A great contribution to the description of human races was made by the Soviet scientist Valery Pavlovich Alekseev (1929-1991). In principle, we are now guided precisely by his calculations in this interesting anthropological issue. So what is race?

This is a relatively stable biological characteristic of the human species. Combines their general appearance and psychophysical features. At the same time, it is important to understand that this unity does not in any way affect the form of the hostel and the ways of living together. General signs are purely external, anatomical, but they cannot be used to judge the intellect of people, their ability to work, live, engage in science, art and other mental activities. That is, representatives of different races are absolutely identical in their mental development. They also have exactly the same rights, and, consequently, duties.

The ancestors of modern man are the Cro-Magnons. It is assumed that their first representatives appeared on Earth 300 thousand years ago in Southeast Africa. As the millennia passed, our distant ancestors spread throughout the world. They lived in different climatic conditions, and therefore acquired strictly specific biological characteristics. A single habitat gave rise to a common culture. And within this culture ethnic groups were formed. For example, the Roman ethnic group, the Greek ethnic group, the Carthaginian ethnic group and others.

Human races are divided into Caucasians, Negroids, Mongoloids, Australoids, Americanoids. There are also sub-races or minor races. Their representatives have their own specific biological traits that other people do not have.

1 - Negroid, 2 - Caucasoid, 3 - Mongoloid, 4 - Australoid, 5 - Americanoid

Caucasians - white race

The first Caucasians appeared in Southern Europe and North Africa. From there they spread throughout the European continent, came to Central, Central Asia and Northern Tibet. They crossed the Hindu Kush and ended up in India. Here they settled the entire northern part of Hindustan. They also mastered the Arabian Peninsula and the northern regions of Africa. In the 16th century, they crossed the Atlantic and populated almost all of North America and most of South America. Then it was the turn of Australia and South Africa.

Negroids - black race

Negroids or Negroes are considered the indigenous inhabitants of the tropical zone. This explanation is based on melanin, which gives the skin its black color. It protects the skin from the burns of the scorching tropical sun. No doubt, it prevents burns. But what clothes do people wear on a hot sunny day - white or black? Of course white, because it reflects the sun's rays well. Therefore, in extreme heat, having black skin is unprofitable, especially with high insolation. From this we can assume that the Negroes appeared in those climatic conditions where cloudiness prevailed.

Indeed, the oldest finds of Grimaldi (Negroids), belonging to the Upper Paleolithic, were discovered on the territory of Southern France (Nice) in the Grimaldi cave. In the Upper Paleolithic, this whole area was inhabited by people with black skin, woolly hair and large lips. They were tall, slender, long-legged hunters of large herbivores. But how did they end up in Africa? Just like the Europeans came to America, that is, they moved there, pushing the indigenous population.

Interestingly, South Africa was inhabited by Negroids - Bantu Negroes (the classic Negroes we know) in the 1st century BC. e. That is, the pioneers were contemporaries of Julius Caesar. It was at this time that they settled in the forests of the Congo, the savannahs of East Africa, reached the southern regions of the Zambezi River and ended up on the banks of the muddy Limpopo River.

And who did these black-skinned European conquerors supplant? After all, someone lived before them on these lands. This is a special southern race, which is conditionally called " Khoisan".

Khoisan race

It includes Hottentots and Bushmen. They differ from blacks in brown skin and Mongoloid features. They have a different throat. They do not pronounce words on the exhale, like all of us, but on the inhale. They are considered the remnants of some ancient race that inhabited the Southern Hemisphere for a very long time. There are very few of these people left, and in the ethnic sense, they do not represent anything integral.

Bushmen- quiet and calm hunters. They were pushed out by Bichuani Negroes into the Kalahari Desert. That's where they live, forgetting their ancient and rich culture. They have art, but it is in a rudimentary state, since life in the desert is very difficult and you have to think not about art, but about how to get food.

Hottentots(the Dutch name of the tribes), who lived in the Cape Province (South Africa), became famous for being real robbers. They stole cattle. They quickly became friends with the Dutch and became their guides, translators and farm workers. When the British captured the Cape Colony, the Hottentots made friends with them. They live on these lands to this day.

australoids

Australoids are also called Australians. How they got to the lands of Australia is unknown. But they were there a long time ago. It was a huge number of small tribes with different customs, rituals and culture. They did not like each other and practically did not communicate.

Australoids are not similar to Caucasoids, Negroids and Mongoloids. They only look like themselves. Their skin is very dark, almost black. The hair is wavy, the shoulders are wide, and the reaction is extremely fast. Relatives of these people live in South India on the Deccan Plateau. Maybe from there they sailed to Australia, and also settled all the islands nearby.

