However, it's difficult to say for certain whether most scholars would refer to the Dutch as Vikings. We do know, however, that the Dutch people originate largely from the same culture and Nordic Bronze Age as the Norse, which links them to the Viking group.
Ethnically, about 79-80% of the total population is Dutch, which itself is a mixture of Germanic and Celtic lineages. One group of the Dutch, the Frisians, are both ethnically distinct and also often lumped into the Dutch ethnicity thanks to cultural and historic similarities.
No, the Dutch people aren't considered Nordic. The Netherlands isn't on the Nordic Council, the members of which are Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. In addition, other organizations, such as the UN, do not include the Netherlands in the group of countries considered Nordic.
No, the Dutch were not part of the Vikings. The Vikings originated in Scandinavia. Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe that traditionally included the kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Sometimes people include modern Iceland in the broader region of Scandinavia.
While Dutch people have several similar character traits to Scandinavians, they are not considered Scandinavian. Instead, they are their own ethnic group. Although the Dutch are not considered Scandinavian, both are included when discussing Germanic ethnicities.
Indeed, the Dutch people are believed to originate from the same Nordic Bronze Age as the Norse people. The common ancestry among the Scandinavian people helps to connect all of the Germanic cultures and languages we know today.
The Dutch (Dutch: Nederlanders) are a West Germanic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Northwestern Europe. They share a common ancestry and culture and speak the Dutch language.
Who was a Viking? If we are speaking ethnically, the closest people to a Viking in modern-day terms would be the Danish, Norwegians, Swedish, and Icelandic people. Interestingly though, it was common for their male Viking ancestors to intermarry with other nationalities, and so there is a lot of mixed heritage.
The Vikings originated from the area that became modern-day Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
From 800 AD to 1000 AD, the Low Countries suffered considerably from Viking raids (one of which destroyed the wealthy city of Dorestad). Most of the Netherlands was occupied by the Vikings from 850 to 920. This was about the same time that France and Germany were fighting for supremacy over the middle empire.
Dutch is much closer to German than Danish. While the vocabulary between the three is similar, Germany and the Netherlands share many more words than Danish.
We don't know if you've realised yet, but let us break the news: people from the Netherlands are tall, in fact, they're the tallest on the planet. Studies show that the average height for Dutch men is 1.86 cm (over 6′) whereas an average American is 1.76 cm (5'9”).
The Netherlands is often considered a part of Scandinavia and even the Nordic countries when in reality, it is not true. Just because it lies to the south of these countries, people misinterpret Netherlands as a Nordic or a Scandinavian country.
Dutch women have significantly longer and broader faces compared with UK women; their palpebral fissure and nasal widths are significantly greater, their nasal ridge length and upper face proportion are significantly reduced; and their nares are significantly more anteverted.
Historically, Nederlanders were often intermixed with many ethnic groups. According to DNA testing companies, Dutch DNA is considered mainly Germanic French, which seems a broader stroke of DNA than some common and visible Dutch characteristics that I see.
Dutch people physical characteristics include being tall, having blue eyes, blond hair, and a slim build. This is a stereotype but not necessarily representative of all modern-day Dutch people.
As descendants of the Vikings, people from Scandinavian countries—Denmark, Norway, and Sweden—are the most likely to carry Viking DNA. However, their genetic footprint extends far beyond Scandinavia due to the Vikings' extensive exploration, raiding, and colonization during the Viking Age (around 793-1066 AD).
Viking facial features were typically strong and well-defined. They often had broad foreheads and prominent cheekbones. Their faces were usually long rather than round, with a squared-off jawline creating a rugged, angular appearance. The noses were generally straight and of average to long length.
Where is the most Viking blood? According to the DNA tests, Scotland – heavily populated by Norsemen in the Viking age – has the highest proportion of descendants; the next biggest population is in the North; and the incidence of Viking blood decreases the further south you go.
Experts have said that any surname ending in 'sen' or 'son' is likely to be of Viking descent (big news for Emma Watson, Emma Thompson, Robert Pattinson and co) – and surnames such as Roger/s, Rogerson, and Rendall also hint that there's a touch of the marauder to you.
The Vikings also influenced Russia, England, Ireland, Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, Normandie and the Baltics - Ösel and Gammelsvenskby in Ukraine are examples of this. The insular Icelandic and Faeroese language and population is the closest to Norse Vikings today.
Seeing as the Dutch refer to themselves as "nederlanders", there's no reason why the English can't use the equivalent 'netherlanders', in the same vein as 'greenlanders' or indeed 'new zealanders', but that's a different question.
The word Dutch comes from a Proto-Germanic word meaning “of the people.” It shares a root with the German word Deutsch, which has led to some confusing names. The name Germans call Germany, for example, is Deutschland and the people there Deutsch. Dutch and German are related, after all, both being Germanic languages.
The Old English cousin to Dutch, thiod or theod, simply meant “people or nation.” (This also helps explain why Germany is called Deutschland in German.) Over time, English-speaking people used the word Dutch to describe people from both the Netherlands and Germany, and now just the Netherlands today.