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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)

Westmoreland County	19,463	1,183	69	12	327	661	7	135	19	3,007	834	836
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
Charles County	175,844	3,305	1,084	152	3,546	3,144	4,493	781	727	64,285	11,562	9,477
St. Mary's County	116,296	6,704	288	78	1,378	3,122	1,155	909	238	11,384	2,709	2,549
King George County	29,004	2,019	160	17	462	766	229	210	174	2,873	747	783
Essex County	10,763	677	54	3	240	45	123	0	2	2,487	636	779
Northumberland County	12,614	1,798	16	0	180	151	1	45	4	1,504	603	496
Richmond County	9,237	794	18	0	36	455	66	87	23	1,571	530	455

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Westmoreland County	11.44	6.08	0.35	0.06	1.68	3.40	0.04	0.69	0.10	15.45	4.29	4.30
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
Charles County	17.92	1.88	0.62	0.09	2.02	1.79	2.56	0.44	0.41	36.56	6.58	5.39
St. Mary's County	10.48	5.76	0.25	0.07	1.18	2.68	0.99	0.78	0.20	9.79	2.33	2.19
King George County	10.61	6.96	0.55	0.06	1.59	2.64	0.79	0.72	0.60	9.91	2.58	2.70
Essex County	13.82	6.29	0.50	0.03	2.23	0.42	1.14	0.00	0.02	23.11	5.91	7.24
Northumberland County	10.73	14.25	0.13	0.00	1.43	1.20	0.01	0.36	0.03	11.92	4.78	3.93
Richmond County	13.13	8.60	0.19	0.00	0.39	4.93	0.71	0.94	0.25	17.01	5.74	4.93

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

Westmoreland County		92.80	166.17	88.91	86.99	135.44	0.98	39.83	13.13	133.97	111.91	151.87
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
Charles County		28.70	288.94	124.65	104.41	71.30	69.74	25.51	55.59	317.00	171.71	190.55
St. Mary's County		88.01	116.07	96.72	61.35	107.06	27.11	44.89	27.52	84.88	60.83	77.50
King George County		106.28	258.57	84.52	82.47	105.33	21.55	41.58	80.66	85.89	67.26	95.45
Essex County		96.04	235.16	40.20	115.45	16.67	31.19	0.00	2.50	200.37	154.32	255.90
Northumberland County		217.63	59.45	0.00	73.88	47.74	0.22	20.49	4.26	103.39	124.84	139.03
Richmond County		131.24	91.34	0.00	20.18	196.45	19.50	54.09	33.48	147.48	149.84	174.16

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

Westmoreland County		150.20	54.98	33.79	50.91	29.98	2.00	51.27	9.09	204.81	187.32	205.51
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
Charles County		46.45	95.61	47.37	61.11	15.79	141.89	32.83	38.49	484.62	287.43	257.86
St. Mary's County		142.45	38.41	36.75	35.91	23.70	55.15	57.77	19.05	129.76	101.83	104.87
King George County		172.02	85.55	32.12	48.27	23.32	43.84	53.52	55.85	131.31	112.59	129.16
Essex County		155.44	77.81	15.27	67.57	3.69	63.46	0.00	1.73	306.31	258.32	346.29
Northumberland County		352.24	19.67	0.00	43.24	10.57	0.44	26.37	2.95	158.06	208.98	188.13
Richmond County		212.42	30.22	0.00	11.81	43.49	39.68	69.62	23.18	225.46	250.83	235.68

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

Westmoreland County	19,463	66	1,311	94	87	969	552	191	106	1,266	0	309
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
Charles County	175,844	81	6,000	381	551	4,616	1,794	735	709	5,164	148	1,923
St. Mary's County	116,296	369	9,869	555	1,235	9,418	2,916	1,338	1,528	9,602	789	3,073
King George County	29,004	29	2,238	200	314	2,034	543	244	367	2,284	186	841
Essex County	10,763	16	845	44	27	269	146	13	56	393	3	75
Northumberland County	12,614	39	1,374	17	54	580	228	54	97	877	7	283
Richmond County	9,237	10	758	18	32	198	63	4	25	355	0	80

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Westmoreland County	11.44	0.34	6.74	0.48	0.45	4.98	2.84	0.98	0.54	6.50	0.00	1.59
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
Charles County	17.92	0.05	3.41	0.22	0.31	2.63	1.02	0.42	0.40	2.94	0.08	1.09
St. Mary's County	10.48	0.32	8.49	0.48	1.06	8.10	2.51	1.15	1.31	8.26	0.68	2.64
King George County	10.61	0.10	7.72	0.69	1.08	7.01	1.87	0.84	1.27	7.87	0.64	2.90
Essex County	13.82	0.15	7.85	0.41	0.25	2.50	1.36	0.12	0.52	3.65	0.03	0.70
Northumberland County	10.73	0.31	10.89	0.13	0.43	4.60	1.81	0.43	0.77	6.95	0.06	2.24
Richmond County	13.13	0.11	8.21	0.19	0.35	2.14	0.68	0.04	0.27	3.84	0.00	0.87