Mongoloids - yellow race

Mongoloids are the most numerous. They are divided into a large number of sub-races or small races. There are Siberian Mongoloids, North Chinese, South Chinese, Malay, Tibetan. What they have in common is a narrow slit of the eyes. The hair is straight, black and coarse. The eyes are dark. The skin is swarthy, has a slight yellowish tint. The face is broad and flattened, the cheekbones protrude.

americanoids

Americanoids populate America from the tundra to Tierra del Fuego. Eskimos do not belong to this race. They are alien people. The hair of the Americanoids is black and straight, the skin is swarthy. The eyes are black and narrower than those of Caucasians. These people have a huge number of languages. Among them, it is even impossible to make any classification. There are many dead languages ​​now, as their speakers have died out and the languages ​​have been written down.

Pygmies and Caucasians

pygmies

Pygmies belong to the Negroid race. They live in the forests of equatorial Africa. Notable for their small stature. They have it 1.45-1.5 meters. The skin is brown, the lips are relatively thin, and the hair is dark and curly. Living conditions are poor, hence the small growth, which is the result of a small amount of vitamins and proteins necessary for the body for normal development. Currently, short stature has become a genetic heredity. Therefore, even if the pygmy babies are heavily fed, they will not become tall.

Thus, we have considered the main human races that exist on Earth. But it should be noted that race has never been of decisive importance for the formation of culture. It is also noteworthy that over the past 15 thousand years, no new biological types of people have appeared, and the old ones have not disappeared. Everything is still stable. The only thing is that there is a mixing of people of different biological types. There are mestizos, mulattos, sambo. But these are not biological and anthropological, but social factors determined by the achievements of civilization..

Instruction

The Caucasoid race (less often called the Eurasian or Caucasoid) is common in Europe, Western and partially Central Asia, North Africa, and northern and central parts of India. Later, Caucasians settled in both Americas, Australia and South Africa.

Today, about 40 percent of the world's population belong to the Caucasian race. The face of Caucasians is orthognathic, the hair is usually soft, wavy or straight. The size of the eyes is not a classifying feature, but the superciliary arches are quite large. Anthropologists also note a high nose bridge, a large nose, small or medium lips, and a fairly rapid growth of a beard and mustache. It is noteworthy that the color of hair, skin and eyes is not an indicator of race. The shade can be either light (among the northerners) or rather dark (among the southerners). The Caucasian race includes Abkhazians, Austrians, Arabs, British, Jews, Spaniards, Germans, Poles, Russians, Tatars, Turks, Croats and about 80 other peoples.

Representatives of the Negroid race settled in Central, East and West Africa. Negroids have curly thick hair, thick lips and a flat nose, wide nostrils, dark skin color, elongated arms and legs. Mustache and beard grow quite badly. Eye color - but the shade depends on genetics. The facial angle is acute, since there is no chin protrusion on the lower jaw. In the last century, Negroids and Australoids were classified as a common equatorial race, but later researchers managed to prove that, with external similarities and similar conditions of existence, the differences between these races are still significant. One of the opponents of racism, Elizabeth Martinez, proposed calling representatives of the Negroid race Kongoids based on geographical distribution (by analogy with other races), but the term never took root.

"Pygmy" is translated from Greek as "a man the size of a fist." Pygmies or negrils are called undersized Negroids. The first mention of pygmies dates back to the third millennium BC. In the 16th-17th centuries, West African explorers called such people "matimba". The pygmies were finally identified as a race in the 19th century thanks to the work of the German researcher Georg Schweinfurt and the Russian scientist V.V. Juncker. Adult male pygmies usually do not grow above one and a half meters. All representatives of the race are characterized by light brown skin, curly dark hair, thin lips. The number of pygmies has not yet been established. According to various sources, from 40,000 to 280,000 people live on the planet. Pygmies belong to the underdeveloped peoples. They still live in huts built of dried grass and sticks, hunt (using bows and arrows) and gather, and do not use stone tools.

The Kapoids ("Bushmen" and "Khoisan race") live in South Africa. These are short people with yellow-brown skin and almost childish features throughout their lives. The characteristic features of the race include coarse curled hair, early wrinkles and the so-called "Hottentot apron" (saggy fold of skin above the pubis). Bushmen have a noticeable deposition of fat on the buttocks and a curvature of the lumbar spine (lordosis).

Initially, representatives of the race inhabited the territory that is now called Mongolia. The appearance of the Mongoloids testifies to the centuries-old need to survive in the desert. Mongoloids have narrow eyes with an additional fold at the inner corner of the eye (epicanthus). It helps to protect the organs of vision and dust. Representatives of the race are distinguished by thick, black straight hair. Mongoloids are usually divided into two groups: southern (dark, short, with a small face and high forehead) and northern (tall, fair-skinned, with large features and a low vault of the skull). Anthropologists believe that this race appeared no more than 12,000 years ago.

