![]() | This is not a Wikipedia article: This is a workpage, a collection of material and work in progress that may or may not be incorporated into an article. It should not necessarily be considered factual or authoritative. |
The European peoples are the various nations and ethnic groups of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe.
Pan and Pfeil (2002) count 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. [1]
There are eight peoples of Europe with more than 30 million members, the Russians (with some 90 million settling in the European parts of Russia), followed by the Germans (76 million), French (63 million [2]), Italians (58 million), English (45 million), Spanish (42 million), Poles (42 million) and the Ukrainians (41 million). These eight groups between themselves account for some 460 million or about 63% of European population.
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.
Of the total population of Europe of some 730 million (as of 2005), some 85% or 630 million fall within three large ethno-linguistic super-groups, viz., Slavic, Latin (Romance) and Germanic. The largest groups that do not fall within either of these are the Greeks (though as Indo-European speakers, are still related to the other three) and the Hungarians (about thirteen million each).
phylum | super-group | ethno-linguistic group | subgroups | approx. number (millions) | notes |
Indo-European | 665 | ||||
Slavic Europe | 230 | ||||
Slavic, East | Russians | Pomors, presently Cossacks | 90 | ||
Slavic, West | Poles | 42 | |||
Slavic, East | Ukrainians | Rusyns[ dubious – discuss], Boykos, Hutsuls, Lemkos, Poleszuks | 41 | ||
Slavic, West | Czechs | 11 | |||
Slavic, South | Serbs | 12 | |||
Slavic, East | Belarusians | 10 | |||
Slavic, South | Bulgarians | 8 | |||
Slavic, South | Croats | 6 | |||
Slavic, West | Slovaks | 5 | |||
Slavic, South | Macedonians | 2 | |||
Slavic, South | Bosniaks | 2 | |||
Slavic, South | Slovenes | 2 | |||
Slavic, West | Silesians | 2 | |||
Slavic, South | Montenegrins | 0.8 | |||
Slavic, West | Sorbs | 0.06 | |||
Latin Europe | 200 | ||||
Latin, Western | Francophonie | French, Walloons, Romands, Occitans | 55 | ||
Latin, Italo-Western | Italians | Sardinians, Furlans, Lombards, Venetians, Sicilians, Neapolitans | 60 | ||
Latin, Western | Spaniards | Castilians; non-Castilian ethno-linguistic groups: Andalusians, Asturians, Aragonese, Canarians, Catalans, Galicians | 42 | ||
Latin, Eastern | Eastern Romance ( Vlachs) | Romanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians, Aromanians | 25 | ||
Latin, Western | Portuguese | 15 | |||
Latin, Western | Romansh | 0.07 [4] | |||
Latin, Western | Gibraltarians | 0.03 | |||
Germanic Europe | 200 | ||||
Germanic, West, Continental | German-speaking Europe | Germans, Austrians, Alemannic Swiss, Luxembourgers | 90 | ||
Germanic, West, North Sea | English | 45 | also subsumed under British or White British. | ||
Germanic, North | Scandinavians | Norwegians, Swedes ( Finland Swedes), Danes, Icelanders | 22 | ||
Germanic, West, Continental | Netherlandish | Dutch people, Flemish people | 22 | ||
Germanic, West, North Sea | Frisians | 1.5 | |||
Celtic Europe | 2-20 | approx. 2 million speakers of Celtic languages, but depending on the definition, some 20 million may be considered " Celtic" | |||
Anglo-Celtic, Goidelic | Irish | Gaeltacht | 6 | Some living in Northern Ireland can also subsumed under British or White British. | |
Anglo-Celtic, Goidelic | Scots | Gàidhealtachd | 6 | also subsumed under British or White British. | |
Anglo-Celtic, Brythonic | Welsh | 5 | also subsumed under British or White British. | ||
Franco-Celtic, Brythonic | Bretons | 5 | also subsumed under French. | ||
Anglo-Celtic, Brythonic | Cornish | 0.2 | also subsumed under English, British or White British. | ||
Anglo-Celtic, Goidelic | Manx | 0.04 | also subsumed under British or White British. | ||
Greek | Greeks | 13 | |||
