Features of the formation of European ethnic groups. European nation

Foreign Europe includes the territory of Europe to the west of the borders of the Russian Federation with a total area of ​​about 6 million square meters. km. The geographical zonality of Foreign Europe is determined by a combination of wide lowlands (the eastern part of the East European Plain, the Central European, Lower and Middle Danube Plains, the Paris Basin) and a number of mountain ranges (Alps, Balkans, Carpathians, Apennines, Pyrenees, Scandinavian mountains). The coastline is heavily indented, has a large number of bays, convenient for navigation. Many rivers flow through the region, the longest of which are the Danube, Dnieper, Rhine, Elbe, Vistula, Western Dvina (Daugava), Loire. For most of Europe abroad, a temperate climate is characteristic, for southern Europe - Mediterranean, for the far north - subarctic and arctic.

The vast majority of the population of modern Europe speaks the languages ​​of the Indo-European family. The period of existence of a common Indo-European language dates back to the 5th-4th millennium BC. At the end of this period, the migration of their speakers and the formation of separate Indo-European languages ​​began. The geographical localization of the ancestral home of the Indo-Europeans has not been precisely established. Various hypotheses place it on the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, in the Black Sea region. In the II-I millennium BC. Indo-European languages ​​spread throughout Europe, but as early as the 1st millennium BC. peoples of non-Indo-European origin were preserved: the Etruscans in Italy, the Iberians in the Iberian Peninsula, etc. Currently, only the Basques living in northern Spain and the adjacent regions of France are native speakers of a language dating back to the pre-Indo-European era and not related to any other modern languages.

In the course of settling across Europe, separate groups of languages ​​of the Indo-European family were formed: Romance, Germanic, Slavic, Celtic, Greek, Albanian, Baltic, and also Thracian, which does not exist now.

Romance languages ​​go back to Latin, which spread in the first centuries of our era on the territory of the Roman Empire. They are spoken by such numerous peoples of the south-west and west of Foreign Europe as the French (there are 54 million people in Foreign Europe), Italians (53 million people), Spaniards (40 million people), Portuguese (12 million people) . The Romance group includes the languages ​​of the Walloons of Belgium, the Corsicans inhabiting the island of Corsica, which is part of France, the Catalans and Galicians of Spain, the Sardinians of the Italian island of Sardinia (in a number of classifications they are considered as a group of Italians), Romansh (Friuls, Ladins and Romanches) in northeastern Italy and southern Switzerland, Franco-Swiss, Italian-Swiss, San-Marines, Andorrans, Monaco (Monegasques). The Eastern Romance subgroup includes the languages ​​of the Romanians, Moldavians, as well as the Aromanians, who live dispersed in the countries of the Balkan Peninsula.

The languages ​​of the Germanic group are common in Central Europe, where the Germans live (more than 75 million people). German is also spoken by Austrians, German-Swiss, Liechtensteiners. In Northern Europe, the peoples of the German group include the Swedes (about 8 million people), Danes, Norwegians, Icelanders, Faroese; in the British Isles - the British (45 million people), the Scots - a people of Celtic origin, who have now switched to English, as well as the Ulsters - the descendants of immigrants to Ulster from England and Scotland; in the Benelux countries - the Dutch (13 million people), the Flemings (they live in Belgium and the adjacent regions of France and the Netherlands), the Frisians (they live in the north of the Netherlands), the Luxembourgers. Until the Second World War, a significant part of European Jews spoke Yiddish, which was formed on the basis of German dialects. At present, the Hebrew language of the Semitic group of the Afroasian family is widespread among the Jews. In addition, in everyday life they communicate in the languages ​​of those peoples among whom they live.

The peoples of Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe speak the languages ​​of the Slavic group. The languages ​​of Ukrainians (43 million people) and Belarusians (10 million people) together with Russian form an East Slavic subgroup; Poles (38 million people), Czechs, Slovaks and Lusatians of East Germany - West Slavic; Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Montenegrins, Slovenes, Bulgarians, Macedonians - South Slavic.

The languages ​​of the Celtic group, in the 1st millennium BC. widespread in Europe, survived in the British Isles, where the Irish, Welsh and Gaels (Northern Scots who did not switch to English) live. The language of the Bretons, the population of the Brittany Peninsula (France), is also Celtic.

The Baltic group includes the languages ​​​​of Lithuanians and Latvians, the Greek - Greeks, Albanian - Albanians. The language of the European Gypsies, whose ancestors migrated to Europe from Asia, belongs to the Indo-Aryan group of the Indo-European family.

Along with the Indo-Europeans, peoples living in foreign Europe speak the languages ​​of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic language family. These are the Finns (about 5 million people), Estonians (1 million people), the Saami, whose ancestors penetrated from the east into the Baltic Sea region in the 2nd millennium BC, as well as the Hungarians (12 million people) - the descendants of nomads who settled at the end of the ninth century. on the Danube lowland. Turks, Tatars, Gagauz, Karaites, whose languages ​​belong to the Turkic group of the Altaic language family, live in South-Eastern and Eastern Europe. The language of the Maltese (more than 350 thousand people), formed under the influence of Arabic, belongs to the Semitic group of the Afroasian language family.

The population of foreign Europe belongs to the large Caucasoid race, within the boundaries of which it forms the Atlanto-Baltic, White Sea-Baltic, Central European, Indo-Mediterranean, Balkan-Caucasian small races.

Economy. The peoples of Foreign Europe belong to the HKT of arable farmers. In the mountainous zone on small plots of land until the 20th century. preserved elements of manual farming. For example, the Basques used to loosen the earth the Laya tool dating back to the Neolithic era, which consisted of two sharp rods mounted on a wooden handle.

The Apennine and Pyrenean Peninsulas were characterized by a light, wheelless plow of the Roman (Italian) type, suitable for cultivating stony, infertile soils. To the north, a heavy asymmetrical plow with a wheeled front was common, which dates back to the Celtic cultural tradition. The peoples of Eastern Europe and the Balkan Peninsula used the Slavic plow with a skid. Archaic arable tools survived longer in this zone. The peoples of the Balkan Peninsula in the XIX century. used a light ralo with a symmetrical plowshare, which, unlike the later plow, did not have a wheeled plow and a blade.

In the Middle Ages, European agriculture was characterized by two-field and three-field crop rotations, and for the forest areas of Eastern and Northern Europe with a low population density, also slash-and-burn agriculture, which persisted in Finland until the beginning of the 20th century.

In the XVIII-XIX centuries. In Europe, there was an industrial revolution that affected agricultural production. The centers for the invention and implementation of new agricultural technologies and tools during this period were England and Flanders, whose economy was distinguished by the early development of capitalist relations. Here in the middle of the XVIII century. they began to use a light Brabant (Norfolk) plow, which increased the depth of plowing and reduced the number of weeds on the field, agronomic knowledge developed, multi-field crop rotation systems were introduced, which were subsequently introduced and improved in other European countries.

Traditionally in Europe, cereals were grown (wheat, barley, oats, in cooler areas - rye), legumes, vegetables, root crops (turnips, rutabaga). In the XVI-XIX centuries. there was an introduction of new crops, including corn, potatoes, tobacco, and sugar beets imported from the New World.

Currently, grain farming is developed in the southern part of Foreign Europe, including Ukraine. In the more northern zone, agriculture is focused on growing potatoes and vegetables.

Favorable for agriculture are the climatic conditions of Southern Europe, where olives, citrus fruits, rice are cultivated, which appeared in Spain and Italy under the influence of the Arabs, and on the Balkan Peninsula - the Turks. Viticulture and related winemaking have long been developed here. The culture of grapes has become widespread among European peoples and is grown in the north as far as Germany and the Czech Republic, and in small quantities even in England.

Among the peoples of Northern Europe - Icelanders, Norwegians, Swedes, Finns - agriculture was of less importance due to the harsh climate and infertile soils. Animal husbandry, fishing, and various crafts played an important role in the economy of this region.

Animal husbandry (breeding of cattle, sheep, goats, horses, pigs) is practiced throughout Europe. It is most significant in mountainous regions inconvenient for agriculture (Alps, Carpathians, Apennines, Balkans). Transhumance with a vertical transhumance of the herd with a change of two or three pastures per season was the main occupation of some groups of the population of the Alpine zone, where cattle were bred, as well as the Polish Gorals engaged in sheep breeding in the Beskids, the Moravian Vlachs of the Czech Republic, the Transylvanian Hungarians, the Aromanians of the Balkan Mountains.

In a number of cases, the predominant development of animal husbandry was determined by commercial gain: meat and dairy animal husbandry in Denmark and North-West Germany; sheep breeding in England, where sheep's wool became an important export. Sheep breeding has acquired particular importance in the Faroe Islands, whose climate is extremely unfavorable for agriculture.

Fishing was of the greatest importance for the inhabitants of the Atlantic coast. The Portuguese, Galicians, Basques caught cod, sardines, anchovies. The main object of fishing for Dutch fishermen was herring. The peoples of Northern Europe - Norwegians, Icelanders, Faroese, Danes have long practiced sea fishing (fishing for cod and herring) and whaling. In particular, the Faroese fished for the pilot whale, a whale whose migration routes pass by the Faroe Islands.

The Finns developed lake and river fishing, as well as hunting. The northernmost people of Foreign Europe - the Saami - were engaged in reindeer herding, hunting and fishing.

The dwelling depended on climatic conditions and the availability of building material. Due to the fact that forests have been cut down in many parts of foreign Europe, frame structures of houses and brick buildings have spread here. The tree is widely used in construction up to the present time in Scandinavia, Finland, the Baltic states, Belarus.

The southern part of Foreign Europe is characterized by the South European type of house, which developed from a room with a hearth, and subsequently additional residential and utility rooms were attached to it. A South European house can be one-story or have several floors. Its most common variant - the Mediterranean house consists of two floors, the lower of which is economic, the upper one is residential. The house is distributed throughout the Mediterranean from Portugal to Turkey. Houses were built of brick and stone, on the Balkan Peninsula, up to deforestation, they also used log construction. The estate (house and adjoining outbuildings) often had a plan of a closed quadrangle with an open courtyard. The yard could have economic functions (the Italians of the Alpine zone kept cattle in such a yard) or was a place of rest (the Spaniards of Andalusia).

The Albanians, along with the Mediterranean houses, had residential stone towers - "kuls" (square or rectangular in plan), which also had a defensive function.

In Central and Southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Northern France, a house of the Western Central European type is common. Initially, this house consisted of a middle room with a hearth and a bread oven (a door led into it from the street) and two side rooms. Subsequently, the number of rooms increased, utility rooms were attached to the house, forming a verb-like or resting courtyard. One-story (France, Belgium) and two-story (Germany) variants of this type are known.

Northern Germany, the Netherlands, Alsace and Lorraine are characterized by a house of the northern European type, which developed from a single-chamber building with a gate in a narrow wall. The main part of it was occupied by a threshing floor, along the side walls there were stalls for cattle, and at the wall opposite the gate there was a residential part with a hearth. Later, a wall appeared that separated the utility room from the residential one, although back in the 17th century. met at home without such a wall. The same type of house was brought to modern England by the ancestors of the English - the Angles and Saxons, who moved to the British Isles in the 6th century. When agriculture in England lost its importance, the threshing floor turned into a hall - a spacious front hall.

