Misplaced Pages

Ethnic groups in Europe: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from[REDACTED] with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 09:37, 19 December 2008 editDbachmann (talk | contribs)227,714 edits rv to version before my "unhelpful" involvement.← Previous edit Revision as of 10:03, 19 December 2008 edit undoJdeJ (talk | contribs)4,872 edits Undid revision 258950600 by Dbachmann (talk) Rampant vandalism, violation of WP:POINTNext edit →
Line 1: Line 1:
{{dablink|See ] for population statistics.}}
:''This article deals with the European people as an ethnic group or ethnic groups. For information about residents or nationals of ], see ]. For information on other uses please see disambiguation page: ]''


The term '''European people''' in the context of this article refers to the ethnic groups of ]. The '''European peoples''' are the various ] and ] of ]. '''European ethnology''' is the field of ] 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.<ref>Christoph Pan, Beate Sibylle Pfeil,''Minderheitenrechte in Europa. Handbuch der europäischen Volksgruppen'' (2002).</ref>


==Overview==
==Identity and culture==
{{see|Demographics of Europe}}
{{Unreferenced|section|date=August 2007}}
{{originalresearch|section}}
{{contradict}}
])]]
{{main|European culture}}
A number of nations outside of Europe were originally established as colonies of European countries. Many of those nations retain a dominant "European culture" - that is a population whose ancestry, language and culture is largely derived from their European predecessors.


There are eight peoples of Europe with more than 30 million members, the ] (with some 90 million settling in the European parts of ]), followed by the ] (76 million), ] (63 million<ref>Recensement officiel de l'Insee </ref>), ] (58 million), ] (45 million), ] (42 million), ] (42 million) and the ] (41 million). These eight groups between themselves account for some 460 million or about 63% of European population.
European is particularly common as an ethnic descriptor for those populations. A good example of this is the ], to identify a person from the ] with European ancestry. While generally established by particular European countries, the immigration policy of these colonies has often been very open and inclusive towards other European nations, and thus a "European" identity has been preferred by government and social institutions over narrower categories such as ], ] or ]. In the ], it is rare to call people of European ancestry "European." Such people are sometimes called "white," but more generally are labelled by the nation their ancestors are from (e.g., English Americans).


About 20-25 million residents (3%) are members of diasporas of non-European origin. The ], with some five hundred million residents, accounts for two thirds of the European population.
==Physical appearance and genetics==
{{relevance|section}}
The European (or Caucasoid) ethnic groups are characterized by lightly pigmented skins and variability in eye and hair colour and by a number of biochemical similarities.<ref>http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-34574/Europe</ref>


==Ethno-linguistic classifications==
===Light skin===
{{Refimprove|date=August 2008}}
{{see|Human skin color|SLC24A5}}
{{see|Languages of Europe}}
Europeans have lighter skin (as measured by population average skin reflectance read by ]) than other ethnic groups.<ref>Jablonski NG, Chaplin G. 2000. , p. 19.</ref>
].]]
While all mean values of skin reflectance of non-European populations are lower than Europeans, some European and non-European populations overlap in lightness of skin,<ref>American Anthropological Association, "", ''Race: Are we so different?'' website.</ref>
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., ], ] and ]. The largest groups that do not fall within either of these are the ] (though as Indo-European speakers, are still related to the other three) and the ] (about thirteen million each).


{{Clear}}
Humans have pigment cells, which contain pigment granules called melanosomes. In people of European descent, the melanosomes are relatively fewer and smaller than other human populations.<ref></ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
| phylum || super-group || ethno-linguistic group || subgroups || approx. number (millions) || notes
|-
| ''']''' ||<span style="display: none;">Indo-European</span> || || ||<span style="display: none;">**</span>'''665''' ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span>|| ''']''' || || ||<span style="display: none;">*</span>'''230'''||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, East|| ] ||], presently ]|| 90 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, West|| ] || || 42 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, East|| ] ||]{{Dubious|date=May 2008}}, ], ], ], ]s|| 41 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, West|| ] || || 11 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, South|| ] || || 12 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, East|| ] || || 10 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, South|| ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>8 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, South|| ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>6 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, West|| ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>5 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, South|| ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>2 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, South|| ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>2 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, South|| ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>2 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, West|| ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>2 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, South|| ] || || 0.8 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Slavic, West|| ] || || 0.06 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || ''']''' || || ||<span style="display: none;">*</span>'''200'''
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Latin, Western|| ] || ], ], ], ] || 55 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Latin, Italo-Western|| ] || ], ], ], ], ], ] || 60 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Latin, Western|| ] || ]; ]: ], ], ], ], ], ]|| 42 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Latin, Eastern|| ] (]) || ], ], ], ] || 25 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Latin, Western|| ] || || 15 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Latin, Western|| ] || || 0.07<ref></ref> ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Latin, Western|| ] || || 0.03 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || ''']''' || || ||<span style="display: none;">*</span>'''200'''
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Germanic, West, Continental || ] || ], ], ], ] || 90 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Germanic, West, North Sea || ] || || 45 || also subsumed under ] or ].
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Germanic, North || ] || ], ] (]), ], ] || 22 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Germanic, West, Continental || ] || ], ] || 22 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Germanic, West, North Sea || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>1.5 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> ||''']''' || || || <span style="display: none;">*00</span>'''2-20''' || approx. 2 million speakers of ], but depending on the definition, some 20 million may be considered "]"
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Anglo-Celtic, Goidelic || ] || ] || <span style="display: none;">0</span>6 || Some living in ] can also subsumed under ] or ].
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Anglo-Celtic, Goidelic || ] || ] || <span style="display: none;">0</span>6 || also subsumed under ] or ].
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Anglo-Celtic, Brythonic || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>5 || also subsumed under ] or ].
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Franco-Celtic, Brythonic || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>5 || also subsumed under ].
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Anglo-Celtic, Brythonic || ] || || 0.2 || also subsumed under ], ] or ].
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Anglo-Celtic, Goidelic || ] || || 0.04 || also subsumed under ] or ].
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || '''Greek''' || ] || || 13 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || '''Albanian''' || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>8-10 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || '''Indo-Aryan''' || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>5-10 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || ''']''' || || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>4.8 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>3.15 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>1.5 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || || ] || || 0.15 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Armenian || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>4.5 || in ], not Europe proper, see below.
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Indo-Europeans</span> || Iranian || ] || || 0.6 || depends on what part of the Caucasus is considered European, see below.
|-
|''']'''||<span style="display: none;">Turkic</span> || || || <span style="display: none;">*0</span>'''38''' ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Turkic peoples</span> || Turkic, Oghuz || ] || || 14 ||approx. 14 million in ] and ], with a large ] in other parts of Europe of over 3 million, principally in Germany<ref> . ] is a ]c country, with 80% of its population ] and 20% ].</ref><ref> Statistics for Germany. </ref><ref></ref>
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Turkic peoples</span> || Turkic, Kypchak || ] || || 10 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Turkic peoples</span> || Turkic, Oghuz || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>6 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Turkic peoples</span> || Turkic, Oghur || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>2 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Turkic peoples</span> || Turkic, Kypchak || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>2 ||approx. 2 million; 1 million in the ] and ] provinces of Kazakhstan and 1 million in Russia
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Turkic peoples</span> || Turkic, Kypchak || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>1.6 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Turkic peoples</span> || Turkic, Kypchak || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>1.3 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Turkic peoples</span> || Turkic, Kypchak / Oghuz || ] || ], ], ] || 0.3 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Turkic peoples</span> || Turkic, Oghuz || ] || || 0.1 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Turkic peoples</span> || Turkic, Kypchak || ] || || 0.09 ||
|-
|''']''' ||<span style="display: none;">Finno-Ugric</span> || || || <span style="display: none;">*0</span>'''25''' ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Finno-Ugric peoples</span> || Ugric || ] || || 15 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Finno-Ugric peoples</span> || Finnic, Finno-Lappic || ] || ], ], ], ] || <span style="display: none;">0</span>6 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Finno-Ugric peoples</span> || Finnic, Finno-Lappic || ] || ], ] || <span style="display: none;">0</span>1 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Finno-Ugric peoples</span> || Finnic, Volgaic|| ] || ]/Shoksha, ], ], ]|| 0.85 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Finno-Ugric peoples</span> || Finnic, Permic || ] || || 0.64 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Finno-Ugric peoples</span> || Finnic, Volgaic || ] || || 0.6 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Finno-Ugric peoples</span> || Finnic, Permic || ] || Komi-Izhemtsy, Komi-Permyaks || 0.4 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Finno-Ugric peoples</span> || Finnic, Finno-Lappic || ] || || 0.1 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Finno-Ugric peoples</span> || Finnic, Finno-Lappic || ] || || 0.000176 ||
|-
|''']''' ||<span style="display: none;">Caucasian</span> || || || <span style="display: none;">*0</span>'''6''' ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Caucasian</span> || South Caucasian || ] || || 5 || depends on what part of the Caucasus is considered European, see below.
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Caucasian</span> || Northeast Caucasian || ] || ||1 ||depends on what part of the Caucasus is considered European, see below.
|-
|] ||Basque || ] || || <span style="display: none;">0</span>2.5 ||
|-
|''']''' ||Semitic || || || 0.4-3 ||
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Semitic</span>||Semitic, Hebrew || ] || || 2 || also subsumed under various other, see below.
|-
|<span style="display: none;">Semitic</span> ||Semitic, Maltese|| ] || || 0.4 || ethno-linguistic classification is difficult, since there is significant historical admixture of Italian, Sicilian, Siculo-Arabic and French influence.
|-
|''']''' ||Mongolic || ] || || 0.17 ||
|-
|}
Europe has a population of about 2 million ] (mostly also counted as part of the ethnic group of their respective home countries):
*] (about 1.4 million, mostly ] and ])
*] (about 0.3 million, mostly ])
*] (about 0.3 million, mostly ])
*] (some 50,000, mostly ])
*] (some 6,000, mostly ])


