No science has yet given an exact definition of such a concept as “people,” but everyone understands by this concept a large community of people living compactly in a certain territory.
The science of ethnography, which studies peoples and ethnic groups, including the most numerous peoples, identifies today from 2.4 to 2.7 thousand nationalities living on earth. But in such a delicate matter, ethnographers can rely on statistical data, which put the figure at 5 and a half thousand peoples on Earth.
No less interesting is ethnogenesis, which studies the emergence and development of various ethnic groups. Let us present in a short review the most large nations, which formed in ancient times, and their total number exceeds 100 million people.
Chinese (1,320 million)
The generalized concept of “Chinese people” includes all residents of China, including people of other nationalities, as well as those who have Chinese citizenship but live abroad.
Nevertheless, the Chinese people are the largest, both in the concept of “nation” and in the concept of “nationality”. Today there are 1 billion 320 million Chinese living in the world, which is from total number of the planet's inhabitants is 19%. So, the list is the most big nations the world, by all indicators, is rightfully led by the Chinese.
Although in fact, those whom we call “Chinese” are ethnically representatives of the Han people. China is a multinational country.
The very name of the people is “Han”, which means “Milky Way”, and comes from the name of the country “Celestial Empire”. This is also the most ancient people A land whose roots go back to the distant past. The Han people in China make up the absolute majority, about 92% of the country's population.
Interesting facts:
- The Chinese Zhuang people, who are a national minority in the country, number about 18 million people, which is comparable to the population of Kazakhstan and larger than the population of the Netherlands.
- Another Chinese people, Huizu, has a population of about 10.5 million, which is earlier than the population of countries such as Belgium, Tunisia, the Czech Republic or Portugal.
Arabs (330-340 million)
The Arabs, who occupy second place, are defined in ethnographic science as a group of nationalities, but from the point of view of ethnogenesis, they are one people of the Semitic language group.
The nation developed in the Middle Ages, when the Arabs settled in the Middle East and northern Africa. They all have one thing in common Arabic and a unique writing system - Arabic script. The people have long gone beyond the boundaries of their historical homeland, and modern stage, due to various circumstances, settled in other regions of the globe.
Today the number of Arabs is estimated at 330-340 million people. They mostly adhere to Islam, but there are also Christians.
Did you know that:
- There are more Arabs living in Brazil than in the United Arab Emirates.
- Arabs consider the gesture to be a sexually suggestive insult.
Americans (317 million)
Here shining example, when it is possible to accurately define a people, with the practically non-existent concept “ American nation" In a narrow sense, this is a group of different nationalities that make up the population of the United States and have American citizenship.
Over the course of 200 years of history, a single culture, mentality, common language, used in communication, which allows you to unite the population of the United States into one people.
Today there are 317 million US Americans. For the indigenous population of America, Indians, the name Americans may be used, but in terms of ethnic identification this is a completely different ethnic group.
Hindustani (265 million)
On at the moment Hindustanis settled compactly in three neighboring countries in the South-Eastern region of the planet - India, Nepal and Pakistan.
As for India, the largest number of them live in the northern part of the state. In total, ethnology numbers about 265 million Hindustanis, and their main language of communication is various dialects of the Hindi language.
It is interesting that of the related nationalities, the closest to them are the Gypsies and Dravidians who inhabit southern regions India.
Bengalis (over 250 million)
Among the numerous peoples, the Bengalis, numbering more than 250 million, also occupy a leading position. They mostly live in Asian countries, but there are small diasporas in the USA and Great Britain, and they also exist in other European countries.
Over the centuries-old history, the Bengalis have preserved their national culture, identity and language, as well as their main activities. In the Asian region they live mainly in rural areas, since they have been engaged in agriculture since ancient times.
The Bengali language is one of the most complex on earth; it was formed as a result of the synthesis of the Indo-Aryan language and numerous local dialects.
Brazilians (197 million)
Group of different ethnic groups living in Latin America, developed into a single Brazilian people. There are currently about 197 million Brazilians, most of whom live in Brazil itself.
