The Han Chinese trace a common ancestry to the Huaxia, the initial confederation of agricultural tribes living along the Yellow River. The term "Huaxia" refers to the collective Neolithic confederation of agricultural tribes Hua and Xia who settled along the Central Plains around the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in Northern China. The tribes were the ancestors of the modern Han Chinese people that gave birth to Chinese civilization. In addition, the term "Huaxia" (literally, 'the civilized Xia people') was distinctively used to represent a "civilized" ethnic group in contrast to what was perceived as "barbaric" foreigners around them.