Representatives of the Americanoid race settled in North and South America. They have black hair and a nose like an eagle's beak. The eyes are usually black, the slit is larger than that of the Mongoloids, but smaller than that of the Caucasians. Americanoids are usually tall.

Australoids are often referred to as the Australian race. This is a very ancient race, whose representatives lived in the Kuriles, Hawaii, Hindustan and Tasmania. Australoids are divided into Ainu, Melanesian, Polynesian, Veddoid and Australian groups. Indigenous Australians have brown, but fairly light skin, a large nose, massive brow ridges, and strong jaws. The hair of this race is long and wavy, apt to become very coarse in the sun. Melanesians often have spiral hair.

When distinguishing races of the first (large), second (small) and third order (subraces), as well as anthropological types, they are guided by the principle of the taxonomic value of racial features, depending on the time of formation of the racial trunk and the territory on which this feature delimits groups of people. The later the sign was formed, the less it is suitable for distinguishing between large races. Thus, large races are distinguished primarily by the degree of pigmentation and the structural features of the face and head, that is, by the signs of appearance that have separated mankind since ancient times. Races are not suitable for signs that can change by themselves over time. (For example, zygomatic size, skull shape - top view).

The antiquity of the origin of a racial trait is determined by the breadth of its geographical distribution. If it manifests itself in many human populations over wide areas of the continent, this indicates an ancient and local formation. Signs that change in a complex way are also an indicator of belonging to a large race.

The famous anthropologist N.N. Cheboksarov in 1951 gave a classification of racial types, which included three large races: equatorial, or Australo-Negroid, Eurasian, or Caucasoid, Asian-American. The major races include a total of 22 minor races, or races of the second order. In 1979, Cheboksarov found it possible to single out the Australoid race separately as a race of the first order.

big races

Equatorial race (Fig. IX. 1). Dark skin color, wavy or curly hair, wide, slightly protruding nose, low or medium nose bridge, transverse nostrils, protruding upper lip, large mouth gap, protruding teeth.

Eurasian race (Fig. IX. 2). Light or dark skin color, straight or wavy hair, abundant beard and mustache growth, narrow and sharply protruding nose, high nose bridge, longitudinal nostrils, straight upper lip, small mouth opening, thin lips. Often there are light eyes and hair. The teeth are set straight. Strong canine fossa. It makes up 2/3 of the world's population.

Asiatic-American race (Fig. IX. 3). Dark skin tone, straight, often coarse hair, weak growth of beard and mustache, average nose width, low or medium nose bridge, slightly (in Asia) and strongly (in America) protruding nose, straight upper lip, average thickness of lips, flattened face, inner crease of the eyelid.

The spread of large races. The Eurasian race (before the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries) occupied Europe, North Africa, Western and Central Asia, the Middle East, India - a temperate and Mediterranean climate, often a maritime climate, mild winters.

The distribution of the Asian-American race - Asia, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, the Pacific Islands, Madagascar, North and South America - all climatic and geographical zones.

The territories occupied by the equatorial race are south of the Tropic of Cancer in Africa, Indonesia, New Guinea, Melanesia, Australia (savannahs, tropical forests, deserts, oceanic islands).

Minor races

Eurasian race

Atlanto-Baltic minor race. The range of the race is Scandinavia, the British Isles, the northern regions of Western and Eastern Europe.

Represented by Norwegians, Swedes, Scots, Icelanders, Danes, Russians, Belarusians, Baltic peoples, Northern French, Germans, Finns. The race is light-skinned, the eyes are most often light, often blond hair. The growth of the beard is average and above average. Body hair is medium to light. The face and head are large (long-average annual); the face is long. The nose is narrow and straight, with a high nose bridge. In the history of the composition of the race, depigmentation has occurred.

White Sea-Baltic minor race. The range is from the Baltic to the White Seas. The most lightly pigmented race, especially the hair. The length of the body is less than that of the Atlanto-Baltic minor race, the face is wider and lower. Shorter nose, often with a concave back. This option is a direct descendant of the ancient population of Central and Northern Europe.

Central European small race. The range is all of Europe, especially the North European Plain from the Atlantic to the Volga. The race is represented by Germans, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Austrians, northern Italians, Ukrainians, Russians. Darker hair color than the White Sea-Baltic race. The head is moderately wide. Average face size. The growth of the beard is average and above average. Nose with a straight back and a high nose bridge, the length varies.

