Where in the world are you from?

[pyan]

Originally Posted by AE35Unit

we don't have a defining race like .... Africa,

An African defining race?
Afar, Anlo-Ewe, Amhara, Ashanti, Bakongo, Bambara, Bemba, Berber, Bobo, Bushmen/San, Chewa, Dogon, Fang, Fon, Fulani, Ibos, Kikuyu, Maasai, Mandinka, Pygmies (Bambuti, the Batwa, the Bayaka and the Bagyeli), Samburu, Senufo, Tuareg, Wolof, Yoruba, Zulu.....
Which one did you mean?

[DeannaBelle]

Originally Posted by The Ace

Actually, DB, I hope you weren't confusing, 'British,' with, 'English.' My passport says I'm British, but despite my Irish name and ancestry I am Scottish, there isn't an English bone in my body and I like it that way.

Welcome aboard by the way.

Don't worry, I mean English when I say English. I wasn't calling the British "English" - I'm not brave enough to risk it!

[DeannaBelle]

Originally Posted by andrew.v.spencer

Most European nations when examined have mixed origins.

Well, yes, ALL nations have mixed origins. Some nations in particular pay more regard to their ethnicities, however. It seems to be important for some Pakistanis to say, "Oh, I am Panjabi," and for some Brits to say, "I am Welsh."

In the U.S. we're all too mixed to make any distinctions other than which CONTINENT(S) are ancestors are from. It's like a game trying to track and guess the actual countries our ancestors came from.

I think it's fun to track, but not necessarily important.

[pyan]

Originally Posted by DeannaBelle

In the U.S. we're all too mixed to make any distinctions other than which CONTINENT(S) are ancestors are from.

Apart, apparently, from those with Irish ancestry, for some reason....I've met more than a few people from the USA who take the first opportunity to mention that...

[DeannaBelle]

Originally Posted by Ursa major

The Great in Great Britain didn't have much to do with any political or military successes in history at first (although it has been used for that purpose). It's simply the name of the island that makes up the bulk of England, Scotland and Wales (in alphabetical order, in case Ace gets upset ). It was used, I believe, to distinguish this island from Brittany (Bretagne / Breizh).

I am really, really ashamed to admit this, but as a kid, I was very confused with whole "Great Britain" thing. I knew we had English, French, Spanish, and "British" colonies. What the hell was the UK then? If the English won the war, as Great Britain defeated France, then were they the same damn thing? They did not explain this to us in school. I was left to put it all together myself.

Also, for a long time, I thought London (from children's stories, such as "Peter Pan") was a country.

Don't bother trying to educate me - I've got it figured out now. It just would have helped me greatly as a child to know these things.

[Ursa major]

What you call Britain, - or some people call England, which upsets many non-English British (as does calling them British, sometimes) - is actually UKOGBANI (i.e. the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). This UN member state, made up of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales (alphabetical again - in English!) shares some of its sovreignty with the European Union (formerly the European Community, and before that the European Economic Community, Euratom (don't ask) and the European Coal and Steel Community); oh, and with NATO/OTAN (although journalists tend not to mention sovreignty in the same breath as NATO) and the vaguely associated Western European Union. And then there's the Council of Europe, with the European Court of Human Rights (not an EU institution, although many here in the UK think it is, including many journalists ). I could go on, but it is Christmas.

Many of us on this side of the Pond are easily confused by what does what and why with regard to our laws (not helped by our lack of a constitution), so it's quite understandable that outsiders may make mistakes about these sorts of thing. And it's a shame that these mistakes are sometimes pointed out in a way that makes it seem that the "perpetrator" has committed a dreadful error; yet I doubt most people here could name all 50 US states without thinking about it, or know the special legal position of the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico, let alone Guam....)

The point is, states are funny things - they are all, more or less, sui generis, and treating them as clones of each other can make fools of us all.

And Merry Christmas! (Whatever your belief system, I hope you're willing to be merry. )

[DeannaBelle]

Yes, but where were you when I was 10? I could have really used your help! lol

[scalem X]

Well some call the Netherlands 'Holland' too.
Hell, for some reason a lot of English-speaking people think the people living in Belgium are called Belgiums!
I really can't see where it went wrong. We call ourselves
In Dutch=Belgen
In French=Belges
In German=Belgen

If you make an English word for it, that's fine. But please don't make a word for it and then decide to call us whatever you want anyway.

[GOLLUM]

The term in English that is used is Belgians.

[scalem X]

The term in English that is used is Belgians.

Remains the question who invented the word Belgiums, which I hear so often.

[GOLLUM]

No idea. Some ingraite no doubt.

Cheers...

[Wybren]

Originally Posted by DeannaBelle

I am very curious about what kinds of blends there are in Australia. I know that there are people form all the world, but I am specifically curious about the waves of immigrants (after the English, of course) - who they were, when they came and how mixed are you Australians?

Well about 50000 years ago the Aboriginal Australians first came to the continent, then the English shiped the convicts out here in 1787 (they arrived in 1788). They were mainly English and Welsh, with some Irish and Scots thrown in for good measure. Transportation of convicts stoped in about 1868. We had many people of different origins come here during the gold rush period and there really wasn't any "waves" of immigration, more a constant trickle of people from around the world (except for the 74 years of the "white australia policy" which limited immigration to only certain people). Majority of Australian born have very mixed and diverse genealogical histories and most people when asked would probably just describe themselves as Australian, for the most part though, the majority are of European descent, with a very minority from asian countries (despite what some people think *cough Pauline Hanson cough*) About 15% of the population speak a language other than English, the most popular being Italian, Greek, Cantonese and Arabic. I couldn't tell you what the break up was of who came here and when as we are such a mix.

[Majimaune]

We have so much land and such a little population but who wants to try living out in the middle of the desert? I've been there and even though it was breath-takingly beautiful I wouldn't want to live there.

[Wiglaf]

Has North America been gaining a lot lately?
Pertaining to some earlier posts, the U.S. was an English colony till 1707 when some ship showed up with a memo stating that as of three months previous we were now British colonists, but still inferior to Londoners. We disagreed.

[Ursa major]

Originally Posted by Wiglaf

... we were now British colonists, but still inferior to Londoners. We disagreed.

Your ancestors shouldn't have been too upset: some Londoners think like that now.