Palestinians are an Arab ethnonational group who have inhabited the region of Palestine over the millennia, and who are today culturally and linguistically Arab. They are the native inhabitants of the land of Palestine and are descendants of the many waves of invaders who settled Palestine through the ages. The term "Palestinian" was used to refer to the nationalist concept of a Palestinian people by Palestinian Arabs from the late 19th century and in the pre-World War I period. The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and subsequent creation of an individual British Mandate for the region replaced Ottoman citizenship with Palestinian citizenship, solidifying a national identity. Anyone born, after that date, of a Palestinian father – whether in Palestine or outside it – is also a Palestinian. Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, the majority of them descended from Palestinians who remained in the country after the 1948 war, constitute about one-fifth of the Israeli population.