Albanian | Albanians | 8-10 | |||
Indo-Aryan | Roma people | 5-10 | |||
Baltic | 4.8 | ||||
Lithuanians | 3.15 | ||||
Latvians | 1.5 | ||||
Latgalians | 0.15 | ||||
Armenian | Armenians | 4.5 | in Transcaucasia, not Europe proper, see below. | ||
Iranian | Ossetians | 0.6 | depends on what part of the Caucasus is considered European, see below. | ||
Turkic | 38 | ||||
Turkic, Oghuz | Turks | 14 | approx. 14 million in Turkish Thrace and Istanbul Province, with a large Turkish diaspora in other parts of Europe of over 3 million, principally in Germany [5] [6] [7] | ||
Turkic, Kypchak | Tatars | 10 | |||
Turkic, Oghuz | Azerbaijanis | 6 | |||
Turkic, Oghur | Chuvash | 2 | |||
Turkic, Kypchak | Kazakhs | 2 | approx. 2 million; 1 million in the Atyrau and West Kazakhstan provinces of Kazakhstan and 1 million in Russia | ||
Turkic, Kypchak | Bashkirs | 1.6 | |||
Turkic, Kypchak | Karachays | 1.3 | |||
Turkic, Kypchak / Oghuz | Crimeans | Tat Tatars, Yaliboyu Tatars, Noğay Tatars | 0.3 | ||
Turkic, Oghuz | Gagauz | 0.1 | |||
Turkic, Kypchak | Nogais | 0.09 | |||
Finno-Ugric | 25 | ||||
Ugric | Hungarians | 15 | |||
Finnic, Finno-Lappic | Finns | Karelians, Sweden Finns, Ingrian Finns, Kven people | 6 | ||
Finnic, Finno-Lappic | Estonians | Setos, Võros | 1 | ||
Finnic, Volgaic | Mordvins | Erzya/Shoksha, Moksha, Teryukhan, Qaratay | 0.85 | ||
Finnic, Permic | Udmurts | 0.64 | |||
Finnic, Volgaic | Mari | 0.6 | |||
Finnic, Permic | Komi | Komi-Izhemtsy, Komi-Permyaks | 0.4 | ||
Finnic, Finno-Lappic | Sami | 0.1 | |||
Finnic, Finno-Lappic | Livonians | 0.000176 | |||
Caucasian | 6 | ||||
South Caucasian | Georgians | 5 | depends on what part of the Caucasus is considered European, see below. | ||
Northeast Caucasian | Chechens | 1 | depends on what part of the Caucasus is considered European, see below. | ||
Basque | Basque | Basques | 2.5 | ||
Semitic | Semitic | 0.4-3 | |||
Semitic, Hebrew | Ethnic Jews | 2 | also subsumed under various other, see below. | ||
Semitic, Maltese | Maltese | 0.4 | ethno-linguistic classification is difficult, since there is significant historical admixture of Italian, Sicilian, Siculo-Arabic and French influence. | ||
Mongolic | Mongolic | Kalmyks | 0.17 |
Europe has a population of about 2 million ethnic Jews (mostly also counted as part of the ethnic group of their respective home countries):
Depending on what parts of the Caucasus are considered part of Europe, various peoples of the Caucasus may also be considered "European peoples":
Pan and Pfeil (2002) distinguish 33 peoples which form the majority population in a sovereign state geographically situated in Europe. [9] [10] These majorities range from nearly homogenous populations as in Poland or Albania 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 | other minorities [11] |
Albania | Albanians | 95% | Greeks 3%, other 2% (Vlach, Roma, Serbs, Macedonians, Bulgarians) | |
Austria | Austrians | 91.1% | South Slavs 4% (includes Burgenland Croats, Carinthian Slovenes, Croats, Slovenes, Serbs, Bosniaks), Turks 1.6%, Germans 0.9%, other or unspecified 2.4% (2001 census) | |
Belarus | Belarusians | 81.2% | Russians 11.4%, Poles 3.9%, Ukrainians 2.4%, other 1.1% (1999 census) | |
Belgium | Flemings | 58% | Walloon 31%, Germans 1% | mixed or other 10% |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | — | Bosniak 48%, Serbs 37.1% Croats 14.3% | other 0.6% (2000) | |
Bulgaria | Bulgarians | 83.9% | Turks 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (2001 census) | |
Croatia | Croats | 89.6% | Serbs 4.5%, other 5.9% (including Bosniak, Hungarian, Slovenes, Czech, and Roma) (2001 census) | |
Czech Republic | Czechs | 90.4% | Moravians 3.7% | Slovaks 1.9%, other 4% (2001 census) |
Denmark | Danes | 81% | Faroese | other Scandinavian 9%, Germans 5%, Frisians 1%, other European 3% |
Estonia | Estonians | 67.9% | Estonian Swedes | Baltic Russians 25.6%, Ukrainians 2.1%, Belarusians 1.3%, Finns 0.9%, other ( Baltic Germans) 2.2% (2000 census) |