Depending on what parts of the ] are considered part of Europe, various ] may also be considered "European peoples":
===Origins of light skin===
According to a 2006 study, light pigmentation in Europeans and East Asians is largely a function of geography, an adaptive response to decreased exposure to ultraviolt radiation at ntemperate latitudes albeit via distinct genetic mechanisms; this research alos suggests that sexual selection may be a contributing factor.<ref name="oxford1">Heather L. Norton, Rick A. Kittles, Esteban Parra, Paul McKeigue, Xianyun Mao, Keith Cheng, Victor A. Canfield, Daniel G. Bradley, Brian McEvoy and Mark D. Shriver (December 11, 2006) . ''Molecular Biology and Evolution</ref> Europeans may have had an accumulation of lighter skin causing alleles, either by genetic drift, natural selection, sexual selection or a combination of these effects. Since their effects are additive it is possible light skin could arise over several generations without any new mutations taking place,<ref></ref><ref name="convergent"/>


*]: approx. 4.5 million
A historian suggested that Europeans may have retained their dark skin until as early as 13,000 years ago. This is based on ] cave art in which the painters depict hunters as darker than the animals hunted.<ref></ref> Other scientists speculated that white skin mutation arose between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/15/AR2005121501728_pf.html</ref>
*]: approx. 4 million<ref>As a ], Georgia may be considered to be in ] and/or ]. The ] places Georgia in ]; the ] ] , , and '''' also place Georgia in Asia. Conversely, numerous sources place Georgia in Europe such as the ] , ''Oxford Reference Online'' , '''', and .</ref>
*]: over 2 million
*]: est. 1 million
*]: approx. 600,000.


==By country==
===Hair and eye colors===
Pan and Pfeil (2002) distinguish 33 peoples which form the majority population in a sovereign state geographically situated in Europe.<ref>Ethnic group swhich form the majority in two states are the ] (in ] and ]), and the ] (in ] and the partly-recognized ]).
{{main|Hair color|eye color}}
Closely related groups holding majorities in separate states are ] (], ], ], ]), the ] in the states of ], the ]/], the ]/] and the ]/].</ref>
</ref> <ref name="frost2"></ref>The yellow represents 80%+ light hair, orange is 50-79% light hair, tan is 20-49% light hair, dark brown is 1-19% light hair.]]
<ref>including the European portions of ] and ], not including ] and ], excluding ] with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants: ], ], ], ] and ].</ref> These majorities range from nearly homogenous populations as in ] or ] to comparatively slight majorities as in ] or ]. ] and ] are ]s in which no group forms a majority.
]
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|country ||majority || % || regional majorities || other minorities<ref>percentages from the ] unless indicated otherwise.</ref>
|-
|] || ] || 95% || || Greeks 3%, other 2% (Vlach, Roma, Serbs, Macedonians, Bulgarians)
|-
|] || ]|| 91.1% || || South Slavs 4% (includes ], ], Croats, Slovenes, Serbs, Bosniaks), Turks 1.6%, Germans 0.9%, other or unspecified 2.4% (2001 census)
|-
|] || ] || 81.2%|| || Russians 11.4%, ] 3.9%, Ukrainians 2.4%, other 1.1% (1999 census)
|-
|] || ] || 58%||] 31%, ] 1% || mixed or other 10%
|-
|] ||&mdash; || || ] 48%, ] 37.1% ] 14.3%|| other 0.6% (2000)
|-
|] || ] || 83.9%|| || Turks 9.4%, ] 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (2001 census)
|-
|] || ] || 89.6% || || Serbs 4.5%, other 5.9% (including Bosniak, Hungarian, Slovenes, Czech, and Roma) (2001 census)
|-
|] || ] || 90.4%|| ] 3.7% || Slovaks 1.9%, other 4% (2001 census)
|-
|] || ]|| 81% || ] || other Scandinavian 9%, ] 5%, ] 1%, other European 3%
|-
|] || ] || 67.9%|| ] ||] 25.6%, Ukrainians 2.1%, Belarusians 1.3%, Finns 0.9%, other (]) 2.2% (2000 census)
|-
|]|| ] || 93.4%|| ] 5.6%|| Russians 0.5%, Estonians 0.3%, Roma 0.1%, Sami 0.1% (2006)
|-
|] || ] || 84%|| (includes ], ], ], ], ]) || other European 7%, North African 7%, Indochinese
|-
|] || ] || 91.5%||includes ], ], ], ], ], ] || Turks 2.4%, other 6.1% (mostly Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Spanish)
|-
|] || ] || 93% || includes ] 3%|| Albanians 4%, other 3% (2001 census)<ref>note: percents represent citizenship, since Greece does not collect data on ethnicity</ref>
|-
|] ||] || 92.3%|| || ] 1.9%, Germans 1.2% other or unknown 4.6% (2001 census)
|-
|] || ] || 94%|| || other (non-native) 6%
|-
|] || ] || 87.4%|| || other white 7.5%, Asian 1.3%, black 1.1%, mixed 1.1%, unspecified 1.6% (2006 census)
|-
|] || ]||95% ||includes ], ], ] and ] || other European (mostly Albanian, Romanian, Ukrainian) 2.5%, African (mostly North African Arab) 1.5%, others 1%
|-
|] || ] || 88%|| ] 7% || other 5% (Bosniak, Gorani, Roma, Turk, Ashkali, Egyptian)
|-
|] || ] || 57.7%|| || ] 29.6%, Belarusian 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.7%, Polish 2.5%, Lithuanian 1.4%, other 2% (2002)
|-
|] || ] || 83.5%|| || Poles 6.74%, ] 6.31%, Belarusians 1.23%, other (]) 2.27% (2001 census)
|-
|] || ]|| 64.2%|| Albanians 25.2%|| Turks 3.9%, ] 2.7%, Serbs 1.8%, other 2.2% (2002 census)
|-
|] ||]|| 95.3%<ref>http://www.populstat.info/Europe/maltag.htm</ref>.|| ||
|-
|]||] || 78.2%|| Ukrainians 8.4%|| Russians 5.8%, Gagauz 4.4%, Bulgarians 1.9%, other 1.3% (2004 census)
|-
|]||&mdash; || ||] 43%, Serbs 32%|| Bosniaks 8%, Albanians 5%, other (Croats, Roma) 12% (2003 census)
|-
|]||] || 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.)
|-
|] || ] || 93.1% || Sami 1.3%|| other European 3.6%, other 2% (2007 estimate)
|-
|]||] || 96.7%|| ||] 0.4%, ] 0.1%, Ukrainians 0.1%, other and unspecified (]) 2.7% (2002 census)
|-
|]|| ] ||92% || ||
|-
|]||] || 89.5%|| ] 6.6%, ] 2.5%, ] 0.3% || Ukrainians 0.3%, Russians 0.2%, Turks 0.2%, other 0.4% (2002 census)
|-
|] ||] || 79.8%|| ] 3.8%, ], ], ] || Ukrainians 2%, ] 1.2%, ] 1.1% other or unspecified (], ], ]) 12.1% (2002 census, includes Asian Russia)
|-
|]<ref>excluding ]</ref>|| ] || 82.9%|| || Hungarians 3.9%, ] 1.4%, Yugoslavs 1.1%, Bosniaks 1.8%, Montenegrin 0.9%, other 8% (2002 census, includes Kosovo)
|-
|]|| ] || 85.8%|| Hungarians 9.7%|| ] 1.7%, Ruthenian/Ukrainian 1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)
|-
|]||] || 83.1%|| || Serbs 2%, Croats 1.8%, Bosniaks 1.1%, other or unspecified 12% (2002 census)
|-
|]|| ] ||89% || Various ] (] 25%; ] 10%) || 11% foreign nationals (South Americans, Romanians, North Africans, sub-Saharan Africans, other)
|-
|]|| ] ||88%|| ], ]|| foreign-born or first-generation immigrants: Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks
|-
|] ||] || 79%||] || Balkans (Serbs, Croats, Albanians) 6%, Italians 4%, Portuguese 2%, Germans 1.5%, Turks 1%, Spanish 1%.
|-
|] || ] || 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)
|-
|] || ] || 83.6%|| ] 8.6%, ] 4.9%, ] 2.9% (] 92.1%)|| black (]) 2%, ] 1.8%, ] 1.3%, ] 1.2%, other (], east Asian) 1.6% (2001 census)
|-
|}


