What is the major ethnic group in Norway?
Demographics of Norway
Ethnically, the residents of Norway are predominantly Norwegians, a North Germanic ethnic group descent. In Northern Norway live the Sami, who claim descent from people who settled the area around 8,000 years ago, probably from continental Europe through the Norwegian coast and through Finland along the inland glaciers. As of 2012, an official government study shows that 86.2% of the total population are ethnic Norwegians.[10] The national minorities of Norway include Scandinavian Romani, Roma, Jews, and Kvener, as well as a small Finnish community.
Germanic peoples
The Germanic migrations forged the main component of the population of modern Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, South Tyrol, Flanders, Luxembourg and England. The Germanic peoples have formed the basis of the history and society of most of Western Europe from the Early Middle Ages and up to the present day. During the Reformation of Martin Luther in the 16th century many, Germanic nations embraced Protestantism. The religious divide contributed to the Thirty Years' War in the 17th century. Its conclusion with the Peace of Westphalia politically fragmented much of Germanic Europe. Modern Germanic ethnic groups include Afrikaners, Danes, Dutch people, Flemish people, English people, Frisians, Germans, Icelanders, Norwegians, Swedes and others. Though classified as Romance ethnic groups, there is considerable Germanic ancestry among French people and Italians.