French people
The French (French: Français) are a nation and ethnic group who are identified with the country of France. This connection may be legal, historical, or cultural. Descending from peoples of Celtic (Gauls) origin, later mixing with Romance (Romans) and Germanic (Franks) origin, and having experienced a high rate of inward migration since the middle of the 19th century, modern French society can be considered a melting pot. France was still a patchwork of local customs and regional differences in the late 19th century, and besides the common speaking of the French language, the definition of some unified French culture is a complex issue. Some French have equated their nationality with citizenship, regardless of ethnicity or country of residence.
Successive waves of immigrants during the 19th and 20th centuries were rapidly assimilated into French culture. Seeing itself as an inclusive nation with universal values, France has always valued and strongly advocated assimilation where immigrants were expected to adhere to French traditional values and cultural norms. However, despite the success of such assimilation, the French Government abandoned it in the mid-1980s encouraging immigrants to retain their distinctive cultures and traditions and requiring from them a mere integration. This "integrationist" policy has recently been called into question, for example, following the 2005 French riots in some troubled and impoverished immigrant suburbs.