==History==
A greater population diversity in hair and eye colors occurs in groups which are socially designated as white. Eye color experts Sturm and Frudakis note, "The common occurrence of lighter iris colours is found almost exclusively in Europeans and individuals of European admixture."<ref>Sturm RA, Frudakis TN. "Eye colour: portals into pigmentation genes and ancestry," ''Trends in Genetics'', 2004 Aug;20(8):327-32.</ref>
===Prehistoric populations===
{{see|Prehistoric Europe|Eurasian nomads|Indo-European expansion}}
The ] are assumed to descend from the populations of the ] directly.{{Fact|date=December 2008}} The ] groups of Europe (the ] groups plus ] and ]) are assumed to have developed ''in situ'' by admixture of early Indo-European groups arriving in Europe by the ] (], ]). The ] are indigenous to northeastern Europe.{{Fact|date=December 2008}}


]s of ] include ], ] and ], all of these Indo-European languages of the ] group, and ] and ], of the ] group. A group of ] appears to have included Etruscan, Rhaetian and perhaps also ] and ]. A pre-Roman stage of ] can only be reconstructed with great uncertainty.
Anthropologist Peter Frost geographically locates the variation as follows, "This diversity reaches a maximum in an area centered on the East Baltic and covering northern and eastern Europe." He speculates that this diversity may be because "sexual selection was much stronger among ancestral Europeans than in other human populations."<ref>Why Do Europeans Have So Many Hair and Eye Colors? by Peter Frost Université Laval (Canada) and St. Andrews University (Scotland) </ref> <ref>European hair and eye colorA case of frequency-dependent sexual selection? </ref>


Regarding the ], the only secure reconstruction is that of ] (ca. 2000 BC). A ] ancestor of both Italic and Celtic (assumed for the ] period), and a ] language (assumed for roughly the ] horizon) has been postulated with less confidence. ] has been taken as indicating an early (Bronze Age) Indo-European predecessor of the later centum languages.
====Blonde====
{{main|Blonde}}
Lighter hair colors occur naturally in humans of all ethnicities as rare mutations, but at such low rates that it is hardly noticeable in most populations, or is only found in children.<ref name="The Times">, from ].</ref> In certain European populations, the occurrence of blond hair is more frequent, and often remains throughout adulthood. Based on recent ] information, it is probable that humans with blond hair became distinctly numerous in Europe during the last ]. Before then, Europeans had dark brown hair and dark eyes.<ref name="The Times"/>


====Red Hair==== ===Historical populations===
{{Main|Red hair}} {{see|History of Europe}}
] in AD 117.]]
Red hair (also referred to as '']'', '']'', or '']'') is a ] that varies from a deep red through to bright copper. It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment ] and relatively low levels of the dark pigment ].<ref></ref>
] (pre-]) populations of Europe known from ], notably ], ], ] and ]:
*]: ], ]/] and ].
*]: ] (]), ] and ].
*]: ], ], ], ] and ] colonies.
*]/]: ] (]), ] and ].
*]: ] (], ], ], ]) and ].
*]: ] and ]/].
*]: ] (]).
*]: ].
*]: ], ], ], ] and ].


===Genetics=== ===Historical immigration===
{{see|Scythians|Huns|Turkic expansion|Islamic conquests}}
{{See also|Genetic history of Europe|Race and genetics}}
] of ].]]
] (purple) and ] (red). Two of the three most common ] in ]. Black represents all the other haplogroups.]]
] (purple), the ] (orange) and the ] (light green). (Borders are approximate.)]]
] according to Semino et al. 2004. This illustrates the spread of African Y chromosomes (male lineage) into Europe. The subbranch E3b1 is present at high frequencies among the Greeks, Albanians, and South Italians (up to 25%), but its percentage gradually falls below 10% in the Carpathian basin and Iberia, and is negligible in other parts of Europe]]
Ethno-linguistic groups that arrived from outside Europe during historical times are:
]s are ''branches on the tree of early human migrations and genetic evolution. Haplogroups are defined by genetic mutations or "markers" found in Y chromosome and mtDNA testing.''<ref>Glossary of Genetic terms </ref> The examination of population differences within Europe using mitochondrial or Y chromosome haplogroups has been particularly useful in tracing part of the routes of migration and populating of Europe, but these haplogroups do not provide strong inferences on population genetic structure. <ref name= "EPSubS">European Population Substructure: Clustering of Northern and Southern Populations </ref>
*] colonies in the Mediterranean, from about 1200 BC to the fall of Carthage after the ] in 146 BC.
*] influence: ] control of ] (512-343 BC) and the ], ], ], ], ], ].
*the ] reached Europe in the ] period, the ] community in Italy dating to before ] and records of Jews settling Central Europe (]) from the 5th century (see ]).<ref></ref>
*The ] (5th century), converged with the ], contributing to the formation of the ]
* ] (c.560s-800), converged with the ], fused into the ] states from the 9th century.
* the ] (or proto-Bulgarians), a semi-]ic people, originally from ], eventually absorbed by the ].
* the ] (Hungarians), an ], and the Turkic ] and ], arrived in Europe in about the 8th century.
* the ]s conquered ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. ] (831-1072) and ] (711-1492)
* the ] dynasties of the ] and the ] ruled much of ] and ].<ref></ref> Berber settlers made up as much as 20% of the population of ] (Islamic Spain).<ref>, ''U.S. Library of Congress''</ref>
* exodus of ] Christians<ref></ref>
* the western ] known as ] entered the lands of present-day Ukraine in the 11th century.
* the ]/] (1223-1480), and ] control of the Balkans (1389-1878). These medieval incursions account for the presence of European ] and ].
*the ] (Gypsies) arrived during the ]
* the ] ] arrived in ] in the 17th century.


===Indigenous minorities===
According to ] Library (Finland):
{{see|Definitions and identity of indigenous peoples}}
<blockquote>
]
''Classical polymorphic markers (i.e. blood groups, protein electromorphs and HLA antigenes) have suggested that Europe is a genetically homogeneous continent with a few outliers such as the Saami, Sardinians, Icelanders and Basques (Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1993, Piazza 1993). The analysis of mtDNA sequences has also shown a high degree of homogeneity among European populations, and the genetic distances have been found to be much smaller than between populations on other continents.'' (Comas et al. 1997).
In a more narrow sense of "]", ] marginalized by historical expansion of their neighbour populations, ]'s present-day indigenous populations are relatively few, mainly confined to northern and far-eastern reaches of this ]n peninsula. Whilst there are numerous ] distributed within European countries, few of these still maintain traditional subsistence cultures and are recognized as indigenous peoples, ''per se''.
<br><br>
The following groups can be considered "indigenous peoples" of Europe in this narrow sense:<ref>see also ].</ref>
''The mtDNA haplogroups of Europeans are surveyed by using a combination of data from RFLP analysis of the coding region and sequencing of the hypervariable segment I. About 99% of European mtDNAs fall into one of ten haplogroups: H, I, J, K, M, T, U, V, W or X (Torroni et al. 1996a). Each of these is defined by certain relatively ancient and stable polymorphic sites located in the coding region (Torroni et al. 1996a).......Haplogroup H, which is defined by the absence of a AluI site at bp 7025, is the most prevalent, comprising half of all Europeans (Torroni et al. 1996a, Richards et al. 1998)......Six of the European haplogroups (H, I, J, K, T and W) are essentially confined to European populations (Torroni et al. 1994, 1996a).''<ref> Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation in human populations, Oulu University Library (Finland)</ref><ref>http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514255674/html/x367.html</ref>
</blockquote>


*the ], marginalized by ] expansion, mostly ] such as the ] and ] of the western ], and ] of the northern ] such as the ].
] while presently rare (.18%-.3%) occurred in as many as 25% of ] Europeans and has subsequently been absorbed into the current populations <ref>Haak, Wolfgang, et al. "Ancient DNA from the First European Farmers in 7500-Year-Old Neolithic Sites" Science, vol. 310, pg. 1016 (2005)</ref><ref>Balter, Michael "Ancient DNA Yields Clues to the Puzzle of European Origins" Science, vol. 310, pg. 964 (2005)</ref>.
*the ] and the ] of northern ] (marginalized by ] and ] expansion), formerly known as "Lapps" or "Lappish".
*the ] of northern Spain and southern France (marginalized by ]/] expansion).