The people went through a difficult path of ethnogenesis, which began to take shape as a result of the European conquest of the South American continent. Indian nationalities lived intermixed over vast territories, and with the arrival of Europeans, most of them were destroyed, the rest assimilated.
And so it happened that the religion of the Brazilians became Catholicism, and the language of communication became Portuguese.
Russians (about 150 million)
The name of the most numerous people in Russia occurred as a result of the transition of the adjective “Russian people”, “Russian people” into the generalizing noun “Russians”, in the concept of people.
Modern statistical studies indicate that there are about 150 million Russians on Earth, most of whom live in Russia. The largest people in Russia belong to the linguistic group of East Slavic languages, and today more than 180 million people consider Russian their native language.
Russians are almost homogeneous in anthropological terms, although they are settled over a large territory and are divided into several ethnographic groups. The ethnos emerged during the development of the Russian state from different ethnic groups of the Slavs.
Interesting Fact: Largest quantity Russians abroad Russian Federation and countries former USSR located in Germany (∼ 3.7 million) and in the USA (∼ 3 million).
Mexicans (148 million)
Mexicans, who number about 148 million people, are united by a common territory of residence, a single Spanish communication, as well as an amazing national culture that has developed on the basis of the heritage ancient civilizations Central America.
This people is also a vivid example of duality, since those Mexicans who live in the United States can simultaneously be considered Americans.
The people are also unique in that they are Latin Americans by ethnicity, but their language of communication classifies them as a Romance group. It is also the fastest growing nation on our planet.
Japanese (132 million)
There are 132 million conservative Japanese on Earth, and they live mainly in their historical homeland. After World War II, some Japanese settled around the world, and now only 3 million people live outside Japan.
The Japanese people are distinguished by isolation, high diligence, a special attitude towards the historical past and national culture. Over many centuries, the Japanese have managed to preserve and, most importantly, increase their heritage, both spiritual and material and technical.
The Japanese treat foreigners in a special way, with some suspicion, and are reluctant to allow them into their lives.
Punjabis (130 million)
Another of the largest nations lives compactly in the territories of India and Pakistan. Of the 130 million Punjabis in the Asian regions, a small portion settled in Europe and Africa.
For many centuries, the hardworking people created an extensive irrigation system for irrigated fields, and their main occupation has always been agriculture.
It was the Punjabis who were one of the first peoples on earth to create a highly developed and cultural civilization in the valleys of Indian rivers. But, as a result of cruel colonial policies, much of the heritage of this people was lost.
Biharis (115 million)
The amazing Bihari people, living mainly in the Indian state of Bihar, today number about 115 million people. A small part settled in other Indian states and neighboring countries.
Modern representatives of the people are direct descendants of those. Who created the first agricultural civilizations on Earth in the Indus and Ganges valleys.
Today, there is an active process of urbanization of Biharis, and, leaving their main occupations and ancient crafts and trades, they are moving en masse to cities.
Javanese (105 million)
The last major nation on earth, numbering more than 100 million people. According to the latest data from ethnology and statistics, there are about 105 million Javanese people on the planet.
IN XIX century Data on the origin were provided only by the Russian ethnographer and traveler Miklouho-Maclay, but today quite a lot is known about the ethnogenesis of the Javanese.
They settled mainly on the islands of Oceania, and are the indigenous population big island Java and the states of Indonesia. Over many centuries they have created a unique and inimitable culture.
Thais (over 90 million)
Just by the name of the ethnic group, it is clear that the Thais are the indigenous population of the kingdom of Thailand, and today there are more than 90 million of them.
The etymology of the origin of the word “tai” is interesting, which in local dialects means “ free man" Ethnographers and archaeologists, studying the culture of the Thais, have determined that it was formed during the early Middle Ages.
Among other nations, this nation is distinguished by its sincere love, sometimes bordering on fanaticism, for theatrical art.
