23andMe Reference Populations & Regions

The Ancestry Composition Report uses two types of reference populations to uncover your ancestry:

• Regional populations that represent ancestry from several hundred years ago. These reference populations are used to generate your ancestry percentages.
• Genetic Group and Country Match populations that represent where your more recent ancestors may have lived.

Our regional populations are based on reference datasets representing 78 populations. When selecting these 78 reference populations, we attempted to make the population or geographic region represented by each dataset as specific and granular as possible. We experimented with different groupings of country-level populations to find combinations that we could distinguish between. There are some populations that are inherently difficult to tell apart, typically because the people in those regions mixed throughout history or have a shared history, or we might not have had enough data to tell them apart. As we obtain more data, populations will become easier to distinguish, and we will be able to report on more populations in the Ancestry Composition Report.

The 78 Ancestry Composition regional populations are organized in a hierarchy, which reflects the genetic structure of global populations. For example, "Scottish" is a part of "British & Irish", which is part of "European".

Country Matches and Genetic Groups may reflect specific locations where your ancestors likely lived during the last few hundred years, or may reflect shared ancestry with groups of people who identified as belonging to a certain ethnic group or sharing some other form of connection. Country Matches and Genetic Groups typically represent ancestry on a more recent timescale than what is reflected by your population percentages. These results are noted in each of the regional populations, below. You can learn more about Country Matches and Genetic Groups here. Currently, there are 4000+ Country Matches and Genetic Groups in the Ancestry Composition Report.

The global populations available in Ancestry Composition are:

• European
• Central & South Asian
• Indigenous American
• East Asian
• Sub-Saharan African
• Western Asian & North African
• Melanesian

Go to your Ancestry Composition Report

 

European

British & Irish

The British Isles have been continuously occupied by humans for the last 11,000 years, but more recently, the people of the Isles have left their genetic fingerprints around the world, following centuries of nautical exploration, colonization, and immigration. In the early 20th century, the Republic of Ireland won its independence from the United Kingdom, but the people of these nations share a common genetic heritage rooted largely in Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Viking migrations from northwestern Europe.

The British & Irish population has the following Country Matches:

• Guernsey

English

The English population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• United Kingdom (England)
• Central North Midlands
• Cumbria
• East Anglia
• Lancashire
• Lancashire and West Yorkshire
• North Central England
• North East England
• Northern England and Southern Scotland
• Northern West Midlands
• South England
• South England, South West England, and East Anglia
• South West England
• West Lancashire and Merseyside
• West Midlands
• West Yorkshire

Irish

The Irish population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Republic of Ireland 
• Central and Northern Ireland
• Central and Southern Ireland
• Donegal
• Galway
• Galway and Central Ireland
• Mayo
• North Central Ireland
• Northern Munster
• Southern Leinster
• Southern Munster
• Southwest Munster
• Yorkshire, Humberside and the East Midlands

Scottish

The Scottish population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• United Kingdom (Scotland) 
• Grampian
• Northeastern Coastal Scotland 
• Northern Ireland and Central Scottish Lowlands
• Northern Isles
• Northern and Central Scotland
• Scottish Highlands and Western Islands
• Scottish Lowlands and Southern Uplands

Welsh 

The Welsh population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• United Kingdom (Wales) 

Central & Eastern European

The genetic heritage of Central and Eastern Europe traces back to peoples living southeast of the Baltic Sea and to a more recent influx of Slavic-speaking peoples from north of the Black Sea. While the region’s diverse populations—Baltic, Slavic, Finno-Ugric, and others—retain distinct linguistic and cultural identities, their histories have been shaped by overlapping empires. In recent decades, significant migration from the region has further extended this shared heritage around the world.

Belarusian, Polish & Ukrainian

The Belarusian, Polish & Ukrainian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Belarus 
• Poland
• Ukraine
• Ashmyany Upland
• Augustów Plain
• Belarusian Dnieper River Basin
• Beskid Sądecki
• Central Beskidian Piedmont
• Czarny Dunajec River Basin
• Dnieper Lowland
• Dniester and Upper Tisza River Basins
• Eastern Mazovia
• Eastern Sandomierz Basin
• Gdańsk Pomerania
• Gorce and Tatra Mountains
• Halychyna
• Knyszyn Basin
• Kurpie Plain
• Lesser Poland Upland
• Lower Biebrza River Basin
• Lower Dunajec River Basin
• Lower Narew River Basin
• Lublin Upland
• Middle Biebrza Basin
• Minsk Upland
• Narew and Biebrza River Basins
• Northern Sandomierz Basin
• Northwestern Mazovia
• Orava-Nowy Targ Basin
• Podhale
• Podillia and Dnieper Uplands
• Podlachia
• Polesian Lowland
• Pripet Marshes
• Ptsich River Basin
• Roztochia Upland
• Sluch River Basin
• Sokólskie Hills
• Spisz
• Suwalszczyzna
• Suwałki Lakeland
• Upper Narew River Basin
• Upper Narew Valley
• Upper Neman River Valley
• Upper Silesia and Łęczyca-Sieradz Land
• Upper Sozh River Basin
• Upper Vistula River Basin
• Vistula and Wieprz River Basins
• Wielkopolska and Pomerelia

Czech, Hungarian, Slovak & Southern Polish

The Czech, Hungarian, Slovak & Southern Polish population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Czech Republic
• Hungary
• Slovakia
• Bohemia
• Branisko Mountains
• Brno Highlands
• Central Pannonian Basin
• Chřiby
• Drahanská Vrchovina
• Eastern Carpathians and Upper Tisza River Basin
• Eastern Slovak Flat
• Hostýn-Vsetín Mountains
• Košice Basin
• Křižanov Highlands
• Little Hungarian Plain
• Low Tatras
• Malá Fatra and Northern Danubian Lowland
• Moravia
• Moravian-Silesian Beskids
• Myjava Hills
• North Hungarian Mountains
• Northern Bohemian-Moravian Highlands
• Northwestern Bohemia
• Olza River Basin
• Orava
• Ore Mountains
• Prague Plateau
• Slovak-Moravian Carpathians
• Spiš
• Sudetes Mountains
• Transdanubia
• Třeboň Basin
• Upper Váh River Basin
• Veľká Fatra and Danubian Hills
• Western Slovakia
• Zala River Basin
• Zemplín
• Ľubovňa Highlands
• Šariš
• Ždánice Forest
• Žilina Basin

Estonian

The Estonian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Estonia 
• Northern Estonia
• Pärnu Bay and Sakala Upland
• Põltsamaa River Basin
• Väinameri Sea
• Võromaa

Latvian

The Latvian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Latvia
• Courland
• Latgale and Selonia
• Vidzeme and Semigallia

