Table Of ContentONE EUROPE,
MANY NATIONS
A Historical Dictionary
of European National Groups
James B. Minahan
Greenwood Press
Westport, Connecticut • London
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Minahan,James.
OneEurope,manynations : ahistoricaldictionaryofEuropeannationalgroups / by
JamesB.Minahan.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0–313–30984–1(alk.paper)
1. Europe—History—Dictionaries. 2. Ethnology—Europe—Dictionaries. I. Title.
D21.3.M55 2000
940'.0321—dc21 99–046040
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Copyright(cid:2)2000byJamesB.Minahan
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expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:99–046040
ISBN:0–313–30984–1
Firstpublishedin2000
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface vii
Introduction xiii
THE DICTIONARY 1
Appendix A European National Groups with 2000 Population
Estimates and Major Geographic Location(s) 751
Appendix B European Language Groups 757
Index 763
Preface
The turn of the twenty-firstcentury, likethebeginningofthetwentiethcentury,
is overshadowed by the specter of radical nationalism in Europe. As it was a
century ago, the European continent remains divided by national identities and
therefore remains the focus of efforts to bring peace to the world in the new
century. Historical national loyalties and alliances retain the ability to involve
states and national groups far beyond Europe’s boundaries. This volume ad-
dresses thenationalsituation in Europe,withanemphasisonthemanypossible
nationalist conflicts that dot the European landscape. One Europe, Many
Nations: A Historical Dictionaryof European NationalGroupsisthefirstbook
to address the Europeans as distinct national groups, not as nation-states and
national minorities. The book follows the development of Europe’s many na-
tional groups from the earliest periods of their national histories to the dawnof
the twenty-first century. This book is an essential guide to the national groups
thatpopulatetheso-calledOldWorld,nationalgroupsthatcontinuetodominate
world headlines and that present the world community with some of its most
intractable conflicts.
The Cold War, which dominated world politics from the end of World War
II until the collapse of communism in the last decade of the twentieth century,
gave the world a fragile peace, but part of the price for that peace was the
suppression of many of the national groups that inhabited the Cold War’smost
dangerous theater, Europe. In the name of political stability historic identities
were buried, and collective rights as European national groups were ignored
during the process of maintaining a delicate peace in the ideologically divided
continent. Intergroup and interethnic conflicts, which often result from the ex-
pression of the historic and human rights of national groups, were also sup-
pressedinthenameofstateunityandnationalintegrity.Untilnowfewreference
viii PREFACE
books have addressed the post–Cold War nationalist resurgence in Europe, and
fewerstillhaveaddressedtheresurgencebyfocusingonthemostbasicelement
ofanynationalism,thenation.ThetribalhistoriesoftheEuropeansareintricate,
fluid, and largely unresearched.
This dictionary was prepared to address that deficiency. The book contains
nearly 150 surveys of Europe’s national groups, short articles highlighting the
political, social, economic, and historical evolution of the peoples who arenow
claiming a distinct identity within an increasingly integrated continent. The
worth of the dictionary, in part, derives from its up-to-date information and
historicalbackgroundontheEuropeannationalgroupsthatarecurrentlymaking
news and those that will produce future headlines and conflicts.
Most recent reference books about Europe approach the subject of nations
and nationalism from the perspective of the European Union and the nation-
state, relegating the numerous nonstate national groups to the position of na-
tional minorities, deserving only an occasionalparagraphorfootnote.However,
selectingthenationalgroupstobeincludedinthedictionarypresentednumerous
problems, not the least of which was the difficulty of applying a uniform cri-
terion to the many distinctgroupsthatinhabittheEuropeancontinent.Europe’s
national groups represent a perplexing diversity of peoples who range from the
powerful and diverse national groups that dominate the continent’s historic
nation-states, to the small, virtually unknown groups that have emerged since
the collapse of Europe’s Cold War stability. The national groups included in
thisbooksharejustonecharacteristic:theyidentifythemselvesasdistinctEuro-
pean nations.