==European identity and culture==
====Y chromosome markers====
{{POV-section|date=July 2008}}
] during the ]]]
{{Unreferencedsection|date=July 2008}}
There are three major haplogroups which account for most of Europe's present-day population.
], ], ], and ], bringing offerings to ]; from a gospel book dated 990.]]
{{main|European culture|Western world|Christendom|Pan-European identity}}
The '''culture of ]''' 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 ]. The exchange has not all been one way, some European features have been drastically changed by imports from elsewhere. Popular European foods such as ] (frites or ]) and ] are derived from products that are not European, but indigenous to South America and Southern Asia respectively. Nearly all of ] and all of ] 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 - ] and North African ] colonized the Iberian peninsula leaving, for example, a significant ].
<blockquote>
* ] ] has it's highest frequencies on the Atlantic coast of Europe from Spain to Scotland.
* ] ] is common across central Europe and up into Scandinavia.
* ] ] is common in eastern, central and northern Europe.<ref name="DNA Heritage">DNA Heritage </ref> <ref>Semino et al (2000), , Science Vol '''290'''
Note: Haplogroup names are different in this article. For ex: Haplogroup I is referred as M170</ref> <ref>World Haplogroups Maps </ref>
</blockquote>


Various parts of the Americas are also considered ] which are considered integral parts of the ]. 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 ], ], ], ], ] and ]. There are still significant cultural, economic and political ties between the former European colonial nations (], ], ], ], ] and ]) and the former colonies around the world.
The most common haplogroup in Europe is ].<ref>World haplogroup maps </ref> <ref>Y-chromosome DNA Haplogroups </ref> Each haplogroup also have ]s. <ref>Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree 2006 </ref> R1a and R1b are subclades of ] <ref>Y-DNA Haplogroup R and its Subclades </ref> Two main subgroups of ] are I-M253/I-M307/I-P30/I-P40 which ''has highest frequency in Scandinavia, Iceland, and northwest Europe.'' The other is I-S31 which ''includes I-P37.2, which is the most common form in the Balkans and Sardinia, and I-S23/I-S30/I-S32/I-S33, which reaches its highest frequency along the northwest coast of continental Europe.''<ref>Y-DNA Haplogroup I and its Subclades </ref>


'''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 ] 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 ].
There is an ongoing debate regarding ], with evidence both for and against a ] from the ]: ''genetic studies have failed to settle the controversy so far, because they have been interpreted in different ways... A rather heated debate followed, and is still continuing.''<ref>Population genetics: DNAs from the European Neolithic </ref><ref name= "EPSubS"/><ref></ref>


===Religion===
<blockquote>
[[Image:Europe religion map en.png|thumb|250px|Predominant religions in Europe
A little later, around 4,500 years ago, ] began moving across from west of the Ural mountains. Haplogroup N3 follows closely the spread of the ].<ref name="DNA Heritage"/>
{{legend|#496EB8|]}}
</blockquote>
{{legend|#C44F4F|] and ] Orthodoxy}}
{{legend|#855C99|]}}
{{legend|#3D9956|]}}
{{legend|#2E7340|]}}
{{legend|#e7984d|] (])}}
]]
{{main|Religion in Europe}}


Since the ], most of Europe has been dominated by ]. There are three major denominations, ], ] and ], with Protestantism restricted mostly to Germanic regions, and Orthodoxy to Slavic regions, Romania, Greece and ]. Catholicism, while centered in the Latin parts, has a significant following also in Germanic, Slavic and Celtic regions.
==== European population substructure ====
]s]]


] has some tradition in the ] (the European dominions of the ] in the 16th to 19th centuries), in ], ], ] and Turkish ]. European Russia has the largest ], including the ] of the ] and multiple groups in the Caucasus, including ], ], ] and others. With 20th century migrations, ] have become a noticeable minority.
In 2006, a study by 9 scientists made an analysis comparing different individuals from European ancestry groups. They concluded that "there is a consistent and reproducible distinction between “northern” and “southern” European population groups"<ref>"most individual participants with southern European ancestry (Italian, Greek, Portuguese, and Spanish) have >85% membership in the “southern” population; and most northern, western, eastern, and central Europeans have >90% in the “northern” population group. Ashkenazi Jewish as well as Sephardic Jewish origin also showed >85% membership in the “southern” population, consistent with a later Mediterranean origin of these ethnic groups." Based on this work, we have developed a core set of informative SNP markers that can control for this partition in European population structure in a variety of clinical and genetic studies." '''European Population Substructure: Clustering of Northern and Southern Populations''' </ref>


] has a long ], but is a small minority religion, with ] (1%) the only European country with a Jewish population in excess of 0.5%. The Jewish population of Europe is comprised primarily of two ], the ] and the ]. Ashkenazi Jews migrated to Europe ], while Sephardi Jews established themselves ] at least one thousand years before that. Jewish European history was notably affected by the ] and resulting ] in the 20th century.
While above scientists claimed that the people of British Isles cluster with Northern Europeans ] stated: "By far the majority of male gene types in the British Isles derive from Iberia (Spain and Portugal)" <ref> On average only 30% of gene types in England derive from north-west Europe. Even without dating the earlier waves of north-west European immigration, this invalidates the Anglo-Saxon wipeout theory... ...75-95% of British Isles (genetic) matches derive from Iberia... Oppenheimer, "Origins of the British" (pages 375 and 378)</ref>


In modern times, significant ] has taken place, notably in ] France in the 19th century and in ] in the 20th century. Currently, distribution of ] in Europe is very heterogeneous, with more than 95% in Poland, and less than 20% in the Czech Republic. The 2005 ] poll<ref></ref> found that 52% of EU citizens believe in God.
], also stated that "The genetic evidence shows that a large proportion of Irish Celts, on both the male and female side, did arrive from Iberia at or the same time as farming reached the Isles" <ref>Here again, the strongest signal is a Celtic one, in the form of the clan of Oisin, which dominates the scene all over the Isles. The predominance in every part of the Isles of the Atlantic chromosome (the most frequent in the Oisin clan), with its strong affinities to Iberia, along with other matches and the evidence from the maternal side convinces me that it is from this direction that we must look for the origin of Oisin and the great majority of our Y-chromosomes. The sea routes of the Atlantic fringe conveyed both men and women to the Isles. Sykes, "Blood of the Isles" (2006), Pages 281,282,283</ref>


