Celtic nations

The Celtic nations are territories in western Europe where Celtic languages or 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. It is not synonymous with "sovereign state".

The six territories widely considered Celtic nations are Brittany (Breizh), Cornwall (Kernow), Wales (Cymru), Scotland (Alba), Ireland (Éire), and the Isle of Man (Mannin), commonly referred to as the "Celtic fringe". Each has a Celtic language that is either still spoken or was spoken into modern times.

Before the expansions of Ancient Rome and the Germanic and Slavic tribes, a significant part of Europe was dominated by Celts, leaving behind a legacy of Celtic cultural traits. Territories in north-western Iberia—particularly Galicia, northern Portugal and Asturias, historically referred to as Gallaecia, covering north-central Portugal and northern Spain—are sometimes considered Celtic nations due to their culture and history. Unlike the others, however, no Celtic language has been spoken there in modern times. However a study from a research team at Oxford University found that the majority of Britons are descended from a group of tribes which arrived from Iberia from around 5000 BC, prior to the spread of Celts into western Europe.

Each of the six nations has its own Celtic language. In Wales, Scotland, Brittany, and Ireland, 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 revitalization movements have led to the adoption of these languages by adults and produced a number of native speakers.

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