This is a map of Europe (click for a larger version), indicating the peoples and prevailing languages as they were thought to exist just prior to the start of the First World War. The primary European ethnic groups were: Teutonic (Germanic), including the English, Germans, Scandinavians, Dutch, and Flemish; Latin, including the Italians, French, Walloons, Spanish, Catalans, Portuguese, and Romanians; and Slavic, including the Great Russians, White Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs or Bohemians, Slovaks, Slovenes, Serbs, Croats, and Bulgarians. The Celts, Lithuanians, Letts, Greeks, and Albanians, were considered to be outliers.
Ethnic groups were determined primarily based on a shared language and, to a lesser degree, a shared history. However, modern research in archaeogenetics indicates that there is no such thing as a "Greek race," "Germanic race," or "Celtic race" at a biological level. While members of one ethnic group may appear more similar than dissimilar, their DNA reveals widespread blending with neighbors and others. Modern research on the history, diversity, and spread of human beings across the planet is extensive, as you can read here.
European ethnic groups seen on the map: English, Germans, Scandinavians, Dutch, Flemish, Italians, French, Walloons, Spanish, Catalans, Portuguese, Roumanians (Romanians), Great Russians, White Russians, Little Russians (Ukrainians), Poles, Czechs (Bohemians), Slovaks, Slovenes, Serbs and Croats, Bulgarians, Celts, Lithuanians and Letts, Greeks, Albanians, Turks, Tatars, Magyars, Finns, Estonians (Esthonians), Basques.
Click here to enlarge. Click here for our interactive quiz based on this map.
Learning Extension: Have your students research how far these European languages have spread over the globe. How many people worldwide today speak Spanish? English? French?
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