Jewish ethnic groups

Historically, Jews have been identified into two major groups: the Ashkenazim, or "Germanics" ("Ashkenaz" meaning "Germany" in Medieval Hebrew, denoting their Central European base), and the Sephardim, or "Hispanics" ("Sefarad" meaning "Hispania" or "Iberia" in Hebrew, denoting their Spanish and Portuguese base). The far more recent term Mizrahim, or "Easterners" ("Mizrach" being "East" in Hebrew) to include Middle Eastern and North African Jews, constitutes a third major group to some, following the partition of Palestine, their often-forced migration, and the re-establishment of their communities in Israel.^{[citation needed]}

Smaller Jewish groups include the Georgian Jews and Mountain Jews from the Caucasus; Indian Jews including the Bene Israel, Bnei Menashe, Cochin Jews, Chennai Jews and Bene Ephraim; the Romaniotes of Greece; the ancient Italian Jewish community; the Teimanim from the Yemen and Oman; various African Jews, including most numerously the Beta Israel of Ethiopia; the Bukharan Jews of Central Asia; and Chinese Jews, most notably the Kaifeng Jews, the Udmurt Jews from Udmurtia and Tatarstan, as well as various other distinct but now extinct communities.