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

Westmoreland County		145.45	101.44	144.52	63.97	96.91	155.66	126.64	62.93	108.47	0.00	64.91
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
Charles County		19.76	51.39	64.84	44.84	51.09	56.00	53.94	46.59	48.97	31.43	44.71
St. Mary's County		136.10	127.80	142.81	151.98	157.63	137.62	148.47	151.82	137.68	253.37	108.04
King George County		42.89	116.20	206.34	154.94	136.50	102.75	108.56	146.21	131.32	239.49	118.56
Essex County		63.76	118.23	122.33	35.90	48.65	74.45	15.59	60.12	60.89	10.41	28.49
Northumberland County		132.62	164.04	40.33	61.27	89.50	99.21	55.24	88.86	115.94	20.72	91.73
Richmond County		46.44	123.58	58.31	49.58	41.72	37.43	5.59	31.27	64.09	0.00	35.41

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

Westmoreland County		86.21	127.96	90.69	42.13	69.16	107.84	72.18	31.32	108.25	0.00	56.98
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
Charles County		11.71	64.82	40.69	29.53	36.47	38.79	30.74	23.19	48.87	25.34	39.25
St. Mary's County		80.67	161.21	89.61	100.09	112.50	95.34	84.62	75.56	137.41	204.23	94.84
King George County		25.42	146.58	129.48	102.04	97.42	71.19	61.88	72.77	131.06	193.05	104.07
Essex County		37.79	149.14	76.76	23.64	34.72	51.58	8.88	29.92	60.77	8.39	25.01
Northumberland County		78.60	206.93	25.31	40.35	63.88	68.73	31.49	44.22	115.71	16.71	80.52
Richmond County		27.52	155.89	36.59	32.65	29.78	25.93	3.19	15.56	63.96	0.00	31.09

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

Westmoreland County	19,463	12	2	0	9	59	20	3	80	0	3,669	3,568
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
Charles County	175,844	578	2,393	127	266	314	1,522	410	213	209	24,512	20,642
St. Mary's County	116,296	240	1,469	155	214	182	488	206	223	195	16,467	25,251
King George County	29,004	51	109	25	51	61	86	13	10	88	4,744	6,046
Essex County	10,763	21	21	2	0	0	16	2	0	37	2,277	1,454
Northumberland County	12,614	21	134	7	0	71	40	0	10	22	1,686	2,215
Richmond County	9,237	4	0	0	3	0	3	5	9	0	1,949	1,686

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Westmoreland County	11.44	0.06	0.01	0.00	0.05	0.30	0.10	0.02	0.41	0.00	18.85	18.33
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
Charles County	17.92	0.33	1.36	0.07	0.15	0.18	0.87	0.23	0.12	0.12	13.94	11.74
St. Mary's County	10.48	0.21	1.26	0.13	0.18	0.16	0.42	0.18	0.19	0.17	14.16	21.71
King George County	10.61	0.18	0.38	0.09	0.18	0.21	0.30	0.04	0.03	0.30	16.36	20.85
Essex County	13.82	0.20	0.20	0.02	0.00	0.00	0.15	0.02	0.00	0.34	21.16	13.51
Northumberland County	10.73	0.17	1.06	0.06	0.00	0.56	0.32	0.00	0.08	0.17	13.37	17.56
Richmond County	13.13	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.03	0.00	0.03	0.05	0.10	0.00	21.10	18.25

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

Westmoreland County		6.89	1.16	0.00	5.29	40.16	4.09	3.11	88.66	0.00	121.75	115.72
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
Charles County		36.73	153.04	55.40	17.30	23.66	34.48	47.05	26.13	14.24	90.03	74.10
St. Mary's County		23.06	142.05	102.24	21.04	20.73	16.72	35.74	41.36	20.09	91.45	137.05
King George County		19.65	42.26	66.12	20.11	27.87	11.81	9.04	7.44	36.36	105.64	131.58
Essex County		21.80	21.94	14.25	0.00	0.00	5.92	3.75	0.00	41.20	136.64	85.27
Northumberland County		18.60	119.47	42.57	0.00	74.58	12.63	0.00	17.10	20.90	86.33	110.84
Richmond County		4.84	0.00	0.00	3.71	0.00	1.29	10.92	21.02	0.00	136.28	115.21

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

Westmoreland County		4.74	1.17	0.00	10.30	54.40	6.47	3.22	114.76	0.00	136.74	123.38
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
Charles County		25.29	155.17	31.27	33.69	32.04	54.49	48.71	33.82	21.13	101.11	79.01
St. Mary's County		15.88	144.03	57.70	40.98	28.08	26.42	37.01	53.54	29.81	102.71	146.14
King George County		13.53	42.85	37.32	39.16	37.74	18.67	9.36	9.63	53.94	118.64	140.30
Essex County		15.01	22.25	8.04	0.00	0.00	9.36	3.88	0.00	61.12	153.45	90.92
Northumberland County		12.81	121.13	24.02	0.00	101.00	19.97	0.00	22.13	31.01	96.95	118.18
Richmond County		3.33	0.00	0.00	7.23	0.00	2.04	11.31	27.20	0.00	153.05	122.85

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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