In Germany, the construction of frame houses, known by the German term "half-timbered". In such buildings, the supporting base is sections of dark wooden beams, visible from the outside of the house. The space between the beams is filled with adobe or brick, then plastered and whitewashed.

Half-timbered construction is also used in the construction of houses of the Western Central European type.

The dwelling of the Western and Eastern Slavs, part of the Austrians, Hungarians belongs to the Eastern Central European type. Its basis was a single-chamber building of a log or pillar structure with a hearth or stove (hut / hut). The entrance was through a cold extension (canopy). Since the 19th century a cage-chamber was attached to the dwelling, which in the past was an independent building. As a result, the dwelling acquired the following layout: hut - canopy - hut (chamber). The hearth and the mouth of the stove were transferred to the canopy, the body of which was in the hut, thereby becoming warm and turning into a kitchen. Log buildings are more ancient. In the Czech tradition, the gaps between the logs were plugged with moss and covered with clay, which was painted in various colors. Sometimes the walls of the log house were completely whitewashed. From the 16th century in Western Poland, the Czech Republic, under German influence, the frame technique (half-timbered) spread.

Finland, northern Sweden, northern Norway were characterized by the northern Scandinavian type of dwelling - a log building with a gable roof, consisting of a living room with a stove, a clean room and a cold canopy between them. The house was sheathed with boards, which were usually painted in dark colors.

Southern Sweden, southern Norway and Denmark were dominated by southern Scandinavian type houses, which consisted of a middle dwelling with an oven and a hearth (in Denmark only with a stove) and two rooms on the sides. The frame (cellular) technique, similar to the German fachwerk, prevailed.

The northern and southern Scandinavian types were characterized by a closed type of courtyard, in the southern zone - also resting or with a free arrangement of buildings. In Finland, Northern Sweden and Norway, there were two-story log cabins and barns. In Finland, the obligatory construction of the estate was a bathhouse (sauna).

The original types of dwellings were formed among the peoples living in mountainous conditions, where there was a need to combine residential and utility premises in a small area of ​​​​the area. In the Alpine mountains, the area of ​​residence of the Bavarian Germans, Austrians, the peoples of Switzerland, such is, for example, the alpine type of house - a huge two- (or three) storey building with a gable roof, combining residential and utility rooms. The lower floor was usually built of stone, the upper ones - of logs (as an option, they had a frame structure). Along the facade wall at the level of the second floor, a gallery with wooden railings was arranged, which was used for drying hay. The Basques of the Pyrenees are characterized by a special type - the Basque house. This is a massive two- or three-story square building with a gable sloping roof and a gate in the front wall. In ancient times, such a house was built from logs, from the 15th century. - made of stone.

Clothing. The common elements of the complex of men's clothing of the peoples of Foreign Europe were a tunic-shaped shirt, trousers, a belt, a sleeveless jacket. Until the middle of the XIX century. among the peoples of the Western part of Europe, the trousers were narrow, slightly below the knee length, they were worn with short stockings or leggings. In the 19th century pants of a modern cut and length spread. The modern costume of the peoples of Europe has absorbed many elements of the English clothing of the 19th century: jackets, tuxedos, raincoats of modern cut, galoshes, rain umbrellas.

The costumes of the inhabitants of some mountainous regions were original. Such, for example, is the typical Tyrolean costume for the inhabitants of the Alps - Austrians, Germans, German-Swiss, which included a white shirt with a turn-down collar, short leather trousers with suspenders, a cloth sleeveless jacket, a wide leather belt, stockings to the knees, shoes, a hat with narrow brim and pen.

The components of the men's costume of the Highlanders were a checkered skirt (kilt) knee-length, a beret and a plaid of the same color, a white shirt, and a jacket. The colors of the kilt corresponded to the clan, although not all lowland clans had their own colors in the past.

Albanians and Greeks also wore white men's skirts (fustanella), but they were worn over trousers.

Men's headwear was hats, the shape of which depended on the current fashion, in the Mediterranean - also caps. In the 19th century soft caps with a visor spread in Europe. The ethno-specific headdress of the Basques was the beret.

A typical women's costume consisted of a shirt, skirt, sleeveless jacket. The clothes of the Protestant peoples in most cases were distinguished by darker tones.

Archaic versions of women's clothing survived in the 19th century. in Eastern Finland: over a tunic-shaped shirt with embroidery, two unsewn panels were worn, held on shoulder straps. Among the Bulgarians there was a piece of woolen fabric replacing the skirt, fitting a tunic-shaped shirt below the waist; among the northern Albanians - the so-called "jublet", which consisted of a bell-shaped skirt and a corsage, sleeves and shoulder pads worn separately, the joints of which were decorated with fringe.

In some areas of foreign Europe there were sundresses. They were worn in Norway, Eastern Finland, Belarus, Southern Bulgaria. Shoulder scarves were popular. In particular, on the Iberian Peninsula they wore colorful shawls - mantillas. Caps served as headdresses, which could be decorated with lace. In the German tradition, women's hats were also common.

Men's and women's shoes for most peoples were leather. In France, Belgium, the Netherlands, they also wore cheap wooden shoes, Belarusians were known for bast shoes.

The Muslims of the Balkan Peninsula had specific elements of clothing: for women - harem pants, over which they put on a skirt, for men - a fez - a red headdress in the form of a cylinder without brim, originally common among the Turks.

Of course, clothes depended on the climate. Thus, the men's and women's costumes of the peoples of Northern Europe included a variety of woolen knitted items, outerwear made from fur.

Food. Among the peoples of foreign Europe, bread (both unleavened and sour) made from wheat, rye, corn flour, porridge, and various dough products was widespread. For example, for Italian cuisine, pizza is typical - a type of open pie, pasta - various pasta, for Czech - bread dumplings (pieces of soaked white bread that are served as a side dish). In modern times, potato dishes have become widespread. The potato occupied a large place in the cuisine of the Irish, the peoples of the Baltic states, and the Eastern Slavs.

Soups and stews, which were especially diverse in Eastern Europe (borscht among Ukrainians, cabbage soup and borscht among Belarusians). Meat dishes were prepared from pork, beef, lamb, and the Icelanders - also from horse meat. The manufacture of sausages, sausages, smoking hams was practiced. The French, along with various types of meat (including rabbit and pigeon), ate frogs, snails, and oysters. Among Muslim peoples, pork is a taboo meat. A typical dish of Muslims of the Balkan Peninsula was pilaf with lamb.

For the inhabitants of the sea and ocean coasts, fish dishes are typical - fried or boiled sardines and cod with potatoes from the Portuguese, herring from the Dutch, fried fish with french fries from the British.

Cheese making is practiced in the culture of many peoples of Europe. A wide variety of cheese varieties exist in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany. in Switzerland at the beginning of the 20th century. processed cheese was invented. Cheese dishes include fondue (a hot cheese dish with wine, common in Switzerland and French Savoy), onion soup with cheese (from the French). The Slavic peoples know various ways of fermenting milk, the inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula prepare cheese from sheep's milk - feta cheese.

For most peoples, the main non-alcoholic drink is coffee. Tea is popular among the peoples of the British Isles and Eastern Slavs. A variety of alcoholic drinks of European peoples. Beer is known everywhere, the most famous varieties are produced in the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium and the British Isles. Cider, a low-alcohol drink made from apples, was popular among the Basques and Bretons. Wine is consumed in large quantities in the viticulture zone. Grape and fruit brandies are also known (for example, slivovitz among the Western Slavs), grain vodka. Whiskey is produced in the British Isles - a strong drink based on barley, as well as gin - juniper vodka, also popular with the Dutch.

Islam does not allow the use of alcoholic beverages, so the celebratory ritual drink of Muslims is coffee.

Religion. Most of the peoples of Foreign Europe profess Christianity, which is divided into several directions.

Catholicism is practiced by the Irish, the peoples of the Iberian and Apennine Peninsulas (Spaniards, Catalans, Portuguese, Galicians, Basques, Italians), France, Belgium (Walloons and Flemings), Austria, Germans of southern and western Germany, Austrians, part of the population of Switzerland, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Slovenes, Croats, some Albanians.

Protestantism is spread mainly in the northern part of Europe. Lutherans are the peoples of Finland and Scandinavia, the Germans of the east of Germany; Calvinists - Franco-Swiss, part of the German-Swiss, Dutch, part of the Hungarians, Scots; Anglicans - the British and the Welsh (the latter also have small Protestant churches, in particular, Methodism).

Orthodoxy is characteristic of Southeastern and Eastern Europe. This branch of Christianity is professed by Ukrainians, Belarusians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Romanians, Aromans, Gagauz, part of the Albanians.

Islam spread in the Balkan Peninsula and in the Crimea during the entry of this territory into the Ottoman Empire. Turks, Crimean Tatars, Bosnians, some Albanians, Nomaks Bulgarians are Sunni Muslims, some Albanians are Shiites belonging to the Bektashi tariqa. Jews and Karaites profess Judaism. Among the Saami of Europe Abroad, who belong to the Lutheran Church, traditional animistic beliefs have also been preserved.

Calendar ritual. The traditional customs and rituals of the peoples of Foreign Europe have a typological similarity, since historically they were closely connected with general agricultural occupations. Pagan rituals partly survived into the Christian era. Having lost their former meaning, they turned out to be included in the rituals of the Christian holiday calendar, or they existed in parallel with the church tradition. Catholicism and Orthodoxy were more loyal to the remnants of paganism. In contrast, the Protestant churches that arose in the 16th century. and those who fought for the renewal and purification of Christianity showed intolerance towards them. For this reason, archaic customs and rituals are less pronounced in the culture of Protestant peoples.

For many peoples - Catholics and Protestants - the beginning of the winter season was considered St. Martin's Day (November 11). By this day, agricultural work was completed, cattle were brought from mountain pastures. Meals were arranged, the obligatory dish of which for many peoples was a fried goose. In the wine-growing regions, for example, among the Spaniards, Italians, Croats, there was a tasting of young wine, pouring it from vats into barrels.

In the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, St. Nicholas Day (December 6) was a popular folk holiday. Saint Nicholas was represented as a man with a long gray beard, in the white robes of a bishop. He rode on a horse or a donkey with a bag of gifts on his back and rods in his hand for naughty children. During the Reformation period, the Protestants, who rejected the cult of saints, transferred the giving of gifts to Christmas, and St. Nicholas was replaced by other characters: the Christ child or, in the German tradition, the Christmas man ( Weihnachtsmann ). Processions of mummers on the eve of St. Nicholas Day have been preserved in the cities of the Netherlands.

An important holiday was Christmas (December 25). Catholics have a tradition of arranging models of a manger in which, according to the biblical legend, Jesus Christ was born. Clay or porcelain figurines of the Virgin Mary, Joseph, the baby Christ and other biblical characters were placed in the Christmas manger. On the evening of Christmas Eve (December 24), a meal was held in the house, before which a ritual of lighting a Christmas log was performed. The head of the family put a large log in the hearth, which was supposed to smolder for as long as possible, sometimes, like the Italians, for twelve days - this was the name of the period from Christmas to Epiphany, corresponding to the Russian Christmas time. The coals and firebrands of the Christmas log were credited with miraculous powers.

In the 19th century throughout Europe, the custom of decorating the Christmas tree, originally known in southwestern Germany, spread.

The Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks had beliefs about the first guest (polyaznik) associated with Christmas. The well-being of the family in the next year depended on the personality of the visitor, so the poznik was often chosen from among respected men, his function included performing ritual actions: for example, in Poland, the poznik, entering the hut, sat down and clucked, depicting a chicken. Well-being was also symbolized by the sheaves that the Western Slavs brought to the house on Christmas Eve.

During the twelve-day period in all countries of Europe, groups of children went home, sang songs, practiced fortune-telling. The festivities ended on the feast of the Epiphany (January 6), known in folk tradition as the Day of the Three Kings - the biblical Magi who saw the Star of Bethlehem and came with gifts to baby Jesus. There were processions in which the masks of the three kings (Melchior, Gaspar, Balthazar) took part, who were presented in pseudo-Oriental costumes embroidered with stars.

The Carnival holiday, celebrated for several days before Lent, was very popular - in German this holiday is called fastnacht ("Lenten night", meaning the night before Lent). Carnival is characterized by abundant fatty foods, flour products. The symbol of the holiday was a scarecrow of a big fat man, whom the Spaniards called Don Carnaval, the Italians - the King of Carnival, the Poles - Bacchus. At the end of the festivities, the effigy was burned at the stake. During the days of the Carnival, there were processions of mummers who put on masks of animals, evil spirits, dressed in clothes of the opposite sex. In the cities of Europe, carnival processions spread in the Middle Ages. Then they had a clear regulation, representatives of craft workshops took part in them. In the past, the holiday also included ceremonial activities aimed at ensuring a good harvest, such as symbolic plowing. Protestant churches since the 16th century. successfully fought against carnival traditions, considering them a manifestation of paganism. So, among the peoples of Scandinavia, professing Lutheranism, only some games were preserved, the custom of baking special buns and cakes. In modern Europe, the most famous urban carnival processions in Cologne (German Catholics) and Venice (Italians).

After Carnival, Great Lent began, lasting seven weeks until Easter. A common Christian tradition is the dyeing of eggs. For many peoples, a lamb roast is prepared for Easter, symbolizing the Lamb of God - Jesus Christ. In German culture, Easter has acquired the features of a children's holiday. There was a custom to hide colored eggs in the garden or in the house. If a child found a red egg first, it promised happiness, blue - misfortune. It was said that these eggs are brought to children by hares - animals associated in the popular mind with fertility, fertility and wealth, which have become one of the symbols of the German Easter celebration.

May Day (May 1) was associated with the onset of the warm season of the year and summer greenery. On the eve of the holiday, a May tree (a real tree dug with roots or a decorated pole) was installed at the site of youth festivities. During the competition, they chose the May king and queen - the most dexterous guy and the most beautiful girl, who led the festive procession. The houses were decorated with flowers. In France, the symbol of May 1 is lilies of the valley, which are usually given to girls. The Germanic peoples had ideas about the special danger of witches who flock to the Sabbaths on the night of May 1 (for these peoples, it is known as the day of St. Walpurgis, and the night, respectively, as Walpurgis). To protect against evil forces, crosses were painted on the doors of the barn, bonfires were lit, rifles were fired into the air, a harrow was dragged around the village, etc.

St. John's Day (June 24) is associated with the summer solstice. On the eve of the holiday, bonfires were lit, medicinal herbs were collected, fortune telling was made. It was believed that the water on Ivanovo night acquires miraculous power. Therefore, in the morning they washed themselves with dew or water from springs. The peoples of Scandinavia on St. John's Day set up a tree similar to the May tree (a pole with various decorations). In many countries, May 1 and St. John's Day are widely celebrated to this day.

The feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (August 15) is timed to coincide with the end of the main summer agricultural work. The Catholics held solemn processions, the participants of which carried the ears of the new harvest to the church for consecration.

The year ended with All Saints' Day (November 1) and All Souls' Day (November 2). On the first day, it was customary to attend a church service, and on the second day, to come to the graves of relatives and arrange a memorial meal at home.

The peoples of the British Isles have preserved holidays associated with the ancient traditions of the Celtic peoples. The Christian Day of All Saints (Halloween, November 1) included the rites of the pagan Celtic holiday Samhain or Samhain (in Gaelic - "end of summer") - processions of mummers, whose participants carried torches or lanterns made of turnips mounted on long sticks; divination and various games. August 1 was the holiday of Lugnas (on behalf of the pagan god Lug, and later the character of the medieval Irish sagas), which in modern English is called Lamma day (according to one version, from Loaf masse- loaf mass, on the other - from Lambmass - masses of lambs). On this day, youth festivities took place, the British brought bread from the flour of the new harvest to the church, the Irish had a common meal, for which they roasted a whole sheep and cooked young potatoes for the first time.

Among the Orthodox peoples of the Balkan Peninsula, the beginning of the cold season, when cattle were driven from mountain pastures and the sowing of winter crops was completed, was considered St. Dmitry's Day (October 26 / November 8), and the beginning of the warm season, when cattle were driven out to pastures, was St. April 23/May 6). By Christmas (December 25/January 7) rituals were timed with a Christmas log, the first guest, dressing up. The analogue of the Catholic carnival is known among the Orthodox (including the Eastern Slavs) as Shrovetide. In Eastern Bulgaria, processions of kuksrovs (sportily dressed men), dating back to ancient Thracian traditions, have been preserved. The ceremony included kukers going around the village, collecting gifts (grain, butter, meat), ritual plowing and sowing in the village square, the symbolic murder of the chief kuker and his subsequent resurrection, and cleansing bathing of the kukers in the river.

Some rituals of ancient origin were timed to coincide with other church holidays. St. Andrew's Day (November 30 / December 13) was celebrated by the southern Slavs as a bear holiday - in folk beliefs, St. Andrew rides a bear. For the she-bear, whose image in the traditional consciousness was associated with fertility, a treat cooked from corn cobs and dry pears was left in front of the house. Saint Nicholas Day (December 6/19) was considered a family holiday. Serbs and Montenegrins arranged a meal with the participation of all family members, the central dish of which was bread consecrated in the church. Meals were also arranged on St. Elijah's Day (July 20/August 2), which acquired the features of a pagan god of thunder. On St. John's Day (June 24/July 7), the Orthodox, as well as Catholics and Protestants, lit fires, gathered herbs, wove wreaths, and wondered. Serbs and Montenegrins performed similar rites also on St. Peter's Day (June 29/July 12).

The rituals of Belarusians and Ukrainians had their own characteristics in connection with climatic conditions. So, the beginning of the cold period was considered here - Pokrov (October 1/14). On the feast of the Trinity, celebrated seven weeks after Easter, houses were decorated with greenery, young trees were placed in front of the entrance. The Orthodox Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula performed a similar ceremony as well as the Catholics on May 1 (14) (in Orthodoxy - the Day of St. Jeremy). In general, the calendar rituals of the Eastern Slavs - Ukrainians and Belarusians - are characterized by great similarity with the Russian.

The traditional calendar rites of the Bosnians and Albanians, despite belonging to Islam, basically did not differ from the rites of the neighboring Christian peoples. This was due to the common origin and long-term residence in similar conditions.

The Day of St. Dmitry corresponded to the Day of Kasim (aka the holiday of winter), October 26, and the Day of St. George - the Day of Khyzyr (April 23). Muslim Albanians celebrated Christmas, which has merged in folk culture with the midwinter holiday, timed to coincide with the Winter Solstice (First Snow Day). In particular, they knew the ritual of kindling a Christmas log. The New Year of Christians corresponded to the spring holiday Nauruz (March 22). On this day, the Albanians performed actions aimed at expelling snakes that personified evil forces: they went around the fields and gardens and made noise, ringing with bells and hitting the tin with sticks. Their neighbors, the Orthodox of the Balkan Peninsula, performed a similar ceremony on the Annunciation (March 25/April 7). A special holiday for the Albanians was Midsummer Day, celebrated at the end of July. The inhabitants of the villages climbed to the tops of the mountains, where they kindled fires that burned throughout the night.

Family and social structures. For the peoples of foreign Europe in modern times, small (nuclear) families were characteristic. Among the Catholic and Protestant peoples, the tradition of majorat prevailed, in which the household was inherited by the eldest son. The remaining sons did not receive real estate and went to work for hire. The tradition of primacy prevented the fragmentation of farms, which was relevant in conditions of high population density and limited land resources.

Large families met on the periphery of the region - in Belarus, Ukraine, Eastern Finland. Among such peoples of the Balkan Peninsula as Serbs, Montenegrins, Bosnians, back in the 19th century. there was a special kind of large family - a zadruga, which consisted of a father with married sons (paternal zadruga) or several brothers with their families (fraternal zadruga). Zadruga had collective ownership of movable and immovable property. The position of the head (it was held by a man) could be elective, or inherited. The head did not have absolute power: decisions were made collectively. Zadrugs united from 10–12 to 50 people. and more. In the second half of the XIX century. the zadrug section began.

The Albanians in the mountainous part of Albania until the beginning of the 20th century. there were fises - tribal associations, controlled by an elder (he held a position by inheritance) and a gathering of men. Fiss owned land, divided into family plots. According to historical tradition, 12 fises are considered the oldest ("original", "large" fises), the rest are considered to have arisen later. One fis could include persons of different confessions.

For a long time, the Highland Scots and Irish retained the clan structure. The clans were the basis of the military organization of these peoples. The disappearance of clans occurred due to economic reasons and was reinforced by the introduction of relevant laws: in Ireland, the clans were abolished by the British in 1605 after the suppression of the uprising of local residents, in Highland Scotland - in the 18th century, after the strengthening of the power of the English monarchy. However, among the Scots, the idea of ​​a person's symbolic belonging to a clan persists to this day.

Ritual life cycle. In traditional culture, acquaintances of young people took place at gatherings, fairs, and festivities. Wedding rituals usually included matchmaking, which could consist of several stages. It was a tradition among Catholic and Protestant peoples to enter into a written dowry agreement at matchmaking - the forerunner of modern marriage contracts.

Remnants of ancient beliefs have long been preserved in folk cultures. For example, in the German tradition, on the eve of the wedding, a polterabend (literally, an evening of noise, roar) was arranged in the bride’s house, or separately at the bride and groom’s house. Many guests gathered for the holiday, who made toasts and, after drinking, broke dishes (cracked cups were kept in the house especially for such an occasion). It was believed that the noise drove away young evil spirits, and a large number of shards promised great happiness to the new family. Also, in order to deceive evil spirits in Spain, there were traditions to kidnap the bride and groom on their wedding night or to prevent it in every possible way (ants were launched onto the marriage bed, salt was poured, they hid under the bed, during the night the guests constantly entered the room).

Traditional wedding festivities could last several days. In a number of countries (Denmark, Scotland) Protestant churches and secular authorities in the XVI-XIX centuries. they tried to regulate the wedding so that the population would not spend a lot of money on it: restrictions were imposed on the number of guests served at the table, the duration of the wedding.

Protestants view weddings as a simple ceremony, unlike Catholicism and Orthodoxy, which consider weddings to be a church sacrament. Among Protestant peoples, for example, among Norwegians, young people could start a life together after betrothal. Among the Scots, there was an "irregular marriage" or "handshake marriage", which consisted in a verbal statement of a couple in front of witnesses that they were becoming husband and wife. Such a marriage was not approved by the Presbyterian (Calvinist) church, but from the point of view of popular ideas it was considered valid.

