Germanic South Africans

[Scáthach]

Aren't you British Loki, or have i utterly misinterpreted things, yet again

[Conquistador]

Originally posted by Scathach
Aren't you British Loki, or have i utterly misinterpreted things, yet again

He's South African (white), I believe.

[Saoirse]

Most White South Africans are English/British descent.

[Conquistador]

Originally posted by Irish Nationalist
Most White South Africans are English/British descent.

I thought they were mostly of Dutch descent.

[Milesian]

Well the Boers are primarily of Dutch descent, I'm pretty sure of that. No doubt there is British descendents there too from the days of the Empire.

[Loki]

Originally posted by Milesian
Well the Boers are primarily of Dutch descent, I'm pretty sure of that. No doubt there is British descendents there too from the days of the Empire.

To answer all of your questions, yes, I am a South African by birth, of Dutch, German and Danish roots.

Of the white South Africans, about 60% are so-called "Boers" (also called Afrikaners) as Milesian has put it - being descended from Dutch (40%), German (40%), French Huguenot (17%) and other (3%, including various Scandinavian, Swiss, Austrian, etc etc). I am of this type. We speak Afrikaans, the newest Germanic language, having evolved over the past 150 years from 17th century Dutch and Low Saxon.

About 35% are of British colonial extraction, mainly English, but with a significant Irish and Scottish contribution.

The rest are fairly recent German immigrants, and also Jewish, Greek and Portuguese minorities.

[Tryggvi]

@Scathach: I fear the conversation is all too real.

@Prospero: I agree, it's not funny, rather scary.

@Irish Nationalist: Most white South Africans, about 60%, are Boers/Afrikaners, which are in turn 45% of German, 40% of Dutch and Flemish, 10% of French, and 5% of Scandinavian descent.

The other 40% are mostly English, with a strong German, and minor Greek, Portugese and, more recently, Eastern European minorities.

The majority of South Africans in the U.K. might be English, very possibly, although I wouldn't know. I know that there is a relatively strong Afrikaner community in London in the meantime. Loki will be able to tell you more about it.

I never liked the term "Boer", as it simply means "farmer"; and I despise the term "Afrikaans". My suggestion is to replace it with "Germaans".

[Tryggvi]

Originally posted by Loki
Of the white South Africans, about 60% are so-called "Boers" (also called Afrikaners) as Milesian has put it - being descended from Dutch (40%), German (40%), French Huguenot (17%) and other (3%, including various Scandinavian, Swiss, Austrian, etc etc).

You stole my German majority.  ;P

[Loki]

Originally posted by Tryggvi
You stole my German majority.  ;P

LOL.

Your percentages might just be more accurate. Different people state different breakdowns, but they largely agree.

The Dutch/German percentages are quite fluent, since most of the Germans arrived from far northwestern Germany, bordering the Netherlands. And in the seventeenth century, there was no clear division between Netherlands and Germany. These emigrants mainly came from the Hanseatic League cities, which included some cities in Netherlands, northern Germany (Hamburg, Bremen) and the Baltic (Tallinn, Riga).

The Dutch and northern Germans are close racial and linguistic kin - with the Dutch being part Saxon, and the Frisian areas of Netherlands and Germany overlapping.

[Loki]

Originally posted by Tryggvi

The majority of South Africans in the U.K. might be English, very possibly, although I wouldn't know. I know that there is a relatively strong Afrikaner community in London in the meantime. Loki will be able to tell you more about it.

There is a sizeable South African minority now in London. They are mostly white (I have only a few times met black SA's in London) and are both Afrikaans and English. In my area of London, there are much more Afrikaners than English-speaking SA's. In other areas, more English-speaking. It is impossible to say which is more. All I know is that there are plenty of us here.

I never liked the term "Boer", as it simply means "farmer"; and I despise the term "Afrikaans". My suggestion is to replace it with "Germaans".

Me neither.... I despise both terms. Especially "Afrikaans". It actually means "African", lol. But Afrikaans is now an accepted Germanic language, and it wouldn't be easy to change its name.