Finland | Finns | 93.4% | Swedes 5.6% | Russians 0.5%, Estonians 0.3%, Roma 0.1%, Sami 0.1% (2006) |
France | French | 84% | (includes Bretons, Corsicans, Occitans, Alsatians, Basques) | other European 7%, North African 7%, Indochinese [6] |
Germany | Germans | 91.5% | includes Bavarians, Swabians, Saxons, Frisians, Sorbs, Silesians | Turks 2.4%, other 6.1% (mostly Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Spanish) |
Greece | Greeks | 93% | includes linguistic minorities 3% | Albanians 4%, other 3% (2001 census) [12] |
Hungary | Hungarians | 92.3% | Roma 1.9%, Germans 1.2% other or unknown 4.6% (2001 census) | |
Iceland | Icelanders | 94% | other (non-native) 6% | |
Ireland | Irish | 87.4% | other white 7.5%, Asian 1.3%, black 1.1%, mixed 1.1%, unspecified 1.6% (2006 census) | |
Italy | Italians | 95% | includes Sicilians, Sardinians, Lombards and other subgroups | other European (mostly Albanian, Romanian, Ukrainian) 2.5%, African (mostly North African Arab) 1.5%, others 1% [7] |
Kosovo | Albanians | 88% | Serbs 7% | other 5% (Bosniak, Gorani, Roma, Turk, Ashkali, Egyptian) |
Latvia | Latvians | 57.7% | Baltic Russians 29.6%, Belarusian 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.7%, Polish 2.5%, Lithuanian 1.4%, other 2% (2002) | |
Lithuania | Lithuanians | 83.5% | Poles 6.74%, Russians 6.31%, Belarusians 1.23%, other ( Lipka Tatars) 2.27% (2001 census) | |
Macedonia | Macedonians | 64.2% | Albanians 25.2% | Turks 3.9%, Roma 2.7%, Serbs 1.8%, other 2.2% (2002 census) |
Malta | Maltese | 95.3% [13]. | ||
Moldova | Moldovan/Romanian | 78.2% | Ukrainians 8.4% | Russians 5.8%, Gagauz 4.4%, Bulgarians 1.9%, other 1.3% (2004 census) |
Montenegro | — | Montenegrins 43%, Serbs 32% | Bosniaks 8%, Albanians 5%, other (Croats, Roma) 12% (2003 census) | |
Netherlands | Dutch | 80.7% | other EU 5%, Indonesians 2.4%, Turks 2.2%, Surinamese 2%, Moroccans 2%, Netherlands Antilles & Aruba 0.8%, other 4.8% (2008 est.) | |
Norway | Norwegians | 93.1% | Sami 1.3% | other European 3.6%, other 2% (2007 estimate) |
Poland | Poles | 96.7% | Germans 0.4%, Belarusians 0.1%, Ukrainians 0.1%, other and unspecified ( Silesians) 2.7% (2002 census) | |
Portugal | Portuguese | 92% | ||
Romania | Romanians | 89.5% | Hungarians 6.6%, Roma 2.5%, Germans 0.3% | Ukrainians 0.3%, Russians 0.2%, Turks 0.2%, other 0.4% (2002 census) |
Russia | Russians | 79.8% | Tatars 3.8%, Kalmyks, Chechens, Ossetians | Ukrainians 2%, Bashkir 1.2%, Chuvash 1.1% other or unspecified ( Nogais, Mordvins, Komi) 12.1% (2002 census, includes Asian Russia) |
Serbia [14] | Serbs | 82.9% | Hungarians 3.9%, Roma 1.4%, Yugoslavs 1.1%, Bosniaks 1.8%, Montenegrin 0.9%, other 8% (2002 census, includes Kosovo) | |
Slovakia | Slovaks | 85.8% | Hungarians 9.7% | Roma 1.7%, Ruthenian/Ukrainian 1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census) |
Slovenia | Slovenians | 83.1% | Serbs 2%, Croats 1.8%, Bosniaks 1.1%, other or unspecified 12% (2002 census) | |
Spain | Spanish | 89% | Various nationalities or sub-ethnicities ( Castilians 25%; Basques 10%) | 11% foreign nationals (South Americans, Romanians, North Africans, sub-Saharan Africans, other) |
Sweden | Swedes | 88% | Sweden-Finns , Sami people | foreign-born or first-generation immigrants: Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks [8] [9] |
Switzerland | Swiss | 79% | regional linguistic subgroups | Balkans (Serbs, Croats, Albanians) 6%, Italians 4%, Portuguese 2%, Germans 1.5%, Turks 1%, Spanish 1%. |
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%, other 1.8% (2001 census) | |
United Kingdom | English | 83.6% | Scots 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%, Northern Irish 2.9% ( White British 92.1%) | black ( Nigerian) 2%, Indian 1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other ( Iraqi, east Asian) 1.6% (2001 census) |
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 indigenous to northeastern Europe.