Lithuanian

The Lithuanian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Lithuania
• Aukštaitija
• Jūra River Basin
• Lower Neris River Basin
• Merkys River Basin
• Nemunas Loops
• Nevėžis River Basin
• Samogitia
• Samogitian Upland
• Sudovian Upland
• Suvalkija and Dzūkija
• Upper Šešupė River Basin

Russian

The Russian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Russia
• Central Russian and Volga Uplands
• Central Ural Mountains
• Chuvashia
• Doukhobors
• Kama River Basin
• Lower Chusovaya River Basin
• Lower Kama River Basin
• Lower Tobol and Vyatka River Basins
• Middle Volga Region
• Molokans
• Mordvins
• Pechora and Northern Dvina River Basins
• Sheksna River Basin
• Southern Ural Foothills
• Udmurtia
• Unzha and Pyshma River Basins
• Upper Izh and Iset River Basins
• Upper Volga Region
• Upper Vyatka River Basin
• Vepsian Upland and Valdai Hills
• Volga-Ural Region

Slovenian

The Slovenian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Slovenia
• Inner Carniola
• Kočevje Region
• Krka River Basin
• Ljubljana Basin
• Lower Carniola
• Mirna Valley and Dry Carniola
• Primorska
• Rinza Valley
• Slovenian Sava River Basin
• Styria and Prekmurje
• Upper Carniola

Greek & Balkan

The Balkan Peninsula is nestled in the southeastern corner of Europe and serves as the geographic and genetic crossroads between Europe and western Asia. Despite broad cultural and religious diversity, the people of the Balkans are genetically similar to one another, descending from early Mediterranean and Slavic peoples. Island Greeks lack this ancestral Slavic influence and are similar to southern Italians.

Albanian & Macedonian

The Albanian & Macedonian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Albania (central and southern counties) 
• North Macedonia 
• Albanian Ionian Coast
• Baba Mountain and Prespa Valley Albanians
• Black Drin River Basin
• Central Albania
• Lake Ohrid Basin
• Mount Bistra
• Osogovo and Belasica Mountains
• Pelagonia Valley
• Polog Valley
• Prespa Valley Macedonians
• Southern Albania

Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin & Serbian

The Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin & Serbian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Croatia
• Montenegro
• Serbia
• Bosna River Basin
• Dinara Mountains
• Drina River Basin
• Eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Great Morava River Basin
• Herzegovina Region
• Neretva River Basin
• Northern Bosnia
• Northern Croatian Islands
• Southern Dalmatia
• Southern Pannonian Basin and Northern Dinaric Alps
• Una River Basin
• Western Croatia and Southern Slovenia

Bulgarian, Moldovan & Romanian

The Bulgarian, Moldovan & Romanian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Bulgaria
• Moldova
• Romania
• Apuseni Mountains
• Arges River Basin
• Bukovina
• Bulgarian Black Sea Coast
• Bulgarian Mountains
• Bîc River Basin
• Central Moldavian Plateau
• Danubian Plain
• Dobruja and Prut River Basin
• Ialomița River Basin
• Lower Răut River Basin
• Lower Suceava River Basin
• Maritsa River Basin
• Moldavian Plain
• Moldavian Plateau
• Northeastern Carpathian Mountains
• Northern Balkan Foothills
• Northern Moldova
• Oltenian Plateau
• Someș River Valley
• Székely Land
• Târnave Plateau
• Western Moldavia

Greek

The Greek population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Greece
• Aegean Islands
• Chios
• Cyclades
• Eastern Crete
• Greater Attica
• Ikaria and Patmos
• Ionian Islands
• Kefalonia
• Kos and Kalymnos
• Lesbos and North Aegean Islands
• Messinian Gulf
• Northern Peloponnese
• Parnon Mountains
• Pindus Mountains
• Rhodes and Karpathos
• Southern Peloponnese
• Tripoli Plateau
• Western Crete
• Western Macedonia

Kosovar & Northern Albanian

The Kosovar & Northern Albanian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Albania (northern counties)
• Montenegrin Malësia
• Prokletije Highlands
• Shkodër Lowlands and the Albanian Alps
• Southern Adriatic Coast
• Southern Dinaric Alps

Italian & Maltese

The peoples of Italy and Malta descend from a complex blend of ancient populations. Italy, inhabited for more than 30,000 years, was a crossroads of the Mediterranean and was shaped by the rise and fall of the Western Roman Empire and later migrations from Germanic, Greek, North African, and Western Asian peoples. Malta—strategically located between Europe and North Africa—has been shaped by Phoenician, Roman, Arab, Norman, and Italian influences, reflecting its long history as a center of maritime exchange.

Maltese

The Maltese population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Malta 
• Malta and South Central Sicily

Northern Italian

The Northern Italian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Italy (northern regions)
• Adige River Basin
• Central Arno Basin
• Central Ligurian Apennines and Western Emilia-Romagna
• Central Lombardian Prealps
• Central Po Valley
• Corsica and Southern France
• Dolomites Region
• Friuli-Venezia Giulia
• Garda Mountains
• Marche and the Central Adriatic Coast
• Modena and Reggio Emilia
• Northeastern Venetian Plain
• Northern Po Valley
• Northwestern Po Valley
• Northwestern Venetian Plain
• Southeastern Po Valley
• Southern Venetian Plain
• The Valtellina
• Western Arno Basin and Magra Valley
• Western Great Pre-Alpine Lakes
• Western Gulf of Genoa and the Monregalese
• Western Po Valley

Sardinian

The Sardinian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Campidano Plain and Gennargentu Mountains
• Coghinas, Mannu, and Temo Basins
• Northeastern Sardinian Highlands

Southern Italian

The Southern Italian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Italy (southern regions)
• Calabrian Serre
• Campanian Valley
• Central Sicily
• Eastern Bari
• Eastern Messina
• Eleuterio Basin
• Foggia
• Gulf of Termini Imerese
• Gulfs of Palermo and Castellammare
• Irpinia Region
• Isthmus of Catanzaro
• L'Aquila
• La Sila
• Latin Valley
• Lucanian Apennines
• Molise
• Mount Etna and the Simeto Basin
• Northern Gulf of Naples
• Northern Trapani
• Pescara and Vomano Valleys
• Platani Basin
• Ragusa Hyblaean Plateau
• Salento Peninsula
• Sangro River Valley
• Sciacca Verdura Basin
• Southern Calabrian Apennines
• Southern Gulf of Naples
• Southern Trapani
• Syracuse Hyblaean Plateau
• Vibo Valentia Peninsula and Gioia Tauro Valley
• Volturno Valley and the Matese
• Western Bari
• Western Messina and the Aeolian Islands

Nordic

Nordic peoples share deep cultural and historical ties, even as distinct regional identities have taken shape over time. The people of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland largely descend from medieval North Germanic tribes who settled around the North Sea, shaping a common linguistic and genetic heritage often associated with Scandinavia. In contrast, Finns trace their roots to Finno-Ugric-speaking populations, whose language and ancestry are distinct from their Scandinavian neighbors.

