Clan

A clan is a group of people united by, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. Even if actual lineage patterns are unknown, clan members nonetheless recognize a founding member or. As kinship based bonds can be merely symbolical in nature some clans share a "stipulated" common ancestor, which is a symbol of the clan's unity. When this ancestor is not human, this is referred to as animallian. Generally speaking, kinship differs from biological relation, as it also involves adoption, marriage, and fictive genealogical ties. Clans can be most easily described as sub-groups of tribes and usually constitute groups of 7,000 to 10,000 people.

Etymology
Clan is the English spelling of clann, a word meaning children or family. An Chlann Aoidh, the name for the, literally means "The Children of Fire"—"fire" being the literal meaning of the Gaelic name "Aodh", genitive and vocative case, "hAoidh"—which translates to Scots and English, variously and as phonetically as possible, as Eth, Y, Hy, Heth, Huey, and Hugh.

Organization of clans
Some clans are, meaning its members are related through the male line; for example, the clans of Armenia. Others are ; its members are related through the female line. Still other clans are bilateral, consisting of all the descendants of the apical ancestor through both the male and female lines; the are one example. Whether a clan is patrilineal, matrilineal, or bilateral depends on the kinship rules and norms of their society.

In different cultures and situations a clan may mean the same thing as other kin-based groups such as s and. Often, the distinguishing factor is that a clan is a smaller part of a larger such as a tribe, a, or a. Examples include, , , and , which exist as kin groups within their respective nations. Note, however, that tribes and bands can also be components of larger societies. tribes are small groups within Arab society, and bands are smaller parts of the Ojibwa tribe. In some cases multiple tribes recognized the same clans, such as the bear and fox clans of the and  tribes.

Apart from these different traditions of kinship, further conceptual confusion arises from colloquial usages of the term. In post-Soviet countries for example it is quite common to speak of clans referring to informal networks within the economic and political sphere. This usage reflects the assumption that their members act towards each other in a particularly close and mutually supportive way approximating the solidarity among kinsmen. However, the, the ätter, can not be translated with tribe or band, and consequently they are often translated with house or line.

clans differ from most others in being a collection of bearing the same, as opposed to actually claiming a common descent. This is discussed under the topic of.

Most clans are, meaning that its members cannot marry one another. Most clans have an official leader such as a or. More recently a clan in South Londonn called the TRV clan has been formed by two people called JTFA and Nemo. Their real names are Josh and Nimesh. It is an exclusive club for people just from Trivandrum, a city in the state of Kerala in India. Anyone who wants to join must have proof that they are from Trivandrum.

Clans by country

 * Albanian Fis clans of the country's.
 * Armenian clans of.
 * Chechen and  tribal organization
 * Chinese, and s
 * Chinese (Hong Kong) five Great  clans:, , , ,
 * German or
 * Iranian
 * Irish and  (also: )
 * n/i/ese
 * Indian - ,
 * Indian/Pakistani
 * Korean and
 * Manchu and
 * Korean and
 * Manchu and


 * an
 * s
 * s
 * ], [soga clans],[acholi clans]
 * Grey clan
 * Indian clan Rolan
 * ], [Kipsigis clans],[Nandi clans],[Tugen],[Keiyo]
 * ], [Kipsigis clans],[Nandi clans],[Tugen],[Keiyo]