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.
Iron Age (pre- Great Migrations) populations of Europe known from Greco-Roman historiography, notably Herodotus, Pliny, Ptolemy and Tacitus:
Ethno-linguistic groups that arrived from outside Europe during historical times are:
In a more narrow sense of " indigenous peoples", ethnic minorities marginalized by historical expansion of their neighbour populations, Europe's present-day indigenous populations are relatively few, mainly confined to northern and far-eastern reaches of this Eurasian peninsula. Whilst there are numerous ethnic minorities distributed within European countries, few of these still maintain traditional subsistence cultures and are recognized as indigenous peoples, per se. The following groups can be considered "indigenous peoples" of Europe in this narrow sense: [19]
The culture of Europe might better be described as a series of overlapping cultures. Whether it is a question of West as opposed to East; Christianity as opposed to Islam; many have claimed to identify cultural fault lines across the continent.
European culture has had a very broad influence on the rest of the world, basically due to the widespread practice and legacy of colonialism. The exchange has not all been one way, some European features have been drastically changed by imports from elsewhere. Popular European foods such as chips (frites or French fries) and rice are derived from products that are not European, but indigenous to South America and Southern Asia respectively. Nearly all of the Americas and all of Africa were European colonies at one time or another - though in earlier times, European nations often colonized each other. Or were even colonized by Non-Europeans - Arabs and North African Moors colonized the Iberian peninsula leaving, for example, a significant Arabic influence on the Spanish language.
Various parts of the Americas are also considered overseas territories of France which are considered integral parts of the French Republic. A large proportion of the population of the Americas are descended from European emigrants (in some cases fleeing harsh economic times or religious intolerance). As a consequence most people in the Americas speak languages that are to varying degrees, derived from European languages. These include Latin American Spanish, American English, Caribbean English, Brazilian Portuguese, Haitian Kreyol and Papiamento. There are still significant cultural, economic and political ties between the former European colonial nations ( Spain, Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium and France) and the former colonies around the world.
Pan-European identity refers to both the sense of personal identification with Europe, and to the identity possessed by 'Europe' as a whole. 'Europe' is 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, 'pan-European' is often contrasted with national.
Since the High Middle Ages, most of Europe has been dominated by Christianity. There are three major denominations, Roman Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox, with Protestantism restricted mostly to Germanic regions, and Orthodoxy to Slavic regions, Romania, Greece and Georgia. Catholicism, while centered in the Latin parts, has a significant following also in Germanic, Slavic and Celtic regions.
Islam has some tradition in the Balkans (the European dominions of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th to 19th centuries), in Albania, Former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Turkish East Thrace. European Russia has the largest Muslim community, 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.
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 comprised primarily of two groups, the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi. Ashkenazi Jews migrated to Europe as early as the 8th century, while Sephardi Jews established themselves in Spain and Portugal at least one thousand years before that. Jewish European history was notably affected by the Holocaust and resulting emigration in the 20th century.
In modern times, significant secularization has taken place, notably in the Netherlands and laicist France in the 19th century and in Communist Eastern Europe in the 20th century. Currently, distribution of theism in Europe is very heterogeneous, with more than 95% in Poland, and less than 20% in the Czech Republic. The 2005 Eurobarometer poll [20] found that 52% of EU citizens believe in God.
Populations of non-European origin in Europe (approx. 22 - 29+ million, or approx. 3% to 4%+ [depending on definition of non-European origin], out of a total population of approx. 730 million):
Nations and regions outside of Europe with significant populations of European ancestry [25]:
Nations and regions outside of Europe with significant populations of European ancestry [25]:
National diasporas:
white (including mestizo) 94%= 3.9 million whites and mestizos
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![]() | This is not a Wikipedia article: This is a workpage, a collection of material and work in progress that may or may not be incorporated into an article. It should not necessarily be considered factual or authoritative. |
The European peoples are the various nations and ethnic groups of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe.
