Celtic Nations - Six Celtic Nations

Six Celtic Nations

Each of the six nations has its own Celtic language. In Wales, Scotland, Brittany, and Ireland, these have been spoken continuously through time, while Cornwall and the Isle of Man have languages that were spoken into modern times but later died as spoken community languages. In both of the latter regions, however, revitalization movements have led to the adoption of these languages by adults and produced a number of native speakers.

Ireland, Wales, Brittany and Scotland contain areas where a Celtic language is used on a daily basis – in Ireland the area is called the Gaeltacht, Y Fro Gymraeg in Wales, and in Brittany Breizh-Izel. Generally these communities are in the west of their countries and in upland or island areas. The term Gàidhealtachd historically distinguished the Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland (the Highlands) from the Lowland Scots (i.e. Anglo-Saxon)-speaking areas. More recently, this term has also been adopted as the Gaelic name of the Highland council area, which includes non-Gaelic speaking areas. Hence, more specific terms such as sgìre Ghàidhlig ("Gaelic-speaking area") are now used.

In Wales, the Welsh language is a core curriculum (compulsory) subject, which all pupils study. Additionally, 20% of school children in Wales go to Welsh medium schools, where they are taught entirely in the Welsh language. In the Republic of Ireland, all school children study Irish as one of the three core subjects up until the end of secondary school and 7.4% of primary school education is through Irish medium education which is part of the Gaelscoil movement.

Parts of the northern Iberian Peninsula, in particular Asturias, Galicia and Northern Portugal, are sometimes counted among the modern Celtic nations. This is largely due to the region's unique culture, which is distinct from that in some other areas of Spain and Portugal. Notably, the region's music features extensive use of bagpipes, an instrument common in modern Celtic music. As such musicians from Galicia and Asturias have participated in Celtic music festivals such as the Breton Festival Interceltique de Lorient. Northern Portugal, part of ancient Gallaecia (Galicia, Minho, Douro and Trás-os-Montes), also has traditions quite similar to Galicia. However, unlike the traditional six nations, no Celtic language has been spoken in northern Iberia since probably the Early Middle Ages.

The chart below shows the population of each Celtic nation and the number of people in each nation that can speak Celtic languages. The total number of people residing in the Celtic nations is 18,584,000 people and, of these, the total number of people who can speak the Celtic languages is approximately 2,882,100.

Of the languages above, three belong to the Goidelic or Gaelic branch (Irish, Manx, Scottish Gaelic) and three to the Brythonic or Brittonic branch (Welsh, Cornish, Breton). Their names for each other in each language shows some of the similarities and differences: