French people
The French people are the ethnic group or nation native to the country of France, in Western Europe. Their native language is the French language. Their main religion is Roman Catholic.
The French are a Western European population. Their ethnic origin is mainly a mixture of Celtic (perhaps 60%) and Germanic tribes (perhaps as much as 25%; mostly the Franks, Burgonds and Wisigoths).
Other important influences were also the Romans (the French language derives mainly from Latin, with also a considerable amount of Germanic words) who colonized Southern France and the Norsemen/Vikings, who settled in Normandy. Minor influences were the Greeks (small semi-permanent commercial coastal establishments, such as Marseille or Monaco) and the pre-Celtic inhabitants.
As with all European countries, there has been in France a great deal of admixture from other European nations, namely German, English, Irish, Dutch and Flemish, Italian and Spanish. A great number of Poles, Spaniards, Portuguese and Italians migrated to France since 1860–70 until 1960 and were assimilated.
There are around 50 million Ethnic French in France, and about 25 million ethnic French around the world (Wallonia and Brussels : 5 millions, French Switzerland : 1.5 million, Val d'Aosta : 100,000, Luxembourg : 400,000, Anglo-Normand Isles : 100,000, Quebec : 6 millions, Canada : 1 million, South America : 2 millions, mostly in Argentina and in Chile, USA : between 10 and 13 millions).
There is a notable French diaspora in former French colonies as well.
See also
Categories: Ethnic groups of Europe | Latin peoples | France | France-related stubs | Ethnicity stubs