Balkan-Caucasian minor race. The area is the Eurasian mountain belt. Body length is average and above average. The hair is dark, often wavy. The eyes are dark and mixed shades. Strong tertiary hairline. The head is brachycephalic (short). The width of the face is medium to above average. The nose is large, with a convex back. The base of the nose and the tip are lowered.

Indo-Mediterranean minor race. The range is some southern regions of Europe, North Africa, Arabia, a number of southern regions of Eurasia up to India. Represented by Spaniards, Portuguese, southern Italians, Algerians, Libyans, Egyptians, Iranians, Iraqis, Afghans, peoples of Central Asia, Indians. Body length is average and below average. Skin color is dark. Hair is wavy. The eyes are dark. Tertiary hairline is moderate. The nose is straight and narrow, the bridge of the nose is high. The eyeball is wide open. The middle part of the face predominates. The fold of the upper eyelid is poorly developed.

Laponoid minor race. The area is the north of Fennoscandia. The basis of the anthropological type of the Lapps (Saami). In ancient times, it was widely distributed in northern Europe. A mixture of Caucasoid and Mongoloid characters. The skin is light, the hair is dark, straight or broadly wavy, soft. The eyes are dark or mixed shades. The tertiary hairline is weak. The head is large. The face is low. The nose is short and wide. The interorbital distance is wide. The body length is short. The legs are relatively short, the arms are long, the body is wide.

Asian American

Pacific Mongoloids.

Far Eastern minor race. It is part of the population of Korea, China, Japan. Skin color is dark. The eyes are dark. Epicanthus is common. The tertiary hairline is very weak. Height is average or above average. The face is narrow, of medium width, high, flat. High brain skull. The nose is long, with a straight back, slightly-medium protruding.

South Asian minor race. The skin color is darker than that of the Far Eastern race. In comparison with it, the epicanthus is less characteristic: the face is less flattened and lower; lips are thicker; the nose is relatively wider. The skull is small and broad. The forehead is convex. The body length is short. The area is the countries of South and Southeast Asia.

Northern Mongoloids

North Asian minor race. The skin color is lighter than that of the Pacific Mongoloids. The hair is dark and dark blond, straight and coarse. The face is high and broad, very flat. The brain skull is low. There is a very low nose bridge. Part of the epicanthus. The eye section is small: the body length is medium and below average. It is part of many indigenous peoples of Siberia (Evenks, Yakuts, Buryats).

Arctic minor race. It is part of the Eskimos, Chukchi, American Indians, Koryaks. The pigmentation is darker than that of the North Asian minor race; the face is more prognathous. The hair is straight and coarse. Epicanthus occurs in 50% of the race. Nose protrudes moderately. Wide lower jaw. The bones and muscles are strongly developed. The body and arms are short. The chest is rounded.

American race

The range is the vast territory of America. Large nose, sometimes convex. The flattening of the face is moderate. Epicanthus is rare. The face and head are large. Massive body.

Australo-Negroid race

African Negroids

Negro minor race. The range is the savannah and forest zone of Africa. Skin color is dark or very dark. Eye color is dark. The hair is heavily curly and spirally curled. The nose is wide in wings. Low and flat bridge. Lips are thick. Severe alveolar prognathism. Tertiary hairline is medium and weak. The palpebral fissure is wide open; the eyeball protrudes somewhat forward. The interorbital distance is large. Body length is average or above average. The limbs are long, the body is short. The pelvis is small.

Bushman minor race. The area of ​​\u200b\u200bsettlement is the desert and semi-desert regions of South Africa. Yellowish-brown skin color. Hair and eyes are dark. The hair is spirally curled and grows slowly in length. The nose is wide, with a low nasal bridge. The tertiary cover is weak. The section of the eyes is smaller than that of the Negro race, epicanthus is found. The face is small, somewhat flattened. Small lower jaw. Body length below average. Strong development of fat on the buttocks. Wrinkling of the skin. The Bushmen are a remnant of the ancient race of Africa of the ancient Middle Stone Age.

Negril minor race. Aborigines of the African rainforest. Pigmentation and shape of hair, like that of the Bushmen. The nose is broader, but protrudes more strongly. The incision of the eyes is significant, the eyeball protrudes strongly. The tertiary hairline is strongly developed. The length of the body is very small, the legs are short, the arms are long. The joints are mobile.

Oceanic Negroids

Australian minor race. Indigenous people of Australia. The skin color is dark, but lighter than that of the Negro race. Hair color is brown to black. The shape of the hair - from wide-wavy to narrow-wavy and curl. The eyes are dark. The tertiary hairline is well developed on the face and weakly on the body. Nose very wide, low bridge of nose. The eye section is large; the position of the eyeball is deep. Lips of medium thickness. Jaws protrude forward. Body length is average and above average. The body is short, the limbs are long. The chest is powerful, the muscles are well developed, the neck is short. The skull, unlike the skeleton, is very massive.