==Immigration==
A recent genetic piece of research from 2007, claims: "The Spanish and Basque groups are the furthest away from other continental groups, which is consistent with the suggestions that the Iberian peninsula holds the most ancient European genetic ancestry". The same study also found "several significant axes of stratification, most prominently in a North-Southeastern trend but also along an East-West axis." They also confirmed English and Irish cluster with Northern Europeans such as Germans and Poles while some Basque and Italian individuals also clustered with Northern Europeans. Despite these stratifications, they also said: "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."<ref> Measuring European Population Stratification using Microarray Genotype Data </ref>
{{main|Immigration to Europe}}
{{see|Islam in Europe|Muslims in Western Europe|Hinduism in Europe|Buddhism in Europe}}
{{see|Asian Europeans}}
{{see|Afro-Europeans}}
Populations of non-European origin in Europe (approx. 22 - 29+ million, or approx. 3% to 4%+ , out of a total population of approx. 730 million):
*Middle East
**]: approx. 6 million (outside of the Republic of Turkey), mostly in German speaking countries and the Balkans, but found in sizeable communities throughout Europe.
**]: approx. 2 million (both religious and non-religious persons by ethnoreligious descent), found throughout Europe.
**] (sometimes considered European, see above): approx. 1.5 million. The largest communities are found in France, Russia, Ukraine and the UK.
**]: approx. 1.5 million, mostly in Germany and Sweden.
**]: approx. 130,000, mostly in Sweden.
**]: especially in France, Netherlands, Germany, Cyprus and the UK.
*Africa
**]ns (]s and ]): approx. 5 million, mostly in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden
**]: approx. 200,000 Somalis,<ref></ref> mostly in the UK, Netherlands and Scandinavia.
**] (many ethnicities including ]s and others by descent): approx. 5 million, mostly in the UK, France, the Netherlands and Germany.<ref></ref>
*] (mainly ]): approx. 2.2 million, with the largest groups in Spain and Italy.<ref></ref>
**Plus ] number between 80,000<ref>, BBC News</ref> and 1 million and are of European, African, Native South American and many other races.
**]: 200,000 - 300,000 in the UK, around 70,000 in Portugal and Italy each
** ]an refugees escaping the ] regime of the 1970s formed communities in France, Sweden, the former East Germany and the Netherlands.
*] (many ethnicities): approx. 3 - 4 million, mostly in the UK but reside in smaller numbers in Germany and France.
**]: Between 1 and 2 million, mostly in the UK
**]: approx. 1,000,000, mostly in the UK.
**]: approx. 250,000, predominantly in the UK.
**]i residing in Europe estimated at 200,000, the bulk live in the UK.
*East Asia
**]: approx. 1 million, mostly in France, the UK and the Netherlands.
**]: approx. 500,000, mostly in the UK, France, Germany and Italy.
**]: ca. 100,000, mostly in the UK and a sizable community in ].
**] of multiple nationalities, ca. total 1 million, such as ] in the ], ]s in the UK and Sweden,] in former East Germany and ] in France.
==European diasporas==
{{see|History of colonialism}}
Nations and regions outside of Europe with significant populations of European ancestry<ref name="Ethnic groups by country"> Statistics (where available) from CIA Factbook.</ref>:
===Historical===
*''']'''
** ] (])<ref>, The Metropolitan Museum of Art</ref>
** ] (])<ref>, New York Times</ref>
** ] (possibly ])<ref>, DISCOVER Magazine</ref><ref>, The Independent</ref>
** ] (])<ref></ref>
** ] and ] (])<ref>, The Toronto Times</ref>
*''']'''
** ] (])<ref></ref>
** ] (])<ref></ref>
** ] (]) - 25-35% of the population<ref>Benjamin Z. Kedar, "The Subjected Muslims of the Frankish Levant", in ''The Crusades: The Essential Readings'', ed. Thomas F. Madden, Blackwell, 2002, pg. 244. Originally published in ''Muslims Under Latin Rule, 1100-1300'', ed. James M. Powell, Princeton University Press, 1990. Kedar quotes his numbers from ], ''Histoire du royaume latin de Jérusalem'', tr. G. Nahon, Paris, 1969, vol. 1, pp. 498, 568-72.</ref><ref>, BBC News</ref>


==Gallery== ===Contemporary===
{{see|History of colonialism|Greater Europe}}
These are photos of Europeans with links to articles on the ethnic group which they represent.
Nations and regions outside of Europe with significant populations of European ancestry <ref name="Ethnic groups by country"/>:


*''']''' (see ])
<gallery>
**{{flagicon|RSA}} ] (]) - 9.6% of the population<ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
Image:Gordon Brown 2005 IMF close.jpg|], ] is ]
**{{flagicon|NAM}} ] - 6% of the population<ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
Image:Anna K.jpg|] athlete ]
**{{flagicon|FRA}} ] (]) approx. 25% of the population<ref></ref>
Image:Katarzyna Skowronska.jpg|] athelete ]
**{{flagicon|ZIM}} ] (])
Image:Elli Kokkinou crop.jpg|] singer ]
**{{flagicon|Botswana}} ]<ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|KEN}} ] (])
**{{flagicon|ALG}} ] (])
**{{flagicon|MUS}} ] (])
**{{flagicon|SEN}} ]<ref>, About 50,000 Europeans (mostly French) and Lebanese reside in Senegal, mainly in the cities.</ref>
**{{flagicon|ESP}} ] (])
**{{flagicon|SYC}} ] (])
**{{flagicon|SHN}} ]
**{{flagicon|SWZ}} ] - 3% of the population<ref>
World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|Morocco}} ]<ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|TUN}} ]<ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>


*''']'''
Image:Tom Jones 2005.jpg|] performer ]
**{{flagicon|IND}} ] (])
Image:Makka sa.jpg |] singer ]
**{{flagicon|LKA}} ] (])
Image:FatihSultanTekke.jpg|] athelete ]
**{{flagicon|RUS}} ] (])<ref>Fiona Hill, , ], 23 February 2004</ref>
Image:Ibarretxe.jpg|] politician ]
**{{flagicon|KAZ}} ] (], ]) - 30% of the population
**{{flagicon|UZB}} ] - 5.5% of the population<ref>Robert Greenall, , ], 23 November 2005.</ref>
**{{flagicon|KGZ}} ] - 13.5% of the population<ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|TKM}} ] - 4% of the population<ref>
World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|TJK}} ]
**{{flagicon|AZE}} ]<ref></ref>
**{{flagicon|GEO}} ] (])<ref>, Radio Free Europe</ref>
**{{flagicon|HKG}} ]<ref>HK Census. "." ''Statistical Table.'' Retrieved on ].</ref>
**{{flagicon|MAC}} ] (])
**{{flagicon|SGP}} ] (])
**{{flagicon|PHI}} ] - ]s, Filipino-]s
**{{flagicon|IDN}} ] (])


*''']'''
Image:Sopho Khalvashi-tight.jpg|] singer ]
**{{flagicon|ISR}} ] (], ])
Image:Colin James Farrell at Miami Vice Premiere in 2006.jpg|] actor ]
**{{flagicon|Lebanon}} ] (])<ref>, BBC NEWS | Science/Nature</ref>
Image:Monica B 2.jpg|] actress ]
Image:Ségolène Royal - Royal & Zapatero's meeting in Toulouse for the 2007 French presidential election 0276 2007-04-19 cropped.JPG|] politician ]


*''']'''
Image:Vaclav havel.jpg|] politician ]
**{{flagicon|GRL}} ] - 12% of the population<ref></ref>
Image:Finland.TarjaHolonen.01.jpg| ] President ].
**{{flagicon|CAN}} ] - 80% of the population <ref> </ref>
Image:Ketterle.jpg|] Nobel Laureate ]
**{{flagicon|USA}} ] (]) - 75.1% of the population, including Hispanic/Non-Hispanic Whites
Image:Sami woman 2005-08-25.jpg|] are indigenous to ].
**{{flagicon|MEX}} ]<ref></ref> (]) - 9-15% of the population <ref></ref> and 60% as ]s.<ref>
</gallery>
World Factbook of CIA</ref>


*'''], the ] and ]''' (see ])
==Distribution==
**{{flagicon|ARG}} ] (]) - 97% of the population <ref>
For a list of European nations, see ] (also see ]).
World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|BHS}} ] - 12% of the population<ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|BRB}} ] (]) - 4% of the population<ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|BMU}} ] - 34.1% of the population<ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|BOL}} ] - 15% of the population <ref>
World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|BRA}} ] (]) - 53.7% of the population <ref>
World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|CHI}} ] - 30% of the population<ref>{{cite web | title=5.2.6. Estructura racial | url =http://mazinger.sisib.uchile.cl/repositorio/lb/ciencias_quimicas_y_farmaceuticas/medinae/cap2/5b6.html | work =La Universidad de Chile | accessdate = 2007-08-26 | language = }}</ref>
**{{flagicon|COL}} ] - 20% of the population <ref>
World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|CRC}} ]<ref>{{cite web | title=Costa Rica; People; Ethnic groups | url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cs.html#People | work =CIA World Factbook | accessdate = 2007-11-21 | quote = white (including mestizo) 94%}} = 3.9 million whites and mestizos</ref>
**{{flagicon|CUB}} ] - (]) 65% of the population<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.cubagob.cu/otras_info/censo/tablas_html/ii_3.htm
|title= Tabla II.3 Población por color de la piel y grupos de edades, según zona de residencia y sexo |accessdate=2008-10-13 |year=2002 |work=Censo de Población y Viviendas |publisher=Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas |language=Spanish }}</ref>
**{{flagicon|DOM}} ] - 16% of the population <ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|ECU}} ] - 7% of the population<ref name="EC">{{cite news | title=Ecuador: People; Ethnic groups| url =https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ec.html#People | work =CIA World Factbook | accessdate = 2007-11-26}}</ref>
**{{flagicon|SLV}} ] - 9% of the population<ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|FRA}} ] - 12% of the population<ref>
World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|FRA}} ] - 5% of the population<ref>
World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|NIC}} ] - 17% of the population<ref>{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Nicaragua: People; Ethnic groups | date= | publisher= | url =https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nu.html#People | work =CIA World Factbook | pages = | accessdate = 2007-11-15 | language = }}</ref>
**{{flagicon|PAN}} ] 10% of the population<ref name="PA">{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Panama; People; Ethnic groups | date= | publisher= | url =https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pm.html#People | work =CIA World Factbook | pages = | accessdate = 2007-11-21}}</ref>
**{{flagicon|PRI}} ] approx. 80% of the population <ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|PER}} ] - 15 % of the population <ref>
World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|TRI}} ]<ref></ref>
**{{flagicon|VEN}} ] - 20 % of the population
**{{flagicon|URU}} ] - 88% of the population <ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|FRA}} ]<ref></ref>
**{{flagicon|FLK}} ]