ThearduoustaskofresearchingEurope’shistoricaldiversitywascomplicated
by the lack of a consensus on what constitutes a nation or a nation-state.There
is no universally accepted definition of nation, country, or state, particularlyin
Europe. The controversy continues to generate endless debate and numerous
regional and international conflicts. Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines
the word “nation” as “a body of people, associated with a particular territory,
that is sufficiently conscious of its unity to seek or possess a government par-
ticularly itsown.” Building on thisdefinitionthecriterionusedforselectingthe
national groups for inclusion in this volume was based on three important fac-
tors, modified by the immense diversity of Europe’s national groups. The three
factors are a national claim to a specific geographic area; the display of the
outward trappings of national consciousness; and the formation of specifically
nationalist or political organizations that reflect the group’s claim to identityas
a distinct European national group.
In any compilation of this type, the selection process for choosing which
peoplestoincludeisacomplexevolutionofsubtractionandaddition.Estimates
of the number of distinct national groups in Europe run into the hundreds,
making the selection process a difficult process of elimination. The national
groups included in this volume therefore represent only the most developed
PREFACE ix
portion of the self-proclaimed nations of Europe, including many that are
countedbothaspartofalargernationalgroupandasdistinctEuropeannations.
National sentiment is often difficult to define and is nearly impossible to
measure. An attempt to apply the criteria used to distinguish betweenEurope’s
nations or national groups and its less numerous nation-statesflounderedonthe
numerous anomalies encountered. Size is definitely not a criterion. Over forty
world states recognize a building in Rome, covering just 108.7 acres, as an
independent European state, but the fewer than 1,000 inhabitants of Vatican
City do not constitute a European national group. Nor is membership in the
UnitedNations(UN)themeasureofindependence:UkrainiansandBelarussians
were founding members of the UN in 1945, yet their homelands became inde-
pendent nation-states only in 1991. One exception to the criterion for inclusion
is the Roms or Gypsies. They have evolved a strong national sentiment but,
uniquely, without a defined geographic base. The decision to include theRoms
is based on the Roms’ claim to national status, the well-developed and widely
supported Rom national movement, and the fact that the Roms constitute one
of Europe’s most numerous national groups.
Historically, nationalism in Europehasbeendefinedbythenation-states,and
many of the national groups included in this volume played little or no role in
European politics before the end of the Cold War. However, since the early
1990s they have increasingly demanded a separate role in the planned conti-
nental economic and political system that has developed since the1950s.Some
of the national groups will be familiar, either historically or more recently as
news items, and many will be known to millions of the inhabitants of other
continents whoseimmigrant familiestracetheirrootstothesehistoricEuropean
nations.
The entry for each national group is divided into several parts or headings:
the name and alternative names of the group; simple line drawings of the flag
andamapofthenationalgroup’shomeland;populationstatisticsandcontinental
distribution;geographiclocation,includingthegroup’sstateorregionalpolitical
affiliation; descriptions of the national and other pertinent flags that are not
pictured; a brief sketch of the national characteristics of the group; and the
nation, including the history and national development of each national group
from its historical beginnings to the present.
The flags and maps are presented as visual aids to the text. The flags arenot
displayed in their proper dimensions, but are accurate as to design. The maps
are roughly to scale and present the national homelands in their geographic
context with the non-sovereign states and regions shown in italics.
Many of the national groups included in this volume will be familiar as the
corenationsofpowerfulnation-states,historicallyasEuropeannations,ormore
recentlyasnewsitems,butthemajorityaresounfamiliarthatmanydonothave
standardizednamesorspellingsinEnglish.Familiarnamesareoftenthecolonial
or imposed names that represented a particularly harsh form of cultural sup-
x PREFACE
pression. That situation is now reversing in Europe, with cartographers and
geographersattemptingtosettleonthedefinitiveformsofthenamesofnational
groups, territories, and languages. Until that process is completed, many of the
names used in this volume not only will be unfamiliar to most readersbutmay
not appear in eventhemostcomprehensivereferencesources.Unfamiliargroup
and place-names used in this volume are most often followed by the more
familiar or historic names in parentheses.
The population figures are the author’s estimates for the year 2000. The fig-
uresaredesignatedbytheabbreviation(2000e)beforetheappropriatestatistics.