The Nordic population has the following Country Matches:

• Faroe Islands

Danish

The Danish population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Denmark 
• East Jutland
• Hovedstaden, Sjælland, and Fyn
• Northern Denmark
• Southern Denmark
• West Jutland

Finnish 

The Finnish population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Finland
• Helsinki and Southern Finland
• Karelia
• Lapland, Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainu Region
• Ostrobothnia and Central Ostrobothnia
• West-Central Coast of Finland

Icelandic

The Icelandic population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Iceland
• Northern Iceland
• Southern Iceland and Reykjavik Region
• Western Iceland

Norwegian

The Norwegian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Norway
• Arctic Norway
• Boknafjord Lowlands
• Northwestern Norwegian Fjords
• Oslofjord Lowlands
• Southern Norwegian Coastal Plains
• Trondheim Fjord Region
• Western Fjords

Swedish

The Swedish population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Sweden
• Central Götaland
• Eastern Norrland
• Eastern Svealand and southern Norrland
• Northwest Götaland
• Skåneland
• Western Svealand

Spanish & Portuguese

The genetic landscape of the Iberian Peninsula – represented today by the people of Spain and Portugal – was influenced by several Mediterranean civilizations, including 800 years of Arabic North African rule. Now, a small North African genetic signature is present in Spanish & Portuguese DNA, and over eight percent of Spanish words carry Arabic origins. Conquistadors from Portugal and Spain colonized parts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, and this ancestry is now relatively common in Latino peoples from Central and South America.

Andalusian, Asturian & Castilian

The Andalusian, Asturian & Castilian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Spain (central and southern regions)
• Aragon, La Rioja, and Navarre
• Badajoz and Córdoba
• Cantabria
• Castile and León
• Central Asturias
• Eastern Andalusia
• Eastern Asturias
• Eastern La Mancha
• Granada
• Huelva, Seville, and Badajoz
• Madrid and North Central Spain
• Madrid and South Central Spain
• Malaga
• Murcia
• Salamanca
• Southern Andalusia
• Western Asturias

Aragonese & Catalan

The Aragonese & Catalan population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Spain (eastern region)
• Balearic Islands, Alicante, and Southern Valencia
• Catalonia
• Valencia and Castellón

Basque

The Basque population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Spain (Basque Country and Navarre)
• Basque of Alava, Gipuzkoa, and Western Navarre
• Basque of Biscay
• Basque of Gipuzkoa
• Basque of Southwestern France
• Eastern Navarre

Canary Islander

The Canary Islander population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Spain (Canary Islands)
• Canary Islands

Portuguese & Galician

The Portuguese & Galician population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Portugal 
• Spain (Galicia)
• Aveiro
• Central and Eastern São Miguel Island
• Central and Southern Portugal
• Estremadura
• Flores, Corvo, and Graciosa Islands
• Guarda and Viseu
• Madeira
• Minho and Vila Real
• Northern Galicia
• Pico and Faial Islands
• Porto
• Santa Maria Island
• Southwestern Galicia
• São Jorge Island
• Terceira Island
• Western Galicia
• Western São Miguel Island

Western European

Western Europeans descend from ancient Celtic and Germanic populations and inhabit an area extending from the Netherlands to Austria.

Austrian & Southern German

The Austrian & Southern German population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Austria (eastern states)
• Germany (eastern and southern states)
• Baden-Württemberg and Bavarian Swabia
• Black Forest
• Carnic and Gailtal Alps
• Central Swabia
• Eastern Austrian plains
• Eastern Bavarian Highlands
• Eastern German Plains
• Greater Allgäu
• Greater Güssing
• Karawanks
• Lower Franconia
• Main River Basin
• Mur Valley and Salzburg
• Oberösterreich and the Danube Valley
• Rhine-Main region
• Saxony and the Thuringian Basin
• Southeastern Bavaria
• Upper and Middle Franconia
• Vienna and Northeast Austria
• Volga Germans
• Western Austrian Alps

Belgian, Rhinelander & Southern Dutch

The Belgian, Rhinelander & Southern Dutch population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Belgium
• Germany (western states)
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands (southern provinces) 
• East Flanders and western Flemish Brabant
• Guttland
• Noord-Brabant and Limburg
• Rhine-Ruhr Region
• Rhineland
• The Campine
• Wallonia and the southern Campine
• West Flanders and the Upper Scheldt

Dutch & Northern German

The Dutch & Northern German population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Germany (northwestern states)
• Netherlands (central and northern provinces)
• Central East Netherlands
• Elbe-Weser Triangle
• Friesland and western Groningen
• German Jutland
• Groningen and northern Drenthe
• North Holland Peninsula
• Northern Germany
• Northwestern German Plain
• Russian Mennonites
• The Ruhrgebiet, Teutoburg Forest and the Westphalian Highlands
• Utrecht and Gelderland
• Westphalian Lowlands
• Zeeland and South Holland
• Zuidvleugel and Groene Hart

French

The French population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• France
• Switzerland (western cantons)
• Artois and French Flanders
• Brittany
• Caen, Upper Normandy and Pas-de-Calais
• Central Brittany
• Corsica and Southeastern France
• Corsican Highlands
• Forez and East Central Auvergne
• French Low Countries
• Gascony and French Basque Country
• Limousin and Northern Aquitaine
• Lorraine and the Upper Rhine Valley
• Lower Brittany
• Lower Normandy
• Massif Central and Eastern Aquitaine Basin
• Moselle and Alsace
• Normandy and northern Pays de la Loire
• Northern Pays de la Loire
• Northern Pyrenees and Garonne River Basin
• Northern Rhône-Alps
• Paris Basin
• Rhône and Upper Loire Valleys
• Rhône-Alps and Provence
• Saint-Etienne, Ardèche, and Upper Loire
• Savoy and the Jura Mountains
• Southern Massif Central and Languedoc Coastal Plain
• Southern Pays de la Loire
• The Cévennes
• Upper Brittany
• Upper Garonne and Northwest Aquitaine
• Vosges and Southern Lorraine
• Walloon Flanders and French Hainaut
• Western Massif Central and Occitanie

Swiss, Southwestern German & Western Austrian

The Swiss, Southwestern German & Western Austrian population has the following Country Matches and Genetic Groups:

• Austria (central and western states) 
• Switzerland (central and eastern cantons)
• Bernese Alps
• Central Swiss Plateau
• Grisons
• Lake Lucerne
• Limmat Valley and Schaffhausen
• Lucerne, Kleine Emme Valley, and Seetal
• Muota Valley
• Northeastern Aare Basin
• Pennine Alps
• Thur Valley and Appenzell
• Ticino and Jura
• Western Swiss Plateau

Ashkenazi Jewish

Ashkenazi Jewish people settled in Central and Eastern Europe in the late Middle Ages, but their modern descendants remain genetically more similar to other Jewish populations than to their European neighbors, reflecting shared western Asian origins. In the twentieth century, many Ashkenazi Jewish people immigrated to Israel or to the Americas in search of greater cultural and religious acceptance. Today, over five million ethnic Ashkenazi Jewish people live in the U.S.

