Who are the Celts?
The Celts are a group of peoples of diverse origins who spoke a language called Celtic. The word carries no racial connotation whatsoever, but refers strictly to sociocultural structures. The terminology is, moreover, very recent and serves to classify a rather extensive human group. The “Celtic” peoples occupied, from the fifth century of the Christian era onward, a large part of Europe, the British Isles, the territory stretching from the mouth of the Rhine to the Pyrenees and from the Atlantic to Bohemia, with extensions into northern Italy and northwestern Spain.
The Celts today
Today the Celtic peoples are those who speak such languages: the Irish, the Scots of the north, the natives of the Isle of Man, the Welsh, and some inhabitants of British Cornwall. Also included are those who, while no longer preserving the language, do preserve the traditions and spirit that reach back to Celtic antiquity: Brittany, Spanish Galicia, and anglophone Ireland. As well as some French and Belgian regions.