The figures were gleaned from a vast number of sources, both official and un-
official, representing the latest censuses, official estimates, and, where no other
sources were available, nationalist population claims. Where conflictingfigures
are included, both official and unofficial statistics are presented. Official rates
of population growth, unofficial estimates, and other variables were applied to
the figures to arrive at the statistics included in the dictionary. Detailed popu-
lation figures and geographic locations can be found in Appendix A. A list of
the principal statistical sources is provided at the end of this section.
The geographic information on the homeland of each national group incor-
porates, if available, the size of the territory, in both square miles (sq.mi.) and
squarekilometers(sq.km.).Additionalgeographicinformationincludeslocation
of theterritoryinrelationtoneighboringstatesandinformationontheprincipal
geographic features of each homeland.
Information on the national flag or other pertinent flags, if available, is de-
tailed. Flags form an important and very emotional role in the development of
a national consciousness, and their use has been widespread in Europe for cen-
turies.
Informationonthepeople,themembersofthenationalgroup,isanoverview
of the national characteristics of the national groups. The descriptionshighlight
the linguistic, religious, cultural, and national influences and affiliations that
have shaped each national group.
Each of the newly independent nations has its own particular history, the
eventsandconflictsthathaveshapeditsnationalcharacteristics.Thelargestpart
of eachnationalsurveyisthereforedevotedtothehistoricaldevelopmentofthe
nation. The historical survey follows the evolution and consolidation of the
nation from its earliest history to the present, including information on the nu-
merous conflicts and controversies that continue to plague Europeans’ attempts
at closer continental cooperation and integration.
The two appendixes included in this volume allow the reader to develop a
betterunderstandingofthesize,historicaffiliations,anddistributionofEurope’s
national groups. Appendix A sets the group name, population size, and geo-
graphicdistributionwithinthecontextofEurope.AppendixBprovidesanover-
view of the historic affiliations based on language and dialects.
Few of Europe’s national groups developed in isolation but were shaped by
their relations with various governments and neighboring peoples. To facilitate
PREFACE xi
the reader’s identification of nations mentioned in the text that are included as
aseparatenationalsurveyinthedictionary,thenameofthenationappearswith
an asterisk (*). An extensive subject index at the end of the volume provides a
convenient way to access desired information. Each entry also includes a short
bibliographic list as a guide to sources that pertain to the national group in
question.
This dictionary was compiled to provide a guide to Europe’s numerous na-
tional groups, both the historic peoples associated with long-establishednation-
states and the many nonstate national groups that are increasingly demandinga
distinctidentitywithintheemergingcontinentalpoliticalsystem.Thisdictionary
is presented as a unique reference source to the nationalist phenomenon that is
spearheading one of the most powerful and enduring political movements that
emerged fromthetwentiethcentury,amovementthatissettodominateEurope
well into the twenty-first century, the pursuit of democracy’s basic tenet, self-
determination.
PRINCIPAL STATISTICAL SOURCES
1. National Censuses 1997–2000.
2. World Population Chart 1998 (UnitedNations).
3. Populations and Vital Statistics 1998 (UnitedNations).
4. World Tables1999 (WorldBank).
5. World Demographic Estimates and Projections,1950–2025,1988(UnitedNations).
6. UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization] Sta-
tistical Annual 1999.
7. World Bank Atlas 1998.
8. The Economist IntelligenceUnit (Country Report series1998).
9. OMRI [OpenMedia ResearchInstitute]1997.
10. Europa Yearbook1999.
11. U.S. Departmentof State publications.
12. The CIA [CentralIntelligenceAgency]World Factbook 1998.
13. United Nations StatisticalYearbook1998.
14. United Nations DemographicYearbook1999.
15. The Statesman’sYearbook1999.
16. EncyclopediaBritannica.
17. EncyclopediaAmericana.
18. Webster’sNewGeographicalDictionary.
19. National GeographicSociety.
20. Royal GeographicalSociety.
21. World Almanacand Book of Facts 1999.
xii PREFACE
22. Political Handbook of the World.
23. The UrbanFoundation.
24. The Blue Plan.
25. Eurostat, the EuropeanUnion StatisticalOffice.
30. InternationalMonetaryFund (IMF)publications.
