Celtic

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_nations, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_languages

Celts (pronounced /ˈkelts/ or /ˈselts/, see names of the Celts; the most common academic usage is with a velar "c", pronounced as "k") is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic language.^[1] The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the modern descendants of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture.


Much earlier been used to describe tribes in central Gaul.


The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European language family. During the 1st millennium BC, they were spoken across Europe, from the Bay of Biscay and theNorth Sea, up the Rhine and down the Danube to the Black Sea and the Upper Balkan Peninsula, and into Asia Minor (Galatia). Today, Celtic languages are limited to a few areas on the western fringe of Europe, notably Ireland, the peninsula of Brittany in France, and areas of the United Kingdom including Wales, Scotland and Cornwall. 

Celtic nations is a term used to describe territories in North-West Europe in which that area's own Celtic languages and cultural traits have largely survived. 


The six territories recognised as Celtic nations are Brittany (Breizh), Cornwall (Kernow), Ireland (Éire), Isle of Man (Mannin), Scotland (Alba), andWales (Cymru).^[1][2]   Until the expansions of the Roman Republic and Germanic tribes, a large part of Europe was mainly Celtic.^[6]

Overview of the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures.     The core Hallstatt territory (HaC, 800 BC) is shown in solid yellow,     the eventual area of Hallstatt influence (by 500 BC, HaD) in light yellow.     The core territory of the La Tène culture (450 BC) is shown in solid green,     the eventual area of La Tène influence (by 50 BC) in light green.The territories of some major Celtic tribes of the late La Tène period are labeled.