Although not a country or region, they have their own reference population in Ancestry Composition because Ashkenazi Jews are so genetically distinct.

The Ashkenazi Jewish population has the following Genetic Groups:

• Belarusian Jews
• Lithuanian Jews
• Western European Jews
• Southeastern Polish Jews
• Eastern Polish and Western Ukrainian Jews
• West Central Ukrainian Jews
• Central European and Western Ukrainian Jews

 

Central & South Asian

Central Asian, Northern Indian & Pakistani

The people of northern India, Pakistan, and Central Asia have a shared genetic history influenced by the southward migration of peoples from Central Asia around 4,000 years ago.

Bengali & Northeast Indian

The people of Bangladesh and northeast India share an ancient genetic history in the region where the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers meet. Tens of thousands of years ago, hunter-gatherers arrived from the west. Later migrations of Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Dravidian, and Indo-European-speaking groups brought additional genetic and linguistic diversity to the region. Compared to other South Asian populations, the people of Bangladesh and northeast India generally have more East Asian ancestry, reflecting the region’s role as a genetic crossroads.

The Bengali & Northeast Indian population has the following Country Matches:

• Bangladesh
• India (northeastern regions)
• Nepal

Central Asian

For thousands of years, Central Asian peoples have lived at the crossroads between eastern and western Eurasia, and their genetics reflect that history. Bounded by the Caspian Sea and China’s Taklamakan desert, the region has seen the empires of Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and Soviet Russia come and go. Today, Central Asia is home to over 100 million people, and their DNA contains varying degrees of similarity to East Asian, South Asian, or western Asian peoples.

The Central Asian population has the following Country Matches:

• Afghanistan
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan

Gujarati Patidar

Gujarati Patidars are members of a genetically distinct community from western India who descend from primarily agricultural and merchant classes. (Patel is the most common last name in this community and is related to the name Patidar, which means landowner). Over the centuries, as Patidars married within their community, a distinctive genetic heritage developed. Today, people with the last name Patel represent around 15% of the population of Gujarat and almost 10% of people of Indian descent in the United States.

Northern Indian & Pakistani

Today, around one-seventh of the world’s people live along or near the basins of the Indus and Ganges Rivers. Most northern Indian and Pakistani people speak Indo-European languages brought to the region from Central Asia around 4,000 years ago during the decline of the Indus Valley civilization. More recently, this region was home to a series of powerful empires, including the Sikh, Gupta, and Mughal empires.

The Northern Indian & Pakistani population has the following Country Matches:

• India (northern regions)
• Pakistan

Southern Indian Subgroup

The marriage restrictions imposed by a millennia-old caste system in India have resulted in a unique genetic landscape. There are many genetic clusters within India formed by caste, including groups in both northern and southern India who identify as Brahmin. Of these many groups, we were able to identify a genetic signature that reaches high levels among people with ancestry from southern India who say they are Brahmin. This group, labeled “Southern Indian Subgroup,” was probably identified in our Ancestry Composition analysis because members of these communities migrated to the United States at higher rates than others and are therefore more genetically represented in the 23andMe customer database. In the future, we hope to identify additional genetic communities within India that are more representative of the population as our database grows.

 

Southern South Asian

The genetic similarity within southern South Asia may be due in part to migrations of Dravidian-speaking peoples within the past few thousand years.

Malayali Subgroup

Home to the Malayali (meaning “people of the mountains”), Kerala has been at the heart of a thriving international spice trade for millennia, becoming one of India’s most diverse and prosperous states. This genetic signature reaches high levels among Christian communities who live in Kerala, a large number of whom immigrated to the United States during the last century.

Southern Indian & Sri Lankan

Humans first arrived in Sri Lanka and the southern states of India as early as 70,000 years ago. Within the past two millennia, southern India saw great Hindu kingdoms come and go, including the Chola and Chera Dynasties as well as Vijayanagar — whose capital, Hampi, was among the largest cities of the medieval world. This genetic signature may be related to the spread of Dravidian languages, although the majority of Sri Lankans now speak Sinhalese, an Indo-European language.

The Southern Indian & Sri Lankan population has the following Country Matches:

• India (southern regions)
• Sri Lanka

 

Broadly Central & South Asian

Central & South Asia are represented here by diverse populations from India and Sri Lanka in the south to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in the north. Some Central & South Asian DNA is difficult to assign confidently to one population and receives a ‘broadly’ designation.

The Broadly Central & South Asian population has Mauritius as a Country Match.

 

Indigenous American

Indigenous American

Since time immemorial, humans have called the Americas home, from the wind-battered islands of southern Patagonia to the gently rolling tundra of the North American Arctic. Humans may have lived in North America alongside now-extinct mammoths and giant sloths as early as 23,000 years ago, if not before. But DNA evidence suggests that major migrations into the Americas from northeast Asia began around 16,000 years ago, and it was these later migrations that gave rise to most present-day Indigenous American ancestry. Despite drastic population losses over the past 500 years resulting from colonialism, the genetic legacy of the First Peoples of the Americas persists to this day.

Arctic North American

The Arctic North American population includes the following Genetic Group:

• Alaska

Central Andean & Amazonian

The Central Andean & Amazonian population includes the following Genetic Groups:

• Bolivian Amazon
• Guaraní
• Mapuche of Chile
• Northern Peruvian Andes and Chira Valley
• Peruvian Amazon Basin
• Quechua and Aymara peoples
• Southern Peruvian Andes and Andean Plateau
• The Argentine Chaco and Pampas
• Tupí-Guaraní speakers
• Northeastern Brazilian Plateau
• Southern Brazilian Highlands
• Venezuelan Coastal Range
• Northern Venezuelan Andes and the Maracaibo Basin
• Southern Venezuelan Andes

North American

The North American population includes the following Genetic Groups:

