Nationality: Dutchman
Ethnicity: almost completely white Dutch, with 1/16th of white German. Pretty boring stuff. I guess I could call myself German-Dutchman, but I doubt it’s a popular description over here. 
Wrong. Bangladesh’s citizens are Bangladeshis, and that is how they differentiate themselves from the Indian Bengalis who are, well, Bengalis.
[slight hijack]
Just curious, how does one determine the pecentage of ones ethnicity. I can understand when one says that s/he is half this, half that, or even the percentage is quater. But how did BraveNewSquirle determine that s/he was 25% Sweedish,
15% German and 60% Irish, English, Danish? Help anyone?
[/slight hijack]
Wrong, yourself ;).
Bangladeshi = political affiliation
Bengali = cultural and linguistic affiliation ( also historical )
Not all Bangladeshis are Bengali ( for example there are still some Urdu-speaking Biharis that had immigrated in during the partition, though many have since repatriated to Pakistan, as they tended to have been pro-West Pakistani during the civil unrest of the 1960’s and 1970’s ), but most are.
Bangla = Bengal and it appears both West ( Indian ) and East ( Bangladeshi ) Bengalis use the term. Indeed while quickly scanning to double-check myself, I saw a 1999 proposal by the West Bengal assembly to rename the province Bangla.
- Tamerlane
Wrong again 
Bangladeshi= citizen of Bangladesh, much in the sam manner as,
Hindustani= citizen of Hindustan,
Pakistani= citizen of Pakistan
It is more of a national affiliation than a political one.
I am aware that there are Urdu-speaking Biharis in Bangladesh, but even they are identified as Bangladeshi.
Heres a link. Go down the page, where it says ‘People’. The nationality of the people of Bangladesh is mentioned.
ok… near as I can figure…
Mother’s side:
1/4 German
1/8 Irish
1/16 Scottish
1/16 Danish
Father’s side:
1/4 Polish
3/16 Hungarian
1/16 Czecheslovakian (sp?)
Aryan poster child. Born and raised in New Jersey. Whats your problem?
That’s more or less what I said.
Well, that’s pretty much what I meant, national identification in this case being more a matter of politics, than language/ethnicity.
And right below the entry for Nationality is the entry for Ethnic groups, which reads: Bengali 98% :D.
Surrender to my inexorable logic, you know you want to :p.
- Tamerlane
Hiya! I’ll bet we’re related. What region is your family from (assuming you’ve moved to Reykjavik as an adult)?
National indetification is always about politics rather than language/ethnicity. Would you say that you are a Serbian/English/Welsh/Black Dutch, these being your ethnicities? You are an American, same as a person living in Bangladesh is a Bangladeshi, whether his ethnicity is a Bihari or a Bengali.
Are we discussing nationality or ethnicity?
I Bow to your logic, I wow at your logic BOW WOW 
Tell that to the Serbs in Serbia ;). National identity is complex and differs from country to country. It’s always political at some level, but varying definitions of ethnicity sometimes factor in more in one country vs. another.
I’d usually say I’m an American, unless someone asked about my ethnic background, which this thread did.
Well, in the context of this thread, both really.
The confusion perhaps comes from Loneraven saying half Indian ( a national identity, really, more than an ethnic one, but still a term that is used as a vague ethnic identifier in some places - i.e. “Indian” restaurants ) and half Bengali ( more an ethnic/linguistic identity, that could refer to either a Indian citizen or a Bangladeshi citizen ). You responded that Bengal was in India and did he mean the nationality Bangladeshi as the counterpart to the nationality of Indian. Reasonable in one sense, however not an entirely accurate question/correction as it is, a) not true that Bengal is India - historical Bengal is split pretty evenly between India and Bangladesh, and b) most Bangladeshis refer to themselves as Bengali ( or Bangla, which is the same thing ) from an ethnic standpoint, so it is perfectly appropriate for him to self-identify in a thread such as this in that fashion. Since he is living in London, he may well be a British citizen and considers himself as such from a nationality point of view, while viewing “Indian” ( as opposed to Punjabi or Marathi, since he may not know ) and Bengali as his ethnic backgrounds,
It just shows how confusing national/ethnic terms can be. For example the word Iranian can mean either a) a citizen of Iran or b) an ethnic, native Parsi-speaking Iranian, as opposed to a native Arabic-speaking Iranian.
Anyway, we have probably hijacked this thread far enough at this point :).
All eventually bow to the Lame One. Soon ALL WILL bow to the Lame One. cough
- Tamerlane
I am a Pathan, Pakistani, Punjabi, Uzbek, British and Canadian.
American
Mostly Irish Catholic from both sides, with some German from my father’s side. He once told me there might also be some Austrian mixed in there too.
It’s part of our family history. In China for example most people who live there have ancestors going back for a very long time. Not too much to talk about.
The US on the other hand is mostly immigrants and decedents of immigrants. Where our ancestors came from is part of our family history. We also view our family history as part of our identity in some ways.
Also occasionally it comes in handy to know. As I said earlier I am a quarter Alaskan Native (not sure if it’s Alaskian Indian or Inuit). Either the temp. or the wind chill has to be below 25 degrees (not sure maybe around -5 degrees in meteric?) before the cold will bother me without a coat. I usually won’t wear a coat unless I feel like I need it. Also I over heat too easily in the summer. The quarter Alaskian Native thing works wonders in an arguement about coat wearing. Some well meaning people just seem to think there is no possible way I could not be cold.
I am a Canadian citizen, residing in the United States.
My maternal grandmother’s family is from Scotland, maternal and paternal grandfather’s families are from England, paternal grandmother’s family is from Wales.
Born in Florida.
Mother is from Iceland, father from Connecticut. I’m 50% Icelandic, 25% Finnish, and 25% Russian Jew. I really only know anything about the geneaology of my family on my mother’s side. My father’s side of the family is smaller and a bit more ambiguous, plus the records weren’t kept well, not to mention other occurrences.
American (Philadelphia expatriate)
Mother’s side: Scottish, German/Quaker
Father’s side: Austrian, Russian/Jewish
Father was Scotch, and Mom was Italian. Single malts and Chianti do not mix well, outside of my brother and myself.
Hey! I’m from the West and East part of Iceland, most people emigrated from the north, I believe. Did you know that DeCode genetics here in Reykjavík have a database thingamajig where you can trace your family tree waaaay back? Not only am I sure that we ARE related (pretty much everyone here is) but I could easily find out how if you PM me with a name of an Icelandic ancestor and when he/she was around. If you’re interested.
I AM CANADIAN! Born in Finland.
Mother- 100% Finnish
Father- Finnish with possibly some Russian thrown in (last name Sadko).He was born in Karelia.
American, born and raised in Ohio.
Mom is from Pennsylvania and of mostly Scotch/Irish descent.
Dad is straight outta Düsseldorf.
White Cherokee/Irish/Italian, born and living in America.