Celtic

Celtic Nations refers to areas of Europe that are inhabited by members of Celtic cultures, specifically speakers of Celtic languages. Since the mid-20th century, people of many nations and regions have used modern 'Celticity' to express their identity. more...

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Over time, these nations have come to be more or less widely labeled as Celtic. These Celtic places in Europe are sometimes also referred to as the "Celt belt" or "Celtic Fringe" owing to their location in the generally north-western part of the regions that they inhabit (e.g. Brittany is in the northwest of France, the Gaelic-speaking parts of Scotland and Ireland are in the northwest and west, respectively). However, these terms are sometimes interpreted as derogatory, so residents of these lands tend to prefer the term "Celtic nations".

At one time the whole British Isles was predominantly Cruthin/Celtic. The Romans called Britain Britannias and Britanniae after Britto meaning Cruithne, resulting in the word British, which in Old English implied an association with the whole British Isles. Successive invasions supplanted the Brythonic language from most of Great Britain, but surprisingly the prefix Brit- is now more closely associated with Great Britain than with its Celtic roots.

The 'Six Nations'

Nations that are usually included in this identifier include:

It is these 'Six Nations' that (alone) are considered Celtic by the Celtic League, Celtic Congress, and various other pan-Celtic groups. Each of the six can boast a Celtic language of its own – the key criterion of Celticity for the organizations named.

Four of the 'Six Nations' (Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales) contain areas where a Celtic language is still used in a community (see Gaeltacht, Gàidhealtachd, and compare also Breizh-Izel and areas by Welsh language). Generally these communities are in the west of the countries, in upland or island areas, and sometimes claim to be more Celtic than the anglicised/gallicised areas of the east, and big cities.

Other claims

In general most countries of Western and Central Europe can be considered to have been influenced by the Celts. In a number of them, there are also 'Celtic' movements, wanting recognition as a Celtic Nation.

The Iberian Peninsula

Galicia (extended to Minho and Trás-os-Montes in northern Portugal) and Asturias are most often highlighted as areas influenced by Celtic culture.

In none of these regions (Galicia, northern Portugal and Asturias) has a Celtic language survived, which means that the most common litmus test for Celticity does not apply.

Read more at Wikipedia.org