• Columbia River Basin
• Great Basin & Lower Colorado Basin
• Great Lakes and Canada
• Northeast
• Plains
• South Central
• Balsas River Basin — Central Guerrero
• Balsas River Basin — Huitzuco
• Balsas River Basin — North Guerrero
• Balsas River Basin — Southwest Puebla
• Balsas River Basin — Tierra Caliente
• Balsas River Basin — West Guerrero
• East Central Mexico
• Isthmus of Tehuantepec — Oaxaca
• La Mixteca
• La Mixteca — North
• Mexican diasporic ancestry in the Marianas
• Mexican Volcanic Cordillera — Citlaltépetl and Tehuacán
• Mexican Volcanic Cordillera — East Central
• Mexican Volcanic Cordillera — South Central
• Mexican Volcanic Cordillera — Veracruz
• Mexican Volcanic Cordillera — West
• Mexican Volcanic Cordillera — West Central
• Mexican Volcanic Cordillera — West Puebla
• Mixtec
• Nahua
• Northern Mexican Plateau
• Otomí
• Plains of Northeastern Mexico
• Purépecha
• Sierra Madre del Sur — Coast
• Sierra Norte of Oaxaca
• Sonoran Desert
• Upper Santiago River Basin
• Valley of Oaxaca — Ejutla
• Valley of Oaxaca — Tlacolula
• West Central Mexico
• Zapotec

Northern Andean

The Northern Andean population includes the following Genetic Groups:

• Northern Ecuadorian Andes
• Southern Ecuadorian Andes
• Southern Ecuadorian Coast

Southern Mesoamerican

The Southern Mesoamerican population includes the following Genetic Groups:

• Altiplano Cundiboyacense of Colombia
• Central American Volcanic Cordillera — El Salvador
• Central Guatemalan Highlands
• Central Honduran Highlands
• Central Sierra Madres
• Central Valley of Costa Rica
• Chiapas Highlands
• Ch’orti’ of Guatemala and Honduras
• Coclé and West Central Panama
• Coclé and the Azuero Peninsula of Panama
• Colombian Caribbean Coast
• Colombian Central and Western Andes
• Guna Yala and East Central Panama
• Goascorán River Basin and Comayagua Valley
• Maya
• Motagua River Valley and the Eastern Guatemalan Highlands
• Northern Nicaraguan Highlands and Los Maribios
• Northwestern Guatemalan Highlands
• Pacific Lowlands of Western Panama
• West Central Nicaragua — Northeast Cocibolca
• West Nicaragua — Xolotlán and Cocibolca
• Western Guatemalan Highlands
• Western Honduran Highlands
• Yucatán Peninsula

Western North American

The Western North American population includes the following Genetic Group:

• Southwest

 

East Asian

Chinese

Northern Chinese & Tibetan

Around 10,000 years ago — long after humans first reached East Asia’s inland plateaus and temperate Pacific coast — people of the Cishan culture began to domesticate millet in China’s Yellow River basin. Descendants of these farmers later founded one of the world's most enduring civilizations and transformed the genetic landscape of East Asia. Although northern Chinese and Tibetan people share ancestry dating back more than 2,000 years, Tibetans also carry the genetic legacy of indigenous Tibetan hunter-gatherers. Individuals with “Northern Chinese & Tibetan” ancestry in their Ancestry Composition results may have ancestry from one or both of these populations.

The Northern Chinese & Tibetan population has the following Country Match:

• Mainland China (northern provinces)

Southern Chinese & Taiwanese

People of the Shangshan culture near the lower Yangtze began to domesticate rice around 10,000 years ago, and their genetic legacy was likely carried by their descendants as far away as Madagascar and the remote Pacific. Rice remains at the center of southern Chinese agriculture, but the ancestry of southern Chinese people was transformed by the expansion of early northern dynasties. Although these migrations pulled the diverse peoples of southern China toward a shared genetic identity with their northern neighbors, a distinct, southern ancestry still predominates from Sichuan to Shanghai. The large majority of Taiwanese people also share this ancestry, after centuries of migration from the Chinese mainland.

The Southern Chinese & Taiwanese population has the following Country Matches:

• Mainland China (southern provinces)
• Taiwan

South Chinese

By comparing the DNA of thousands of rice cultivars, Chinese scientists identified the Pearl River system as the most likely location of the world’s earliest rice domestication. Just as it once connected ancient farming societies and the southern Yue states, the Pearl River system now links millions of people in South China, from Nanning to Guangzhou and Hong Kong. A unique genetic signature can be found across the region, despite the southward expansion of the Han dynasty around 2,000 years ago. Cantonese and Taishanese—Yue dialects from the Pearl River delta—are still widely spoken among descendants of 19th and early 20th-century South Chinese immigrants around the world.

The South Chinese population has the following Country Match:

• Mainland China (south provinces)

Vietnamese

Present-day Vietnam was the cradle of one of the world’s earliest civilizations, and one of the world’s first regions to develop rice-based agriculture. A tropical country on the Indochinese Peninsula, Vietnam is bordered by China to the north and by Laos and Cambodia to the west. The country has 54 ethnic groups, the largest being the Kinh, who make up more than 85% of the population.

Filipino & Austronesian

Many indigenous Filipinos, including the Aeta, Batak, and Mamanwa peoples, are likely descended from one of the earliest dispersals of modern humans out of Africa. However, most Filipinos can trace their ancestry to a much more recent and widespread migration of Southeast Asian seafarers related to the indigenous people of Taiwan. Today, this genetic signature – called “Austronesian” (meaning “southern island”) – is common across the islands of the Pacific, from the Philippine Sea to Hawaii, and can be found as far away as Madagascar.

The Filipino & Austronesian population has the following Country Matches:

• American Samoa
• Guam
• Madagascar
• Micronesia
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Palau
• Philippines
• Samoa
• Tonga

Indonesian, Thai, Kymer & Myanma

From Myanmar to Indonesia, the people of Southeast Asia are genetically diverse, reflecting the legacies of several migrations beginning over 40,000 years ago. More recently, the region has been heavily influenced by Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic cultures. Before its fall in the fifteenth century, the Khmer empire – encompassing modern-day Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia – was the largest land empire in the region’s history.

The Indonesian, Thai, Khmer & Myanma population has the following Country Matches:

• Cambodia
• Indonesia
• Laos
• Malaysia
• Myanmar
• Thailand

Chinese Dai

The Dai people of southern China belong to the larger Tai ethnolinguistic group that currently lives in parts of China, Burma, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. In China, the Dai are one of over 50 officially recognized ethnic minority groups, and are united by unique cultural traditions anchored in Dai folk religion or Buddhism. Most Chinese Dai live in southern and western Yunnan Province, and are genetically more similar to their Vietnamese neighbors than they are to the Han Chinese.

Japanese

The Japanese Archipelago, composed of a whopping 6,852 islands, was colonized by multiple waves of immigrants beginning as early as 30,000 BCE. Modern Japanese people can trace most of their ancestry to the Stone Age Jōmon and late Stone Age Yayoi cultures. Yayoi DNA is concentrated in the center of Japan, while Jōmon ancestry persists to the north and south among the culturally distinctive Ainu and Ryukyuan peoples.

