59-609: The Celtic nations or Celtic countries are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term nation is used in its original sense to mean a people who share a common identity and culture and are identified with a traditional territory. The six regions widely considered Celtic countries in modern times are Brittany ( Breizh ), Cornwall ( Kernow ), Ireland ( Éire ),
118-536: A Celtic presence in their territories. Unlike the others, no Celtic language is attested there, unlike Celtiberia , and has been spoken in modern times. Similar evidence of Celtic influence exists across Europe in various regions of countries such as Italy , Austria , or the Czech Republic . The concept of the Celtic nations is widely promoted by pan-Celtic movements, including political and cultural organizations like
177-520: A city on the site of modern Prague, and some of its ruins are now a tourist attraction. There are claims among modern Czechs that the Czech people are as much descendants of the Boii as they are from the later Slavic invaders (as well as the historical Germanic peoples of Czech lands). This claim may not only be political: according to a 2000 study by Semino, 35.6% of Czech males have y-chromosome haplogroup R1b , which
236-718: A common practice throughout the social sciences . Cultural geography also utilizes the concept of culture areas. Cultural geography originated within the Berkeley School, and is primarily associated with Carl O. Sauer and his colleagues. Sauer viewed culture as "an agent within a natural area that was a medium to be cultivated to produce the cultural landscape." Sauer's concept was later criticized as deterministic , and geographer Yi-Fu Tuan and others proposed versions that enabled scholars to account for phenomenological experience as well. This revision became known as humanistic geography. The period within which humanistic geography
295-604: A continental scale are also referred to as "worlds", "spheres", or "civilizations", such as the Islamic world . The term cultural bloc is used by anthropologists to describe culturally and linguistically similar groups (or nations) of Aboriginal peoples of Australia . It may have been coined first by Ronald Berndt in 1959 to describe the Western Desert cultural bloc , a group of peoples in central Australia whose languages comprise around 40 dialects. Other groups described as
354-653: A cultural bloc include the Noongar people of south-western Australia; the Bundjalung people of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland ; the Kuninjku / Bininj Kunwok bloc and the Yolngu cultural bloc in Arnhem Land , Northern Territory . A music area is a cultural area defined according to musical activity. It may or may not conflict with the cultural areas assigned to
413-564: A given region. The world may be divided into three large music areas, each containing a "cultivated" or classical musics "that are obviously its most complex musical forms", with, nearby, folk styles which interact with the cultivated, and, on the perimeter, primitive styles. [REDACTED] Media related to Cultural regions at Wikimedia Commons Scottish Lowlands The Lowlands ( Scots : Lallans or Lawlands , pronounced [ˈlɑːlən(d)z, ˈlo̜ːl-] ; Scottish Gaelic : a' Ghalldachd , lit. 'place of
472-467: A people that spoke Celtic languages and lived Celtic ways of life. Walloons occasionally characterise themselves as "Celts", mainly in opposition to the "Teutonic" Flemish and "Latin" French identities. Others think they are Belgian, that is to say Germano-Celtic people different from the Gaulish-Celtic French. The Canegrate culture (13th century BC) may represent the first migratory wave of
531-595: A region in modern Switzerland—succeeded the Halstatt era in much of central Europe. In the years between 1815, when vast industrial changes began to disrupt the old life-styles in Europe, and Canadian Confederation in 1867, when immigration of that era passed its peak, more than 150,000 immigrants from Ireland flooded into Saint John . Those who came in the earlier period were largely tradesmen, and many stayed in Saint John, becoming
590-564: A revival of interest in Celtic heritage across Galicia, Asturias, and northern Portugal. These regions actively participate in pan-Celtic events such as the Festival Interceltique de Lorient , where Galicia and Asturias are recognized alongside the six core Celtic nations. The annual Ortigueira's Festival of Celtic World in Galicia, one of Europe's largest celebrations of Celtic music and culture, attracts performers and audiences from across