Pan and Pfeil (2002) count 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. [1]
There are eight peoples of Europe with more than 30 million members, the Russians (with some 90 million settling in the European parts of Russia), followed by the Germans (76 million), French (63 million [2]), Italians (58 million), English (45 million), Spanish (42 million), Poles (42 million) and the Ukrainians (41 million). These eight groups between themselves account for some 460 million or about 63% of European population.
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.
Of the total population of Europe of some 730 million (as of 2005), some 85% or 630 million fall within three large ethno-linguistic super-groups, viz., Slavic, Latin (Romance) and Germanic. The largest groups that do not fall within either of these are the Greeks (though as Indo-European speakers, are still related to the other three) and the Hungarians (about thirteen million each).
phylum | super-group | ethno-linguistic group | subgroups | approx. number (millions) | notes |
Indo-European | 665 | ||||
Slavic Europe | 230 | ||||
Slavic, East | Russians | Pomors, presently Cossacks | 90 | ||
Slavic, West | Poles | 42 | |||
Slavic, East | Ukrainians | Rusyns[ dubious – discuss], Boykos, Hutsuls, Lemkos, Poleszuks | 41 | ||
Slavic, West | Czechs | 11 | |||
Slavic, South | Serbs | 12 | |||
Slavic, East | Belarusians | 10 | |||
Slavic, South | Bulgarians | 8 | |||
Slavic, South | Croats | 6 | |||
Slavic, West | Slovaks | 5 | |||
Slavic, South | Macedonians | 2 | |||
Slavic, South | Bosniaks | 2 | |||
Slavic, South | Slovenes | 2 | |||
Slavic, West | Silesians | 2 | |||
Slavic, South | Montenegrins | 0.8 | |||
Slavic, West | Sorbs | 0.06 | |||
Latin Europe | 200 | ||||
Latin, Western | Francophonie | French, Walloons, Romands, Occitans | 55 | ||
Latin, Italo-Western | Italians | Sardinians, Furlans, Lombards, Venetians, Sicilians, Neapolitans | 60 | ||
Latin, Western | Spaniards | Castilians; non-Castilian ethno-linguistic groups: Andalusians, Asturians, Aragonese, Canarians, Catalans, Galicians | 42 | ||
Latin, Eastern | Eastern Romance ( Vlachs) | Romanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians, Aromanians | 25 | ||
Latin, Western | Portuguese | 15 | |||
Latin, Western | Romansh | 0.07 [4] | |||
Latin, Western | Gibraltarians | 0.03 | |||
Germanic Europe | 200 | ||||
Germanic, West, Continental | German-speaking Europe | Germans, Austrians, Alemannic Swiss, Luxembourgers | 90 | ||
Germanic, West, North Sea | English | 45 | also subsumed under British or White British. | ||
Germanic, North | Scandinavians | Norwegians, Swedes ( Finland Swedes), Danes, Icelanders | 22 | ||
Germanic, West, Continental | Netherlandish | Dutch people, Flemish people | 22 | ||
Germanic, West, North Sea | Frisians | 1.5 | |||
Celtic Europe | 2-20 | approx. 2 million speakers of Celtic languages, but depending on the definition, some 20 million may be considered " Celtic" | |||
Anglo-Celtic, Goidelic | Irish | Gaeltacht | 6 | Some living in Northern Ireland can also subsumed under British or White British. | |
Anglo-Celtic, Goidelic | Scots | Gàidhealtachd | 6 | also subsumed under British or White British. | |
Anglo-Celtic, Brythonic | Welsh | 5 | also subsumed under British or White British. | ||
Franco-Celtic, Brythonic | Bretons | 5 | also subsumed under French. | ||
Anglo-Celtic, Brythonic | Cornish | 0.2 | also subsumed under English, British or White British. | ||
Anglo-Celtic, Goidelic | Manx | 0.04 | also subsumed under British or White British. | ||
Greek | Greeks | 13 | |||
Albanian | Albanians | 8-10 | |||
Indo-Aryan | Roma people | 5-10 | |||
Baltic | 4.8 | ||||
Lithuanians | 3.15 | ||||
Latvians | 1.5 | ||||
Latgalians | 0.15 | ||||
Armenian | Armenians | 4.5 | in Transcaucasia, not Europe proper, see below. | ||