Korean

The Korean peninsula was first inhabited by hunter-gatherers who were genetically similar to Stone Age peoples living near the Amur River in eastern Russia. These early Koreans were later joined by Bronze Age rice farmers from southern China or Vietnam. By the 10th century, Korea was politically and culturally unified and remained so until the establishment of a communist north and a democratic south after the Second World War. Although North and South Koreans are politically divided, they remain genetically similar to one another.

 

Northern Asian

Northern Asian ancestry reflects a history of rapid, widespread human migrations across the vast Central Asian plains, and along the plateaus and waterways of Siberia.

Manchurian & Mongolian

The Manchurian and Mongolian population includes ethnolinguistic minorities like the Daur people — who speak a language related to Mongolian — and the Oroqen people, who speak a Tungusic language and live near the Amur River basin. These groups reside at the juncture of the Central Asian plains, boreal forests, and the Gobi Desert. Linguistically distinct but genetically similar, Mongolian and Manchurian peoples generally practice shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism.

Siberian

Many ethnolinguistic groups call the northern reaches of Asia home. Among them are the Yukaghir, the Nganasan, and the Turkic-speaking Yakuts, who migrated North and East from southern Siberia between 700-900 years ago to escape encroaching raiders. Today, the Yakuts are a large ethnic minority in northeastern Siberia and share genetic similarities with other indigenous groups in the region including the Evenks, Evens, and Buryats. Indigenous Siberians are often well adapted to climate extremes, as they face some of the largest annual temperature fluctuations in the world.

Broadly Northern Asian

Northern Asian ancestry reflects a history of rapid, widespread human migrations across the vast Central Asian plains, and along the plateaus and waterways of Siberia. Genetic markers associated with northern Asian ancestry may be relics of these far-reaching migrations, and cannot be confidently assigned to a specific region or group.

 

Broadly East Asian

From the expansive plains of central Asia to the islands of eastern Indonesia, the people of East Asia share genetic similarities dating back to the arrival of humans in the region over 40,000 years ago. Broadly East Asian DNA – likely driven in part by the spread of agriculture within the last few thousand years – matches several specific populations and is difficult to assign to just one.

 

Sub-Saharan African

West African | Northern East African | Congolese & Southern East African |

African Hunter-Gatherer | Broadly Sub-Saharan African

West African

For over a millennium before European colonization and the Atlantic slave trade, West Africans were united under a series of powerful empires, resulting in broad similarities in music, clothing, art, and cuisine. A gradient of genetic similarity extending from Senegal to Nigeria reflects a richly complex population history in a region home to over 350 million people who form hundreds of distinct ethnic groups.

Ghanaian, Liberian & Sierra Leonean

A continuum of genetic diversity stretches from Senegal to Nigeria, but the people of the coastal countries above the Gulf of Guinea — Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana — share a genetic similarity distinct from neighboring regions. The Temne people, who constitute the largest group in Sierra Leone, call this region home, as do the Mende people, who reside across West Africa. In neighboring Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the Akan peoples predominate.

The Ghanaian, Liberian & Sierra Leonean population has the following Country Matches:

• Ghana
• Liberia
• Sierra Leone

The Ghanaian, Liberian & Sierra Leonean population has the following Genetic Groups:

• Ashanti people
• Ewe, Fon, Ga-Dangme, and Fante peoples
• Mende people
• Peoples of Liberia
• Temne & Limba peoples

Nigerian

Nigeria’s population is the largest in Africa and one of the most diverse, with over 250 ethnic groups. The country's arid north is home to people of mostly Hausa and Fulani descent, while the Yoruba people are concentrated in the southwest, the Ijaw people in the tropical south, and the Igbo people in the southeast. As much as two thirds of African-Americans' Sub-Saharan DNA may trace back to Nigerian ancestors, due to the disproportionate impact of the Atlantic slave trade on the people of the region.

The Nigerian population has the following Country Match:

• Nigeria

The Nigerian population has the following Genetic Groups:

• Bamileke and Kom peoples
• Edo & Ijaw peoples
• Esan people
• Igbo people
• Yoruba people

Senegambian & Guinean

The people of Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau share many traditions related to the history of powerful empires in the region. In The Gambia, the Mandinka people are the largest group, with historical roots along the Niger River basin, while the Wolof people form the majority in neighboring Senegal. In Guinea and Guinea-Bissau the Fulani people predominate, and may have subtle genetic links to North Africa or western Asia. In the 18th century, around 400,000 people from this region were enslaved and transported to the Americas; nearly 50,000 disembarked in the United States alone.

The Senegambian & Guinean population has the following Country Matches:

• Cape Verde
• Gambia
• Guinea
• Senegal

The Senegambian & Guinean population has the following Genetic Groups:

• Fula & Wolof peoples
• Mandinka people

Broadly West African

For over a millennium before European colonization and the Atlantic slave trade, West Africans were united under a series of powerful empires, resulting in broad similarities in music, clothing, art, and cuisine. A gradient of genetic similarity extending from Senegal to Nigeria reflects a richly complex population history in a region home to over 350 million people who form hundreds of distinct ethnic groups. Broadly West African DNA may match several populations, making it difficult to assign to just one.

The Broadly West African population has the following Country Matches:

• Cameroon
• Mauritania

 

Northern East African

Northeast Africa, which here spans from Sudan in the northwest to Ethiopia and Somalia in the southeast, is home to both Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan ethnolinguistic groups. The entire region has a rich history of genetic and cultural exchange between indigenous East Africans and immigrants from the Arabian Peninsula.

Sudanese

Sudan and South Sudan share a distinct genetic heritage dating to early agricultural civilizations, including the Nubian Kingdoms of Kush and Meroë that once flourished along the banks of the upper Nile. Today, the people of Sudan and South Sudan are ethnically diverse, following a long history of intermarriage between indigenous East Africans and migrants from the Arabian peninsula. However, this Arabian genetic legacy is less common in the south of the region.

The Sudanese population has the following Country Matches:

• South Sudan
• Sudan

Ethiopian & Eritrean

Despite recent conflict, Eritreans and Ethiopians were united under the powerful Kingdom of Aksum for almost 1,000 years until its collapse in 940 CE, and their DNA reflects that shared history. The region has also served as a crossroads between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula for tens of thousands of years. Today, most Ethiopians and Eritreans have both East African and Arabian ancestry and speak Afro-Asiatic languages, including Oromo, Tigrinya, Arabic, and Amharic.

The Ethiopian & Eritrean population has the following Country Matches:

• Eritrea
• Ethiopia

The Ethiopian & Eritrean population has the following Genetic Groups:

• Peoples of central and western Ethiopia
• Tigrinya speakers

Somali

Most ethnic Somalis live in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, or Djibouti, and speak Somali — a member of the larger Cushitic language family spoken from southern Egypt to northern Tanzania. While united by strong religious traditions rooted in the spread of Islam from the Arabian Peninsula, almost all ethnic Somalis harbor ancient ancestral roots in northern east Africa and share genetic similarities with other Cushitic-speaking groups, like the Oromo people of Ethiopia. With a deep history of pastoralism, many Somalis continue to rely on goat, sheep, camel, and cattle herding for their subsistence.