649-571: A substantial number of native speakers. These are the Goidelic languages (i.e. Irish and Scottish Gaelic , which are both descended from Middle Irish ) and the Brittonic languages (i.e. Welsh and Breton , which are both descended from Common Brittonic ). Taken together, there were roughly one million native speakers of Celtic languages as of the 2000s. In 2010, there were more than 1.4 million speakers of Celtic languages. Formal cooperation between
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#1732845122836708-707: Is a significant part of a society's culture, but it can also divide subgroups of the same ethnolinguistic group along more subtle criteria, such as the Brünig-Napf-Reuss line in German-speaking Switzerland, the Weißwurstäquator in Germany, or the Grote rivieren boundary between Dutch and Flemish culture. In the history of Europe , the major cultural boundaries are traditionally found: Macro-cultures on
767-506: Is common among Celts but rare among Slavs. Celts also founded Singidunum near present-day Belgrade , though the Celtic presence in modern-day Serbian regions is limited to the far north (mainly including the historically at least partially Hungarian Vojvodina ). The modern-day capital of Turkey, Ankara , was once the center of the Celtic culture in Central Anatolia, giving the name to the region— Galatia . The La Tène culture —named for
826-549: Is in the south west of Great Britain, Wales in western Great Britain and the Gaelic -speaking parts of Ireland and Scotland are in the west of those countries). Additionally, this region is known as the "Celtic Crescent" because of the near crescent shaped position of the nations in Europe. The Celtic names for each nation in each language illustrate some of the similarity between the languages. Despite differences in orthography, there are many sound and lexical correspondences between
885-506: Is now known as the " cultural turn ." The definition of culture areas is enjoying a resurgence of practical and theoretical interest as social scientists conduct more research on processes of cultural globalization. Allen Noble gave a summary of the concept development of cultural regions using terms such as: Cultural "spheres of influence" may also overlap or form concentric structures of macrocultures encompassing smaller local cultures. Different boundaries may also be drawn depending on
944-623: Is the more populous and industrialised part of Scotland compared to the sparsely populated Highlands. Culturally, the Lowlands and the Highlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period , when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. Geographically, Scotland is divided into three distinct areas: the Highlands , the Central plain ( Central Belt , in
1003-630: The Central Lowlands . However, in normal usage it refers to those parts of Scotland not in the Highlands (or Gàidhealtachd ). The boundary is usually considered to be a line between Stonehaven and Helensburgh (on the Firth of Clyde ). The Lowlands lie south and east of the line. Some parts of the Lowlands (such as the Southern Uplands ) are not physically "low", Merrick for example reaching 2,766 feet (843 m), while some areas indisputably in
1062-547: The Alps to Umbria . According to the Recueil des Inscriptions Gauloises , more than 760 Gaulish inscriptions have been found throughout present-day France —with the notable exception of Aquitaine —and in Italy . The French- and Arpitan -speaking Aosta Valley region in Italy also presents a claim of Celtic heritage. The Northern League autonomist party often exalts what it claims are
1121-532: The Celtic League or International Celtic Congress . Each of the six nations has its own Celtic language . In Brittany , Ireland , Scotland , and Wales these have been spoken continuously through time, while Cornwall and the Isle of Man have languages that were spoken into modern times but later died as spoken community languages. In the latter two regions, however, language revitalisation movements have led to
1180-601: The Central Lowlands ), and the Southern Uplands . The Lowlands cover roughly the latter two. The northeast plain is also "low-land", both geographically and culturally, but in some contexts may be grouped together with the Highlands. The Lowlands is not an official geographical or administrative area of the country. There are two main topographic regions: the Lowlands and the Southern Uplands . The term "Lowlands" mainly refers to
