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Geographical DNA projects

From ISOGG Wiki

Geographical DNA projects collect and collate DNA results from a specific country or region. The entry requirements for membership of a geographical project will vary from project to project. For some projects it will be necessary to provide a pedigree to prove your origin in the specific country or region. In some cases it is necessary to have a specific surname associated with the region in question. Other projects will adopt a more flexible approach and will permit entry to anyone with a family tradition of origin or heritage from the country or region.

There are four main types of geographical project:

The vast majority of large geographical projects are hosted at Family Tree DNA.

Geographical projects can provide a useful entrée to the world of DNA testing for men whose surname is not yet represented in a surname DNA project. A Y-DNA test can be ordered through a geographical project in order to benefit from the discounted project pricing. Both men and women who have taken a mtDNA test can submit their results to the relevant geographical project and have the opportunity to compare their results with other people from the same region. By joining a geographical project the participant will often benefit from the advice of an experienced project administrator. For instructions and screenshots of the FTDNA Join Project process see How to join an FTDNA project.

African geographical projects

Australasian DNA projects

  • Aboriginal Tribes Australia DNA Project (Y-DNA and mtDNA) Administrator: George Helon
  • Australian adoption project (Y-DNA, mtDNA and Family Finder) A project for individuals who have known ancestry in Australia and New Zealand going back to pre-Federation times, that is 1900 and prior. Administrator: Nellie Hymen.
  • Australian Citizens Project (Y-DNA, mtDNA and Family Finder) Administrator: Gail Riddell. Co-administrator: Louise Coakley. A project is for Australians and their families whether living currently in Australia or elsewhere.
  • Australia Convicts Project (Y-DNA, mtDNA and Family Finder) Administrator: Gail Riddell. A project for those who have convicts in their family ancestral records.
  • Australian Settlers Project (Y-DNA, mtDNA and Family Finder) Administrator: Gail Riddell. A project for those who know when and where their ancestors arrived (unless your test is only for Family Finder in which case no information is necessary).
  • Kimberley Nyikina Mangala DNA Project (Y-DNA and mtDNA) A project for the indigenous groups in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Administrator: Gregory Kiely
  • Early Settlers in Oceania Project A project for individuals who have known ancestry in Australia and New Zealand going back to pre-Federation times, that is 1900 and prior. Administrator: Nellie Hymen.
  • New Zealand DNA Project (Y-DNA, mtDNA and Family Finder) Administrator: Gail Riddell A project for those who know where their direct maternal/paternal ancestors (depending on the test taken) 'landed' when they went to New Zealand
  • New Zealand Genetic Families Project (Y-DNA, mtDNA and Family Finder) Administrator: Gail Riddell. Co-administrator: Wendy Reeve. This project is for New Zealanders and their families whether living currently in New Zealand or elsewhere.
    • The Normanite Project Administrator: Barbara Rae-Venter. A project for the descendants of the followers of the fiery preacher Norman McLeod. McLeod and his followers left the Scottish Highlands in 1817 for Nova Scotia. After 35 years in St Anns, Nova Scotia, McLeod and his 800 followers migrated to Waipu, New Zealand.
  • Paramatta Sydney Australia Project Administrator: James Denning
  • Polynesian DNA Project Administrator: Kalani Monday. Co-administrators: Chris Greene, Diane Parker and Elena Tipuna
  • South Australia DNA Project (Y-DNA and mtDNA) Administrators: Richard Merry, Gail Edwards and Robert Blair.
  • Tasmania DNA Project Administrators: Andrew Cocker, James Barrett, Richard Merry and Ros Escott.

Asian geographical projects

Eurasian geographical projects

European geographical projects

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  • Balkans DNA Project (Y-DNA and mtDNA) Administrators Atanas Kumbarov, Erhan Inal, Łukasz Łapiński and Mira Peacock
  • Baltic Sea Y-DNA Project Administrator: Stanislaw Plewako
  • Banat DNA Project (Y-DNA and mtDNA) The Banat DNA Project welcomes the descendants of the settlers that migrated eastward, primarily in the 1700s, from various former German States and settled lands in the Danube Basin of south-central Europe. These settlers, later referred to as Danube Swabians (or "Donauschwaben" in German), lived in communities which are located today in Hungary, Romania, and countries of the former Federation of Yugoslavia. Administrator: Scott Aaron
  • Basque DNA Project
  • Benelux Y-DNA Project Administrator: Jules Van Laar
  • Benelux mtDNA Project (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) Administrator: Jules Van Laar
  • Belarus DNA Project (Y-DNA and mtDNA) Administrator: Eugene Matyushonok
  • Belarusian Nobility (Y-DNA)
  • Belgium Walloon DNA Project (Y-DNA and mtDNA)
  • The Brabant DNA Project (Y-DNA) The project was launched in 2009 to analyse the Y-DNA composition of the old Duchy of Brabant (modern Brussels and the provinces of Walloon and Flemish Brabant, Antwerp and the Dutch province of North Brabant). It was later expanded to cover the other provinces of Flanders, then Wallonia and the whole of Belgium. The project is subsidised by the Belgian government. Project Manager: Marc van den Cloot. Assistant Project Manager: Marc Gabriels.
  • British Isles Debbie Kennett's list of DNA projects for the British Isles
  • People of the British Isles Project
  • Bulgarian DNA Project Administrator: Mira Sydney

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  • Madeira DNA Project (Y-DNA and mtDNA) Administrators; Katherine Borges and José A. Fernandes
  • Manx DNA project A Y-DNA project for men with ancestry from the Isle of Man. Established August 2010. Administrator: John Creer
  • Malta DNA Project (Y-DNA and mtDNA) Established 2008.

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Middle Eastern DNA Projects

North American DNA Projects

South American DNA Projects

See also the FamilyTreeDNA blog post on Hispanic genetics: what are the origins and trends which includes a list of relevant DNA projects.

Other project lists

See also