Campbell Braddock: DNA

England & Northwestern Europe. 57%

The history of Britain, the heart of our England & Northwestern Europe region is often presented as one group of invaders after another displacing the native population. The Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, and Normans all left their mark on Britain both politically and culturally. However, the story of Britain is far more complex. In fact, modern studies suggest the earliest populations weren’t wiped out but adapted and absorbed the new arrivals.

Norway. 21%

The earliest inhabitants of our Norway region were strong, seafaring peoples. For centuries, hunter-gatherers slowly pushed north across the Baltic Sea, probing coastal fjords and inland stretches for arable land as ice melted off the untamed region. While Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes all share a common Norse heritage, over time, Norway’s resilient coastal communities evolved into a nation known for its seamanship, technology, artistry, and mythology.

Scotland. 14%

With its centre in the northern third of the island of Great Britain but stretching down to Brittany in France, our Scotland ethnicity region is known for its geographical beauty, medieval architecture, and folklore. Gaelic and Scots have influenced regional English dialects and are both still spoken in some areas. National symbols, including the Lion Rampant, clan tartans, and bagpipes, are often recognized internationally alongside symbols of traditional cuisine, like whisky and haggis.

Jewish Peoples of Europe. 5%

The historic dispersal of the Jewish population from its origin in the Levant on the east coast of the Mediterranean resulted in insular communities scattered throughout Europe, North Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Although some Jewish communities enjoyed relative peace and prosperity positions, many more were segregated from mainstream society by law, custom, and prejudice, experiencing sustained persecution and discrimination. Jewish populations from northern and eastern Europe are often known as “Ashkenazi.” “Sephardic” refers to Jews who were expelled from Spain during the Inquisition and mostly settled in North Africa and southeastern Europe.

Sweden & Denmark. 2%

Our Sweden & Denmark region emerged from glacial ice as lands of lakes and islands, mountains and plains. Though the countries were often at war, the people share a common Norse heritage that includes elements of language, religion, and art, though they eventually developed cultures of their own. Situated along the western boundary of the Baltic Sea, relative geographic isolation did not stop the Swedes and the Danes from influencing culture, trade, and politics in Europe and around the globe.

Wales. 1%

The rolling hills and steep cliffs bounded by England to the east and 870 miles of coastline on the north, west, and south make up our Wales population region—or Cymru in Welsh, which is still spoken there. First settled by Celtic tribes, the country’s ancient and medieval history has been preserved and woven into a modern sense of Welsh identity and pride, which is still visible in the country’s 600 castles, its Welsh-language media, and its Eistedfoddau, festivals that celebrate Wales’s long tradition of literature, poetry, and music.

English. 57.3%

Britain - specifically the eastern region of the British Isles - has been populated continuously for at least the past 15,000 years, with recent ethnic stock (from before the 11th century) including pre-Celts, Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Norse, and Normans. More recently - that is, since the Middle Ages - other ethnicities migrated to Britain, whether by invitation (European Jews in 1070, by William the Conqueror, though they were expelled about 200 years later), by virtue of the African slave trade (dating back to the 1730s CE), or trade (including the oldest Chinese community in Europe, dating back to the 19th century). After World War II, that diverse immigration increased by leaps and bounds, so the melting pot of English ethnicity has seen increased diversity from the Caribbean, South Asia, and Africa. That said, the dominant “original” British ethnic group is dominated by the English, of course, and includes the Celtic heirs, as some of Welsh, Scottish, and Irish descent respectively have settled in modern-day England.

Scandinavian. 20.7%

Scandinavia is a region of Northern Europe that includes Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Scandinavian people share a common North Germanic heritage. Germanic tribes of antiquity travelled south to continental Europe along trade, fishing, and conquest routes, eventually colliding with the Romans. Migration from Scandinavia to other parts of Europe began centuries ago. In the Middle Ages, Vikings — Norse seafarers who raided and traded from Scandinavia across large swaths of Europe — left their genetic mark throughout the continent. The Vikings also travelled westward into Greenland and further into a region of coastal North America that they reached in the 10th century and called Vinland (this may refer to Newfoundland). People with Scandinavian ethnicity also settled in the Faroe Islands and Iceland, where they formed a very isolated, endogamous community. In the late 19th century, millions of Scandinavians emigrated to North America and Scandinavian cultural influence is readily apparent in the Midwestern United States, where many locals bear Scandinavian surnames. Ancient Norse mythology has also entered into the regular English lexicon; most days of the week in English are named after ancient Norse gods. For example, Wednesday is named after Odin and Thursday originates from Thor, the god of thunder.

Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. 12.9%

The western region of the British-Irish Isles is populated by peoples descended from the 6 Celtic nations, which comprise two ethnolinguistic groups: the Brittonic peoples, who were displaced by the Anglo Saxons and settled in what is now Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany; and the Gaels, who became the dominant culture in Ireland and then expanded to Scotland and the Isle of Man. Each of these cultures has spoken some variant of its original Celtic dialect continuously. The Irish derive their name from the Gaelic term for the territory, Éire, and are heirs to a rich oral tradition of poetry, music, storytelling, dance, and mythology. The Scottish, though descended from the same roots, developed their own distinct culture, as well as their own dialect of Gaelic and the Scots language. They are named for the Latin term for all Gaels, “Scoti.” Their Brittonic neighbours, the Welsh, were labelled “walhaz,” meaning “foreigner” or “stranger” in Germanic, and the name of their ethnicity and language is derived from that term. During the Middle Ages, Anglo-Norman conquerors invaded the region, and English colonization in the 16th and 17th centuries reshaped its ethnic and linguistic character — introducing the English language, which is now ubiquitous throughout the British-Irish Isles. Still, the Irish, Scottish, and Welsh take great pride in their respective languages, histories, traditions, and other distinct cultural assets.

Ashkenazi Jewish. 3.8%

The Ashkenazim are a European Jewish diaspora who trace their communal origins to Germany and France and later to the eastward migration towards Poland and the Slavic countries. Because of traditional marriage practices and segregation from surrounding cultures, the Ashkenazi Jewish population is genetically very closely knit. Due to persecution, genocides, and the devastation of the Holocaust, Ashkenazi Jews have migrated across the world, with the largest populations in the U.S. and Israel, and significant populations across the Americas, the Former Soviet Union, and in South Africa and Australia. Jewish culture emphasizes learning, which might explain why — while Jews represent only 0.2% of the world population — about a quarter of all Nobel Prize winners have been Jewish.

North African. 4.3%

Many people from the North African region known as the Maghreb (which encompasses modern-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya) trace their roots to the Berbers of antiquity. North Africans share some genetic traits with their Southern European neighbours. However, the cultures and religions of the region were affected significantly by Arabization and the rise of Islam after the 6th century CE. Colonization and waves of immigration over the last two centuries have created a large North African diaspora; France is home to nearly 5 million people of North African heritage. One staple dish, in particular, has brought fame to North African cuisine: couscous.

Nigerian. 1%

Nigeria has the largest population in Africa and its people belong to over 250 sub-ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Esan and the Yoruba. Nigeria was ruled by various kingdoms and tribal rulers and became a colony of England in the 19th century. Many people of African descent in the Americas, and particularly in the Caribbean, have some Nigerian ethnicity. Modern migrations have resulted in a large presence of people of Nigerian descent elsewhere in Africa, the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and the Netherlands. Yoruba art, and its intricate wood and metal sculpture, in particular, emphasizes the human head, which the Yoruba regard as the essential life source.