When I was laying in bed last night, I was thinking about my ancestors. I know, weird, right? It is just amazing to me that 23andMe shows my DNA make up is 99.9% European. Europe is such a diverse continent with so many countries within it as it covers the whole Northern Hemisphere and a lot of the Eastern Hemisphere. It has over double the number of countries than North America. But, believe it or not, Europe has the least amount of various languages spoken with 286 languages in 2015 compared to 1,064 in North and South America.
29.7% is German and French, with most of my German being in Bavaria, Hamburg, Hesse, and Rhineland-Palatine. The French connection is in Switzerland mainly in Canton of Bern and Grisons, although I haven’t found these connections yet.
23.9% is British and Irish with the United Kingdom of Greater London, Glasgow City, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, West Midlands, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Merseyside, Belfast, and Kent. In Ireland, we have County Dublin, County Cork, County Cavan, County Galway, County Mayo, County Leitrim, County Kilkenny, County Wicklow, County Longford, and County Louth.
2.2% of my British and Irish are Scandinavian and Northwestern European. 13.9& is Eastern European. 1.8% is Southern European, which consists of Italy and the Mediterranean. 9.1% is “Broadley European,” explained by 23andMe as Neolithic farmers from western Asia joined Paleolithic hunter-gatherers to settle Europe. And, .1% of the European DNA is Ashkenazi Jewish.
So, what is the .1%? It is southern South Asia. This area consists of these countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Interesting. I doubt I’ll find that .1%.
The diversity it amazing to me. I have come so far in my research in the last 25 years, but looking at these regions, I have so much more to go. It is an exciting challenge to find these places in my research as I did with my Slovenian and Croatian connections in Eastern Europe. And, my Scottish links in Northern Europe.
I am proud of my European ancestry. Maybe that’s why I am addicted to all the European shows on Britbox and Acorn! 😉
Loganalogy- The Family Historian 
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