The
Germanic peoples (also called
Teutonic in older literature) are a historical
ethno-linguistic group, originating in
Northern Europe and identified by their use of the
Indo-European Germanic languages, which diversified out of
Common Germanic in the course of the
Pre-Roman Iron Age. The descendants of these peoples became, and in many areas contributed to, the ethnic groups of
North Western Europe the
Germans,
Norwegians,
Swedish,
Finland-Swedes,
Estonian Swedes,
Danish,
Faroese,
English,
Icelanders,
Austrians,
Dutch and
Flemish, and the inhabitants of
Switzerland,
Alsace and
Friesland on the continent.
Migrating Germanic peoples spread throughout Europe in Late Antiquity (300-600) and the Early Middle Ages. Germanic languages became dominant along the Roman borders (Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and England), but in the rest of the (western) Roman provinces, the Germanic immigrants adopted Latin (Romance) dialects. Furthermore, all Germanic peoples were eventually Christianized to varying extents. The Germanic people played a large role in transforming the Roman Empire into Medieval Europe.
Indo-European topics
extinct Anatolian&_160;· Paleo-Balkans (Dacian,
Phrygian, Thracian)&_160;· Tocharian