Melanesian minor race. The distribution area is New Guinea and the islands of Melanesia. Unlike Australians, curly-haired people have a smaller stature, the tertiary hairline is less developed. Papuans often have a large nose with a convex back and a lowered tip (similar to the Western Asian Caucasoids).

Vedoid minor race. The range of the race is the islands of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South India. It is a smaller version of the Australians. Moderately dark skin, wavy hair, medium lip thickness, moderate jaw protrusion. The nose is narrower in the wings, the bridge of the nose is not too low. The tertiary hairline is weak. Body length is average and below average. Often this race is combined with the Australian into one. In antiquity, both options were widespread.

contact races

At the junction of the ranges of large races, contact races are distinguished, which have a special classification. On the territory where Caucasoids and Mongoloids contact, the Ural and South Siberian small races stand out; a mixture of Caucasians and Negroids gave the Ethiopian minor race; Caucasoids and Veddoids - a Dravidian minor race.

Ural small race. The range of the race is the Urals, Trans-Urals, part of Western Siberia. The skin is light. The hair is dark and dark blond, straight and broadly wavy, often soft. Eye color - mixed and dark shades, a little light. The nose is straight or with a concave back, the tip is raised, the bridge of the nose is of medium height. The face is small and relatively wide, low and moderately flattened. Lips of medium thickness. The tertiary hairline is weakened. The Ural race is similar to the Laponoid, but people are larger and have a Mongoloid admixture. The Ural race is represented by Mansi, Khanty, Selkups, some Volga peoples, some peoples of the Altai-Sayan highlands.

South Siberian small race. The range of the race is the steppes of Kazakhstan, the mountainous regions of the Tien Shan, Altai-Sayan. The skin color is dark and light. Hair and eye color, like the Ural race. Nose with a straight or convex back, large, bridge of medium height. The face is rather high and broad. The hair is often straight and coarse. Average height. The variant is more massive than the Ural one. This race includes Kazakhs and Kirghiz.

Ethiopian minor race. Distributed in East Africa. Skin color - with brown tints. Dark hair and eyes. Hair is curly, finely wavy. The tertiary cover is weakened. The nose is straight, with a rather high bridge of nose, not wide. The face is narrow, the lips are of medium thickness. Body length is average and above average; body is narrow. An ancient version of humanity (from the middle and new stone age).

Dravidian (South Indian) minor race. Distribution area - South India at the junction of the southern Caucasians and Veddoids. Brown skin. The hair is straight and wavy, the proportions of the face and its details tend to average values.

Ainu (Kuril) small race. The area is the island of Hokkaido. Skin color is tan. The hair is dark, coarse, wavy. The eyes are light brown. Epicanthus is rare or absent. The tertiary hairline is highly developed. The face is low, broad, slightly flattened. The nose, mouth and ears are large, the lips are full. The arms are long, the legs are relatively short. The physique is massive. The Ainu are sometimes considered a distinct large race; they are also referred to as Caucasoids or Australoids.

Polynesian minor race. The area is the islands of the Pacific Ocean. New Zealand. The skin is swarthy, sometimes light or yellowish. Hair is dark, wavy or straight. The tertiary hairline on the body is weak, on the face is medium. The nose of the media is not protruding, relatively wide. Lips are full. Large body sizes. It remains unclear what great races were included as components of mixing in this variant.

The population that forms the race. The total number of populations belonging to the equatorial races (without transitional and mixed forms) is about 260.1 million people (calculations were made by S.I. Brook with the participation of N.N. Cheboksarov in 1975-1976). The oceanic (Australoid) branch accounts for 9.5 million people. Among the Negroids, the most numerous are blacks (250.2 million people, 215 million people live in Africa, 35 million people live in America). There are about 200 thousand African Pygmies (Negrillies), Bushmen - 250 thousand people. The most numerous in South and Southeast Asia are Veddoids - 5 million people, Melanesians and Papuans - 4.26 million people. The Australians number about 50 thousand people, the Ainu - about 20 thousand people.

The total number of populations transitional between the equatorial and Caucasian races is about 356.6 million people (the South Indian group - 220 million people, the Ethiopian group - 45 million people).

