European Ethnic Groups


You may have family stories that have been passed down from ancestors, or even documentation, that mentions a nationality or ethnicity that may seem puzzling to you. Many of our ancestors indentified with an ethnic group within a country, moreso than the country itself. And, some countries from which our ancestors emigrated no longer exist today.

Following is a list of sites that I hope will help you discover the country origins of these ancestors:

ALSACE: German Genealogy: Alsace/Elsass - An interesting area of France, that for a while was part of Germany.

ARBERESH: Italo-Albanian Heritage Pages - Descendents of Western Balkan people who migrated to Italy in the 15th and 16th Centuries.

BANAT: German Genealogy: Donauschwaben in the Banat, including the Arader Land - In 1718 it was an Austrian colony, then split between Romania, Yugoslavia, and Hungary in 1919.

BASQUE COUNTRY: Buber's Basque Page: History of the Basques - A distinct ethnic group, that lies in northernmost Spain.

BOHEMIA: (see Sudentenland)

BUKOVINA: German Genealogy: Bukowina: Former Melting Pot of Eastern Europe - Now part of the Ukraine and Romania, it once was a site for large migrations of German peoples. This site includes a very good link to a short history.

CARPATHO-RUSYNS: Researching the People From 'No Man's Land':The Carpatho-Rusyns of Austria Hungary - This is an ethnic group from the Carpathian mountain region, in the northeastern corner of what was once Austria Hungary.

GALACIA: German Genealogy: Galicia/Galizien - An area that has past back and forth between Austria and Poland. It, too, saw a large immigation of German peoples.

MORAVIA: (see Sudentenland)

POMERANIA: The German Province of Pomerania - Once part of Germany, now part of Poland.

PRUSSIA: Prussia Genealogy Bridge to Information on Prussian Genealogy - If you are like me, and run across documentation that lists your ancestor as coming from Prussia, you will find yourself on a search into a very broad and diverse area. Narrowing exactly where your ancestor came from can be a problem, that will only be solved by further research.

SILESIA: (see Sudentenland)

SUDENTENLAND: German genealogy: region Sudetenland - A german speaking area that includes Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia. At one time part of the Austrian Empire, then it became a part of Czechoslavakia.

TIROL/TYROL: German Genealogy: Tirol: Located in northern Italy. Once a part of Austria.

TRANSYLVANIA: Siebenbuerger Sachsen/Transylvania Saxons - Once part of Austria, and became another booty in the successive wars. It lies in the area of Romania and Hungary.

The copyright of the article European Ethnic Groups in Genealogy is owned by Christine Sievers. Permission to republish European Ethnic Groups in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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