The birth of a child was also accompanied by magical actions. In the Italian tradition, the woman in labor was placed on the adobe floor near the hearth to be helped by household spirits living under the hearth. There are remnants of the kuvada rite - imitation of labor pains by the husband. For example, in Spain in the Leon region, a husband would climb into a basket and squat down and cackle like a chicken. There were widespread beliefs about the connection between the birthday of a child and his future fate. Family meals were organized on the occasion of the baptism of the child, the appearance of the first tooth, the first haircut and nails. In the economically developed regions of foreign Europe, archaic elements of maternity rituals disappeared quite early due to the spread of rational medicine and the emergence of professional midwives (in England - from the 16th century, in Scandinavia - from the 18th century).

Christians necessarily baptized the child. For Muslims, the rite of circumcision was obligatory. The Bosnians performed it in the first ten years of a boy's life (usually at three, five or seven years old), the Albanians - in the period from 7 to 12 years. The rite of circumcision was followed by a feast.

In the funeral rites of some Catholic and Orthodox peoples, funeral laments, which were performed by women, have been preserved. Sometimes, as with the Basques, they were professional mourners who were paid for their art. Only the Albanians performed men's laments, which were considered appropriate at the funeral of respected men. In some cases, there were ideas about special ways of delivering the deceased to the cemetery: the Poles and Slovaks were supposed to hit the coffin on the threshold three times, which symbolized the farewell of the deceased to the house; Norwegians practiced transportation at any time of the year of the coffin with the body of the deceased to the cemetery on a sleigh - a vehicle of the pre-wheel era. The European peoples knew the tradition of memorial meals, which was preserved in the most developed form among the Orthodox peoples, who arranged such meals on the day of the funeral, on the ninth, fortieth days after death.

The countries of Eastern Europe are a natural-territorial array located between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas. The main part of the population of Eastern Europe is made up of Slavs and Greeks, and in the western part of the mainland, Romanesque and Germanic peoples predominate.

Eastern European countries

Eastern Europe is a historical and geographical region that includes the following countries (according to the United Nations classification):

• Poland.
• Czech Republic.
• Slovakia.
• Hungary.
• Romania.
• Bulgaria.
• Belarus.
• Russia.
• Ukraine.
• Moldova.

The history of the formation and development of the Eastern European states is a long and difficult path. The formation of the region began in the prehistoric era. In the first millennium of our era, there was an active settlement of Eastern Europe by the population. Later, the first states were formed.

The peoples of Eastern Europe have a very complex ethnic composition. It was this fact that caused the fact that in these countries there were often conflicts on ethnic grounds. Today the region is dominated by the Slavic peoples. About how the statehood, population and culture of Eastern Europe were formed, further.

First peoples in Eastern Europe (BC)

The Cimmerians are considered to be the very first peoples of Eastern Europe. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus says that the Cimmerians lived in the first and second millennium BC. The Cimmerians settled mainly in the Azov region. This is evidenced by the characteristic names (Cimmerian Bosporus, Cimmerian crossings, Cimmeria region). The graves of the Cimmerians who died in clashes with the Scythians on the Dniester were also discovered.

In the 8th century BC, there were many Greek colonies in Eastern Europe. The following cities were founded: Chersonese, Feodosia, Phanagoria and others. Basically, all the cities were trading. Spiritual and material culture was quite well developed in the Black Sea settlements. Archaeologists to this day find evidence confirming this fact.

The next people inhabiting Eastern Europe in the prehistoric period were the Scythians. We know about them from the works of Herodotus. They lived on the northern coast of the Black Sea. In the 7th-5th century BC, the Scythians spread to the Kuban, Don, appeared in Taman. The Scythians were engaged in cattle breeding, agriculture, crafts. All these areas were developed by them. They traded with the Greek colonies.

In the II century BC, the Sarmatians made their way to the land of the Scythians, defeated the first and settled the territory of the Black Sea and the Caspian.

In the same period, the Goths appeared in the Black Sea steppes - Germanic tribes. For a long time they oppressed the Scythians, but only in the 4th century AD they managed to completely oust them from these territories. Their leader - Germanarich then occupied almost all of Eastern Europe.

The peoples of Eastern Europe in antiquity and the Middle Ages

The kingdom of the Goths did not last long. Their place was taken by the Huns, a people from the Mongolian steppes. From the 4th-5th centuries they waged their own wars, but in the end their union broke up, some remained in the Black Sea region, others went east.

In the VI century, the Avars appear, they, like the Huns, came from Asia. Their state was located where the Hungarian Plain is now. Until the beginning of the 9th century, the Avar state existed. The Avars often clashed with the Slavs, as the Tale of Bygone Years says, they attacked Byzantium and Western Europe. As a result, they were defeated by the Franks.

In the seventh century, the Khazar state was formed. The North Caucasus, the Lower and Middle Volga, the Crimea, the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov were dominated by the Khazars. Belenjer, Semender, Itil, Tamatarkha are the largest cities of the Khazar state. In economic activity, emphasis was placed on the use of trade routes that passed through the territory of the state. They were also involved in the slave trade.

In the 7th century, the state of Volga Bulgaria appeared. It was inhabited by Bulgars and Finno-Ugric peoples. In 1236, the Bulgars were attacked by the Mongol-Tatars, in the process of assimilation, these peoples began to disappear.

In the 9th century, the Pechenegs appeared between the Dnieper and the Don, they fought with the Khazars and Rus. Prince Igor went with the Pechenegs to Byzantium, but then a conflict broke out between the peoples, which escalated into long wars. In 1019 and 1036, Yaroslav the Wise dealt blows to the Pecheneg people, and they became vassals of Russia.

In the 11th century, the Polovtsians came from Kazakhstan. They raided trade caravans. By the middle of the next century, their possessions stretched from the Dnieper to the Volga. Both Russia and Byzantium reckoned with them. A crushing defeat was inflicted on them by Vladimir Monomakh, after which they retreated to the Volga, beyond the Urals and Transcaucasia.

Slavic peoples

The first mention of the Slavs appear around the first millennium of our era. A more accurate description of these peoples falls on the middle of the same millennium. They are called Slovenians at this time. Byzantine authors speak of the Slavs on the Balkan Peninsula and in the Danube region.

Depending on the territory of residence, the Slavs were divided into western, eastern and southern. So, the southern Slavs settled in the southeast of Europe, the western Slavs - in Central and Eastern Europe, the eastern - directly in Eastern Europe.

It was in Eastern Europe that the Slavs assimilated with the Finno-Ugric tribes. The Slavs of Eastern Europe were the largest group. The eastern ones were originally divided into tribes: glades, drevlyans, northerners, dregovichi, polochans, krivichi, radimichi, vyatichi, ilmen slovenes, buzhans.

Today, the East Slavic peoples include Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians. To the Western Slavs - Poles, Czechs, Slovaks and others. Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, and so on belong to the southern Slavs.

Modern population of Eastern Europe

The ethnic composition is heterogeneous. Which nationalities prevail there, and which are in the minority, we will consider further. 95% of ethnic Czechs live in the Czech Republic. In Poland - 97% are Poles, the rest are Gypsies, Germans, Ukrainians, Belarusians.

Slovakia is a small but multinational country. Ten percent of the population are Hungarians, 2% are gypsies, 0.8% are Czechs, 0.6% are Russians and Ukrainians, 1.4% are representatives of other nationalities. 92 percent consists of Hungarians or, as they are also called Magyars. The rest are Germans, Jews, Romanians, Slovaks and so on.

Romanians make up 89% followed by Hungarians - 6.5%. The peoples of Romania also include Ukrainians, Germans, Turks, Serbs and others. As part of the population of Bulgaria, Bulgarians are in first place - 85.4%, and Turks are in second position - 8.9%.

In Ukraine, 77% of the population are Ukrainians, 17% are Russians. The ethnic composition of the population is represented by large groups of Belarusians, Moldovans, Crimean Tatars, Bulgarians, and Hungarians. In Moldova, the main population is Moldovans, followed by Ukrainians.

Most multinational countries

The most multinational among the countries of Eastern Europe is Russia. More than one hundred and eighty nationalities live here. The Russians are first. In each region there is an indigenous population of Russia, for example, the Chukchi, Koryaks, Tungus, Daurs, Nanais, Eskimos, Aleuts and others.

More than one hundred and thirty nations live on the territory of Belarus. The majority (83%) are Belarusians, then Russians - 8.3%. Gypsies, Azerbaijanis, Tatars, Moldovans, Germans, Chinese, Uzbeks are also in the ethnic composition of the population of this country.

How did Eastern Europe develop?

Archaeological research in Eastern Europe gives a picture of the gradual development of this region. Archaeological finds speak of the presence of people here since antiquity. The tribes inhabiting this territory cultivated their lands manually. During excavations, scientists found ears of various cereals. They were engaged in both cattle breeding and fishing.

Culture: Poland, Czech Republic

Each state has its own peoples Eastern Europe is diverse. Polish is rooted in the culture of the ancient Slavs, but Western European traditions also had a great importance on it. In the field of literature, Poland was glorified by Adam Mickiewicz and Stanisław Lemm. The population of Poland is mostly Catholics, their culture and traditions are inextricably linked with the canons of religion.

The Czech Republic has always maintained its identity. In the first place in the field of culture is architecture. There are many palace squares, castles, fortresses, historical monuments. Literature in the Czech Republic was developed only in the nineteenth century. Czech poetry was "founded" by K.G. Mach.

Painting, sculpture and architecture in the Czech Republic has a long history. Mikolash Alesh, Alphonse Mucha are the most famous representatives of this trend. There are many museums and galleries in the Czech Republic, among them unique ones - the Museum of Torture, the National Museum, the Jewish Museum. The richness of cultures, their similarities - all this matters when it comes to the friendship of neighboring states.

Culture of Slovakia and Hungary

In Slovakia, all celebrations are inextricably linked with nature. National holidays in Slovakia: the feast of the Three Kings, similarly to Shrovetide - the removal of Madder, the feast of Lucia. Each region of Slovakia has its own folk customs. Wood carving, painting, weaving are the main occupations in the countryside in this country.

Music and dance are at the forefront of Hungarian culture. Music and theater festivals often take place here. Another distinctive feature is the Hungarian baths. The architecture is dominated by Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque styles. The culture of Hungary is characterized by folk crafts in the form of embroidered products, wood and bone products, and wall panels. In Hungary, cultural, historical and natural monuments of world importance are located everywhere. In terms of culture and language, neighboring peoples were influenced by Hungary: Ukraine, Slovakia, Moldova.

Romanian and Bulgarian culture

Romanians are mostly Orthodox. This country is considered to be the birthplace of European gypsies, which left its mark on culture.

Bulgarians and Romanians are Orthodox Christians, so their cultural traditions are similar to other Eastern European nations. The oldest occupation of the Bulgarian people is winemaking. The architecture of Bulgaria was influenced by Byzantium, especially in religious buildings.

Culture of Belarus, Russia and Moldova

The culture of Belarus and Russia was largely influenced by Orthodoxy. St. Sophia Cathedral, Borisoglebsky Monastery appeared. Decorative and applied arts are widely developed here. Jewelry, pottery and foundry are common in all parts of the state. Chronicles appeared here in the 13th century.