*''']''' (see ])
Nations and regions outside of Europe with significant populations of European ancestry:
*]
**{{flagicon|RSA}} ] (])
**{{flagicon|ZIM}} ]
*]
**{{flagicon|ISR}} ]
*]
**{{flagicon|CAN}} ] - 86.6% of the population
**{{flagicon|USA}} ] (]) - 60.7% of the population
*] & ] (see ] or ])
**{{flagicon|ARG}} ] - 95% of the population
**{{flagicon|BRA}} ] (]) - 49.9% of the population
**{{flagicon|CHI}} ]
**{{flagicon|URU}} ]
**{{flagicon|VEN}} ]
*]
**{{flagicon|AUS}} ] - 89.3% of the population **{{flagicon|AUS}} ] - 89.3% of the population
**{{flagicon|NZL}} ] (]) - 59.1% of the population **{{flagicon|NZL}} ] (]) - 78% of the population
**{{flagicon|NCL}} ] (]) - 34.5% of the population
**{{flagicon|PYF}} ] - 10% of the population<ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|Hawaii}} ] - 41.26% of the population
**{{flagicon|GUM}} ] - 6.9% of the population<ref> World Factbook of CIA</ref>
**{{flagicon|NFK}} ]


National diasporas:
==References==
{{see|List of diasporas}}
<div class="references-small"><references/></div>
{{columns
|width=270px
|col1 =
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
|col2 =
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
}}


==Further reading== ==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
* The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Valley, by John W. Cole (Author), Eric R. Wolf University of California Press; 1 edition (October 11, 1999) ISBN-10: 0520216814 ISBN-13: 978-0520216815


==Bibliography==
]
*{{citation|first=Peter A.|last=Andrews|first2=Rüdiger|last2= Benninghaus|title=Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey|year=2002|publisher=Reichert|id=ISBN 3895003255}}
*Marcus Banks, ''Ethnicity: Anthropological Constructions'', Routledge (1996).
*Cole, J. W., Wolf, E. R., ''The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Valley'', University of California Press; (1999), ISBN 978-0520216815.
*Dow, R. R., Bockhorn, O., ''The Study of European Ethnology in Austria'', Progress in European Ethnology, Ashgate Publishing (2004), ISBN 978-0754617471.
*{{citation|title=Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-century Central Eastern Europe|first=Piotr|last=Eberhardt
|first2= Jan|last2=Owsinski|year=2003|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|id=ISBN 0765606658}}
* {{citation|last=Gresham|first=D. et al|year=2001|title=Origins and divergence of the Roma (Gypsies)|journal=American Journal of Human Genetics
|volume=69 (6)|pages=1314-1331}}
*{{citation|title=European Identity: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Insights|first=Ireneusz Pawel|last=Karolewski|first2=Viktoria|last2= Kaina
|year=2006|publisher=LIT Verlag|id=ISBN 3825892883}}
*Jordan, T. G., ''The European culture area: A systematic geography'' (2nd ed.). New York: Harper and Row (1988).
*{{citation|last=Latham|first=Robert Gordon|title=The Native Races of the Russian Empire|year=1854|publisher=Hippolyte Baillière (London)}}
*{{citation|title=Culture and National Identity: "the East" and European Integration|first=David D.|last=Laitin|publisher=Robert Schuman Centre
|year=2000}}
*{{citation|title=Romansh: Facts & Figures|first=Manfred|last=Gross|year=2004|publisher=Lia Rumantscha|id=ISBN 3039000373}}
*{{citation|title=Ethnic Groups Worldwide: A Ready Reference Handbook|first=David |last=Levinson|year=1998|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|id=ISBN 9781573560191}} part I: Europe, pp. 1-100.
* E. J. Hobsbawm and David J. Kertzer, "Ethnicity and Nationalism in Europe Today", ''Anthropology Today'', Vol. 8, No. 1 (Feb., 1992), pp. 3-8.
*{{citation|title=An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empire|first=James Stuart|last=Olson|first2=Lee Brigance |last2=Pappas
|first3=Nicholas Charles|last3=Pappas|publisher=Greenwood|year=1994|id=ISBN 0313274975}}
*{{citation|title=An Ethnic History of Europe Since 1945: Nations, States and Minorities|first=Panikos|last=Panayi
|year=1999|publisher=Longman|id=ISBN 0582381355}}
*Parman, S. (ed.), ''Europe in the Anthropological Imagination'', Prentice Hall (1998).
*{{citation|fist=Meic|last=Stephens|year=1976|title=Linguistic Minorities in Western Europe|publisher=Gomer Press|id=ISBN 0608187593}}
*{{citation|title=On European Identity: Nationalism, Culture & History|first=Csaba |last=Szaló|year=1998|publsiher=Masaryk University
|id =ISBN 8021018399}}
*{{citation|title=The Smallest Slavonic Nation: The Sorbs of Lusatia|first=Gerald|last=Stone|year=1972|publisher=Athlene Press
|id=ISBN 0485111292}}
*{{citation|title=Understanding European Integration: History, Culture, and Politics of Identity|first=R. Pavananthi|last=Vembulu|year=2003
|publisher=Aakar Books|id=ISBN 8187879106}}

==See also==
{{commonscat|Ethnic groups in Europe}}
{{commons|Europeans}}
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]

==External links==
*Ron Balsdon, ''''
*
*, Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) and the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN).

{{Template group
|list =
{{Europe topic|Ethnic groups in}}
{{Indigenous peoples by continent}}
}}

]
] ]
]


]
]
] ]
] ]
]
]

Revision as of 10:03, 19 December 2008

See Demography of Europe for population statistics.

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.

Overview

Further information: Demographics of Europe

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), 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.

Ethno-linguistic classifications

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Ethnic groups in Europe" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Further information: Languages of Europe
Distribution of major languages of Europe.

