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Ancestry refers to the lineage or descent of a person, family, or group, tracing back through generations to identify their origins, heritage, and familial connections. It encompasses the genetic, cultural, and historical ties that link individuals to their forebears, shaping their identity and sense of belonging. Ancestry is a multifaceted concept, intertwining biology, genealogy, history, and culture, and it plays a significant role in how people understand themselves and their place in the world.

At its core, ancestry is rooted in genetics. Each individual inherits a unique combination of DNA from their parents, who in turn inherited their DNA from their own ancestors. This genetic material carries information about physical traits, predispositions to certain health conditions, and even behavioral tendencies. Advances in genetic testing, such as DNA analysis, have made it possible for individuals to trace their biological ancestry with remarkable precision. Companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA offer services that analyze genetic markers to provide insights into a person's ethnic composition and geographic origins, often revealing surprising connections to distant relatives or previously unknown heritage.

Beyond genetics, ancestry is deeply tied to genealogy, the study of family history and lineage. Genealogical research involves constructing family trees, documenting relationships, and uncovering historical records such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, census data, and immigration documents. This process often reveals stories of migration, resilience, and adaptation, offering a window into the lives of ancestors and the challenges they faced. For many, genealogy is a way to honor their forebears and preserve their legacy for future generations.

Cultural ancestry is another critical dimension, encompassing the traditions, languages, customs, and values passed down through generations. It connects individuals to their ethnic or national heritage, shaping their cultural identity and worldview. For example, someone with Irish ancestry might celebrate St. Patrick's Day, learn traditional Irish dance, or explore the Gaelic language, while someone with Japanese ancestry might practice tea ceremonies, study calligraphy, or observe Obon festivals. Cultural ancestry fosters a sense of continuity and belonging, linking individuals to a broader community with shared experiences and values.

Historical ancestry delves into the broader context of a family's or group's past, including significant events, social conditions, and historical movements that shaped their lives. For instance, the transatlantic slave trade, the Irish Potato Famine, or the Jewish diaspora have profoundly influenced the ancestry of millions of people, leaving lasting imprints on their descendants' identities. Understanding historical ancestry often involves grappling with complex narratives of triumph and tragedy, resilience and oppression, and the interplay of individual and collective experiences.

Ancestry also has a deeply personal and emotional dimension. For many, exploring their ancestry is a journey of self-discovery, offering insights into who they are and where they come from. It can foster a sense of pride, connection, and continuity, as well as a deeper appreciation for the struggles and achievements of those who came before. At the same time, it can raise questions about identity, belonging, and the complexities of heritage, particularly for individuals with mixed or multicultural backgrounds.

In a globalized world, ancestry serves as a bridge between the past and the present, connecting individuals to their roots while also highlighting the interconnectedness of human history. It underscores the diversity and richness of human experience, reminding us that every person's story is part of a larger tapestry woven over centuries. Whether through genetic testing, genealogical research, cultural practices, or historical exploration, ancestry offers a profound way to understand ourselves and our place in the world.

A diversification score measures the diversity of ancestries in the county. As the value appoaches 100, ancestry diversity decreases and therefore increasing the risk of a lack of cultural diversity. The ancestry diversification score for this county is:

Most common ancestry not including "Unknown" is:

Ancestry Report Part I
Description	Total Population	American	Native American	Hawaiian	Caribbean (Latino)	Mexican	Central American	South American	Other Hispanic	African American	Sub- Saharan	Caribbean (Black)

Sussex County	10,780	455	16	8	124	112	1	0	10	2,662	2,126	1,030
Virginia (in 000's)	8,893	582	19	6	172	223	326	155	66	1,026	341	252
National (in 000's)	343,251	13,890	2,213	626	11,327	38,879	6,181	4,644	3,687	25,893	7,852	7,174
Prince George County	43,994	1,938	271	159	1,488	1,978	448	320	337	9,476	1,886	1,731
Dinwiddie County	28,810	1,755	65	2	309	267	392	149	57	5,534	1,624	1,354
Southampton County	18,107	1,042	69	34	171	94	31	63	16	2,662	1,941	1,123
Greensville County	11,256	397	23	0	146	109	119	32	25	3,258	2,046	845
Surry County	6,675	244	11	9	46	127	0	0	4	1,491	747	523

