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Ashkenazi Jewish

Ashkenazi Jews
(יהודי אשכנז Y'hudey Ashkenaz in Ashkenazi Hebrew)
Total population
(10–11.2 million)
Regions with significant populations
 United States 5–6 million
 Israel 2.8 million
 Russia 194,000–500,000
 Argentina 300,000
 United Kingdom 260,000
 Canada 240,000
 France 200,000
 Germany 200,000
 Ukraine 150,000
 Australia 120,000
 South Africa 80,000
 Belarus 80,000
 Hungary 75,000
 Chile 70,000
 Belgium 30,000
 Brazil 30,000
 Netherlands 30,000
 Moldova 30,000
 Poland 25,000
 Mexico 18,500
 Sweden 18,000
 Latvia 10,000
 Romania 10,000
 Austria 9,000
 New Zealand 5,000
 Azerbaijan 4,300
 Lithuania 4,000
 Czech Republic 3,000
 Slovakia 3,000
 Estonia 1,000
Languages
Yiddish
Modern: Local languages, primarily:English, Hebrew, Russian
Religion
Judaism, some secular, irreligious
Related ethnic groups
Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Samaritans,Kurds, other Levantines (Druze, Assyrians,Arabs), Mediterranean groups

Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or simply Ashkenazim (Hebrew: אַשְׁכְּנַזִּים‎, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: [ˌaʃkəˈnazim], singular: [ˌaʃkəˈnazi], Modern Hebrew: [aʃkenaˈzim, aʃkenaˈzi]; also יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכֲּנַזY'hudey Ashkenaz), are a Jewish diaspora population who coalesced as a distinct community in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium. The traditional diaspora language of Ashkenazi Jews is Yiddish (which incorporates several dialects), while until recently Hebrew was only used as a sacred language.

The Ashkenazim settled and established communities throughout Central and Eastern Europe, which was their primary region of concentration and residence from the Middle Ages until recent times. They subsequently evolved their own distinctive culture and diasporic identities. Throughout their time in Europe, the Ashkenazim have made many important contributions to philosophy, scholarship, literature, art, music, and science.


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