Koreans (83 million)
The people formed many centuries ago and at one time populated the Korean Peninsula of Asia. They managed to create a highly developed culture, and carefully protect national traditions.
The total number of people is 83 million, but the confrontation led to the formation of two states with one ethnic group, which is an unresolved tragedy for the Koreans today.
More than 65 million Koreans live in South Korea, the rest in North Korea, and also settled in other Asian and European countries.
Marathi (83 million)
India, among all its uniqueness, is also the record holder for the number of people living on its territory numerous nationalities. For example, the state of Maharashtra is home to the amazing Marakhti people.
A very talented people, people from whom occupy high positions in India, Indian cinema is filled with Marakhti.
In addition, the Marakhti are a very purposeful and united ethnic group, which in the 50s of the twentieth century achieved the creation of their own state, and today, numbering 83 million people, this is the main population of the Indian state.
European peoples
It is worth separately touching upon the largest peoples of Europe, among which the leaders are the descendants of the ancient Germans, the Germans, whose number, according to various sources, ranges from 80 to 95 million. Second place is firmly held by Italians, of whom there are 75 million on earth. But the French are firmly established in third place, with a population of about 65 million.
Large nations living on the globe, however, like small ones, have their own cultural and national traditions that have developed over a long historical process.
Today, the process of erasing ethnic and national boundaries is increasingly observed. There are practically no mono-national states left on Earth, it’s just that in each of them there is one dominant nation, and all the multinational people are united under the general concept of “resident of the country.”
For me, as for many, it is no secret that the largest number of people live in China. However, I got to thinking: are the Chinese the largest people? Perhaps the country is multinational, and the share of Chinese is modest and inferior to neighboring Hindustani?
Largest nations of the world
Large nations are those that number more than 1 million people. Today there are just over 300 known such peoples. If you put them together, you get about 96% of the total population of the planet. I won’t talk about everything, but I’ll name the top five by number:
- Chinese (1,294 million, concentrated in East Asia).
- Hindustani (1,041 million, concentrated in South Asia).
- Bengalis (288 million, concentrated in South Asia).
- Americans (USA) (217 million, concentrated in Anglo-America (USA)).
- Brazilians (175 million, concentrated in Latin America).
Chinese (Han)
It is worth clarifying that we are talking about the Han people. By “Chinese” we most often mean all the peoples of China. So it is the Han who are the leaders in numbers in the world. In fact, almost every fifth person on the planet is a member of the Han people. In their native China they account for 92%. This nationality also dominates in the Republic of China (98%), in Hong Kong (95%), in Macau (92%), in Singapore (76.8%), in Taiwan (98%). In general, 81% of Huaqiao live in Asia. The remaining representatives of the nationality are located in North America(14.51%), in Europe (2.6%), in Oceania (1.5%) and even in Africa, specifically in South Africa (0.3%).
Hindustani
The Chinese are from China, and where are the Hindustanis from? From Hindustan? I have not heard of such a country. In fact, this nationality is Hindi-speaking Indians. This is the largest population of India. The people settled in Asia quite compactly: India, Pakistan, Nepal.
Bengalis
The same question with the Bengalis as with the Hindustanis: where are they from? The people make up the main population of Indian states such as Tripura and West Bengal, in the Ganges delta, as well as Bangladesh. Representatives of Bengalis live in Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan, Singapore, Pakistan, USA, UK and other countries.
Only on the territory of Russia live 65 small peoples, and the number of some of them does not exceed a thousand people. There are hundreds of similar peoples on Earth, and each carefully preserves its customs, language and culture.
Our top ten today includes smallest peoples in the world.
This small people lives on the territory of Dagestan, and its population is only 443 people as of the end of 2010. For a long time, the Ginukh people were not identified as a separate ethnic group, since the Ginukh language was considered only one of the dialects of the Tsez language widespread in Dagestan.