1239-669: The Free Church of Scotland . Many of the place names in these two regions (such as the main cities of Dunedin and Invercargill and the major river, the Clutha ) have Scottish Gaelic names, and Celtic culture is still prominent in this area. Cultural area In anthropology and geography , a cultural area , cultural region , cultural sphere , or culture area refers to a geography with one relatively homogeneous human activity or complex of activities ( culture ). Such activities are often associated with an ethnolinguistic group and with
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#17328451228361298-596: The Hebridean Celtic Festival (Stornoway). Due to immigration, a dialect of Scottish Gaelic ( Canadian Gaelic ) is spoken by some on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, while a Welsh-speaking minority exists in the Chubut Province of Argentina . Hence, for certain purposes—such as the Festival Interceltique de Lorient — Gallaecia , Asturias , and Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia are considered three of
1357-501: The Isle of Man ( Mannin , or Ellan Vannin ), Scotland ( Alba ), and Wales ( Cymru ). In each of these six regions a Celtic language is spoken to some extent: Brittonic or Brythonic languages are spoken in Brittany ( Breton ), Cornwall ( Cornish ), and Wales ( Welsh ), whilst Goidelic or Gaelic languages are spoken in Scotland ( Scottish Gaelic ), Ireland ( Irish ), and
1416-561: The North Region, Portugal , also lay claim to a Celtic heritage. These regions are not traditionally included among the six primary "Celtic nations" due to the absence of a living Celtic language; however, archaeological and historical evidence points to a significant Celtic influence, particularly in the ancient region of Gallaecia , which encompassed modern Galicia and northern Portugal. Numerous archaeological findings, such as castros (hill forts) and artifacts bearing Celtic motifs, support
1475-619: The Pontic–Caspian steppe , during the Bronze Age along with carriers of Indo-European languages like proto-Celtic . Unlike previous studies, large sections of autosomal DNA were analyzed in addition to paternal Y-DNA markers. They detected an autosomal component present in modern Europeans which was not present in Neolithic or Mesolithic Europeans, and which would have been introduced into Europe with paternal lineages R1b and R1a, as well as
1534-488: The endonyms and exonyms used to refer to the Celtic nations. Modern-day Galicians , Asturians , Cantabrians and northern Portuguese claim a Celtic heritage or identity. Despite the extinction of Iberian Celtic languages in Roman times, Celtic heritage is attested in toponymics and language substratum, ancient texts, folklore and music . Most French people identify with the ancient Gauls and are well aware that they were
1593-567: The nine Celtic nations. Competitions are held between the Celtic nations in sports such as rugby union ( Pro14 —formerly known as the Celtic League), athletics (Celtic Cup) and association football (the Nations Cup —also known as the Celtic Cup). The Republic of Ireland enjoyed a period of rapid economic growth between 1995 and 2007, leading to the use of the phrase Celtic Tiger to describe
1652-644: The "Midland Valley". This area mainly encompasses the basins of the Rivers Forth and Clyde , and houses approximately 80 percent of Scotland's population (3.5 million in the Central Belt ). Historically, the Midland Valley has been Scotland's most agriculturally productive region. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, it experienced significant industrialisation and urbanisation, driven by coal deposits. While coal mining and heavy industry have declined ever since,
1711-579: The Celtic nations is active in many contexts, including politics, languages, culture, music and sports: The Celtic League is an inter-Celtic political organisation, which campaigns for the political, language, cultural and social rights, affecting one or more of the Celtic nations. Established in 1917, the Celtic Congress is a non-political organisation that seeks to promote Celtic culture and languages and to maintain intellectual contact and close cooperation between Celtic peoples. Festivals celebrating
1770-698: The Celtic roots of all Northern Italy or Padania . Celtic tribes inhabited land in what is now southern Germany and Austria. Many scholars have associated the earliest Celtic peoples with the Hallstatt culture . The Boii , the Scordisci , and the Vindelici are some of the tribes that inhabited Central Europe, including what is now Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Poland and the Czech Republic as well as Germany and Austria. The Boii gave their name to Bohemia . The Boii founded