The total number of Caucasoid populations, not mixed or very little mixed with other large races, reaches 1803.5 million people. Light Caucasians make up 140 million people, dark Caucasians - 1047.5 million people, the rest are transitional types. In the former USSR, Caucasians numbered 220 million people, in foreign Europe - 478 million, in Africa - 107 million, in America - 303 million, in Australia and Oceania - 16.5 million people. Light Caucasians predominate in the north of Europe and in North America, dark - in the Caucasus, in the countries of the Middle East, in South Asia, in the south of Europe, in Africa, Latin America. Mixed and transitional forms between Caucasoid and Asian Mongoloids number 44.8 million people. Thus, the South Siberian race has 8.5 million people, the Urals - 13.1 million people.

The third main group of races - Mongoloid - is estimated at 712.3 million people. Northern Mongoloids (continental) number 8 million people, the number of Pacific (eastern) Mongoloids reaches 671.1 million people (most in China and Korea). The Arctic (Eskimo) group of types numbers 150 thousand people (transitional between continental and Pacific Mongoloids). American Mongoloids (sometimes distinguished as a separate large race) include approximately 33 million people.

The number of mixed and transitional forms between the Mongoloids and the Equatorial races can be judged from the South Asian contact race, connecting the Eastern Mongoloids with the Australoids, which has 550.4 million people.

The Polynesian Contact Group has about 1 million members. It occupies a middle position between all the great races of mankind.

The number of all Mongoloid-Equatorial populations is estimated at 674.1 million people.

human race

Race- a system of human populations characterized by similarity in a complex of certain hereditary biological traits. The traits that characterize different races often appear as a result of adaptation to different environmental conditions that has taken place over many generations.

Racial science, in addition to these problems, also studies the classification of races, the history of their formation and such factors of their occurrence as selective processes, isolation, mixing and migration, the influence of climatic conditions and the general geographical environment on racial characteristics.

Racial science was especially widespread in National Socialist Germany, Fascist Italy and other Western European countries, as well as earlier in the USA (Ku Klux Klan), where it served as a justification for institutionalized racism, chauvinism and anti-Semitism.

Sometimes racial science is confused with ethnic anthropology - the latter, strictly speaking, refers only to the study of the racial composition of individual ethnic groups, i.e. tribes, peoples, nations, and the origin of these communities.

In that part of racial research that is aimed at studying ethnogenesis, anthropology conducts research in conjunction with linguistics, history, and archeology. In studying the driving forces of race formation, anthropology comes into close contact with genetics, physiology, zoogeography, climatology, and the general theory of speciation. The study of races in anthropology is important for solving many problems. It is important for resolving the issue of the ancestral home of modern humans, using anthropological material as a historical source, highlighting the problems of systematics, mainly small systematic units, understanding the patterns of population genetics, clarifying some issues of medical geography.

Racial studies studies the geographical variations in the physical type of people, without taking into account linguistic and cultural isolation. And ethnic anthropology studies what racial variants and anthropological types are inherent in a given ethnic group, people. For example, to establish into which groups the indigenous population of the Volga-Kama region is divided, to identify their generalized portraits, average height, pigmentation level is the task of a racial scientist. And to recreate the appearance and trace the possible genetic connections of the Khazars is the task of an ethnic anthropologist.

Modern division into races

There are many opinions on how many races can be distinguished within the species Homo sapiens.

Studies of classical anthropology show that there are two trunks - eastern and western, equally distributing the six races of humanity. The division into three races - "white", "yellow" and "black" - is an outdated position. For all their outward dissimilarity, the races of one trunk are connected by a greater commonality of genes and ranges than neighboring races. According to the Great Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary, there are about 30 human races (racial-anthropological types), united in three groups of races, which are called "great races". However, in non-scientific literature, the term “race” is still applied to large races, and the races themselves are called “subraces”, “subgroups”, etc. It is worth noting that the races themselves (small races) are divided into subraces, and there is no consensus regarding the belonging of certain sub-races to certain races (minor races). In addition, different anthropological schools use different names for the same races.

Western trunk

Caucasoids

The natural range of Caucasoids is Europe to the Urals, North Africa, Southwest Asia and Hindustan. Includes Nordic, Mediterranean, Falian, Alpine, East Baltic, Dinaric and other subgroups. It differs from other races primarily in the strong profiling of the face. The rest of the features vary widely.

negroids

Natural range - Central, West and East Africa. Characteristic differences are curly hair, dark skin, dilated nostrils, thick lips, etc. There is an eastern subgroup (Nilotic type, tall, narrowly built) and a western subgroup (Negro type, round-headed, medium height). A group of pygmies (Negrillian type) stands apart.

pygmies

Pygmies compared to a man of average height

The natural range of the pygmies is the western part of Central Africa. Height from 144 to 150 cm for adult males, skin is light brown, hair is curly, dark, lips are relatively thin, large torso, arms and legs are short, this physical type can be classified as a special race. The possible number of pygmies can range from 40 to 200 thousand people.

