JERUSALEM, Aug 14 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israeli genetic testing company, MyHeritage, said, Hungary has the highest percentage of Jewish population outside Israel.
The company said, its study found that 7.6 percent of 4,981 Hungarians, who took its DNA tests, were found to have 25 percent or more of the Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity.
The research examined a massive dataset of anonymised DNA tests taken by 1.8 million MyHeritage customers worldwide. The company claims to have one of the biggest DNA databases in the world.
MyHeritage said, it conducted the study with Daniel Staetsky, director of the European Jewish Demography Unit, at the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.
Having 25 percent or more of the Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity means, the tested person has at least one grandmother or grandfather who is Jewish.
After Hungary, the top countries with high percentage of Jewish population include Russia, 7.5 percent, followed by Argentina, South Africa, Ukraine, and the U.S., according to the study.
Poland, which used to have a large Jewish community before the Holocaust, now has only 1.2 percent of Jewish kinship in its population.
The research revealed that the countries with the smallest percentage of Jews are Finland and Norway, as less than 0.3 percent of their population has Jewish blood.– NNN-MA’AN