1829-779: The Celtic world. Irish was once widely spoken on the island of Newfoundland , but largely disappeared by the early 20th century. Vestiges remain in words found in Newfoundland English, such as scrob for "scratch" and sleeveen for "rascal." There are virtually no known fluent speakers of Irish Gaelic in Newfoundland or Labrador today, though memorized passages survive in traditional tales and songs. Canadian Gaelic dialects of Scottish Gaelic are still spoken by Gaels in parts of Atlantic Canada, primarily on Cape Breton Island and nearby areas of Nova Scotia . In 2011, there were 1,275 Gaelic speakers in Nova Scotia, and 300 residents of
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1888-798: The English than they do with other 'Celtic' populations, with the Cornish in particular being genetically much closer to other English groups than they are to the Welsh or the Scots. The term Celtic nations derives from the linguistics studies of the 16th century scholar George Buchanan and the polymath Edward Lhuyd . As Assistant Keeper and then Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum , Oxford (1691–1709), Lhuyd travelled extensively in Great Britain, Ireland and Brittany in
1947-878: The Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland (the Highlands and islands) from the Lowland Scots (i.e. Anglo-Saxon-speaking) areas. More recently, this term has also been adopted as the Gaelic name of the Highland council area , which includes non-Gaelic speaking areas. Hence, more specific terms such as sgìre Ghàidhlig ("Gaelic-speaking area") are now used. In Wales, the Welsh language is a core curriculum (compulsory) subject, which all pupils study. Additionally, 20% of schoolchildren in Wales attend Welsh medium schools , where they are taught entirely in
2006-524: The Highlands (such as Islay ) are low-lying. For other purposes, the boundary varies; but if the Boundary Fault is used, then the traditional Scottish counties entirely in the Lowlands are Ayrshire , Berwickshire , Clackmannanshire , Dumfriesshire , East Lothian , Fife , Kinross-shire , Kirkcudbrightshire , Lanarkshire , Midlothian , Peeblesshire , Renfrewshire , Roxburghshire , Selkirkshire , West Lothian , and Wigtownshire . Prior to 1921,
2065-588: The Indo-European languages. This genetic component, labelled as "Yamnaya" in the studies, then mixed to varying degrees with earlier Mesolithic hunter-gatherer or Neolithic farmer populations already existing in western Europe. Furthermore, a 2016 study also found that Bronze Age remains from Rathlin Island in Ireland dating to over 4,000 years ago were most genetically similar to modern Irish, Scottish and Welsh, and that
2124-626: The Isle of Man ( Manx ). Before the expansions of Ancient Rome and the Germanic and Slavic -speaking tribes, a significant part of Europe was dominated by Celtic-speaking cultures, leaving behind a legacy of Celtic cultural traits. Territories in north-western Iberia —particularly northern Portugal , Galicia , Asturias , León , and Cantabria (together historically referred to as Gallaecia and Astures ), covering north-central Portugal and northern Spain— are not considered Celtic nations despite having had
2183-809: The Lowlands. Many ancestors of the Scotch-Irish , as they are known in the United States, or Ulster-Scots , originated from the lowlands and borders region before migrating to the Ulster Plantation in the 17th century and later the American frontier , many prior to the American Revolution . The term Scottish Lowlands is used with reference to the Scots language in contrast to the Scottish Gaelic spoken in
2242-562: The Midland Valley's economic importance endures. Today, it remains a central hub of the Scottish economy, with a focus on electronics, computer manufacturing, and service sectors like telecommunications, computer software, and finance. The southernmost counties of Scotland, nearest the Anglo-Scottish border , are also known as the Borders . They are sometimes considered separately from the rest of
2301-633: The Welsh language. In the Republic of Ireland , all school children study Irish as one of the three core subjects until the end of secondary school, and 7.4% of primary school education is through Irish medium education, which is part of the Gaelscoil movement. In the Isle of Man, there is one Manx-medium primary school, and all schoolchildren have the opportunity to learn Manx. Parts of the northern Iberian Peninsula, namely Galicia , Cantabria , Asturias in Spain, and