The culture of Moldova developed under the influence of the Roman and Ottoman empires. Proximity in origin with the peoples of Romania, the Russian Empire had its significance.

The culture of Russia occupies a huge layer in Eastern European traditions. It is represented very widely in literature, art, and architecture.

Relationship between culture and history

The culture of Eastern Europe is inextricably linked with the history of the peoples of Eastern Europe. This is a symbiosis of various foundations and traditions, which at different times influenced cultural life and its development. Directions in the culture of Eastern Europe largely depended on the religion of the population. Here it was Orthodoxy and Catholicism.

Languages ​​of the peoples of Europe

The languages ​​of the peoples of Europe belong to three main groups: Romance, Germanic, Slavic. The Slavic group includes thirteen modern languages, several minor languages ​​and dialects. They are the main ones in Eastern Europe.

Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian are part of the Eastern Slavic group. The main dialects of the Russian language: northern, central and southern.

Ukrainian has Carpathian dialects, southwestern and southeastern. The language was influenced by the long neighborhood of Hungary and Ukraine. The Belarusian language has a southwestern dialect and a Minsk dialect. The West Slavic group includes Polish and Czechoslovak dialects.

Several subgroups are distinguished in the South Slavic group of languages. So, there is an eastern subgroup with Bulgarian and Macedonian. Slovenian also belongs to the Western subgroup.

The official language in Moldova is Romanian. Moldovan and Romanian are, in fact, the same language of neighboring countries. That is why it is considered to be state. The only difference is that the Romanian language has more borrowed from and the Moldavian language - from Russia.

Hpeoples of foreignEurope

The growth of the population of Foreign Europe, as discussed in Chapter I of this work, had some peculiarities. According to available statistics, the population of foreign Europe over the past three centuries (due to a significant decrease in mortality) has grown faster than in other parts of the world.

General information about overseas emigration), the population growth rate began to decline, and at present, Foreign Europe is in last place in the world in terms of population growth.

By the middle of 1959, the total population in the countries of Foreign Europe was 421.3 million people, having increased by almost 40 million compared to the pre-war population (1938). This increase would, of course, be even more significant if it were not for huge human losses and a decrease in the birth rate during the war years; suffice it to point out that the direct military losses of the population alone amounted to over 15 million people. It should be emphasized that although the population of almost all European countries was drawn into the war, its influence on the dynamics of the number of individual peoples was far from being the same; very indicative in this respect is the sharp decrease in the number of the Jewish population of Europe, as well as the significant decrease in the number of Poles, Germans, and others. We will dwell on the characteristics of these phenomena below.

According to the data for the middle of 1961, the total population of Foreign Europe amounted to over 428 million people and continues to increase by about 3.5 million people a year. Most European countries are characterized by low mortality (from 9 to 12%) and an average birth rate (from 15 to 25%). The rate of natural increase in the population of foreign Europe as a whole is lower than in other parts of the world, however, significant differences are observed in individual European countries. The highest natural increase, associated, as a rule, with increased fertility, was noted in the countries of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (Albania, Poland, etc.) and in Iceland, the lowest - in the countries of Central Europe (GDR / Luxembourg, Austria). The development of medicine and the associated decrease in mortality in European countries has led to an increase in average life expectancy. In countries with low fertility, this has been accompanied by an increase in the percentage of older people. Currently, for every 100 people under the age of 20 there are elderly people (over 60 years old) in Belgium - 59, Great Britain - 55, Sweden - 53, etc. This process of "aging" of nations puts some countries in front of serious problems (care for the elderly, a declining percentage of the productive population, etc.).

The modern ethnic composition of Foreign Europe has developed in the course of a long historical process of development and interaction of numerous peoples who differed from each other in anthropological characteristics, language and culture. However, these differences, perhaps due to the relatively small size of Foreign Europe itself, were not as significant as in other parts of the world. The predominant part of the population of Foreign Europe, according to anthropological characteristics, belongs to a large Caucasoid race, subdivided into two main parts (small races) - the southern Caucasoid (or Mediterranean) and the northern Caucasoid, between which numerous transitional types can be traced.

The population of Foreign Europe speaks mainly the languages ​​of the Indo-European linguistic family. The largest language groups of this family are Slavic, Germanic and Romance. Slavic peoples (Poles, Czechs, Bulgarians, Serbs, etc.) occupy Eastern and Southeastern Europe; Romance peoples (Italians, French, Spaniards, etc.) - Southwestern and Western Europe; Germanic peoples (Germans, British, Dutch, Swedes, etc.) - Central and Northern Europe. The peoples of other language groups of the Indo-European family - Celtic (Irish, Welsh, etc.), Greek (Greeks), Albanian (Albanians) and Indian (Gypsies) - are not numerous. In addition, a fairly significant part of the population of Foreign Europe belongs to the Uralic language family, represented by the peoples of the Finnish (Finns and Saami) and Ugric (Hungarians) groups. The Semitic-Hamitic language family includes in Europe, a small people of the Semitic group - the Maltese, to the Altai family - the peoples of the Turkic group (Turks, Tatars, Gagauz). The Basque language occupies a separate place in the system of linguistic classification. Among the population of foreign Europe there are many people whose language belongs to other language groups and families, but almost all of them are relatively recent immigrants from Africa, Asia and America.

Formation of the ethnic composition of foreign Europeis rooted in deep ancientness. One of the most important stages of this process is the emergence of the Roman Empire and the spread of the Latin language (“Vulgar Latin”) among its peoples, on the basis of which the Romance languages ​​subsequently formed, as well as the period of long migrations across Europe of various tribes and peoples that followed the fall of the Roman Empire. (the so-called era of the great migration of peoples - III-IX centuries AD). It was during this period that the German-speaking peoples spread across Central and Northern Europe, penetrating, in particular, the British Isles, and began to move east, and the Slavic peoples settled in Eastern Europe and occupied almost the entire Balkan Peninsula. The migration in the 9th century had a great influence on the ethnic history of the countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Ugric tribes from the Urals to the region of the middle reaches of the Danube, and then, in the XIV-XV centuries, the capture of the Balkan Peninsula by the Turks and the settlement of significant groups of the Turkish population there.

Europe is the birthplace of capitalism and national movements. The overcoming of feudal fragmentation, the development of economic and cultural ties, the spread of a common literary language, etc., created the conditions for the formation of a national community. However, this process was different in different countries. It manifested itself most clearly in the large economically developed centralized states of Western and Northern Europe (France, Angkia, etc.) ”Among the peoples that make up the majority of the population and occupy a dominant position in these states (French, British, etc.), and essentially ended there back in the 17th and 18th centuries. The political fragmentation of some countries of Central and Southern Europe (Germany, Italy), national oppression in the countries of Eastern Europe included in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Turkish rule in Southeastern Europe slowed down the processes of national consolidation, however, here in the second half of the 19th century. most of the large nations that exist today (German, Czech, etc.) The formation of some nations (Polish, Romanian, etc.) was essentially completed only after the First World War, when, as a result of the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, these peoples were reunited in new state formations. After the end of World War II, states of people's democracy arose in the countries of Eastern Europe (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, etc.), where the transformation of the old bourgeois nations (Polish, Romanian, etc.) into socialist nations began; this process is currently in its final stages.

As for the small peoples, and especially the national minorities of the countries of foreign Europe, the process of their national development was slowed down, and in a number of cases even stopped altogether. At present, ethnic assimilation is highly developed among such national minorities; being drawn into the general economic and cultural life of the country and not having sufficiently favorable conditions for the development of their language and national culture, they gradually merge with the main nationality of the country. For example, significant groups of Catalans and Galicians in Spain, Bretons in France, Scots and Welsh in Great Britain, Frisians in the Netherlands, Friuli in Italy and some other smaller peoples no longer have a clear national identity. It should be noted that in some European countries the processes of ethnic consolidation continue to develop - the merger of two or more peoples into new nations. In Switzerland and partly in Belgium, where multilingual population groups are involved in these processes, evidence of consolidation is the strengthening of economic and cultural communication, accompanied by the growth of bilingualism; in the Netherlands, where peoples with related languages ​​participate in ethnic consolidation, this is also evidenced by the spread of a new common ethnic name - "Dutch".

A great influence on the formation of the ethnic composition of the countries of Foreign Europe in the last hundred years, when the contours of the main nationalities had already been completely determined, was exerted by the migration of the population from one country to another in search of work, as well as for political or other reasons. Significant population migrations occurred in the first half of the 20th century. In 1912-1913. as a result of the Balkan wars, significant groups of the Turkish population moved from the countries of the Balkan Peninsula to Turkey. This process resumed in 1920-1921. during the Greco-Turkish War and continued in subsequent years; Until 1930, about 400 thousand Turks moved from Greece to Turkey, and about 1200 thousand Greeks moved to Greece from Turkey. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, significant groups of Austrians and Hungarians left the newly formed states (Romania, Czechoslovakia, etc.) and left for Austria and Hungary, respectively. In the period between the first and second world wars, the migration of the population, caused by economic reasons, was widely developed, and the main migration flows went from the east and south to the west and north, i.e. from the industrially backward capitalist countries (Poland, Romania, etc.). ) to more developed countries with low natural population growth (France, Belgium, etc.). For example, in France, according to the 1931 census, there were 2,714,000 foreigners and 361,000 naturalized, that is, those who had taken French citizenship. To these migrations we Already in the prewar years, migration for political reasons (political emigrants and Jews from Germany and Austria to Great Britain and other countries, refugees from Francoist Spain to France, etc.)

The events of the Second World War caused new significant shifts in the population associated with the flight and evacuation of the civilian population from the areas of military operations and from the territory occupied by the Germans, the forced export of workers to Germany, etc. The resettlement that arose during the war years and continued in the post-war years was of great importance. significant groups of people of various nationalities from one country to another.

The strongest changes in the national composition occurred in a number of countries in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, which was primarily due to a sharp reduction in the German population in these countries. Before the start of the war in the east and southeast of Europe, outside the modern borders of the GDR and the FRG, mainly in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Romania, there were over 12 million Germans. Some of them, after the defeat of Germany, left with the retreating German troops, and the bulk were resettled from there after the war, in 1946- 1947, in accordance with the decisions of the Potsdam Conference in 1945; at present there are about 700,000 Germans left in these countries.

The Jewish population has greatly decreased, the number of which in the countries of foreign Europe (mainly in Poland, Romania and Hungary) was over 6 million people in 1938, and now it is only about 13 million people (mainly in Great Britain, France, Romania). The decline in the Jewish population is caused by the mass extermination of it by the Nazis and (to a lesser extent) by the post-war migrations of Jews to Palestine (and then to Israel) and other countries of the world. Speaking about the changes in the ethnic composition in the countries of Eastern Europe during the war or immediately after it, one should also mention a series of population exchanges (mutual repatriations) associated either with the establishment of new state borders (population exchange between Bulgaria and Romania, Poland and the USSR, Czechoslovakia and USSR, Yugoslavia and Italy), or with the desire of states to achieve greater homogeneity of their national composition (population exchange between Hungary and Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia, etc.). In addition, part of the Turkish population of Bulgaria moved to Turkey, and part of the Armenian population from the countries of South-Eastern and Western Europe - to Soviet Armenia, etc.

The impact of the events of the Second World War on the change in the national composition of the countries of Central, Western and Northern Europe was small and was expressed mainly in the influx of population groups there from the countries of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. The bulk of the arrivals were refugees and so-called displaced persons, in the majority - former prisoners of war and citizens brought to Germany for forced labor (Poles, Ukrainians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, peoples of Yugoslavia, etc.); a significant part of them (over 500 thousand people) after the end of the war was not repatriated by the Western authorities and were forced to settle permanently in Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium and other countries. It should be noted that after the war, migrations of the population, caused by economic reasons, resumed; they were sent mainly from Italy and Spain to France and partly to Belgium; quite significant groups of immigrants also settled in Sweden and Great Britain. Of great interest is the increase in this period of migration of low-skilled workers to Europe from other parts of the world, in particular the migration of Algerian (Muslim) workers from Algeria to France and the migration of Negroes whom the population of the Antilles (mainly from Jamaica) to the UK.

All countries of Foreign Europe can be divided into three main groups according to the complexity of their national composition: 1) single-ethnic, mainly countries with small (less than 10%) groups of national minorities; 2) countries with a significant percentage of representatives of national minorities and multinational countries with a sharp numerical predominance of one nationality; 3) multinational countries in which the largest nationality is less than 70% of the total population.

The vast majority of countries in foreign Europe have a relatively homogeneous national composition. Ethnically complex countries are few; the national question in them solved differently. In the capitalist countries of Western Europe, national minorities usually do not have the opportunity to develop their own language and culture and are doomed to be absorbed by the main nationality of the country; in some countries, as, for example, in Francoist Spain, a policy of their forcible assimilation is pursued. In the people's democracies of Eastern Europe, large national minorities have received national-territorial autonomies, where they have all the conditions for economic and cultural development.

Finishing a brief description of the ethnic composition of the population of Europe and the processes of its formation, let us dwell on the religious composition of its population. Europe is the birthplace of three main branches of Christianity: Catholicism, which is widespread mainly in the countries of Southern and Western Europe; Orthodoxy, practiced mainly in the countries of South-Eastern Europe, which were in the past under the influence of Byzantium; Protestantism, widespread in the countries of Central and Northern Europe. Orthodoxy is professed by the majority of believing Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Romanians and part of the Albanians; Catholicism - almost all believers of the Romance peoples (Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, French, etc.), as well as believers of some Slavic (Poles, Czechs, most Slovaks, Croats, Slovenes) and Germanic peoples (Luxembourgers, Flemings, part of the Germans and Dutch , Austrians), as well as the Irish, part of the Albanians, most of the Hungarians and Basques. The Reformation movement spun off numerous Protestant churches from the Catholic Church. Protestants, at present, are the majority of believing Germans, Franco-Swiss, Dutch, Icelanders, English, Scots, Welsh, Ulsters, Swedes, Danes, Norwegians and Finns, as well as part of the Hungarians, Slovaks and German-Swiss. Part of the population of the countries of South-Eastern Europe (Turks, Tatars, Bosnians, the majority of Albanians, part of the Bulgarians and Gypsies) professes Islam. The majority of the Jewish population of Europe professes Judaism.

The religious factor played a significant role in the ethnic history of the countries of Foreign Europe and influenced, in particular, the ethnic division of some peoples (Serbs with Croats, Dutch with Flemings, etc.). At present, in all European countries, and especially in the countries of the socialist camp, the number of non-believers is rapidly growing.

Slavic group. Settlement of European peoples.

living in foreign Europe the peoples of the Slavic language group depour on the western and southern Slavs, to the westernSlavs include the largest Slavic people of foreign Europe - the Poles (29.6 million), among whose ethnographic groups the Kashubians and Mazurs stand out. Poles make up the vast majority of the population in all regions of Poland, except for some eastern regions, where they live together with Ukrainians and Belarusians. Outside of Poland, the Poles are mainly settled in the adjacent regions of the USSR (1.4 million people in total, mainly in the Byelorussian and Lithuanian SSR) and Czechoslovakia (Ostrava region). Large groups of Poles who emigrated in the past from Poland,settled in the countries of Western Europe (in France - 350 thousand, Great Britain - 150 thousand, Germany - 80 thousand, etc.). and especially in the countries of America (USA - 3.1 million, Canada - 255 thousand, Argentina, etc.). To the west of the Poles, in the territories of the GDR, in the basin of the river. Spree, settled Lusatians, or Sorbs -a small nationality (120 thousand), living among the German population for a long time and having experienced a strong influence of the German language and culture. To the south of the Poles, in Czechoslovakia, live the Czechs (9.1 million people) and related Slovaks (4.0 million people). Czechs,inhabiting the western half of the country, include a number of ethnographic groups, among which the most famous are the moves, lyakhs and horaks (gonakhs); among the Slovaks, Moravian Slovaks close to the Czechs stand out, as well as the Vlachs, whose language (occupies an intermediate position between the Slovak and Polish languages. In the post-war period, large groups of Slovaks moved to the western regions of the Czech Republic, formerly occupied by the Germans. Outside the country, significant groups of Slovaks live in Hungary , Czechs and Slovaks - in Yugoslavia (Czechs - 35 thousand, Slovaks - 90 thousand people), Romania and the USSR. In the past, many Czech and Slovak emigrants settled in the countries of America: USA (Czechs - 670 thousand, Slovaks - 625 thousand . person), Canada, etc.

The southern Slavs include the Bulgarians (6.8 million), who got their name from the ancient Turkic-speaking people who moved to the Western Black Sea region and dissolved among the local Slavic tribes. Bulgarians - the main nationality of Bulgaria - densely populate its territory, with the exception of small eastern and southern regions, where they live together with the Turks, and the southwestern part of the country, occupied by Macedonians related to Bulgarians. Among the ethnographic groups of the Bulgarian people, the Pomaks stand out, who adopted in the 16th-17th centuries. Islam and strongly influenced by Turkish culture, as well as Shoptsy, who retained many elements of the old traditional Bulgarian culture. Outside of Bulgaria, the most significant groups of Bulgarians live in the USSR (324 thousand people - mainly in the south of Ukraine and Moldova) and in the border regions of Yugoslavia. The Macedonians (‘1.4 million) are very close to the Bulgarians in terms of language and culture - a people that has developed on the territory of Macedonia. Macedonian is essentially intermediate between Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian. The Serbo-Croatian language is spoken by the peoples of Yugoslavia - Serbs (7.8 million), Croats (4.4 million), Bosnians (1.1 million) and Montenegrins (525 thousand). A large role in the ethnic division of these four monolingual peoples was played by the religious factor - the adoption of Orthodoxy by the Serbs and Montenegrins, the Croats - Catholicism, the Bosnians - Islam. In Yugoslavia, each of these peoples has its own republic, but a significant part of them are settled in stripes (especially within the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina). Outside of Yugoslavia, a small number of Serbs live in the neighboring regions of Romania and Hungary, Croats live in Austria (Burgenland). There is a population in Hungary (the so-called Bunjevtsy, Šoktsy, etc.) speaking the Serbo-Croatian language and occupying, as it were, an intermediate position between Serbs and Croats; most researchers attribute them to the Serbs. The main flow of Serbian and Croatian emigrants in the past went to the countries of America (USA, Argentina, etc.). A somewhat isolated place among the South Slavic peoples is occupied by Slovenes (1.8 million), who in the past experienced the influence of German and Italian culture. In addition to Yugoslavia, where Slovenes compactly populate the territory of their autonomous republic (Slovenia), a small part of them live in Italy (Julian Kraina) and Austria (Carinthia), where Slovenes are gradually assimilated with the surrounding population - Italians and Austrians.

German group. The largest people of foreign Europe belongs to the Germanic group - the Germans (73.4 million people), whose spoken language reveals strong dialectological differences (High German and Low German dialects), and they themselves retain the division into ethnographic groups (Swabians, Bavarians, etc.). The ethnic borders of the German nation now almost exactly coincide with the borders of the GDR and the FRG, outside of them there are only scattered, although relatively large groups of Germans: in Austria (mostly recent settlers from Eastern Europe - only 300,000), Romania (395 thousand), Hungary (about 200 thousand) and Czechoslovakia (165 thousand), as well as in the eastern regions of the USSR (total 1.6 million). The overseas emigration of Germans led to the formation of large groups of them in the countries of America, especially in the USA (5.5 million), Canada (800 thousand) and Brazil (600 thousand), as well as in Australia (75 thousand). Various dialects of the High German dialect are spoken by Austrians close to the Germans by origin (6.9 million), some of whom (South Tyroleans - 200 thousand people) live in the northern regions of Italy, Germano-Swiss, and also heavily influenced by the French language and culture Alsatians (1.2 million with Lorraine) and Luxembourgers (318 thousand). A large number of Austrians emigrated to the USA (800 thousand) and other overseas countries.

In the coastal regions of the North Sea, two peoples close in language and origin live - the Dutch (10.9 million) and the Flemings (5.2 million); The Flemings of Belgium look forward to it, and almost all the Flemings of France also speak French. A significant number of Dutch and Flemings moved to the United States and Canada. On the coast of the North Sea, mainly in the Netherlands, live the Frisians (405 thousand) - the remnants of the ancient German tribes, strongly assimilated by the Dutch, Danes and Germans.

Northern Europe is inhabited by four peoples related by origin and close in language: Danes (4.5 million), Swedes (7.6 million), Norwegians (3.5 million) and Icelanders (170 thousand). The ethnic territories of the Danes and Norwegians roughly coincide with the territory of their nation-states; As for the Swedes, a rather large group of them (370,000) lives in the coastal regions of Western and Southern Finland and on the Åland Islands. A significant number of emigrants from the Nordic countries live in the USA (Swedes - 1.2 million, Norwegians - 900 thousand) and Canada.

The Germanic language group also includes English, the dialects of which are spoken by three peoples of the British Isles: English (42.8 million), Scots (5.0 million) and Ulster (1.0 million). It should be noted that the national identity of the inhabitants of Northern Ireland - the Ulsters, who are for the most part the descendants of English and Scottish colonists who mixed with the Irish, is not clearly expressed. All these peoples gave many emigrants to other parts of the world, especially to North America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, making up the main ethnic component there "In the formation of new nations - American, Australian, etc. At present, a large number of English and Scots recent emigrants, located in Canada (English - 650 thousand, Scots - 250 thousand), USA (English - 650 thousand, Scots - 280 thousand), Australia (English - 500 thousand, Scots - 135 thousand) and countries of South Africa (Rhodesia, South Africa, etc.).

It is customary to include European Jews (1.2 million) in the German group, most of whom use the Yiddish language, close to German, in everyday life. Almost all Jews speak the languages ​​of the surrounding population and are closely connected with it economically, politically and culturally. After the events of World War II and the emigration of Jews to Palestine (and then to Israel), large groups of Jews remained, as noted above, in Great Britain and France, mainly in large cities. In addition, many Jews who emigrated in the past from European countries live in the USA (5.8 million people), Argentina and other American states.

