Celtic nationsThe 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), the Isle of Man (Mannin, or Ellan Vannin), Scotland (Alba), and Wales (Cymru).
Celts (modern)The modern Celts (kɛlts , see pronunciation of Celt) are a related group of ethnicities who share similar Celtic languages, cultures and artistic histories, and who live in or descend from one of the regions on the western extremities of Europe populated by the Celts. A modern Celtic identity emerged in Western Europe following the identification of the native peoples of the Atlantic fringe as Celts by Edward Lhuyd in the 18th century. Lhuyd and others equated the Celts described by Greco-Roman writers with the pre-Roman peoples of France, Great Britain, and Ireland.
Irish languageIrish (Standard Irish: Gaeilge), also known as Gaelic 'geilIk, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century. Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in areas of Ireland collectively known as the Gaeltacht, in which only 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2016.
Brittany (administrative region)Brittany (Bretagne bʁətaɲ; Breizh brɛjs; Gallo: Bertaèyn bəʁtaɛɲ) is the westernmost region of Metropolitan France. It covers about four fifths of the territory of the historic province of Brittany. Its capital is Rennes. It is one of two regions in Metropolitan France that do not contain any landlocked departments, the other being Corsica. Brittany is a peninsular region bordered by the English Channel to the north and the Bay of Biscay to the south, and its neighboring regions are Normandy to the northeast and Pays de la Loire to the southeast.
Cornish languageCornish (Standard Written Form: Kernewek or Kernowek; kəɾˈnuːək) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, knowledge of Cornish, including speaking ability to a certain extent, continued to be passed on within families and by individuals, and a revival began in the early 20th century.
Celtic languagesThe Celtic languages (ˈkɛltᵻk ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yves Pezron, who made the explicit link between the Celts described by classical writers and the Welsh and Breton languages. During the first millennium BC, Celtic languages were spoken across much of Europe and central Anatolia.
CornwallCornwall (ˈkɔːrnwɔːl,_-wəl; Kernow ˈkɛrnɔʊ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations and is the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the east by Devon, and to the south by the English Channel. Its administrative centre is the city of Truro. The county is rural, with an area of and population of 568,210. The largest settlements are Falmouth (23,061), Newquay (20,342), St Austell (19,958), and Truro (18,766).
Manx languageManx (Gaelg or Gailck, pronounced ɡilɡ, geːlɡ or gilk), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the historical language of the Manx people. Although only few children native to the Isle of Man speak Manx as a first language, there has been a steady increase in the number of speakers since the death of Ned Maddrell in 1974. He was considered to be the last speaker to grow up in a Manx-speaking community environment.