Capoids, Bushmen

Caucasoid (Eurasian) races

Northern forms Atlanto-Baltic White Sea-Baltic Transitional (intermediate) forms Alpine Central European East European Southern forms Mediterranean Indo-Afghan Balkan-Caucasian Western Asian (Armenoid) Pamir-Fergana Mongoloid (Asiatic-American) races

Asian branch of Mongoloid races Continental Mongoloids North Asian Central Asian Arctic race Pacific Mongoloids American races

Australoid (Oceanian) races

Veddoids Australians Ainu Papuans and Melanesians Negritos Negroid (African) races

Negros Negrilli (Pygmies) Bushmen and Hottentots Mixed forms between Caucasoids and the Asian branch of the Mongoloids

Central Asian groups South Siberian race Uralic race and Sub-Ural type Laponoids and sub-Lapanoid type Mixed groups of Siberia Mixed forms between Caucasoids and the American branch of the Mongoloids

American mestizo Mixed forms between the Caucasoid and Australoid big races

South Indian race Mixed forms between the Caucasoid and Negroid major races

Ethiopian race Mixed groups of Western Sudan Mixed groups of Eastern Sudan Mulattos South African "colored" Mixed forms between the Asian branch of the Mongoloids and the Australoids

South Asian (Malay) race Japanese East Indonesian group Other mixed racial forms

Malagasy Polynesians and Micronesians Hawaiians and Pitcairns

Idaltu

Idaltu (lat. Homo sapiens idaltu) is one of the most ancient races of modern people. The Idaltu inhabited the territory of Ethiopia. The approximate age of the found person Idaltu is 160 thousand years.

see also

Notes

Links

Races
Western trunk
Caucasian race	Alpine type | Borrebi | Brunn | Gorides | Dinaric type | Indo-Afghan type | (Armenoids | Caucasians | Caspians | Pontides) | Cordida | Ladoga type | Neo-Danubian type | North Caucasoid type (Atlanto-Baltic type | East Baltic type) | Mediterranean type | Trenders | Falsky type
Negroid race	Negril type | Negro type | Nilotic type
Capoid Minor Race
Ethiopian minor race
Eastern trunk
Mongoloid race	Laponoid type | Sinids | Tungida | Turanids
Amerindians	Paleoamerican type | Patagonian minor race

The population of our planet is so diverse that one can only be surprised. What kind of nationalities, nationalities you will not meet! Everyone has their own faith, customs, traditions, orders. Its beautiful and unusual culture. However, all these differences are formed only by the people themselves in the process of social historical development. And what underlies the differences that appear externally? After all, we are all very different:

• blacks;
• yellow-skinned;
• white;
• with different eye colors
• various heights, etc.

It is obvious that the reasons are purely biological, not dependent on the people themselves and formed over thousands of years of evolution. This is how the modern races of man were formed, which theoretically explain the visual diversity of human morphology. Let us consider in more detail what this term is, what is its essence and meaning.

The concept of "race of people"

What is a race? It is not a nation, not a people, not a culture. These concepts should not be confused. After all, representatives of different nationalities and cultures can freely belong to the same race. Therefore, the definition can be given such as the science of biology gives.

Human races are a set of external morphological features, that is, those that are the phenotype of a representative. They were formed under the influence of external conditions, the impact of a complex of biotic and abiotic factors, and were fixed in the genotype during evolutionary processes. Thus, the signs that underlie the division of people into races should include:

• growth;
• skin and eye color;
• structure and shape of hair;
• hairiness of the skin;
• features of the structure of the face and its parts.

All those signs of Homo sapiens as a biological species that lead to the formation of the external appearance of a person, but do not affect his personal, spiritual and social qualities and manifestations, as well as the level of self-development and self-education.

People of different races have a completely identical biological springboard for the development of certain abilities. Their general karyotype is the same:

• women - 46 chromosomes, that is, 23 pairs of XX;
• men - 46 chromosomes, 22 pairs XX, 23 pairs - XY.

This means that all representatives of a reasonable person are one and the same, among them there are no more or less developed, superior to others, higher. From a scientific point of view, everyone is equal.

Types of human races, formed over about 80 thousand years, have an adaptive value. It is proved that each of them was formed in order to provide a person with the possibility of a normal existence in a given habitat, to facilitate adaptability to climatic, relief and other conditions. There is a classification showing which races of Homo sapiens existed before, and which are at the present time.

Race classification

She is not alone. The thing is that until the 20th century it was customary to distinguish 4 races of people. These were the following varieties:

• Caucasian;
• australoid;
• negroid;
• Mongoloid.