The Somali population has Somalia as a Country Match.

Broadly Northern East African

Northeast Africa, which here spans from Sudan in the northwest to Ethiopia and Somalia in the southeast, is home to both Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan ethnolinguistic groups. The entire region has a rich history of genetic and cultural exchange between indigenous East Africans and immigrants from the Arabian Peninsula. As a result of both ancient and recent migrations within the region, broadly Northeast African DNA may be difficult to assign to a specific location.

 

Congolese & Southern East African

Starting around 3,000 years ago, Bantu speakers carried metallurgy and agriculture from the highlands of Nigeria and Cameroon in two major streams – one southward and one eastward – resulting in ancestry that transcends geopolitical borders. “Bantu” is a term widely used to describe the largest of Africa’s ethnolinguistic families.

Angolan & Congolese

Beginning around 3,000 years ago, the genetic tapestry of the western Congo basin was transformed by the influx of Bantu-speaking peoples from the highlands of what is today Nigeria and Cameroon. More recently, Bantu speakers in the western Congo region established the historical Kingdom of Kongo, which flourished for over 500 years until its collapse at the hands of colonial powers in 1914. Today, Bantu-speaking peoples (such as the Kongo, Teke, Mbochi, and Sangha) are significant majorities in the countries bordering the Congo River.

The Angolan & Congolese population has the following Country Match:

• The Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Angolan & Congolese population has the following Genetic Groups:

• Kongo & Mbundu peoples
• Luba & Kete peoples
• Shona & Nguni peoples

Southern East African

Within the last 3,000 years, metallurgy and agriculture arrived in Southern East Africa with the migration of Bantu-speaking peoples from the highlands of what is today Nigeria and Cameroon. The historical center of this Eastern Bantu migration lies in the African Great Lakes region that runs along the Western edge of Kenya and Tanzania. Today, the largest ethnic groups in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda all speak Bantu languages.

The Southern East African population has the following Country Matches:

• Kenya
• Rwanda

The Southern East African population has the following Genetic Groups:

• Hadza & Sandawe
• Kikuyu & Kamba peoples
• Luhya & Luo peoples
• Maasai people
• Rundi peoples

Broadly Congolese & Southern East African

Starting around 3,000 years ago, Bantu speakers carried metallurgy and agriculture from the highlands of Nigeria and Cameroon in two major streams – one southward and one eastward – resulting in ancestry that transcends geopolitical borders. “Bantu” is a term widely used to describe the largest of Africa’s ethnolinguistic families. Likely as a result of these rapid and widespread expansions across Central and Eastern Africa, it is difficult to assign a specific location within Sub-Saharan Africa to some chromosomal segments with a high degree of confidence.

 

African Hunter-Gatherer

African hunter-gatherer populations — including the Pygmy and San peoples of central and southern Africa — represent some of the oldest and most genetically distinct branches in the human family tree. The historically semi-nomadic San peoples of the Kalahari and the closely-related Khoe herders in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, speak languages characterized by click consonants rarely found in other language families. Pygmy peoples of the central African rainforests, on the other hand, have lost their distinct linguistic heritage, but have preserved many unique cultural traditions.

This dataset includes people of Biaka Pygmies, Mbuti Pygmies, or San descent. At this time, this dataset cannot be broken down further because the people in those regions mixed throughout history or have shared history, or we might not have had enough data to tell them apart. As we obtain more data, populations will become easier to distinguish, and we will be able to report on more populations in the Ancestry Composition Report.

The African Hunter-Gatherer population has the following Genetic Groups:

• Baka and Biaka
• Mbuti people

 

Broadly Sub-Saharan African

The genetic diversity of Sub-Saharan Africa reflects both the deep history of humans in the region and the recent migrations that have carried people from western Africa to both southern and eastern Africa. As a result of this ancient and complex population history, it is difficult to assign some DNA to a specific population within Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Broadly Sub-Saharan African population has the ‡Khomani San as a Genetic Group.

 

Western Asian & North African

Arab, Egyptian & Levantine | North African | Northern West Asian |

Broadly Western Asian & North African

Arab, Egyptian & Levantine

The region bordering the Red Sea and the eastern Mediterranean has served as an important crossroads of human migration out of Africa over the last 100,000 years. More recently, the Arab conquests of Egypt and the Levant have reinforced this shared genetic heritage.

Coptic Egyptian

Making up over 10% of Egypt’s population, Copts are a Christian minority who share an ancient history with non-Coptic Egyptians that predates the first pharaohs. However, after the seventh-century conquest of Egypt by the Rashidun Caliphate, the Christian Copts began to become genetically distinct from the Muslim-majority population, while the Coptic language was replaced by Egyptian Arabic outside of a strictly religious setting. Today, most Copts live in Egypt or Sudan, but there are also large Coptic communities living in the United States, Australia, and Canada.

Egyptian

Ancient Egyptians began harvesting crops over 7,000 years ago along the fertile banks of the Nile, relying on annual floods that were believed to be the tears of the goddess Isis. Following the Dynastic Period, Egypt was ruled at various times by Nubian, Persian, Greek, and Roman empires, though these centuries of foreign rule had little impact on Egyptian DNA. Since the seventh-century Islamic Expansion — which brought additional linguistic and genetic diversity to the Nile River basin — a uniquely Egyptian genetic signature emerged. Today, this ancestry reaches the highest levels near the Nile Delta, but is also found throughout Egypt and in the southern Levant.

Levantine

The Levant — comprising modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine — has been an artery of migration between Africa and Asia for over 100,000 years. By 2,500 years ago, the seafaring Phoenicians of the central Levant, whose script gave rise to most modern alphabets, founded coastal colonies across the Mediterranean. In the centuries since the fall of Phoenicia to the first Persian Empire, the expansions of Islam and the Ottoman Empire have brought additional genetic diversity to the region. Today, though it is common throughout the Levant, this ancestry reaches the highest levels in Lebanon.

The Levantine population has the following Country Matches:

• Jordan
• Lebanon
• Syria

Peninsular Arab

For over 100,000 years, humans have lived in the Arabian Peninsula — a bridge between Africa and the rest of the world. Around the same time as the rise of dynastic Egypt, a handful of Arabian civilizations and kingdoms emerged, facilitating trade between Africa and Eurasia. But it wasn’t until the birth of Islam in western Arabia that the Arabic language — along with an Arab-like genetic signature — spread across much of western Asia and North Africa. Today, the peninsula is home to over 75 million people and the world’s second largest subtropical desert.