2360-406: The adoption of these languages by adults and produced a number of native speakers. Ireland, Wales, Brittany and Scotland contain areas where a Celtic language is used on a daily basis; in Ireland these areas are called the Gaeltacht ; in Wales Y Fro Gymraeg , Breizh-Izel (Lower Brittany) in western Brittany and Breizh-Uhel (Upper Brittany) in eastern Brittany. Generally these communities are in
2419-405: The backbone of its builders. But when the Great Famine raged between 1845 and 1852, huge waves of Famine refugees flooded these shores. It is estimated that between 1845 and 1847, some 30,000 arrived, more people than were living in the city at the time. In 1847, dubbed "Black 47," one of the worst years of the Famine, some 16,000 immigrants, most of them from Ireland, arrived at Partridge Island ,
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2478-453: The core of the genome of insular Celtic populations was established by this time. In 2015 a genetic study of the United Kingdom showed that there is no unified 'Celtic' genetic identity compared to 'non-Celtic' areas. The 'Celtic' areas of the United Kingdom (Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Cornwall) show the most genetic differences among each other. The data shows that Scottish and Cornish populations share greater genetic similarity with
2537-434: The counties of East Lothian, Midlothian, and West Lothian were known as Haddingtonshire, Edinburghshire, and Linlithgowshire. Traditional Scottish counties which straddle the Boundary fault include Angus , Dunbartonshire , Stirlingshire , Perthshire , Kincardineshire , Aberdeenshire , Banffshire , and Moray . The term "Lowlands" is sometimes used to refer specifically to the " Central Lowlands ", an area also known as
2596-436: The country. Aspirations for Scotland to achieve a similar economic performance to that of Ireland led the Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond to set out his vision of a Celtic Lion economy for Scotland , in 2007. A Y-DNA study by an Oxford University research team in 2006 claimed that the majority of Britons, including many of the English, are descended from a group of tribes which arrived from Iberia around 5000 BC, before
2655-465: The culture of the Celtic nations include the Festival Interceltique de Lorient ( Brittany ), Ortigueira's Festival of Celtic World ( Galicia ), the Pan Celtic Festival (Ireland), CeltFest Cuba (Havana, Cuba), the National Celtic Festival ( Portarlington , Australia), the Celtic Media Festival (showcasing film and television from the Celtic nations), and the Eisteddfod (Wales). Inter-Celtic music festivals include Celtic Connections (Glasgow), and
2714-402: The foreigners', pronounced [ə ˈɣauɫ̪t̪əxk] ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland . The region is characterised by its relatively flat or gently rolling terrain as opposed to the mountainous landscapes of the Scottish Highlands . This area includes cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow and is known for its fertile farmland, historic sites, and urban centres. It
2773-415: The immigration and quarantine station at the mouth of Saint John Harbour. However, thousands of Irish were living in New Brunswick prior to these events, mainly in Saint John. After the partitioning of the British colony of Nova Scotia in 1784 New Brunswick was originally named New Ireland with the capital to be in Saint John . In New Zealand, the southern regions of Otago and Southland were settled by
2832-408: The languages and peoples of Brittany, Cornwall and Wales, Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland was accepted from the 18th century and is widely used today. These areas of Europe are sometimes referred to as the "Celt belt" or "Celtic fringe" because of their location generally on the western edges of the continent, and of the states they inhabit (e.g. Brittany is in the northwest of France, Cornwall
2891-563: The late 17th and early 18th centuries. Noting the similarity between the languages of Brittany, Cornwall and Wales, which he called " P-Celtic " or Brythonic , the languages of Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland, which he called " Q-Celtic " or Goidelic , and between the two groups, Lhuyd published Archaeologia Britannica: an Account of the Languages, Histories and Customs of Great Britain, from Travels through Wales, Cornwall, Bas-Bretagne, Ireland and Scotland in 1707. His Archaeologia Britannica concluded that all six languages derived from
