Germanic peoples

The term Germanic peoples may refer to:

• the Germanic tribes that in the first millennium were seen as a barbarian threat by the Roman Empire and its successors;
• the Germanic Christianity that in the second millennium came to dominate much of Northern Europe, politically organized in the Holy Roman Empire and the Scandinavian kingdoms Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
• the present day people of Germanic origin:
  • Austrians
  • Swiss Germans
  • Flemings
  • Dutch or Netherlandic people
  • Germans
  • Danes
  • Norwegians
  • Swedes
  • Icelanders

The population of England and parts of lowland Scotland is usually considered of mixed origin descending from Celts and Germanic tribes, notably the Angles, the Saxons and the Norsemen. Celtic descent is sometimes argued to be dominant for other parts of the British Islands, although contacts with the Norse were frequent in the North. People of Anglo-Saxon origin are also numerous in North America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.