Iranian | Ossetians | 0.6 | depends on what part of the Caucasus is considered European, see below. | ||
Turkic | 38 | ||||
Turkic, Oghuz | Turks | 14 | approx. 14 million in Turkish Thrace and Istanbul Province, with a large Turkish diaspora in other parts of Europe of over 3 million, principally in Germany [5] [6] [7] | ||
Turkic, Kypchak | Tatars | 10 | |||
Turkic, Oghuz | Azerbaijanis | 6 | |||
Turkic, Oghur | Chuvash | 2 | |||
Turkic, Kypchak | Kazakhs | 2 | approx. 2 million; 1 million in the Atyrau and West Kazakhstan provinces of Kazakhstan and 1 million in Russia | ||
Turkic, Kypchak | Bashkirs | 1.6 | |||
Turkic, Kypchak | Karachays | 1.3 | |||
Turkic, Kypchak / Oghuz | Crimeans | Tat Tatars, Yaliboyu Tatars, Noğay Tatars | 0.3 | ||
Turkic, Oghuz | Gagauz | 0.1 | |||
Turkic, Kypchak | Nogais | 0.09 | |||
Finno-Ugric | 25 | ||||
Ugric | Hungarians | 15 | |||
Finnic, Finno-Lappic | Finns | Karelians, Sweden Finns, Ingrian Finns, Kven people | 6 | ||
Finnic, Finno-Lappic | Estonians | Setos, Võros | 1 | ||
Finnic, Volgaic | Mordvins | Erzya/Shoksha, Moksha, Teryukhan, Qaratay | 0.85 | ||
Finnic, Permic | Udmurts | 0.64 | |||
Finnic, Volgaic | Mari | 0.6 | |||
Finnic, Permic | Komi | Komi-Izhemtsy, Komi-Permyaks | 0.4 | ||
Finnic, Finno-Lappic | Sami | 0.1 | |||
Finnic, Finno-Lappic | Livonians | 0.000176 | |||
Caucasian | 6 | ||||
South Caucasian | Georgians | 5 | depends on what part of the Caucasus is considered European, see below. | ||
Northeast Caucasian | Chechens | 1 | depends on what part of the Caucasus is considered European, see below. | ||
Basque | Basque | Basques | 2.5 | ||
Semitic | Semitic | 0.4-3 | |||
Semitic, Hebrew | Ethnic Jews | 2 | also subsumed under various other, see below. | ||
Semitic, Maltese | Maltese | 0.4 | ethno-linguistic classification is difficult, since there is significant historical admixture of Italian, Sicilian, Siculo-Arabic and French influence. | ||
Mongolic | Mongolic | Kalmyks | 0.17 |
Europe has a population of about 2 million ethnic Jews (mostly also counted as part of the ethnic group of their respective home countries):
Depending on what parts of the Caucasus are considered part of Europe, various peoples of the Caucasus may also be considered "European peoples":
Pan and Pfeil (2002) distinguish 33 peoples which form the majority population in a sovereign state geographically situated in Europe. [9] [10] These majorities range from nearly homogenous populations as in Poland or Albania 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 | other minorities [11] |
Albania | Albanians | 95% | Greeks 3%, other 2% (Vlach, Roma, Serbs, Macedonians, Bulgarians) | |
Austria | Austrians | 91.1% | South Slavs 4% (includes Burgenland Croats, Carinthian Slovenes, Croats, Slovenes, Serbs, Bosniaks), Turks 1.6%, Germans 0.9%, other or unspecified 2.4% (2001 census) | |
Belarus | Belarusians | 81.2% | Russians 11.4%, Poles 3.9%, Ukrainians 2.4%, other 1.1% (1999 census) | |
Belgium | Flemings | 58% | Walloon 31%, Germans 1% | mixed or other 10% |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | — | Bosniak 48%, Serbs 37.1% Croats 14.3% | other 0.6% (2000) | |
Bulgaria | Bulgarians | 83.9% | Turks 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (2001 census) | |
Croatia | Croats | 89.6% | Serbs 4.5%, other 5.9% (including Bosniak, Hungarian, Slovenes, Czech, and Roma) (2001 census) | |
Czech Republic | Czechs | 90.4% | Moravians 3.7% | Slovaks 1.9%, other 4% (2001 census) |
Denmark | Danes | 81% | Faroese | other Scandinavian 9%, Germans 5%, Frisians 1%, other European 3% |
Estonia | Estonians | 67.9% | Estonian Swedes | Baltic Russians 25.6%, Ukrainians 2.1%, Belarusians 1.3%, Finns 0.9%, other ( Baltic Germans) 2.2% (2000 census) |
Finland | Finns | 93.4% | Swedes 5.6% | Russians 0.5%, Estonians 0.3%, Roma 0.1%, Sami 0.1% (2006) |
