French people

The French (French: les Français), or the French people, who have French nationality most of them are native from Metropolitan France, in Western Europe. Other are born in Oversea departements or Oversea territories, or in former French colonies.

History

:Main article: History of France

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The French are a Western European people whose ethnic origins, for the most part, trace back to the mingling of the Celts, the Romans, and some Germanic peoples. In the pre-Roman era, all of Gaul (an area of Western Europe that encompassed all of what is known today as France, Belgium, part of Germany and Northern Italy) was inhabited by a variety peoples who were known collectively as the Gaulish tribes. Their lands were conquered in 58-51 BC by the Roman legions under the command of General Julius Caesar. The area then became part of the Roman Empire. Over the next five centuries the two cultures and peoples intermingled, creating a hybridized Gallo-Roman culture. The old Celtic tongues had been largely reduced to a mere influence over the various Vulgar Latin dialects that had come to dominate communications in the region, dialects that would later develop into the French language. Today, the last redoubt of Celtic culture and language in France can be found in the northwestern region of Brittany, although this is not the result of a survival of Gaulish language but of medieval migration from Cornwall.

Related Topics:
Celts - Romans - Germanic peoples - Gaul - Gaulish tribes - 58 - 51 BC - Julius Caesar - Roman Empire - Gallo-Roman culture - Vulgar Latin - French language - Brittany - Gaulish - Medieval - Cornwall

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With the decline of the Roman Empire in Western Europe a third people entered the picture: the Franks. The Franks were a Germanic tribe that began filtering across the Rhine River from present-day Germany in the third century. By the early sixth century the Franks, led by the Merovingian king Clovis I and his sons, had consolidated their hold on much of modern-day France, the country to which they gave their name. The other major Germanic people to arrive in France were the Normans, Viking raiders from modern Denmark, who occupied the northern region known today as Normandy in the 9th century. The Vikings eventually intermarried with the local people, converting to Christianity in the process. It was the Normans who, two centuries later, would go on to conquer England. Eventually, though, the independent Norman duchy was incorporated back into the French kingdom in the Middle Ages.

Related Topics:
Franks - Rhine River - Germany - Third century - Sixth century - Merovingian - Clovis I - Normans - Viking - Denmark - Normandy - 9th century - Christianity - Conquer - Middle Ages

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In the roughly 900 years after the Norman invasions France had a fairly settled population. Unlike elsewhere in Europe, France experienced relatively low levels of emigration to the Americas, with the exception of the Huguenots. However, significant emigration of mainly Roman Catholic French populations led to the settlement of the provinces of Québec and Louisiana, both (at the time) French possessions, as well as colonies in the West Indies, Mascarene islands and Africa. France's population dynamics began to change in the middle of the 19th century, as France joined the Industrial Revolution. The pace of industrial growth pulled in millions of European immigrants over the next century, with especially large numbers arriving from Poland, Portugal, Italy, and Spain. These immigrants intermarried and assimilated over time, and their descendants are almost universally considered Français de souche (ethnic French), or at least as uncomplicatedly 'French'.

Related Topics:
Americas - Huguenots - Roman Catholic - Québec - Louisiana - West Indies - Mascarene - Africa - 19th century - Industrial Revolution - Poland - Portugal - Italy - Spain

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This was not the case with the other big group of recent immigrants, the non-European peoples whose migration waxed as the intra-European migration waned in the 1960's. Since then, France has become home to millions of non-European peoples, principally from the former French colonies of the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa. The arrival of so many Muslim migrants from North and West Africa has meant that Islam has become the second largest religion in France, with around 5 million or so adherents of varying levels of belief. It is estimated that around 50,000 Français de souche (ethnic French) have converted to Islam. Most of the French people, however, are still Roman Catholic to one degree or another.

Related Topics:
1960's - French colonies - Maghreb - Sub-Saharan Africa - Muslim - North - West - Africa - Islam - Roman Catholic

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In Europe, there are several sizeable permanent ethnic French populations outside of France. The largest is in Belgium, in the region of Wallonia and the city of Brussels. In Switzerland, the main concentration of the ethnic French population is in the Western region known as Romandy. Smaller French communities can be found in Luxembourg and the Channel Islands, although most Channel Islanders speak English as their first language today.

Related Topics:
Belgium - Wallonia - Brussels - Romandy - Luxembourg - Channel Islands - English

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