[1][2] The term is also used for aspects of their culture, such as language, dress, and Mennonite food.
[3] The most prominent ethnic Mennonite groups are Russian Mennonites (German: Russland-Mennoniten), who formed as an ethnic group in Prussia and South Russia (now Ukraine), but who are mostly of Dutch (both Flemish, Frisian) and North German ancestry and speak Plautdietsch and Mennonites of Pennsylvania Dutch heritage who formed as an ethnic group in North America and who are of Swiss-German and South German ancestry.
[4] For centuries, Mennonites almost exclusively married inside their churches, and moved through Europe and into North America in large groups, while maintaining their own language and religious practices.
[5] While missionary activities after 1950s, converted thousands to the Mennonite church in Africa, India, Indonesia and other places outside Europe and North America, these groups cannot be considered ethnic Mennonites as they do not share the same European heritage.
The same is true for the Hutterites and the Amish who are Anabaptists like the Mennonites, but have never engaged in mission activities on a larger scale.