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 Indo-European **665
Indo-Europeans Slavic Europe *230
Indo-Europeans Slavic, East Russians Pomors, presently Cossacks 90
Indo-Europeans Slavic, West Poles 42
Indo-Europeans Slavic, East Ukrainians Rusyns, Boykos, Hutsuls, Lemkos, Poleszuks 41
Indo-Europeans Slavic, West Czechs 11
Indo-Europeans Slavic, South Serbs 12
Indo-Europeans Slavic, East Belarusians 10
Indo-Europeans Slavic, South Bulgarians 08
Indo-Europeans Slavic, South Croats 06
Indo-Europeans Slavic, West Slovaks 05
Indo-Europeans Slavic, South Macedonians 02
Indo-Europeans Slavic, South Bosniaks 02
Indo-Europeans Slavic, South Slovenes 02
Indo-Europeans Slavic, West Silesians 02
Indo-Europeans Slavic, South Montenegrins 0.8
Indo-Europeans Slavic, West Sorbs 0.06
Indo-Europeans Latin Europe *200
Indo-Europeans Latin, Western Francophonie French, Walloons, Romands, Occitans 55
Indo-Europeans Latin, Italo-Western Italians Sardinians, Furlans, Lombards, Venetians, Sicilians, Neapolitans 60
Indo-Europeans Latin, Western Spaniards Castilians; non-Castilian ethno-linguistic groups: Andalusians, Asturians, Aragonese, Canarians, Catalans, Galicians 42
Indo-Europeans Latin, Eastern Eastern Romance (Vlachs) Romanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians, Aromanians 25
Indo-Europeans Latin, Western Portuguese 15
Indo-Europeans Latin, Western Romansh 0.07
Indo-Europeans Latin, Western Gibraltarians 0.03
Indo-Europeans Germanic Europe *200
Indo-Europeans Germanic, West, Continental German-speaking Europe Germans, Austrians, Alemannic Swiss, Luxembourgers 90
Indo-Europeans Germanic, West, North Sea English 45 also subsumed under British or White British.
Indo-Europeans Germanic, North Scandinavians Norwegians, Swedes (Finland Swedes), Danes, Icelanders 22
Indo-Europeans Germanic, West, Continental Netherlandish Dutch people, Flemish people 22
Indo-Europeans Germanic, West, North Sea Frisians 01.5
Indo-Europeans Celtic Europe *002-20 approx. 2 million speakers of Celtic languages, but depending on the definition, some 20 million may be considered "Celtic"
Indo-Europeans Anglo-Celtic, Goidelic Irish Gaeltacht 06 Some living in Northern Ireland can also subsumed under British or White British.
Indo-Europeans Anglo-Celtic, Goidelic Scots Gàidhealtachd 06 also subsumed under British or White British.
Indo-Europeans Anglo-Celtic, Brythonic Welsh 05 also subsumed under British or White British.
Indo-Europeans Franco-Celtic, Brythonic Bretons 05 also subsumed under French.
Indo-Europeans Anglo-Celtic, Brythonic Cornish 0.2 also subsumed under English, British or White British.
Indo-Europeans Anglo-Celtic, Goidelic Manx 0.04 also subsumed under British or White British.
Indo-Europeans Greek Greeks 13
Indo-Europeans Albanian Albanians 08-10
Indo-Europeans Indo-Aryan Roma people 05-10
Indo-Europeans Baltic 04.8
Indo-Europeans Lithuanians 03.15
Indo-Europeans Latvians 01.5
Indo-Europeans Latgalians 0.15
Indo-Europeans Armenian Armenians 04.5 in Transcaucasia, not Europe proper, see below.
Indo-Europeans Iranian Ossetians 0.6 depends on what part of the Caucasus is considered European, see below.
Turkic Turkic *038
Turkic peoples 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
Turkic peoples Turkic, Kypchak Tatars 10
Turkic peoples Turkic, Oghuz Azerbaijanis 06
Turkic peoples Turkic, Oghur Chuvash 02
Turkic peoples Turkic, Kypchak Kazakhs 02 approx. 2 million; 1 million in the Atyrau and West Kazakhstan provinces of Kazakhstan and 1 million in Russia
Turkic peoples Turkic, Kypchak Bashkirs 01.6
Turkic peoples Turkic, Kypchak Karachays 01.3
Turkic peoples Turkic, Kypchak / Oghuz Crimeans Tat Tatars, Yaliboyu Tatars, Noğay Tatars 0.3
Turkic peoples Turkic, Oghuz Gagauz 0.1
Turkic peoples Turkic, Kypchak Nogais 0.09
Finno-Ugric Finno-Ugric *025
Finno-Ugric peoples Ugric Hungarians 15
Finno-Ugric peoples Finnic, Finno-Lappic Finns Karelians, Sweden Finns, Ingrian Finns, Kven people 06
Finno-Ugric peoples Finnic, Finno-Lappic Estonians Setos, Võros 01
Finno-Ugric peoples Finnic, Volgaic Mordvins Erzya/Shoksha, Moksha, Teryukhan, Qaratay 0.85
Finno-Ugric peoples Finnic, Permic Udmurts 0.64
Finno-Ugric peoples Finnic, Volgaic Mari 0.6
Finno-Ugric peoples Finnic, Permic Komi Komi-Izhemtsy, Komi-Permyaks 0.4
Finno-Ugric peoples Finnic, Finno-Lappic Sami 0.1
Finno-Ugric peoples Finnic, Finno-Lappic Livonians 0.000176
Caucasian Caucasian *06
Caucasian South Caucasian Georgians 5 depends on what part of the Caucasus is considered European, see below.
Caucasian Northeast Caucasian Chechens 1 depends on what part of the Caucasus is considered European, see below.
Basque Basque Basques 02.5
Semitic Semitic 0.4-3
Semitic Semitic, Hebrew Ethnic Jews 2 also subsumed under various other, see below.
Semitic 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":

By country

Pan and Pfeil (2002) distinguish 33 peoples which form the majority population in a sovereign state geographically situated in Europe. 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
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
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)
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%
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%.
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 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
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)

History

Prehistoric populations

Further information: 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 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.

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:

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:

Indigenous minorities

Further information: Definitions and identity of indigenous peoples
A Sami family in northern Scandinavia around 1900

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:

European identity and culture

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (July 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Personifications of Sclavinia, Germania, Gallia, and Roma, bringing offerings to Otto III; from a gospel book dated 990.
Main articles: European culture, Western world, Christendom, and Pan-European identity

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.

Religion

Predominant religions in Europe   Roman Catholicism   Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy   Protestantism   Sunni Islam   Shia Islam   Buddhism (Kalmykia)
Main article: Religion in Europe

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 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 found that 52% of EU citizens believe in God.

Immigration

Main article: Immigration to Europe Further information: Islam in Europe, Muslims in Western Europe, Hinduism in Europe, and Buddhism in Europe Further information: Asian Europeans Further information: Afro-Europeans

Populations of non-European origin in Europe (approx. 22 - 29+ million, or approx. 3% to 4%+ , out of a total population of approx. 730 million):

  • Middle East
    • Turks: approx. 6 million (outside of the Republic of Turkey), mostly in German speaking countries and the Balkans, but found in sizeable communities throughout Europe.
    • Jews: approx. 2 million (both religious and non-religious persons by ethnoreligious descent), found throughout Europe.
    • Armenians (sometimes considered European, see above): approx. 1.5 million. The largest communities are found in France, Russia, Ukraine and the UK.
    • Kurds: approx. 1.5 million, mostly in Germany and Sweden.
    • Aramean-Syriac people: approx. 130,000, mostly in Sweden.
    • Lebanese diaspora: especially in France, Netherlands, Germany, Cyprus and the UK.
  • Africa
  • Latin Americans (mainly Mestizos): approx. 2.2 million, with the largest groups in Spain and Italy.
    • Plus Latin American Britons number between 80,000 and 1 million and are of European, African, Native South American and many other races.
    • Brazilians: 200,000 - 300,000 in the UK, around 70,000 in Portugal and Italy each
    • Chilean refugees escaping the Augusto Pinochet regime of the 1970s formed communities in France, Sweden, the former East Germany and the Netherlands.
  • South Asians (many ethnicities): approx. 3 - 4 million, mostly in the UK but reside in smaller numbers in Germany and France.
    • Indians: Between 1 and 2 million, mostly in the UK
    • Pakistanis: approx. 1,000,000, mostly in the UK.
    • Tamils: approx. 250,000, predominantly in the UK.
    • Bangladeshi residing in Europe estimated at 200,000, the bulk live in the UK.
  • East Asia

European diasporas

Further information: History of colonialism

Nations and regions outside of Europe with significant populations of European ancestry:

Historical

Contemporary

Further information: History of colonialism and Greater Europe

Nations and regions outside of Europe with significant populations of European ancestry :

National diasporas:

Further information: List of diasporas

Column-generating template families

The templates listed here are not interchangeable. For example, using {{col-float}} with {{col-end}} instead of {{col-float-end}} would leave a <div>...</div> open, potentially harming any subsequent formatting.

Column templates
Type Family Handles wiki
table code?
Responsive/
mobile suited
Start template Column divider End template
Float "col-float" Yes Yes {{col-float}} {{col-float-break}} {{col-float-end}}
"columns-start" Yes Yes {{columns-start}} {{column}} {{columns-end}}
Columns "div col" Yes Yes {{div col}} {{div col end}}
"columns-list" No Yes {{columns-list}} (wraps div col)
Flexbox "flex columns" No Yes {{flex columns}}
Table "col" Yes No {{col-begin}},
{{col-begin-fixed}} or
{{col-begin-small}}
{{col-break}} or
{{col-2}} .. {{col-5}}
{{col-end}}

Can template handle the basic wiki markup {| | || |- |} used to create tables? If not, special templates that produce these elements (such as {{(!}}, {{!}}, {{!!}}, {{!-}}, {{!)}})—or HTML tags (<table>...</table>, <tr>...</tr>, etc.)—need to be used instead.