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Sussex County	15.89	4.22	0.15	0.07	1.15	1.04	0.01	0.00	0.09	24.69	19.72	9.55
Virginia	8.45	6.55	0.21	0.07	1.93	2.51	3.66	1.74	0.74	11.53	3.83	2.83
National	7.83	4.05	0.64	0.18	3.30	11.33	1.80	1.35	1.07	7.54	2.29	2.09
Prince George County	12.67	4.41	0.62	0.36	3.38	4.50	1.02	0.73	0.77	21.54	4.29	3.93
Dinwiddie County	14.12	6.09	0.23	0.01	1.07	0.93	1.36	0.52	0.20	19.21	5.64	4.70
Southampton County	13.54	5.75	0.38	0.19	0.94	0.52	0.17	0.35	0.09	14.70	10.72	6.20
Greensville County	17.21	3.53	0.20	0.00	1.30	0.97	1.06	0.28	0.22	28.94	18.18	7.51
Surry County	15.27	3.66	0.16	0.13	0.69	1.90	0.00	0.00	0.06	22.34	11.19	7.84

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Sussex County		64.44	69.57	107.02	59.56	41.43	0.25	0.00	12.47	214.13	515.04	337.82
Virginia		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		61.78	302.22	263.16	170.85	451.71	49.15	77.70	144.42	65.41	59.74	73.90
Prince George County		67.26	288.73	521.19	175.12	179.31	27.79	41.77	102.99	186.77	111.95	139.12
Dinwiddie County		93.01	105.75	10.01	55.53	36.96	37.14	29.70	26.60	166.56	147.21	166.17
Southampton County		87.86	178.61	270.79	48.90	20.70	4.67	19.98	11.88	127.48	279.95	219.28
Greensville County		53.85	95.78	0.00	67.16	38.62	28.86	16.33	29.86	250.98	474.70	265.43
Surry County		55.81	77.24	194.44	35.68	75.88	0.00	0.00	8.06	193.69	292.26	277.03

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Sussex County		104.30	23.02	40.67	34.86	9.17	0.52	0.00	8.64	327.35	862.14	457.15
Virginia		161.85	33.09	38.00	58.53	22.14	203.46	128.70	69.24	152.88	167.39	135.32
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Prince George County		108.86	95.53	198.05	102.49	39.69	56.55	53.76	71.32	285.53	187.41	188.25
Dinwiddie County		150.53	34.99	3.80	32.50	8.18	75.56	38.23	18.42	254.64	246.42	224.86
Southampton County		142.21	59.10	102.90	28.62	4.58	9.51	25.72	8.23	194.89	468.61	296.74
Greensville County		87.16	31.69	0.00	39.31	8.55	58.71	21.01	20.68	383.70	794.61	359.18
Surry County		90.33	25.56	73.89	20.88	16.80	0.00	0.00	5.58	296.11	489.22	374.87

Ancestry Report Part II
Description	Total Population	Canadian	British	Dutch	French	German	Italian	Polish	Scandinavian	Scotish/ Irish	Spanish	Other European

Sussex County	10,780	4	399	5	35	118	32	17	17	214	4	129
Virginia (in 000's)	8,893	21	591	30	62	457	162	69	77	533	24	218
National (in 000's)	343,251	1,350	18,069	1,828	3,642	24,708	9,027	4,667	5,969	20,625	1,140	9,563
Prince George County	43,994	44	1,637	87	207	1,453	559	254	190	1,653	138	681
Dinwiddie County	28,810	23	1,894	75	93	877	361	148	94	972	14	493
Southampton County	18,107	24	1,500	36	148	575	146	72	112	685	3	198
Greensville County	11,256	5	216	9	26	126	52	1	5	216	5	86
Surry County	6,675	6	431	7	17	109	32	11	23	188	12	9

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Sussex County	15.89	0.04	3.70	0.05	0.32	1.09	0.30	0.16	0.16	1.99	0.04	1.20
Virginia	8.45	0.23	6.64	0.33	0.70	5.14	1.82	0.77	0.87	6.00	0.27	2.45
National	7.83	0.39	5.26	0.53	1.06	7.20	2.63	1.36	1.74	6.01	0.33	2.79
Prince George County	12.67	0.10	3.72	0.20	0.47	3.30	1.27	0.58	0.43	3.76	0.31	1.55
Dinwiddie County	14.12	0.08	6.57	0.26	0.32	3.04	1.25	0.51	0.33	3.37	0.05	1.71
Southampton County	13.54	0.13	8.28	0.20	0.82	3.18	0.81	0.40	0.62	3.78	0.02	1.09
Greensville County	17.21	0.04	1.92	0.08	0.23	1.12	0.46	0.01	0.04	1.92	0.04	0.76
Surry County	15.27	0.09	6.46	0.10	0.25	1.63	0.48	0.16	0.34	2.82	0.18	0.13

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Sussex County		15.92	55.74	13.88	46.47	21.31	16.29	20.35	18.22	33.10	13.86	48.93
Virginia		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		168.72	79.27	159.36	151.84	140.11	144.35	175.45	200.93	100.20	124.06	113.92
Prince George County		42.90	56.04	59.18	67.34	64.29	69.74	74.50	49.90	62.66	117.14	63.29
Dinwiddie County		34.24	99.00	77.90	46.20	59.25	68.77	66.29	37.70	56.26	18.15	69.97
Southampton County		56.85	124.76	59.49	116.98	61.81	44.26	51.31	71.47	63.08	6.19	44.71
Greensville County		19.05	28.90	23.93	33.06	21.79	25.36	1.15	5.13	32.00	16.59	31.24
Surry County		38.56	97.24	31.38	36.45	31.78	26.31	21.27	39.82	46.97	67.14	5.51