9. Selkups
Until the 1930s, representatives of this West Siberian people were called Ostyak-Samoyeds. The number of Selkups is just over 4 thousand people. They live mainly in the Tyumen and Tomsk regions, as well as the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
8. Nganasans
This people lives on the Taimyr Peninsula, and their number is about 800 people. Nganasany is the most northern people in Eurasia. Until the middle of the 20th century, the people led a nomadic lifestyle, driving herds of deer over vast distances; today the Nganasans live sedentary lives.
7. Orochons
The place of residence of this small ethnic group is China and Mongolia. The population is about 7 thousand people. The history of the people goes back more than a thousand years, and the Orochons are mentioned in many documents dating back to the early Chinese imperial dynasties.
6. Evenks
This indigenous people of Russia lives in Eastern Siberia. These people are the most numerous in our top ten - their numbers are quite sufficient to populate a small town. There are about 35 thousand Evenks in the world.
5. Chum salmon
Kets live in the north of the Krasnoyarsk region. The number of this people is less than 1500 people. Until the middle of the 20th century, representatives of the ethnic group were called Ostyaks, as well as Yeniseians. The Ket language belongs to the group of Yenisei languages.
4. Chulym people
The number of this indigenous people of Russia is 355 people as of 2010. Despite the fact that most of the Chulym people recognize Orthodoxy, the ethnic group carefully preserves some traditions of shamanism. Chulyms live mainly in the Tomsk region. It is interesting that the Chulym language does not have a written language.
3. Basins
The number of this people living in Primorye is only 276 people. The Taz language is a mixture of one of the Chinese dialects with the Nanai language. Now this language is spoken by less than half of those who consider themselves to be Taz.
2. Livs
This one is extremely small people lives in Latvia. From time immemorial, the main occupations of the Livs were piracy, fishing and hunting. Today the people have almost completely assimilated. According to official data, there are only 180 Livs left.
1. Pitcairns
This people is the smallest in the world and lives on the small island of Pitcairn in Oceania. The number of Pitcairns is about 60 people. All of them are descendants of the sailors of the British warship Bounty, who landed here in 1790. The Pitcairn language is a mixture of simplified English, Tahitian and maritime vocabulary.
I recently asked myself this question and tried to find the answer. Surprisingly, despite the level of science in our time, scientists cannot clearly determine the exact number. However, the topic is quite interesting, and therefore I will share the information I found.
How many peoples are there on Earth?
Even scientists find it difficult to answer accurately - there is simply no clear answer. Every time this topic is raised, a new figure is heard, but official science believes that our planet is inhabited by from 2 to 4 thousand nationalities and peoples. Agree, the spread is quite large. The thing is that it is almost impossible to give an exact definition of the term “people” - everyone has their own understanding of this word. For example, there are states whose residents communicate using the same language, but in fact they are different peoples, but it happens the other way around.
If you try to find definition of a term in a dictionary, then one can find that the term is used both in a political sense and in a cultural one. There are several meanings:
- a certain set of art consumers, in other words - the public;
- population of a state;
- a crowd of people in a certain place;
- working population:
- ethnic group, possessing pronounced common characteristics.
The last definition is generally accepted; as for the mentioned characteristics, they are:
- culture;
- traditions;
- language.
How do peoples differ?
The main feature is the language, therefore its unity is considered a paramount indicator. Exists about 4000 languages, which are identified by scientists into separate groups. There are about 20 such groups. Half of humanity speaks languages included in the largest - Indo-European group. What else could be different? Certainly, by number. Research suggests that most peoples are not particularly numerous - no more than 1 million people. However, there are also quite numerous ones, for example, the Chinese and Indians.
Culture is one of the characteristic differences. They distinguish both spiritual and material. The first group includes legends, songs, dances and so on. The second group includes the type of housing, clothes, kitchen features and the like.
Earth is a planet of people
The population of various territories of the globe is distinguished by its racial, ethnic (from the Greek “ethnos” - people), linguistic, religious characteristics, which are closely related to the natural features of the territory.
Races of man. Ethnographic scientists distinguish the three largest human races: Caucasoid, Mongoloid and Negroid.
