What is Northern Africa DNA Ethnicity on Ancestry?

In this article we are going to take a look at the AncestryDNA North African DNA region to try and learn more about it. What countries fall into this region and what are its indigenous peoples like? If you are seeking more information on your North African ancestors read on.

Northern Africa DNA Region

This large DNA region as the name suggests expands the post of North Africa and includes some sizable countries. These include:

• Libya
• Mauritania
• Western Sahara
• Morocco
• Algeria
• Tunisia
• The Spanish Islands of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Puerto del Carmen and Fuerteventura

There are also some small pockets from this DNA region in the border areas of Senegal, Mali, Niger and Egypt.

History of Africa

According to the paleontological record, it was the continent of Africa in which the first hominids developed. These early hominids were the first to walk in a bipedal motion and it is from them that eventually humans as we know them today evolved.

The fossil records suggest that homo sapiens were living in Africa between 260,000 to 350,000 years ago. Remains from South Africa, Morocco and Ethiopia seem to suggest that homo sapiens were already widespread throughout the continent during that time frame.

Northern Africa

As a geographic region Northern Africa is very similar to the AncestryDNA region of the same name with the exception of Egypt and Sudan being part of the geographic region but not the DNA region. This is because North Africa historically consists of three main regions, these are:

• Maghreb – Western North Africa
• Nile Valley – Eastern North Africa
• Sahel – Transition region between North and Central Africa. Essentially where the Sahara desert becomes the Sudanic Savanna

The Maghreb

The people of the Maghreb since around 10,000 BC were known as the Berbers. They predate the arrival of Arab influences via the lands east of Egypt. Today they live in scattered communities throughout Morocco, Algeria and Libya. They are also found to a lesser extent in Tunisia, Mauritania, northern Mali and northern Niger.

These peoples likely descend from stone age tribes and were first mentioned in Egyptian writings dating back to around 2000 BC. Over time the Berber peoples developed their own kingdoms such as Altva, Aures, Ouarsenis and Hodna.

Arab Conquests

As the Arabs swept through North Africa from the east eventually by the 7^th and 8^th centuries AD the Berber kingdoms were suppressed. This would fundamentally change the region culturally and linguistically with an assimilation known as Arabization.

Arab language and traditions took hold in the Berber population of the region which helped keep the Berber tribes relevant in political terms. This assimilation allowed a second wave of Berber empires, the Almoravids and the Almohads in the 11^th to 13^th centuries.

The Ottoman and Spanish Empires

During the middle ages this region of North Africa came under attack in the coastal regions by the Ottoman and Spanish empires at various times. This would lead to a lasting effect both ethnically and architecturally on the region.

European Rule

As with most of the rest of Africa, Europe had its eyes firmly on potential natural resources so during the 19^th century France, United Kingdom, Spain and Italy were all vying for control of various Northern African countries.

Ultimately this put the entirety of the region under some form of European control or other. This would ultimately bring North Africa into the Second World War in the form of the North African campaign. Fighting in the region began when Italy declared war on June 10^th 1940.

Italy had a presence in Libya so the British who were in Egypt quickly moved against the Italians taking Fort Capuzzo. When the Italians were on the back foot Germany dispatched troops to the area in support of escalating the conflict in North Africa.

Independence

During the 1950s and 1960s in line with most of Africa the nations that made up North Africa started to achieve their independence. This withdrawal of European powers would ultimately lead to fighting and power grabs in the region.

Various civil wars were sparked as countries fought each other for disputed lands. Things have settled down more recently but there are still some political issues in the region as countries disagree on who should control particular regions.

Where Does My Northern African Region DNA Come From?

In terms of the AncestryDNA region known as Northern Africa the DNA in your ethnicity report could come from a number of nations within the region. It is however more indicative of the Berber peoples than the Nile valley or the Sahel populations to the east.

It is likely a combination of Berber, Arab and European that makes up this unique region DNA but it is certainly widespread throughout a large portion of Northern Africa. There has been a great deal of immigration into Europe from this region which means it is also widespread globally speaking.

The Berbers played a large role in the trans-Saharan trade routes which did involve sending slaves south some of which may have ended up on the west coast of Africa in the ports used for the transatlantic slave trade.

This raises the possibility for African Americans to find Northern African DNA in their estimates which would indicate they had ancestors from somewhere in that region.

Spain is also a country that might see this DNA in its populations especially in the coastal regions thanks to the proximity of North Africa to the south of the country. Disputes and back and forth over the centuries will have seen Spanish genetic influence in North Africa and North African influence in Southern Spain.

Can You Trace North African Ancestry?

As with all things genealogical, there is always a chance that you might be able to trace the origins of your North African ancestors. This is of course dependent on a number of factors. Those in the U.S. who know their ancestors arrived as slaves centuries ago may find it difficult to find out exactly where they were taken from.

Depending on how recent your Northern African region ancestors are, you may be able to find records to support who they were and why they or their descendants left the country. The further back we go generationally speaking the harder it becomes to pinpoint exactly where our ancestors came from.

Final Thoughts

The Northern African DNA region is vast compared to some and exhibits a mixture of the native Berber, Arab and likely various European influences. It is a distinct cultural region that is separated from Europe by the Mediterranean sea.

Neil Edwards

Genealogist and family-tree research specialist

Neil was born in Shropshire, England surrounded by centuries of living history. His interest in the past has been a lifelong passion leading to undergraduate degrees in both Economic History & Geography and History & Politics.

This interest in history quickly translated to family history when he moved to the U.S. in 2010. It was here that he began working on his own family tree as well as that of his American wife. That research allowed him to gain a wealth of experience working with both U.S. and European genealogical documents and studying their best uses in researching family history.

Following 9 years of honing his genealogical research skills, Neil was proud to have earned a certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University in late 2019. Neil also took part in the research process for a Duke University study into the families of 19th Century UK Members of Parliament.

Link To or Reference This Page

We spent a lot of time downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!