The following is a list of contemporary ethnic groups of Europe. There has been constant debate over the classification of ethnic groups. Membership of an ethnic group tends to be associated with shared ancestry, history, homeland, language or dialect and cultural heritage; where the term "culture" specifically includes aspects such as religion, mythology and ritual, cuisine, dressing (clothing) style and other factors.
By the nature of the concept, ethnic groups tend to be divided into subgroups, may themselves be or not be identified as independent ethnic groups depending on the source consulted.
Europe here is considered to be approximately delimited from North America by the Greenland Sea (extending west to Svalbard, Jan Mayen, and Iceland along the Fram and Denmark straits); from Asia by Thrace at the border between the Istanbul and Kocaeli Provinces, the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, the Greater Caucasus Mountains, the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Kara Sea, and the Greek Aegean Islands; and from Africa by the Mediterranean Sea, Strait of Sicily, and Strait of Gibraltar.
The following groups are commonly identified as "ethnic groups", as opposed to ethno-linguistic phyla, national groups, racial groups or similar.