Roman group. The largest European people of the Romance group at present are the Italians (49.5 million), whose ethnic boundaries roughly coincide with the state borders of Italy. Spoken Italian has retained strong dialectological differences. Among the ethnographic groups of the Italian people, the Sicilians and Sardinians stand out in particular; some scholars even consider the language of the latter to be independent. Italy is a country of mass emigration: many Italians live in industrialized (developed countries of Europe (France - 900 thousand, Belgium - 180 thousand, Switzerland - 140 thousand and up.) and especially in the countries of America (mainly in the USA - 5.5 million, Argentina - 1 million, Brazil - 350 thousand, etc.); a small number of them settled in the countries of North Africa (Tunisia, etc.) - Italo-Swiss (200 thousand), living in southeastern Switzerland, speak Italian dialects (200 thousand). (260 thousand) - the indigenous population of the island of Corsica - they speak a language that is essentially a dialect of Italian. In northern Italy and southern Switzerland, Romansh peoples live - Friuls, Ladins and Romanches (400 thousand in total) - the remnants of the ancient Romanized Celtic population, whose language remains very close to Old Latin.The number of Romansh is gradually declining due to merging with the larger peoples surrounding them (Friuls and Ladins of Italy - with Italians; Ladins and Romansh of Switzerland - with Germano-Swiss).

The French (39.3 million) are divided by language into northern and southern, or Provencals; the dialect of the Provencals, which reveals a strong affinity for the Italian language, was in the past an independent language, and the Crowvansals themselves were a separate people. The French compactly populate the territory of France, with the exception of the Brittany Peninsula, where the Bretons are settled, and the eastern departments, where the Alsatians and Lorraine live. Outside of France, there are significant groups of French people in Italy, Belgium and Great Britain; the groups of the French-speaking population of the Channel Islands, descended from the Normans, represent a special ethnographic group of the French people. Large groups of French settlers are in African countries (especially in Algeria - 10 million, Morocco - 300 thousand and on Reunion Island) and in the USA (800 thousand in total, a third of them are descendants of French colonists of the 17th century in Louisiana) . Dialects of the French language are also spoken by the Franco-Swiss (1.1 million) living in the western regions of Switzerland, and the Walloons (3.8 million) inhabiting the southern regions of Belgium. Many Franco-Swiss also know German, a small part of the Walloons - Flemish.

The extreme west of the Iberian Peninsula is inhabited by the Portuguese (9.1 million) and the Galicians close to them in origin (2.4 million), who speak an ancestral dialect of the Portuguese language (the so-called Gallego). The largest people of the Iberian Peninsula are the Spaniards (22.1 million), among whom the division into a number of ethnographic groups remains (Andalusians, Aragonese, Castilians, etc.) and noticeable dialectal differences are observed. Catalans (5.2 million) live in eastern Spain and adjacent regions of France; their language is close to the Provençal dialect of French. Through its assimilation policy, the Spanish government has forcibly planted the Spanish language among the Catalans and Galicians over the past decades. Large groups of emigrants from Spain and Portugal are in France, in the countries of America (Argentina, Brazil, etc.) and in their former and still surviving African colonies (Morocco, Angola, etc.).

A special place among the peoples of the Romance group is occupied by the Romanians (15.8 million), whose language and culture were strongly influenced by the Slavs. Outside of Romania, they are compact (groups of them live in the adjacent regions of Yugoslavia and Hungary, significant groups of them are in immigration countries (especially in the USA). areas of Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Albania and gradually merging with the surrounding population.Meglens living in southern Macedonia are often referred to as Aromunians, although they speak a special dialect.The total number of Aromunians is 160 thousand people.In eastern parts of the Istrian peninsula (Yugoslavia) are inhabited by Istro-Romanians - a small nationality, leading its origin from the ancient Romanized Illyrian population. At present, the Istro-Romanians have almost completely merged with the Croats.

Celtic group. The Celtic-speaking peoples, who in the past occupied vast areas in Central and Western Europe, were forced out or assimilated by the Romanesque and Germanic peoples. At present, this group includes three peoples of the British Isles - the Irish (4.0 million), the indigenous inhabitants of Wales - the Welsh (1.0 million) and the inhabitants of Northern Scotland - the Gaels (100 thousand), although the bulk of all these peoples use English. The inhabitants of the Isle of Man, who once spoke a special language of the Celtic group, are now completely assimilated by the British. The inhabitants of "north-western France" belong to the same group - Bretons (1.1 million), most of whom also speak French. Irish is close to Gaelic, Welsh to Breton. Ireland is a country of mass emigration, size which are so large that they lead to a decrease in the absolute number of its population, many Irish are in Great Britain (1.2 million) and especially in the countries of America (USA - 2.7 million and Canada - 140 thousand). , as noted above, is gradually declining due to their assimilation by the British and Scots, and the number of Bretons - due to their assimilation by the French.

A separate language of the Indo-European family is spoken by Albanians, or shki-petars (2.5 million). Almost half of Albanians live outside of Albania - in Yugoslavia (mainly in the autonomous region of Kosovo-Metohya), as well as in southern Italy and Greece, where they are gradually merging with the local population. Spoken Albanian is divided into two main dialects - Gheg and Tosk.

An isolated place is occupied by the Greek language, which is spoken by the Greeks (8.0 million), living mainly in Greece and Cyprus, and in small groups in neighboring countries. The Greek language is also spoken by Karakachans (about 2 thousand) - a small nationality, still leading a semi-nomadic lifestyle; groups of Karakachans are found in the central and southeastern regions of Bulgaria and in northern Greece. In the countries of South-Eastern Europe, mainly in Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia, there are significant groups of gypsies (650 thousand), who still retain their language, which is part of the Indian group, and features of culture and life; most gypsies also speak the languages ​​of the surrounding population. The number of Roma persecuted by the Nazis halved during the Second World War.

Among the peoples who speak languages ​​of other language families are, as noted above, the Hungarians, or Magyars (12.2 million), formed on the basis of the merger of the ancient Slavic population of Central Europe with the nomadic tribes of the Hungarians who came here. The Hungarian language, which belongs to the Ugric group of the Uralic family, is divided into a number of dialects, among which the Szekler dialect stands out - a geographically and culturally distinct group of the Hungarian people living in Romania in some regions of Transylvania and having its own autonomy there. Significant groups of Hungarians live in countries neighboring Hungary: in Romania (1650 thousand people), Yugoslavia (540 thousand) and Czechoslovakia (415 thousand); many Hungarian immigrants in the USA (850 thousand) and Canada.

Two other peoples belonging to the same language family, the Finns, or Suomi (4.2 million), and the Saami, or Lojpari (33 thousand), live in the northern part of Europe and are territorially separated from the Hungarians. Finns inhabit the territory of Finland; small groups of them, known as the Kvens, are settled in the central and eastern regions of Sweden; in addition, in recent years, the emigration of Finnish workers to Sweden has greatly increased, USA and Canada. The Saami are a small nation, descendants of the most ancient population of Scandinavia, pushed back to the northern and mountainous regions of Sweden, Norway and Finland; significant groups of them live on the Kola Peninsula in the CGCP. Most of the Saami are engaged in reindeer herding, maintaining a nomadic lifestyle, the rest are sedentary fishermen.

In the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula - in Spain and partly in France - live the Basques (830 thousand) - the descendants of the ancient population of the peninsula (Iberian tribes), whose language occupies a separate place in the system of linguistic classification. Many Basques in Spain also know Spanish, Basques in France - French.

On the islands of Malta and Gozo live the Maltese (300 thousand), formed as a result of a complex mixture of various ethnic components. The Maltese speak a dialect of Arabic, with a large number of borrowings from Italian. During the post-war years, the emigration of the Maltese to the UK and the USA has greatly increased.

The countries of foreign Europe in demographic terms census have been studied quite well, since almost the study of all is carried out by regular censuses of the population,moreover, the latter were quite recently - after the end of the Second World War. In the ethno-statistical sense, however, the knowledge of the countries of foreign Europe is far from homogeneous. The most reliable ethno-statistical materials are available for the countries of South-Eastern Europe, the least reliable - for the countries of Western Europe. In many countries, population census programs do not include national composition among their tasks at all, or severely limit this task.

Among the countries whose post-war censuses make it possible to directly determine their ethnic composition are: Bulgaria (censuses on December 3, 1946 and December 1, 1956 - a question about nationality), Romania (census on January 25, 1948 - a question about native language, census February 21, 1956 - question about nationality and mother tongue), Yugoslavia (census March 15, 1948 - question about nationality, census March 31, 1953 - question about nationality and mother tongue), Czechoslovakia (census March 1 1950 - the question of nationality). However, it should be noted that the data of the last censuses of Romania and Czechoslovakia have not yet been published in full, and this makes it difficult to determine the number of some national minorities in these countries. It is also known that in Albania in 1945 and 1955. population censuses were conducted, the program of which included the question of nationality, but there are no official materials of these censuses yet. Thus, it turns out that reliable ethno-statistical materials cover less than 15% of the population of the countries of Foreign Europe.

A lesser opportunity for an accurate determination of the national composition of the population is provided by census materials of those countries where the language of the population is taken into account. These countries include: Austria (census June 1, 1951 - mother tongue), Belgium (census December 31, 1947 - knowledge of the main languages ​​​​of the country and the main spoken language), Hungary (persist January 1, 1949 - language), Greece (April 7, 1951 census - mother tongue), Finland (December 31, 1950 census - spoken language), Switzerland (December 1, 1950 census - spoken language) and Liechtenstein (December 31, 1950 census - language) . National affiliation, as you know, does not always coincide with linguistic affiliation, and this fact is especially characteristic of Europe, where many peoples speak the same language (for example, in German - Germans, Austrians, German-Swiss, etc.) . Note that comparatively more reliable results can be obtained if the mother tongue question is asked in the censuses, but in Austria and Greece, where the censuses used such a question, the concept of mother tongue was essentially replaced by the concept of the main spoken language. Due to the strong linguistic assimilation of national minorities (the use of language as an ethnic determinant leads to an underestimation of their number and an exaggeration of the number of the main nationality of the country. In this regard, using census materials that took into account the language (native or spoken), it was necessary to establish in each individual case the connection of this indicator with the nationality of the population (both in relation to the local population and in relation to people from other countries) and to correct these materials according to other literary and statistical sources. On the territory of Germany (in Soviet and Western wons), a census was also carried out taking into account the native language, but its data, which covered the masses of refugees and displaced persons who later repatriated or left Germany for other countries, are currently outdated.

Subsequent censuses of the GDR and the FRG, as well as post-war censuses of the rest of Europe, which include Great Britain (census April 8, 1951), Denmark (census October 1, 1950), Ireland (censuses April 12, 1946 and 8 April 1956), Iceland (Census 1 December 1950), Spain (Census 31 December 1950), Italy (Census 4 November 1951), Luxembourg (Census 31 December 1947), Netherlands (Census 31 May 1947), Norway (Census 1 December 1950), Poland (Census 3 December 1950), Portugal (Census 15 December 1950), France (Census 10 March 1946 and 10 May 1954), Sweden (Census 31 December 1950), Malta (Census 14 June1948), Andorra, the Vatican, Gibraltar and San Marino, did not aim to determine the national or linguistic composition of the population. The term "nationality" ("nationalite"), used in the qualifications of many countries (Great Britain, France, etc.), is not adequate to the Russian term "nationality" and has a special interpretation, different from that adopted in the USSR and most countries of Eastern Europe; it corresponds, as a rule, to the concept of citizenship or nationality. The materials of the qualifications of such countries contain information only on the number of citizens of their state and the number of foreigners, usually with a breakdown of the latter by countries of origin.

