Who Has the Most Viking DNA in Europe

The Vikings travelled astonishing distances. They settled Britain and Ireland, crossed the North Atlantic to Iceland, moved into France, pushed through the Baltic, travelled down the great rivers of Russia and Ukraine, and eventually reached places as far south as Constantinople in modern Turkey, and as far west as Newfoundland in Canada. But more than 1,000 years later, where in Europe has the most Viking DNA outside of Scandinavia of course, and there is a clear number 1. I am pleased let me know what you thought number 1 was in the comments below before watching this video. I know my initial thought was actually wrong before I started researching and making this one. Now first of all though, when I say Viking DNA, I am using that as a shorthand. There is no single Viking gene, and Viking was partly an occupation and cultural identity rather than a genetically pure people. But we can still identify ancestry closely related to the Scandinavian populations from which the Viking age migrants came from, and there has been a good amount of research into Viking DNA itself. This allows us to rank the 11 most Viking regions in Europe still today. And let's begin with Normandy in France, which literally means the land of the Northmen. Now Viking leaders carved out territory in the region before their control was formally recognised in the early 10th century, and within several generations, their descendants had become French-speaking Normans. But did they alter the DNA of the region in a meaningful way? Well, a genetic project from 2016 examined 89 men from the Côte-aux-Pays peninsula in Normandy, and they found that 11 men, or 12.4% of the sample, belonged to a marker strongly connected to Scandinavia and carried by many Vikings, called I1. So does that mean Normandy is 12% Viking? Well, no. I1 represents only one male line, isn't exclusively Scandinavian, and isn't from the Viking age per se. From balancing this project and other studies, as well as looking at the female side and broader DNA markers in general, the surviving Scandinavian genetic contribution is in the low single digits overall in Normandy – around 3-5%. So Normandy is actually quite low on the list at around 3-5%. But what about Eastern Europe? Does this have more or less Viking DNA than Normandy? Well, we know that mainly Swedish Vikings crossed the Baltic Sea through modern Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. They then travelled through the river systems of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine towards the Black Sea, and ultimately reached Constantinople or Istanbul in Turkey. But did they make a large genetic impact? Well, although there isn't a single Viking percentage for this enormous region, certain studies have found Scandinavian ancestry reaching up to around 5% in places like Poland. Now this is probably a little high for the whole region overall, so between 1 and 5% is a more accurate number balancing all the studies, which is slightly less than Normandy. So Eastern Europe is number 11 on the list, with Normandy in 10th. But now let's turn to Britain and Ireland, and when it comes to this region, it actually varies the Viking genetic impact varies dramatically by region. Now before we look at England and Ireland, I will quickly note that despite its enormous Norse-Gaelic cultural legacy, the Isle of Man shows only around 4% Norwegian-like ancestry. And if we look at northern mainland Scotland, such as places like Caithness, this is also around 4%. This number rises however when we look at England. Now the Great Heathen Army arrived in 865. Huge areas became part of the Danelaw, York became the Viking city of Jorvik, and ancient DNA confirms major Danish-related migration into Viking Age England. Yet England does present a genetic problem. This is because the Anglo-Saxons had already brought in very similar ancestry from northern continental Europe centuries earlier, making Danish Viking and Anglo-Saxon ancestry extremely difficult to separate. Despite this, a major 2020 Viking genomic study concluded that the specifically Viking Age contribution to modern England does not exceed 6%. So an estimate for England overall, based on other studies as well, is around up to 6%, peaking in parts of the former Danelaw. So this is how our bottom 5 look, with Eastern Europe in 11th, at between 1 and 5%, and England 7th. Although these are all quite close, the top 4 is where we see dramatic numbers. But next up is the Hebrides, the largest archipelago in Scotland that saw a major Norse presence, and this created the fascinating mixture of ancestries known as the Norse Gaels, with the genetic legacy of the Norse and Hebrides still felt at around 7%. And if we cross the sea to Ireland, it tells a similar story, and gets us into the top 5. Now Dublin, Waterford, and Wexford became major Viking settlements, and ancient DNA conforms Norwegian-related migration into Ireland. And a few major studies estimate Scandinavian-related ancestry at around 7% on average, so similar to the Hebrides. However, the Irish DNA atlas found a stronger Norwegian-like signal and calculated an upper estimate of around 20% Norwegian ancestry. Although importantly, the researchers could So we will use this 7% as a base case for Ireland, yet this 20% figure is why it sits ahead of the Hebrides, as it could be higher. But now we're into the top 4, and this is where the numbers get dramatic. Now fourth on the list is Orkney, an archipelago that the Vikings didn't just raid. Norse settlers took control of the islands, which remained politically and culturally tied to Scandinavia for centuries, with Norway directly ruling for a period as well. Now I should note that this later Norwegian rule muddies the Viking percent a little, but it still shows the Scandinavian influence. Regardless, we know the genetic legacy was enormous. Numerous studies have found that approximately 20-25% of Orkneyian ancestry comes from Norwegian sources. And Norse-connected haplogroups like R1AZ284 and I1 are elevated here. Its neighbour Shetland is very similar, but usually found to be slightly higher at around 23-28%, putting Shetland third on the list. And these make Shetland and Orkney the strongest Viking genetic populations within Britain. Yet the Norse kept travelling west, so what are the top two? Well second is the islands. Now the Faroese language descends directly from Old Norse, and genetically, the islands have an extraordinary North Atlantic legacy. Older research did find that a massive 87% of Faroese male or Y-DNA ancestry was Scandinavian, belonging to branches of R1A such as R1AZ284 or I1, with R1AZ284 very common amongst Norwegian Vikings, and still peaks in Norway today actually as well. And if we measured only the male line, the Faroese might win, but the maternal picture is almost the reverse. Studies estimate that only around 17% of maternal ancestry is Scandinavian, with the great majority instead associated with Britain, mainly from the Norse-Gaelic world. That suggests a powerful Scandinavian male contribution combined with substantial ancestry ultimately connected to Britain and Ireland. And in 2026, new whole genome research gave us a much better overall comparison. Researchers estimated that approximately 40% of modern Faroese ancestry belongs to what they call a North European component, which is maximised in ancient individuals from Viking and pre-Viking Scandinavian contexts. Now that does not mean that people from the Faroe Islands are exactly 40% Viking, but for this comparison, it provides our best genome-wide Scandinavian related proxy. So that puts the Faroe Islands second on the list. But to find number one, we need to travel west. So is it newfound land in Canada? Well, not quite. It's Iceland of course. And one reason for this is that unlike England, Normandy, Scotland, Ireland and other places, Norse settlers weren't entering a large existing population here. They largely created the population itself. And we know that those early Icelanders were a mixture of Norse and Gaelic ancestry, with Norse raiders likely taking many Gaelic women as captives from Ireland and Scotland. Now at the time of the Norse settlement, they were estimated to be approximately 57% Norse. Yet what is even more interesting is that this Norse figure has actually increased in modern Icelanders, to approximately 70%. But why? Well genetic drift is likely a key reason, while Norse settlers may also have left more descendants than the Gaelic element of the founding population. So as far as who has the most Viking DNA outside of Scandinavia still today, Iceland is number one at roughly 70% Norse ancestry. The Faroe Islands comes close, while Shetland and Orkney dominate within Britain, and sit 3rd and 4th. And if you're wondering, I initially thought the Faroe Islands might be number one, but Iceland is the winner. But are you Celtic, Norman, Viking or Anglo-Saxon? Well to find out, please click here. Thanks for watching, please subscribe and hit the bell, and let me know your thoughts in the comments below, until see you next time!