France | French | 84% | (includes Bretons, Corsicans, Occitans, Alsatians, Basques) | other European 7%, North African 7%, Indochinese [6] |
Germany | Germans | 91.5% | includes Bavarians, Swabians, Saxons, Frisians, Sorbs, Silesians | Turks 2.4%, other 6.1% (mostly Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Spanish) |
Greece | Greeks | 93% | includes linguistic minorities 3% | Albanians 4%, other 3% (2001 census) [12] |
Hungary | Hungarians | 92.3% | Roma 1.9%, Germans 1.2% other or unknown 4.6% (2001 census) | |
Iceland | Icelanders | 94% | other (non-native) 6% | |
Ireland | Irish | 87.4% | other white 7.5%, Asian 1.3%, black 1.1%, mixed 1.1%, unspecified 1.6% (2006 census) | |
Italy | Italians | 95% | includes Sicilians, Sardinians, Lombards and other subgroups | other European (mostly Albanian, Romanian, Ukrainian) 2.5%, African (mostly North African Arab) 1.5%, others 1% [7] |
Kosovo | Albanians | 88% | Serbs 7% | other 5% (Bosniak, Gorani, Roma, Turk, Ashkali, Egyptian) |
Latvia | Latvians | 57.7% | Baltic Russians 29.6%, Belarusian 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.7%, Polish 2.5%, Lithuanian 1.4%, other 2% (2002) | |
Lithuania | Lithuanians | 83.5% | Poles 6.74%, Russians 6.31%, Belarusians 1.23%, other ( Lipka Tatars) 2.27% (2001 census) | |
Macedonia | Macedonians | 64.2% | Albanians 25.2% | Turks 3.9%, Roma 2.7%, Serbs 1.8%, other 2.2% (2002 census) |
Malta | Maltese | 95.3% [13]. | ||
Moldova | Moldovan/Romanian | 78.2% | Ukrainians 8.4% | Russians 5.8%, Gagauz 4.4%, Bulgarians 1.9%, other 1.3% (2004 census) |
Montenegro | — | Montenegrins 43%, Serbs 32% | Bosniaks 8%, Albanians 5%, other (Croats, Roma) 12% (2003 census) | |
Netherlands | Dutch | 80.7% | other EU 5%, Indonesians 2.4%, Turks 2.2%, Surinamese 2%, Moroccans 2%, Netherlands Antilles & Aruba 0.8%, other 4.8% (2008 est.) | |
Norway | Norwegians | 93.1% | Sami 1.3% | other European 3.6%, other 2% (2007 estimate) |
Poland | Poles | 96.7% | Germans 0.4%, Belarusians 0.1%, Ukrainians 0.1%, other and unspecified ( Silesians) 2.7% (2002 census) | |
Portugal | Portuguese | 92% | ||
Romania | Romanians | 89.5% | Hungarians 6.6%, Roma 2.5%, Germans 0.3% | Ukrainians 0.3%, Russians 0.2%, Turks 0.2%, other 0.4% (2002 census) |
Russia | Russians | 79.8% | Tatars 3.8%, Kalmyks, Chechens, Ossetians | Ukrainians 2%, Bashkir 1.2%, Chuvash 1.1% other or unspecified ( Nogais, Mordvins, Komi) 12.1% (2002 census, includes Asian Russia) |
Serbia [14] | Serbs | 82.9% | Hungarians 3.9%, Roma 1.4%, Yugoslavs 1.1%, Bosniaks 1.8%, Montenegrin 0.9%, other 8% (2002 census, includes Kosovo) | |
Slovakia | Slovaks | 85.8% | Hungarians 9.7% | Roma 1.7%, Ruthenian/Ukrainian 1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census) |
Slovenia | Slovenians | 83.1% | Serbs 2%, Croats 1.8%, Bosniaks 1.1%, other or unspecified 12% (2002 census) | |
Spain | Spanish | 89% | Various nationalities or sub-ethnicities ( Castilians 25%; Basques 10%) | 11% foreign nationals (South Americans, Romanians, North Africans, sub-Saharan Africans, other) |
Sweden | Swedes | 88% | Sweden-Finns , Sami people | foreign-born or first-generation immigrants: Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks [8] [9] |
Switzerland | Swiss | 79% | regional linguistic subgroups | Balkans (Serbs, Croats, Albanians) 6%, Italians 4%, Portuguese 2%, Germans 1.5%, Turks 1%, Spanish 1%. |
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%, other 1.8% (2001 census) | |
United Kingdom | English | 83.6% | Scots 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%, Northern Irish 2.9% ( White British 92.1%) | black ( Nigerian) 2%, Indian 1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other ( Iraqi, east Asian) 1.6% (2001 census) |
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 indigenous to northeastern Europe.
