Sephardim fanned out fro Iberia to all parts of the known world: Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, the New World, Central and South America. Some remained, secretly practicing their faith; theyre called conversos in Spanish or bnei anousim in Hebrew.

Who do Sephardic Jews descend from?

In the narrower ethnic definition, a Sephardi Jew is a Jew descended from the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula in the late 15th century, immediately prior to the issuance of the Alhambra Decree of 1492 by order of the Catholic Monarchs in Spain, and the decree of 1496 in Portugal by order of King Manuel I.

Do Sephardic Jews have genetic diseases?

The diversity of genetic disorders affecting Sephardic Jews: Like Ashkenazi Jews, they developed unique sets of genetic disorders because they were isolated reproductively from the populations around them.