2950-415: The late 1800s as means of arranging exhibits, combined with the work of taxonomy . The American anthropologists Clark Wissler and Alfred Kroeber further developed this version of the concept on the premise that cultural areas represent longstanding cultural divisions. This iteration of the concept is sometimes criticized as arbitrary, but the organization of human communities into cultural areas remains
3009-411: The particular aspect of interest, such as religion and folklore vs dress, or architecture vs language. Another version of cultural area typology divides cultural areas into three forms: A cultural boundary (also cultural border) in ethnology is a geographical boundary between two identifiable ethnic or ethnolinguistic cultures. A language border is necessarily also a cultural border, as language
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#17328451228363068-639: The presence of Celtic-speaking cultures in Gallaecia dating back to at least the Iron Age. Classical sources, including Strabo and Pomponius Mela, described the Gallaeci and Astures tribes as Celtic, noting similarities in cultural practices and languages with the broader Celtic world. While no Celtic language has been spoken in northern Iberia since the early Middle Ages, traces of a Celtic linguistic substratum persist in local place names and vocabulary. Toponyms with Celtic roots, such as those ending in "-briga" (meaning "fortress" or "hill"), are common in Galicia and northern Portugal. In recent decades, there has been
3127-449: The production of bronze artifacts, including ornaments, to the western groups of the Tumulus culture ( Central Europe , 1600–1200 BC). La Tène cultural material appeared over a large area of mainland Italy, the southernmost example being the Celtic helmet from Canosa di Puglia . Italy is home to Lepontic , the oldest attested Celtic language (from the 6th century BC). Anciently spoken in Switzerland and in Northern-Central Italy , from
3186-438: The proto-Celtic population from the northwest part of the Alps that, through the Alpine passes , had already penetrated and settled in the western Po valley between Lake Maggiore and Lake Como ( Scamozzina culture ). It has also been proposed that a more ancient proto-Celtic presence can be traced back to the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age (16th–15th century BC), when North Westwern Italy appears closely linked regarding
3245-449: The province considered a Gaelic language their "mother tongue." Patagonian Welsh is spoken principally in Y Wladfa in the Chubut Province of Patagonia , with sporadic speakers elsewhere in Argentina . Estimates of the number of Welsh speakers range from 1,500 to 5,000. The Celtic languages form a branch of the greater Indo-European language family . SIL Ethnologue lists six living Celtic languages, of which four have retained
3304-418: The same root. Lhuyd theorised that the root language descended from the languages spoken by the Iron Age tribes of Gaul , whom Greek and Roman writers called Celtic . Having defined the languages of those areas as Celtic, the people living in them and speaking those languages became known as Celtic too. There is some dispute as to whether Lhuyd's theory is correct. Nevertheless, the term Celtic to describe
3363-401: The spread of Celtic culture into western Europe. However, three major later genetic studies have largely invalidated these claims, instead showing that haplogroup R1b in western Europe, most common in traditionally Celtic-speaking areas of Atlantic Europe like Ireland and Brittany , would have largely expanded in massive migrations from the Indo-European homeland , the Yamnaya culture in
3422-451: The territory it inhabits. Specific cultures often do not limit their geographic coverage to the borders of a nation state , or to smaller subdivisions of a state. A culture area is a concept in cultural anthropology in which a geographic region and time sequence ( age area ) is characterized by shared elements of environment and culture. A precursor to the concept of culture areas originated with museum curators and ethnologists during
3481-426: The west of their countries and in more isolated upland or island areas. Welsh, however, is much more widespread, with much of the north and west speaking it as a first language, or equally alongside English. Public signage is in dual languages throughout Wales and it is now a requirement to possess at least basic Welsh in order to be employed by the Welsh Government . The term Gàidhealtachd historically distinguished
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