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.
Iron Age (pre- Great Migrations) populations of Europe known from Greco-Roman historiography, notably Herodotus, Pliny, Ptolemy and Tacitus:
Ethno-linguistic groups that arrived from outside Europe during historical times are:
In a more narrow sense of " indigenous peoples", ethnic minorities marginalized by historical expansion of their neighbour populations, Europe's present-day indigenous populations are relatively few, mainly confined to northern and far-eastern reaches of this Eurasian peninsula. Whilst there are numerous ethnic minorities distributed within European countries, few of these still maintain traditional subsistence cultures and are recognized as indigenous peoples, per se. The following groups can be considered "indigenous peoples" of Europe in this narrow sense: [19]
The culture of Europe might better be described as a series of overlapping cultures. Whether it is a question of West as opposed to East; Christianity as opposed to Islam; many have claimed to identify cultural fault lines across the continent.
European culture has had a very broad influence on the rest of the world, basically due to the widespread practice and legacy of colonialism. The exchange has not all been one way, some European features have been drastically changed by imports from elsewhere. Popular European foods such as chips (frites or French fries) and rice are derived from products that are not European, but indigenous to South America and Southern Asia respectively. Nearly all of the Americas and all of Africa were European colonies at one time or another - though in earlier times, European nations often colonized each other. Or were even colonized by Non-Europeans - Arabs and North African Moors colonized the Iberian peninsula leaving, for example, a significant Arabic influence on the Spanish language.
Various parts of the Americas are also considered overseas territories of France which are considered integral parts of the French Republic. A large proportion of the population of the Americas are descended from European emigrants (in some cases fleeing harsh economic times or religious intolerance). As a consequence most people in the Americas speak languages that are to varying degrees, derived from European languages. These include Latin American Spanish, American English, Caribbean English, Brazilian Portuguese, Haitian Kreyol and Papiamento. There are still significant cultural, economic and political ties between the former European colonial nations ( Spain, Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium and France) and the former colonies around the world.
Pan-European identity refers to both the sense of personal identification with Europe, and to the identity possessed by 'Europe' as a whole. 'Europe' is 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, 'pan-European' is often contrasted with national.
Since the High Middle Ages, most of Europe has been dominated by Christianity. There are three major denominations, Roman Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox, with Protestantism restricted mostly to Germanic regions, and Orthodoxy to Slavic regions, Romania, Greece and Georgia. Catholicism, while centered in the Latin parts, has a significant following also in Germanic, Slavic and Celtic regions.
Islam has some tradition in the Balkans (the European dominions of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th to 19th centuries), in Albania, Former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Turkish East Thrace. European Russia has the largest Muslim community, 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.
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 comprised primarily of two groups, the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi. Ashkenazi Jews migrated to Europe as early as the 8th century, while Sephardi Jews established themselves in Spain and Portugal at least one thousand years before that. Jewish European history was notably affected by the Holocaust and resulting emigration in the 20th century.
In modern times, significant secularization has taken place, notably in the Netherlands and laicist France in the 19th century and in Communist Eastern Europe in the 20th century. Currently, distribution of theism in Europe is very heterogeneous, with more than 95% in Poland, and less than 20% in the Czech Republic. The 2005 Eurobarometer poll [20] found that 52% of EU citizens believe in God.
Populations of non-European origin in Europe (approx. 22 - 29+ million, or approx. 3% to 4%+ [depending on definition of non-European origin], out of a total population of approx. 730 million):
Nations and regions outside of Europe with significant populations of European ancestry [25]:
Nations and regions outside of Europe with significant populations of European ancestry [25]:
National diasporas:
white (including mestizo) 94%= 3.9 million whites and mestizos
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