The Peninsular Arab population has the following Country Matches:

• Bahrain
• Kuwait
• Oman
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• United Arab Emirates
• Yemen

Broadly Arab, Egyptian & Levantine

The region bordering the Red Sea and the eastern Mediterranean has served as an important crossroads of human migration out of Africa over the last 100,000 years. More recently, the Arab conquests of Egypt and the Levant have reinforced this shared genetic heritage, making it difficult to assign some DNA to just one population with confidence.

 

North African

Humans lived along the southern shores of the Mediterranean as early as 300,000 years ago, but the genetic heritage of most North African people today reflects a mixture of North African, southern European, western Asian, and Sub-Saharan ancestry. Today, indigenous North African ancestry peaks in the Berber people of the Maghreb, while the genetic legacy of the Arab conquest of North Africa and the 16th-century expansion of the Ottoman Empire can be found throughout the region as well.

This dataset includes people of Algerian, Libyan, Moroccan, Mozabite, Tunisian descent. We experimented with different groupings of populations to find combinations that we could distinguish with high confidence. As we obtain more data, populations will become easier to distinguish, and we will be able to report on more populations in the Ancestry Composition Report.

The North African population has the following Country Matches:

• Algeria
• Libya
• Morocco
• Tunisia

 

Northern West Asian

Roughly bounded by Anatolia in the east to Iran in the west, northern West Asia has a shared genetic heritage going back tens of thousands of years. Domestication of grains and livestock emerged 11,000 years ago in this region, sparking the agricultural revolution that spread to parts of Europe, Africa, and other parts of Asia.

Anatolian

Anatolia, a fertile peninsula above the eastern Mediterranean, has served as a genetic bridge between Asia and Europe for over 40,000 years. Early Anatolian farmers laid the groundwork for powerful civilizations like the Bronze Age Hittite Empire, followed by centuries of Persian, Greek, and Roman rule. The Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium, survived in various forms until falling in the 15th century to the Ottoman Turks, who introduced a Central Asian-like genetic signature.

The Anatolian population has Turkey (western provinces) as a Country Match.

Cypriot

An 11,000-year-old settlement on Cyprus’s southern coast was home to some of the island’s first people who processed grain, made jewelry, and lived with domesticated cats and dogs. By 3,000 years ago, Cypriots were speaking a form of Greek, which remains the language spoken across half of the island, even after long periods of Egyptian, Persian, Venetian, Ottoman, and British rule. In spite of a 1974 attempt to annex Cyprus to Greece and an invasion of the island by Turkish forces in response, most Greek and Turkish-speaking Cypriots remain genetically similar to one another.

Iranian, Caucasian & Mesopotamian

From Armenians and Assyrians to Kartvelians and Persians, the diverse people of Iran, the Caucasus, Eastern Anatolia, and Mesopotamia share an ancient genetic history dating back to some of the world’s first farmers. Dominated at times by polytheistic, Zoroastrian, Christian, and Islamic beliefs, the region has seen powerful empires come and go. While most of this ancestry is native to western Asia, traces of Central and East Asian-like genetic signatures were introduced as a result of Turkic migrations and the 13th-century Mongol invasion. Today, there are significant Armenian, Iranian, and Assyrian communities around the world, including many in the United States.

The Iranian, Caucasian & Mesopotamian population has the following Country Matches:

• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Georgia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Turkey (eastern provinces)

Broadly Northern West Asian

Roughly bounded by Anatolia in the east to Iran in the west, Northern West Asia has a shared genetic heritage going back tens of thousands of years. Domestication of grains and livestock emerged 11,000 years ago in this region, sparking the agricultural revolution that spread to parts of Europe, Africa, and other parts of Asia. Broadly northern West Asian DNA matches several specific populations and is difficult to assign to just one.

 

Broadly Western Asian & North African

The peoples of western Asia and North Africa have deep linguistic and genetic connections with one another, dating back to some of the earliest migrations out of Africa. The spread of Islam in the past 1,400 years has also dramatically shaped the region's more recent genetic landscape, making it difficult to confidently assign some DNA to just one population.

 

Melanesian

Melanesia was first peopled by seafaring voyagers over 45,000 years ago, when the ancestors of indigenous Australian and Papuan peoples reached Near Oceania from Indonesia. These early Melanesians interbred with a now-extinct hominin species – the Denisovans – and their descendants harbor traces of this ancient encounter in their DNA.

The Country Match included in the Melanesian Reference Population is Fiji.

 

Unassigned

You may also see a percentage of your DNA is listed as “Unassigned.” There are two reasons why a piece of DNA might be labeled as Unassigned:

• The piece of DNA matches many different populations from around the world.
• The piece of DNA does not match any of the reference populations very well.

There is a wide range of human diversity out there, and sometimes our algorithm can't pinpoint a region of your DNA to a specific population. Bear with us as our data and resources continue to expand. We expect the amount of unassigned ancestry our customers see to decrease.

 

Common Questions

I know I have Indigenous (Native) American ancestry. Why doesn't it show up in my results?

We are confident in the accuracy of your results and the science behind them. But 23andMe is a genetic testing service, which means we can only show you what is found in your DNA. If your Indigenous American heritage cannot be seen through your DNA, that doesn't mean that your understanding of your family heritage as passed down through the generations is incorrect, only that your genetic heritage does not reveal Indigenous American ancestry.

There are a few common reasons why you may not see the Indigenous American population in your Ancestry Composition results:

• If your most recent Indigenous American ancestor was more than five generations ago, you may have inherited little or no DNA directly from your Indigenous American ancestors. The farther back in your history you look, the less likely you are to have inherited DNA directly from every single one of your ancestors. This means that you can be directly descended from a Indigenous American without having any Indigenous American DNA.
• Throughout American history, people without a genetically Indigenous American background have claimed Indigenous American heritage for a variety of social reasons related to the shifting politics of race and indigeneity in the United States. As a result, many families without any genetically Indigenous American ancestors have passed down stories about Indigenous American ancestry. For examples, see this article or the book, Becoming Indian: The Struggle over Cherokee Identity in the Twenty-first Century, by Circe Strum.

Why isn't an expected ancestry included in my composition?

There are a few common reasons why your Ancestry Composition might not match what you expect based on historical records or family stories:

• Some genetic populations are especially difficult to tell apart because they share common history.
• Ancestry Composition populations are defined by genetically similar groups of people, not by the political borders of countries.
• The time scale reflected by Ancestry Composition may be different from the time scale of your records.

What are Country Matches?

There are over 150 possible Country Matches in the Ancestry Composition Report. These regions provide information about the countries where your ancestors may have lived on a more recent time scale than your ancestry percentages. Learn more about your Country Matches and Genetic Groups.

To learn more, visit our Understanding Your Ancestry Composition Results article.