It should be pointed out that the accuracy of determining the number of individual peoples living in the above countries, due to the heterogeneity of the census materials of their populations and auxiliary materials that replace census data to some extent, is not the same. So, for example, establishing the number of the Celtic-speaking peoples of Great Britain - the Welsh - was facilitated by the fact that the census program for Scotland and Wales has long included a question about knowledge of the Welsh or Gaelic languages ​​(for persons over three years old). The same applies to France, where knowledge of local dialects of the German language is taken into account in the territory of Alsace-Lorraine. Many states of Europe have a relatively homogeneous national composition, and therefore the number of the main nationalities of these countries could be obtained with sufficient accuracy for our purposes by excluding small groups of national minorities, the number of which was determined from auxiliary materials, mainly from data on citizenship or from the works of an ethnographic and linguistic character. Of considerable value for determining the national composition of some countries (Italy, France) are the materials of old population censuses, conducted even before the start of the Second World War and taking into account the linguistic composition of the population, however, one should take into account the change in state borders and the migration of the population from country to country.

Particularly serious difficulties arise when determining the national composition of those countries where the ethnic heterogeneity of the indigenous population is supplemented by a large number of foreigners (France - more than 1,500 thousand, Great Britain - more than 500 thousand, etc.). Although the countries of origin of these persons are in most cases known, the determination of their nationality is possible only with a great approximation. Ethnicity, as you know, is not associated with citizenship, and, in addition, the composition of foreigners is quite variable, both due to their natural “fluidity” (i.e., the return of some groups to their homeland and the arrival of drushkhs), and due to naturalization (acceptance of citizenship new country of residence) of a part of them, after which they are usually not distinguished in population censuses. To clarify the number of immigrants from other countries, official census data had to be supplemented with statistical materials on the naturalization of foreigners, however, in this case, the determination of nationality faces very complex problems. Above, we noted the presence of assimilation processes among the indigenous population of the countries of Foreign Europe, however, such processes are especially characteristic of foreigners. Persons who, for one reason or another, moved to a foreign environment, having lost ties with their people, received new citizenship, etc., over time, ethnically merge with the surrounding population. These processes, extremely complex in nature, in many cases, and especially where the only evidence of them is the data on the adoption of a new citizenship, cannot be revealed in all details.

In addition to data on nationality, language, citizenship (country of origin) and naturalization, in some cases we also used data on religious affiliation. This applies, first of all, to determining the size of the Jewish population in countries where it cannot be distinguished on other grounds, as well as to determining the national composition of Northern Ireland (the distinction between Irish and Ulsters).

When determining the number of peoples in 1959, we proceeded from the general dynamics of the population of their countries of residence, taking into account differences in the natural movement of individual peoples, the participation of these peoples in migration, and especially the development of ethnic processes.

Summing up some of the above, we note that the national composition of many countries of foreign Europe was determined for 1959 with a certain approximation.

On the territory of Europe live different cultural and ethnic composition of the nation. Studies carried out so far have identified eighty-seven different peoples in Europe. Thirty-three of them are the main ones in their states. Fifty-four peoples constitute ethnic minorities in their states of residence. The number of national minorities is estimated at one hundred and six million people throughout Europe. The total population of Europe is estimated at ~ 827 million people. The eight peoples of Europe number over 30 million. Among them: Russians(130 million); (82 million); (65 million); British(58 million); Italians(59 million); (46 million); Ukrainians(45 million); Poles(47 million). Several groups of Jews also live in Europe: Ashkenazi, Sephardim, Mizrahim, Rominiots, Karaites. Only about two million. Even in Europe live the so-called "ordinary" gypsies numbering up to five million and "white gypsies" - Yenishi- no more than two and a half thousand people.

From the history

Origin of peoples

Almost all the current states of Europe were formed on the lands of the once former Roman Empire. Its territory included vast expanses from the west, where the Germanic tribes ruled, to the Gallic lands conquered in the east, from the villages of Britain in the north to the southern cities of North Africa. In such conditions, time and history have formed the unique diversity of the modern population of Europe. Its cultural and religious space. The main influence on him was the migration of Germanic tribes that took place in the 4th-5th centuries, which led them to protracted wars with the Roman Empire and its fall. After that, the tribes founded their barbarian states on its lands.

In the XII-XIII centuries, the peoples of Europe began to develop their literary languages, which with each passing year more and more determined their belonging to their national identity. In England, the Canterbury Tales by the writer D. Chaucer can be safely called an example of a foundation stone for ethnos culture. With them, he approved the core of the national English language. The 15th-16th centuries were the time of the rooting of monarchies, the formation of the main governing bodies of states, the laying of new paths for the development of the economy and the disclosure of the cultural characteristics of each people of Europe.

Geographic factor

The geographical factor determined the diversity of traditions. The peoples who lived on the coast cherished holidays associated with the sea: dances, songs, rituals, painting, crafts. The peoples who were among the forests and steppes paid attention in their traditions and culture to the nature around them.

Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, another powerful wave of migration and wars swept across the European continent, borders were redrawn again. Then the social structure of the population changed again. Within its framework, the peoples of Europe settled down in approximately the same composition as they are today. The 17th-18th centuries is a time of severe trials for the traditions of the peoples of Europe, which were tested for strength by revolutions. In addition, the states fought for dominance on the mainland. The 16th century was marked by the leadership of the Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs. Then their power was replaced by the dominant position of France, which established absolutism. The 18th century brought weakness and instability to Europe through revolutions, wars and internal political crises.

Colonialism

The other two centuries reshaped the geopolitical situation in Western Europe. The reason for this was the doctrine of colonialism. The Spaniards, the British, the Dutch and the French were expanding into North and South America, Africa, Asia. This greatly changed the cultural face of European states. Particularly successful in the expansion of Great Britain, which acquired a colonial empire that stretched almost half the world. As a result, the English language and English diplomacy began to dominate the course of European development. Alas, this did not at all save the European continent from a new redistribution of the geopolitical map. The means to this were two world wars. Many peoples living then in Europe found themselves in the face of total annihilation. Hunger, devastation, political terror, disease and fierce battles brought to the grave tens of millions of representatives of large nations and thousands of people from small nations. The largest number of dead falls on Russians, Jews, Germans, French, Gypsies ... Subsequently, the states of Europe began to strive for globalization and the development of common governing bodies. With the participation of the USSR and the USA, the UN institution and the mechanisms of the UN Security Council were created to prevent world conflicts.

Culture of the peoples of Europe

Among the religions professed by the peoples of Europe, large groups stand out: Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy, as well as Islam, which is gaining growth. Catholicism and its offshoots, namely Protestantism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, the Anglican Church, Puritanism and others dominate the Western European countries. Orthodoxy dominates in the countries of Eastern Europe, where it once came from Byzantium. It was also borrowed from it to Russia.

The languages ​​of the peoples of Europe consist of three main groups: Romanesque, Germanic and Slavic.

It is extremely difficult to completely list the composition of the peoples of Europe because of the rapid migration processes. You can specify large nations: Germans, Spaniards, Italians, Portuguese, French, Romanians, Scandinavian ethnic groups, Slavic peoples (Russians, Serbs, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Poles, Croats, Slovenes, Czechs, Slovaks ...), there is also an Eastern ethnic group ( Turks, Arabs, Albanians, Armenians, Iranians, Afghans...).

Now the intensive penetration of the Internet and information technologies in all spheres of life contribute to the acceleration of the disappearance of national borders in Europe. Under the pressure of new migration flows from the zones of local wars in the Middle East and Africa, cultural differences between the indigenous peoples of the host countries are also being erased. In recent years, among the titular nations of Europe, there has been a tendency to resist globalization, the processes of upholding the national interests and identity of countries are intensifying.

There are 58 nations in Western Europe. 96% of the population speak the language of the Indo-European family. The most significant of this family (in terms of the number of peoples) are the Germanic group, the Romanesque group, the Slavic group, etc.

Anthropological composition: Caucasoid racial type.

Greeks: the beginning of this ethnic group in the lands of modern Greece. In the 8th-5th centuries. BC. a common ethnic name was established - Hellenes, homeland - Hellas. The main occupations are growing grapes, olives, almonds, transhumance sheep breeding and goat breeding, pottery and carpet weaving. Houses made of raw stone (1st and 2nd floors), where livestock also lives. Folk men's costume: black or blue trousers, white shirt, waistcoat, sash, fez, raincoat; female - a long white shirt of a tunic cut with a wide long sleeve, a wide long skirt.

Albanians. They come from the ancient population of the Balkans - the Illyrians (Thracians). In the 4th century BC. the first state formations. The main occupations are: transhumance cattle breeding, agriculture (cereals - barley, rye; in the mountains - oats, wheat; in the valleys - millet; they also grow potatoes, corn, cotton, sugar beet). Rural settlements of three types: scattered, crowded and regular. Usually 2-storey houses with a veranda. More than 2/3 are Muslims, about a quarter are Orthodox.

Roman group. 15 nations (Italians, Italo-Swiss, Corsicans, Spaniards, Portuguese, French, Romanians, etc.). The Romans subjugated and assimilated many peoples, Romanization went on until the 5th century. AD The traditional occupations of Italians are gardening, grain farming, animal husbandry. Food - pasta, a lot of spices and seasonings. More than half of the population lives in cities, rural settlements of 3 types: villages, farms, fortresses. Suit: male - knickers, kamicha (tunic-shaped shirt), jakka (jacket), hat or beret; female - gona (long skirt), camicha, corsetto, jacket (outerwear), fazzoletto (head scarf), wooden shoes with iron spikes. Believers are mostly Catholics. Traditional occupations of the French: animal husbandry, field cultivation, viticulture. The main crops are rice, corn, rye. Food: cheese, rabbit meat, poultry (pigeons in the south), vegetables, root crops. Rural settlements of 2 types: street plan (row) and cumulus. This is a 1-storey house under a roof, residential and utility rooms. Men's costume: pants, shirt, vest, neckerchief, straw hat. Believers are mostly Catholics. Walloons(40% of the population of Belgium) - handicraft people. Large villages of street and cumulus type. Peoples of the Iberian Peninsula: Spain is in 1st place in the production of olive oil. Developed grain farming. Already in the Roman era, cattle were bred, fishing has very ancient origins. Women's costume: a wide pleated skirt with an apron, a light blouse, a corsage, a scarf on the head. Catholics.

German group- 17 nations. They speak the languages ​​of the Germanic group (Germans, Austrians, German Swiss, Luxembourgers, Lorraine, Danes, Swedes, Dutch, Norwegians, English, Scots, etc.). The traditional occupation is animal husbandry (cattle) - transhumance-stall nature, agriculture. Traditional settlements: large cumulus villages with randomly arranged houses and crooked streets. Clothing: men's - a shirt (consists of two panels), long trousers, leather soles with leather straps served as shoes; female - a shirt also made of two panels, a cloak with a hood. Crafts - knitting, carpet weaving, weaving, embroidery.

Celtic group. 4 peoples - Irish, Welsh, Gaels, Bretons. Traditional occupations are agriculture and cattle breeding. Grow barley, oats, wheat. Animal husbandry (cattle) plays the main role. Food - cereals, fish, dairy dishes, soups. One of the oldest cities is Dublin. Rural settlements of the farm type. The houses are stone and wicker. Traditional costume: black clothes for older women; young people have a long wide skirt and a corset, a long white apron and a white lace cap; male - tight short pants, a jacket with a deaf collar, a hat. Mostly Catholics.