Jews

Jews , or the Jewish people, are an <a href="/facts/Ethnoreligious_group/FEVebd8v">ethnoreligious group</a> and <a href="/facts/Nation/ed3XkH6y">nation</a>, originating from the <a href="/facts/Israelites/wohGkSzL">Israelites</a> of <a href="/facts/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah/qVoA0uua">ancient Israel and Judah</a>. They also traditionally adhere to <a href="/facts/Judaism/tjQ5Tgs6">Judaism</a>. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly interrelated, as Judaism is their <a href="/facts/Ethnic_religion/0en4Qxjs">ethnic religion</a>, though it is not practiced by all ethnic Jews. Despite this, religious Jews regard <a href="/facts/Gerim/RGAR32BJ">converts to Judaism</a> as members of the Jewish nation, pursuant to the <a href="/facts/Conversion_to_Judaism/RGAR32BJ">long-standing conversion process</a>.
The Israelites emerged from the pre-existing <a href="/facts/Canaanite_peoples/PyX3f92e">Canaanite peoples</a> to establish <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Israel_(Samaria)/KJv662gU">Israel</a> and <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Judah/qEdLyxv7">Judah</a> in the <a href="/facts/Southern_Levant/gUwQGVrL">Southern Levant</a> during the <a href="/facts/Iron_Age/mpQYShI0">Iron Age</a>. Originally, Jews referred to the inhabitants of the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Judah/qEdLyxv7">kingdom of Judah</a>and were distinguished from the <a href="/facts/Gentile/l7KWuu7v">gentiles</a> and the <a href="/facts/Samaritans/B1WjjxCq">Samaritans</a>. According to the <a href="/facts/Hebrew_Bible/04qRIX0c">Hebrew Bible</a>, these inhabitants predominately descend from the <a href="/facts/Tribe_of_Judah/75MWCLq5">tribe of Judah</a> from <a href="/facts/Judah_(Bible)/yhl1QJat">Judah</a>, the fourth son of <a href="/facts/Jacob/z6lKzP3W">Jacob</a>. The <a href="/facts/Tribe_of_Benjamin/AlITYATQ">tribe of Benjamin</a> were another significant demographic in Judah and were considered Jews too. By the late 6th century BCE, Judaism had evolved from the Israelite religion, dubbed <a href="/facts/Yahwism/FoaPuwTe">Yahwism</a> (for <a href="/facts/Yahweh/kIUcSQFb">Yahweh</a>) by modern scholars, having a theology that religious Jews believe to be the expression of the <a href="/facts/Mosaic_covenant/SJL7QRw7">Mosaic covenant</a> between <a href="/facts/God_in_Judaism/ED9TEs27">God</a> and the Jewish people. After the <a href="/facts/Babylonian_exile/skWuJsdJ">Babylonian exile</a>, Jews referred to followers of <a href="/facts/Judaism/tjQ5Tgs6">Judaism</a>, descendants of the Israelites, citizens of <a href="/facts/Judea/yNA3wGqQ">Judea</a>, or allies of the Judean state. Jewish migration within the Mediterranean region during the <a href="/facts/Hellenistic_period/q6BgQsaF">Hellenistic period</a>, followed by <a href="/facts/Population_transfer/JTSYub3c">population transfers</a>, caused by events like the <a href="/facts/Jewish%25E2%2580%2593Roman_wars/mn2amxEV">Jewish–Roman wars</a>, gave rise to the <a href="/facts/Jewish_diaspora/E2Tc3qxx">Jewish diaspora</a>, consisting of diverse Jewish communities that maintained their sense of <a href="/facts/Jewish_history/KasvajCe">Jewish history</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_identity/Eep3NUrX">identity</a>, and <a href="/facts/Jewish_culture/PNFhFn7t">culture</a>.
In the following millennia, Jewish diaspora communities <a href="/facts/Coalescent_theory/6gtpBPKk">coalesced</a> into three major <a href="/facts/Jewish_ethnic_divisions/pug5VJbu">ethnic subdivisions</a> according to where their ancestors settled: the <a href="/facts/Ashkenazi_Jews/B9PIYy71">Ashkenazim</a> (<a href="/facts/Central_Europe/VdxzSbJz">Central</a> and <a href="/facts/Eastern_Europe/f5CDGzNA">Eastern Europe</a>), the <a href="/facts/Sephardic_Jews/VrvPsCeh">Sephardim</a> (<a href="/facts/Iberian_Peninsula/ztFXI8zt">Iberian Peninsula</a>), and the <a href="/facts/Mizrahi_Jews/sJxlNJFP">Mizrahim</a> (<a href="/facts/Middle_East/8CD6pLWv">Middle East</a> and <a href="/facts/North_Africa/ItxQAfs7">North Africa</a>). While these three major divisions account for most of the world's Jews, there are other smaller Jewish groups outside of the three. Prior to <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>, the <a href="/facts/Jewish_population_by_country/pjjK3KRd">global Jewish population</a> reached a peak of 16.7 million, representing around 0.7% of the world's population at that time. During World War II, approximately six million Jews throughout <a href="/facts/History_of_the_Jews_in_Europe/QBgDX2WS">Europe</a> were systematically murdered by <a href="/facts/Nazi_Germany/8kRbqRpo">Nazi Germany</a> in a genocide known as <a href="/facts/The_Holocaust/vGQsAb2y">the Holocaust</a>. Since then, the population has slowly risen again, and as of 2021, was estimated to be at 15.2 million by the demographer <a href="/facts/Sergio_Della_Pergola/C9t3swjk">Sergio Della Pergola</a> or less than 0.2% of the total world population in 2012. Today, over 85% of Jews live in <a href="/facts/Israel/dEe3IcaY">Israel</a> or the <a href="/facts/History_of_the_Jews_in_the_United_States/LPUkRMkP">United States</a>. Israel, whose population is 73.9% Jewish, is the only country where Jews comprise more than 2.5% of the population.
Jews have significantly influenced and contributed to the development and growth of human progress in many fields, both historically and in modern times, including in <a href="/facts/Jewish_culture/PNFhFn7t">science and technology</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_philosophy/tyN7LKx5">philosophy</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_ethics/WhXrH8Qp">ethics</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_literature/03N3umEm">literature</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_political_movements/DTXggwuK">governance</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_culture/PNFhFn7t">business</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_art/PNFhFn7t">art</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_music/7qKxvRea">music</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_humor/xN6WfJ2B">comedy</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_theatre/PNFhFn7t">theatre</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_culture/PNFhFn7t">cinema</a>, <a href="/facts/Architecture_of_Israel/YU1VMeqe">architecture</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_cuisine/0hRWn3Ro">food</a>, <a href="/facts/Jewish_medicine/h6aHeJ0f">medicine</a>, and <a href="/facts/Jewish_religious_movements/WM3LKTyT">religion</a>. Jews founded <a href="/facts/Jewish_Christianity/Hxbs3RJ9">Christianity</a> and had <a href="/facts/Islamic%25E2%2580%2593Jewish_relations/RclEeVzn">an indirect but profound influence on Islam</a>. In these ways and others, Jews have played a significant role in the development of <a href="/facts/Western_culture/rPbgAhzI">Western culture</a>.

Jews open-in-new

Jews