

The Greek term was a loan from Aramaic *yahūdāy, corresponding to Hebrew יְהוּדִי Yehudi, originally the term for the people of the kingdom of Judah. These terms were loaned via the Old French giu, which itself evolved from the earlier juieu, which in turn derived from judieu/iudieu which through elision had dropped the letter "d" from the Medieval Latin Iudaeus, which, like the New Testament Greek term Ioudaios, meant both "Jew" and " Judean" / "of Judea". The English word "Jew" continues Middle English Gyw, Iewe. įor a more comprehensive list, see List of Jewish ethnonyms. In these ways, Jews have also played a significant role in the development of Western culture. Jews wrote the Bible, were the founders of early Christianity, and had an indirect but profound influence on Islam. Jews have significantly influenced and contributed to human progress in many fields, both historically and in modern times, including in science and technology, philosophy, ethics, literature, politics, business, art, music, comedy, theatre, cinema, architecture, food, medicine, and religion. Israel's Law of Return grants the right of citizenship to Jews who have expressed their desire to settle in the Jewish state.

It defines itself as a Jewish and democratic state in its Basic Laws, particularly in Human Dignity and Liberty-which is based on the Israeli Declaration of Independence-and Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People. The modern State of Israel is the only country where Jews form a majority of the population.

Since then, the population has slowly risen again, and as of 2018, was estimated to be at 14.6–17.8 million by the Berman Jewish DataBank, comprising less than 0.2 percent of the total world population. During World War II, approximately 6 million Jews throughout Europe were systematically murdered by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. Prior to World War II, the global Jewish population reached a peak of 16.6 million, representing around 0.7 percent of the world population at that time. In the following millennia, Jewish diaspora communities coalesced into three major ethnic subdivisions according to where their ancestors settled: the Ashkenazim ( Central and Eastern Europe), the Sephardim (initially in the Iberian Peninsula), and the Mizrahim ( Middle East and North Africa). Though few sources mention the exilic periods in detail, the experience of life in the Jewish diaspora, from the Babylonian captivity and exile to the Roman occupation and exile, and the historical relations between Jews and their homeland in the Levant thereafter became a major feature of Jewish history, identity, culture, and memory. Some consider that these Canaan-sedentary Israelites melded with incoming nomadic groups known as the "Hebrews". The Israelites, as an outgrowth of the Canaanite population, consolidated their hold in the region with the emergence of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt appears to confirm the existence of a people of Israel somewhere in Canaan as far back as the 13th century BCE ( Late Bronze Age). Jews originated as an ethnic and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, in a part of the Levant known as the Land of Israel. Jewish ethnicity, nationhood, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the ethnic religion of the Jewish people, although its observance varies from strict to none.
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Jews ( Hebrew: יְהוּדִים, ISO 259-2: Yehudim, Israeli pronunciation: ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah.
