

In this tradition, the Historia Brittonum (9th century) introduces a genealogy of the peoples of the Migration period (as it was remembered in early medieval historiography) as follows,

The first man that dwelt in Europe was Alanus, with his three sons, Hisicion, Armenon, and Neugio. Hisicion had four sons, Francus, Romanus, Alamanus, and Bruttus. Armenon had five sons, Gothus, Valagothus, Cibidus, Burgundus, and Longobardus. Neugio had three sons, Vandalus, Saxo, and Boganus.

From Hisicion arose four nations—the Franks, the Latins, the Germans, and Britons; from Armenon, the Gothi, Valagothi, Cibidi, Burgundi, and Longobardi; from Neugio, the Bogari, Vandali, Saxones, and Tarincgi. The whole of Europe was subdivided into these tribes.

The text goes then on to list the genealogy of Alanus, connecting him to Japheth via eighteen generations.

European culture

Main articles: Culture of Europe and Western culture

European culture is largely rooted in what is often referred to as its "common cultural heritage". Due to the great number of perspectives which can be taken on the subject, it is impossible to form a single, all-embracing conception of European culture. Nonetheless, there are core elements which are generally agreed upon as forming the cultural foundation of modern Europe. One list of these elements given by K. Bochmann includes:

• A common cultural and spiritual heritage derived from Greco-Roman antiquity, Christianity, the Renaissance and its Humanism, the political thinking of the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution, and the developments of Modernity, including all types of socialism;
• A rich and dynamic material culture that has been extended to the other continents as the result of industrialization and colonialism during the "Great Divergence";
• A specific conception of the individual expressed by the existence of, and respect for, a legality that guarantees human rights and the liberty of the individual;
• A plurality of states with different political orders, which are condemned to live together in one way or another;
• Respect for peoples, states and nations outside Europe.

Berting says that these points fit with "Europe's most positive realisations". The concept of European culture is generally linked to the classical definition of the Western world. In this definition, Western culture is the set of literary, scientific, political, artistic and philosophical principles which set it apart from other civilizations. Much of this set of traditions and knowledge is collected in the Western canon. The term has come to apply to countries whose history has been strongly marked by European immigration or settlement during the 18th and 19th centuries, such as the Americas, and Australasia, and is not restricted to Europe.

Religion

Main articles: Religion in Europe and Christendom

Further information: Christianity in Europe, Islam in Europe, Hinduism in Europe, and Buddhism in Europe

Eurobarometer Poll 2005 chart results

Since the High Middle Ages, most of Europe used to be dominated by Christianity. There are three major denominations, Roman Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox, with Protestantism restricted mostly to Northern Europe, and Orthodoxy to Slavic regions, Romania, Greece and Georgia. Also The Armenian Apostolic Church, part of the Oriental Church, is in Europe - another branch of Christianity (world's oldest National Church). Part of the Catholicism, while centered in the Latin parts, has a significant following also in Germanic and Slavic regions, Hungary, and Ireland (with some in Great Britain).

Christianity is still the largest religion in Europe; according to a 2011 survey, 76.2% of Europeans considered themselves Christians. Also according to a study on Religiosity in the European Union in 2012, by Eurobarometer, Christianity is the largest religion in the European Union, accounting for 72% of the EU's population.

Islam has some tradition in the Balkans and Caucasus (the European dominions of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th to 19th centuries). Muslims account for the majority of the populations in Albania, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Northern Cyprus and Turkey. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 47% of the population is Muslim. Significant minorities are present in the rest of Europe. In addition to Turkey and Azerbaijan, Russia has one of the largest Muslim communities in Europe, including the Tatars of the Middle Volga and multiple groups in the Caucasus, including Chechens, Avars, Ingush and others. With 20th-century migrations, Muslims in Western Europe have become a noticeable minority. According to the Pew Forum, the total number of Muslims in Europe in 2010 was about 44 million (6%). excluding Turkey. While the total number of Muslims in the European Union in 2007 was about 16 million (3.2%).

Judaism has a long history in Europe, but is a small minority religion, with France (1%) the only European country with a Jewish population in excess of 0.5%. The Jewish population of Europe is composed primarily of two groups, the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi. Ancestors of Ashkenazi Jews likely migrated to the middle of Europe at least as early as the 8th century, while Sephardi Jews established themselves in Spain and Portugal at least one thousand years before that. Jews originated in the Levant where they resided for thousands of years until the 2nd century AD, when they spread around the Mediterranean and into Europe, although small communities were known to exist in Greece since at least the 1st century BC. Jewish history was notably affected by the Holocaust and emigration (including Aliyah, as well as emigration to America) in the 20th century.

In modern times, significant secularization has taken place, notably in laicist France in the 19th century and in the 20th century such as Estonia and German Democratic Republic. Currently, distribution of theism in Europe is very heterogeneous, with more than 95% in Poland, and less than 20% in the Czech Republic and Estonia. The 2005 Eurobarometer poll found that 52% of EU citizens believe in God.

Pan-European identity

Main article: Pan-European identity

"Pan-European identity" or "Europatriotism" is an emerging sense of personal identification with Europe, or the European Union as a result of the gradual process European integration taking place over the last quarter of the 20th century, and especially in the period after the end of the Cold War, since the 1990s. The foundation of the OSCE following the 1990s Paris Charter has facilitated this process on a political level during the 1990s and 2000s.

From the later 20th century, 'Europe' has come to be widely used as a synonym for the European Union even though there are millions of people living on the European continent in non-EU states. The prefix pan implies that the identity applies throughout Europe, and especially in an EU context, and 'pan-European' is often contrasted with national identity.

See also

• European diaspora
• Caucasoid
• Demography of Europe
• Emigration from Europe
  • European American
  • White Latin American
• Ethnic groups in the Middle East
• Eurolinguistics
• Federal Union of European Nationalities
• Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
• Genetic history of Europe
  • Y-DNA haplogroups by groups in Europe
• Immigration to Europe
  • Afro-Europeans
  • Turks in Europe
• Languages of Europe
• List of ethnic groups
• Nomadic peoples of Europe
• Peoples of the Caucasus
• White people

Bibliography

• Online article
• Full text on google books
• Online version
• part I: Europe, pp. 1–100.
• Panikos Panayi, Outsiders: A History of European Minorities (London: Hambledon Press, 1999)

External links

• Ron Balsdon, The Cultural Mosaic of the European Union: Why National Boundaries and the Cultures Inside Still Matter
• Migration Policy Institute - Country and Comparative Data
• Living Diversity, Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) and the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN).
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