Pennsylvania Germans

Pennsylvania Germans ( born Pennsylvania Dutch, Pennsylvania Deitsch, Pennsylvania Germans ) are descendants of XVII-XVIII centuries immigrants from West and South Germany (primarily the Palatinate ), who settled primarily in Pennsylvania (where the name comes from), and then in some neighboring states.

Pennsylvania Germans
Modern self-name	Pennsylfaanisch deitsch
Abundance and area
Total: 332.341 (2010)
USA Canada
Tongue	pennsylvania-german dialect , english
Religion	Lutherans , Mennonites , Amish , reformists , evangelical Christians , Moravian brothers and other Protestants ; Catholics
Related peoples	Alsatians , Germans , Dutch
Origin	immigrants from Germany

Counties with significant groups of Pennsylvania Germans in relative and numerical terms.

The traditional language of the Pennsylvania-Germans - the Pennsylvania-German dialect - goes back to the Rhine- Palatinate dialect , which is part of the Rhine-Frankish dialect of the West Middle German group of Middle German dialects of the High German cluster (“language”). Currently, he remains in live communication only in rural communities of the Amish and Mennonite. All Pennsylvania Germans speak English.

One of the main areas of residence for Pennsylvania Germans is the southeast state of Pennsylvania . In addition, they live in northern Indiana , in eastern central Illinois , in central Ohio , in the states of Maryland , Virginia , West Virginia , North Carolina ; as well as in the Canadian province of Ontario .