References

  1. Christoph Pan, Beate Sibylle Pfeil,Minderheitenrechte in Europa. Handbuch der europäischen Volksgruppen (2002).
  2. Recensement officiel de l'Insee
  3. CIA - The World Factbook - Switzerland
  4. CIA factbook. Turkey is a transcontinentalc country, with 80% of its population Turkish and 20% Kurdish.
  5. CIA factbook Statistics for Germany.
  6. Turkish Statistical Institute
  7. As a transcontinental country, Georgia may be considered to be in Asia and/or Europe. The UN classification of world regions places Georgia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , National Geographic, and Encyclopædia Britannica also place Georgia in Asia. Conversely, numerous sources place Georgia in Europe such as the BBC , Oxford Reference Online , Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, and www.worldatlas.com.
  8. Ethnic group swhich form the majority in two states are the Vlachs (in Romania and Moldova), and the Albanians (in Albania and the partly-recognized Republic of Kosovo). Closely related groups holding majorities in separate states are German speakers (Germans, Austrians, Luxembourgers, Swiss German speakers), the Serbo-Croats in the states of Former Yugoslavia, the Dutch/Flemish, the Russians/Belarusians and the Bulgarians/Macedonians.
  9. including the European portions of Russia and Turkey, not including Georgia and Kazakhstan, excluding microstates with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants: Andorra, Holy See, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino.
  10. percentages from the CIA Factbook unless indicated otherwise.
  11. note: percents represent citizenship, since Greece does not collect data on ethnicity
  12. http://www.populstat.info/Europe/maltag.htm
  13. excluding Kosovo and Metohija
  14. My Jewish Learning - European Origins
  15. Almoravides - LoveToKnow 1911
  16. Spain - AL ANDALUS, U.S. Library of Congress
  17. The Last Christians Of North-West Africa
  18. see also Definitions and identity of indigenous peoples.
  19. ReportDGResearchSocialValuesEN2.PDF
  20. Youths bring violence from a war-torn land
  21. France's blacks stand up to be counted
  22. Latin American Immigration to Southern Europe
  23. Born Abroad - Countries of birth, BBC News
  24. ^ Ethnic groups by country. Statistics (where available) from CIA Factbook.
  25. Western North Africa, 1–500 A.D., The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  26. Archaeologists Find Celts In Unlikely Spot: Turkey, New York Times
  27. The Mummies of Xinjiang, DISCOVER Magazine
  28. A meeting of civilisations: The mystery of China's celtic mummies, The Independent
  29. Diversity in the Desert: Daily Life in Greek and Roman Egypt, 332 B.C.E. - 641 C.E.
  30. Alexander the Great and precious stones in Afghanistan, The Toronto Times
  31. Cyril and Methodius of Thessalonica: The Acculturation of the Slavs
  32. The Fate of Greenland's Vikings
  33. Benjamin Z. Kedar, "The Subjected Muslims of the Frankish Levant", in The Crusades: The Essential Readings, ed. Thomas F. Madden, Blackwell, 2002, pg. 244. Originally published in Muslims Under Latin Rule, 1100-1300, ed. James M. Powell, Princeton University Press, 1990. Kedar quotes his numbers from Joshua Prawer, Histoire du royaume latin de Jérusalem, tr. G. Nahon, Paris, 1969, vol. 1, pp. 498, 568-72.
  34. Crusaders 'left genetic legacy', BBC News
  35. South Africa: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  36. Namibia: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  37. Réunion Island
  38. Botswana: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  39. Senegal, About 50,000 Europeans (mostly French) and Lebanese reside in Senegal, mainly in the cities.
  40. Swaziland: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  41. Morocco: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  42. Tunisia: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  43. Fiona Hill, Russia — Coming In From the Cold?, The Globalist, 23 February 2004
  44. Robert Greenall, Russians left behind in Central Asia, BBC News, 23 November 2005.
  45. Kyrgyzstan: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  46. Turkmenistan: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  47. Southern Caucasus: Facing Integration Problems, Ethnic Russians Long For Better Life
  48. Georgia: Ethnic Russians Feel Insulated From Tensions, Radio Free Europe
  49. HK Census. "HK Census." Statistical Table. Retrieved on 2007-03-08.
  50. Crusaders 'left genetic legacy', BBC NEWS | Science/Nature
  51. Greenland
  52. Canadian Census 2006
  53. North America - Britannica Concise Encyclopedia - The online encyclopedia you can trust!
  54. Mexico :: Ethnic groups - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  55. Mexico: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  56. Argentina: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  57. Bahamas: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  58. Barbados: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  59. Bermuda: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  60. Bolivia: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  61. Brazil: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  62. "5.2.6. Estructura racial". La Universidad de Chile. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
  63. Colombia: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  64. "Costa Rica; People; Ethnic groups". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 2007-11-21. white (including mestizo) 94% = 3.9 million whites and mestizos
  65. "Tabla II.3 Población por color de la piel y grupos de edades, según zona de residencia y sexo". Censo de Población y Viviendas (in Spanish). Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas. 2002. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  66. Dominican Republic: People: Ethnic groups. World Factbook of CIA
  67. "Ecuador: People; Ethnic groups". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
  68. El Salvador: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  69. French Guiana: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  70. Martinique: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  71. "Nicaragua: People; Ethnic groups". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 2007-11-15. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  72. "Panama; People; Ethnic groups". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 2007-11-21. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  73. Puerto Rico: People: Ethnic Groups World Factbook of CIA
  74. Peru: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  75. Trinidad French Creole
  76. Uruguay: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  77. Fact Sheet on St. Barthélemy
  78. French Polynesia: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
  79. Brazil: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA

Bibliography

  • Andrews, Peter A.; Benninghaus, Rüdiger (2002), Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey, Reichert, ISBN 3895003255
  • Marcus Banks, Ethnicity: Anthropological Constructions, Routledge (1996).
  • Cole, J. W., Wolf, E. R., The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Valley, University of California Press; (1999), ISBN 978-0520216815.
  • Dow, R. R., Bockhorn, O., The Study of European Ethnology in Austria, Progress in European Ethnology, Ashgate Publishing (2004), ISBN 978-0754617471.
  • Eberhardt, Piotr; Owsinski, Jan (2003), Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-century Central Eastern Europe, M.E. Sharpe, ISBN 0765606658
  • Gresham, D.; et al. (2001), "Origins and divergence of the Roma (Gypsies)", American Journal of Human Genetics, 69 (6): 1314–1331 {{citation}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first= (help) Online article
  • Karolewski, Ireneusz Pawel; Kaina, Viktoria (2006), European Identity: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Insights, LIT Verlag, ISBN 3825892883
  • Jordan, T. G., The European culture area: A systematic geography (2nd ed.). New York: Harper and Row (1988).
  • Latham, Robert Gordon (1854), The Native Races of the Russian Empire, Hippolyte Baillière (London) Full text on google books
  • Laitin, David D. (2000), Culture and National Identity: "the East" and European Integration, Robert Schuman Centre
  • Gross, Manfred (2004), Romansh: Facts & Figures, Lia Rumantscha, ISBN 3039000373 Online version
  • Levinson, David (1998), Ethnic Groups Worldwide: A Ready Reference Handbook, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 9781573560191 part I: Europe, pp. 1-100.
  • E. J. Hobsbawm and David J. Kertzer, "Ethnicity and Nationalism in Europe Today", Anthropology Today, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Feb., 1992), pp. 3-8.
  • Olson, James Stuart; Pappas, Lee Brigance; Pappas, Nicholas Charles (1994), An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empire, Greenwood, ISBN 0313274975
  • Panayi, Panikos (1999), An Ethnic History of Europe Since 1945: Nations, States and Minorities, Longman, ISBN 0582381355
  • Parman, S. (ed.), Europe in the Anthropological Imagination, Prentice Hall (1998).
  • Stephens (1976), Linguistic Minorities in Western Europe, Gomer Press, ISBN 0608187593 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |fist= ignored (help)
  • Szaló, Csaba (1998), On European Identity: Nationalism, Culture & History, ISBN 8021018399 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |publsiher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
  • Stone, Gerald (1972), The Smallest Slavonic Nation: The Sorbs of Lusatia, Athlene Press, ISBN 0485111292
  • Vembulu, R. Pavananthi (2003), Understanding European Integration: History, Culture, and Politics of Identity, Aakar Books, ISBN 8187879106

See also

External links

Links to related articles
Ethnic groups in Europe
Sovereign states
States with limited
recognition
Dependencies and
other entities
Indigenous peoples of the world by continent

Location of Africa
Africa

Location of Eurasia
Eurasia

Location of North America
North America

Location of Oceania
Oceania

Location of South America
South America

Indigenous peoples by geographic regions
Categories:
Ethnic groups in Europe: Difference between revisions Add topic