Caucasians are characterized by wavy or straight soft hair, light or dark skin, a narrow nose, thin or medium-thick lips. They inhabit mainly Eurasia and North America.
Mongoloids are characterized by straight, coarse dark hair, a yellowish skin tone, a flattened face, and narrow eyes. They inhabit mainly Asia and America. Negroids are characterized by curly black hair, dark brown skin, brown eyes, a wide nose, and thick lips. They inhabit mainly Africa and Oceania.
Mixed races were formed not only in antiquity and the Middle Ages, but also in modern and recent times. Examples of mixed races are the mestizos and mulattoes of America.
There are 3-4 thousand peoples living on Earth. The largest nations of the world: Russians, US Americans, Brazilians, Indians, Chinese, Japanese.
Russians belong to the Caucasian race with all its characteristic external features. The people inhabit Russia and the territories adjacent to it. In addition, Russians live in the USA, Canada, Brazil and other countries.
In the history of the Russian people, the development of free or sparsely populated neighboring lands has constantly taken place, which affected the diversity of everyday characteristics of the population, dialects (dialects), folklore, rituals, and housing.
The basis of Russian national clothing is a men's or women's shirt, sundress, bast shoes, and in winter - felt boots. A traditional Russian dwelling is a log hut with a Russian stove.
Russian folk crafts are world famous: stone-cutting art of the Urals, Vologda lace, lacquer miniature Palekh and Fedoskino, Zhostov metal painting, Torzhok gold embroidery.
Americans. If such peoples as the Russians, Chinese, and Japanese have a centuries-old history, then the Americans were formed as a people only at the end of the 18th century. at the intersection of all three races, as well as European, Indian and African cultures.
The indigenous people of America are the Indians. This name was given to them in the 15th century. Spanish navigators who took open lands for India. The Indians, excellent hunters and fishermen, were characterized by a semi-nomadic lifestyle. Indian dwellings - tipis and wigwams - are adapted for this. Traditional clothing: shirt, leather pants and moccasins.
The 16th century in the history of the United States was marked by the great “migration of peoples”: a stream of European colonists, mainly from England, poured into the country, who began to displace the indigenous inhabitants into less convenient lands. This period is known not only as a time of constant conflicts between the aborigines and European settlers, but also as the beginning of mutual penetration different cultures. For example, the Indians learned from the Europeans how to use horses in farming, and the Europeans learned many food crops, such as corn.
In the XVII-XIX centuries. Black slaves from Africa began to be imported into the United States, mainly to work on the agricultural plantations of the South.
From the mixing of Indians with European settlers, a large mixed race emerged - mestizos, and from mixing with African population- mulattoes.
IN modern culture Americans have significant black influence, especially in music and dance. Blues, jazz, country and other musical styles are based on black folklore.
Chinese- the largest nation in the world. He belongs to the Mongoloid race. This people has a long history, culture and traditions. Chinese civilization is one of the most ancient.
The life of the Chinese is quite simple. Traditional food - boiled rice, flatbreads, noodles. However, it is worth noting that the Chinese culinary encyclopedia has 40 volumes.
The traditional home of the Chinese is fanza. The Chinese costume is dominated by the so-called undershirts, and women's and men's clothing differ little from each other.
Traditional crafts - weaving, pottery, weaving, wood carving, stone carving, bone carving, modeling, painted and carved varnish, embroidery. Chinese porcelain is famous.
Indians - common name peoples inhabiting India. Mostly Indians belong to the Caucasian race. Indian culture is one of the oldest in the world. Temples, rock monasteries, richly decorated with sculptures, palaces and mausoleums attract many tourists to India.
The most common type of Indian dwelling is a rectangular house with burnt brick walls, a flat roof and a courtyard. Traditional Indian clothing is saris, sweaters and skirts for women, and pants and shirts for men. Women usually cover their heads with a sari or shawl. Men wear turbans.
Indian crafts are varied. They are skilled masters of carving ivory, horn, wood, making figurines, metal engraving, jewelry, shawls, cotton fabrics, brocade, carpets, and lace.