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Sussex County		9.43	70.31	8.71	30.60	15.21	11.29	11.60	9.07	33.04	11.17	42.95
Virginia		59.27	126.14	62.75	65.86	71.37	69.28	57.00	49.77	99.80	80.61	87.78
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Prince George County		25.43	70.69	37.13	44.35	45.88	48.31	42.46	24.84	62.53	94.43	55.56
Dinwiddie County		20.30	124.89	48.88	30.43	42.29	47.64	37.78	18.76	56.15	14.63	61.42
Southampton County		33.70	157.37	37.33	77.04	44.12	30.66	29.25	35.57	62.96	4.99	39.25
Greensville County		11.29	36.45	15.01	21.77	15.55	17.57	0.65	2.55	31.94	13.37	27.42
Surry County		22.85	122.66	19.69	24.00	22.69	18.23	12.12	19.82	46.87	54.12	4.84

Ancestry Report Part III
Description	Total Population	Chinese	Filipino	Japanese	Korean	Vietnamese	South Central Asian	South East Asian	Other Asian	Middle Eastern	Other Ancestry	Unknown

Sussex County	10,780	0	4	1	1	0	30	0	1	7	1,334	1,884
Virginia (in 000's)	8,893	80	79	12	78	67	223	44	41	74	1,377	1,409
National (in 000's)	343,251	4,461	3,010	793	1,541	1,913	5,452	1,643	1,229	1,931	47,322	51,000
Prince George County	43,994	77	304	47	194	93	33	91	21	95	8,361	7,743
Dinwiddie County	28,810	7	44	9	15	1	7	38	29	61	5,599	6,448
Southampton County	18,107	0	17	0	0	1	73	0	6	0	2,738	4,527
Greensville County	11,256	13	0	0	0	0	17	0	0	29	1,668	1,782
Surry County	6,675	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1,260	1,359

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Sussex County	15.89	0.00	0.04	0.01	0.01	0.00	0.28	0.00	0.01	0.06	12.37	17.48
Virginia	8.45	0.89	0.89	0.13	0.87	0.75	2.51	0.50	0.46	0.83	15.48	15.84
National	7.83	1.30	0.88	0.23	0.45	0.56	1.59	0.48	0.36	0.56	13.79	14.86
Prince George County	12.67	0.18	0.69	0.11	0.44	0.21	0.08	0.21	0.05	0.22	19.00	17.60
Dinwiddie County	14.12	0.02	0.15	0.03	0.05	0.00	0.02	0.13	0.10	0.21	19.43	22.38
Southampton County	13.54	0.00	0.09	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.40	0.00	0.03	0.00	15.12	25.00
Greensville County	17.21	0.12	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.15	0.00	0.00	0.26	14.82	15.83
Surry County	15.27	0.09	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.00	18.88	20.36

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Sussex County		0.00	4.17	7.12	1.06	0.00	11.09	0.00	2.00	7.78	79.92	110.32
Virginia		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		145.22	98.63	177.18	51.35	73.84	63.27	96.58	77.26	67.41	89.04	93.79
Prince George County		19.56	77.71	81.95	50.43	28.01	2.99	41.74	10.30	25.88	122.74	111.09
Dinwiddie County		2.71	17.18	23.96	5.95	0.46	0.97	26.62	21.71	25.37	125.52	141.27
Southampton County		0.00	10.56	0.00	0.00	0.73	16.06	0.00	7.15	0.00	97.66	157.81
Greensville County		12.90	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	6.02	0.00	0.00	30.88	95.71	99.93
Surry County		10.04	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	9.69	0.00	121.92	128.51

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Sussex County		0.00	4.23	4.02	2.07	0.00	17.52	0.00	2.59	11.54	89.76	117.63
Virginia		68.86	101.39	56.44	194.73	135.43	158.05	103.54	129.44	148.36	112.31	106.63
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Prince George County		13.47	78.79	46.25	98.20	37.93	4.72	43.22	13.33	38.39	137.85	118.46
Dinwiddie County		1.87	17.41	13.52	11.59	0.62	1.53	27.56	28.10	37.64	140.97	150.63
Southampton County		0.00	10.71	0.00	0.00	0.99	25.38	0.00	9.25	0.00	109.68	168.27
Greensville County		8.89	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	9.51	0.00	0.00	45.81	107.49	106.55
Surry County		6.92	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.55	0.00	136.92	137.03

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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