For each, detailed characteristic features were described by which any individual of the human species could be identified. However, later the classification became widespread, which includes only 3 human races. This became possible due to the unification of the Australoid and Negroid groups into one.

Therefore, the modern types of human races are as follows.

1. Large: Caucasoid (European), Mongoloid (Asian-American), Equatorial (Australian-Negroid).
2. Small: many different branches that were formed from one of the large races.

Each of them is characterized by its own characteristics, signs, external manifestations in the appearance of people. All of them are considered by anthropologists, and the science itself that studies this issue is biology. Human races have interested people since ancient times. Indeed, completely contrasting external features often became the cause of racial strife and conflict.

Genetic studies of recent years allow again to talk about the division of the equatorial group into two. Consider all 4 races of people who stood out earlier and have become relevant again recently. We note the signs and features.

australoid race

Typical representatives of this group include the indigenous people of Australia, Melanesia, Southeast Asia, and India. Also the name of this race is Australo-Veddoid or Australo-Melanesian. All synonyms make it clear which minor races are included in this group. They are the following:

• australoids;
• veddoids;
• Melanesians.

In general, the characteristics of each group represented do not vary too much among themselves. There are several main features that characterize all small races of people of the Australoid group.

1. Dolichocephaly - an elongated shape of the skull in relation to the proportions of the rest of the body.
2. Deep-set eyes, wide slit. The color of the iris is predominantly dark, sometimes almost black.
3. The nose is wide, the bridge of the nose is pronounced flat.
4. The body hair is very well developed.
5. The hair on the head is dark in color (sometimes there are natural blonds among Australians, which was the result of a once-fixed natural genetic mutation of the species). Their structure is rigid, they can be curly or slightly curly.
6. The growth of people is average, often above average.
7. The physique is thin, elongated.

Within the Australoid group, people of different races differ from each other sometimes quite strongly. So, a native of Australia can be a tall blonde with a dense build, with straight hair, with light brown eyes. At the same time, the native of Melanesia will be a thin, short dark-skinned representative who has curly black hair and almost black eyes.

Therefore, the general features described above for the entire race are only an average version of their cumulative analysis. Naturally, miscegenation also takes place - a mixture of different groups as a result of natural crossing of species. That is why it is sometimes very difficult to identify a specific representative and attribute him to one or another small and large race.

Negroid race

The people who make up this group are the settlers of the following territories:

• Eastern, Central and Southern Africa;
• part of Brazil;
• some peoples of the USA;
• representatives of the West Indies.

In general, such races of people as Australoids and Negroids used to unite in the equatorial group. However, research in the 21st century has proved the failure of this order. After all, the differences in the signs shown between the designated races are too great. And some similarities are explained very simply. After all, the habitats of these individuals are very similar in terms of the conditions of existence, therefore, the adaptations in appearance are also close.

So, the representatives of the Negroid race are characterized by the following signs.

1. Very dark, sometimes blue-black, skin color, as it is especially rich in melanin content.
2. Wide eye slit. They are large, dark brown, almost black.
3. The hair is dark, curly, coarse.
4. Growth varies, often low.
5. The limbs are very long, especially the arms.
6. The nose is wide and flat, the lips are very thick, fleshy.
7. The jaw is devoid of a chin protrusion and protrudes forward.
8. Ears are large.
9. Facial hair is poorly developed, beard and mustache are absent.

Negroids are easy to distinguish from others by external data. Below are the different races of people. The photo reflects how clearly Negroids differ from Europeans and Mongoloids.

Mongoloid race

Representatives of this group are characterized by special features that allow them to adapt to rather difficult external conditions: desert sands and winds, blinding snow drifts, and so on.

Mongoloids are the indigenous people of Asia and much of America. Their characteristic features are as follows.

1. Narrow or slanting eyes.
2. The presence of epicanthus - a specialized skin fold aimed at covering the inner corner of the eye.
3. The color of the iris is light to dark brown.
4. characterized by brachycephaly (short head).
5. Superciliary ridges thickened, strongly protruding.
6. Sharp high cheekbones are well defined.
7. The hairline on the face is poorly developed.
8. The hair on the head is coarse, dark in color, of a straight structure.
9. The nose is not wide, the bridge of the nose is low.
10. Lips of different thickness, usually narrow.
11. Skin color varies in different representatives from yellow to swarthy, there are also fair-skinned people.

It should be noted that another characteristic feature is short stature, both in men and women. It is the Mongoloid group that prevails in numbers, if we compare the main races of people. They populated almost all climatographic zones of the Earth. Close to them in terms of quantitative characteristics are Caucasians, which we will consider below.

Caucasian race

First of all, we will designate the predominant habitats of people from this group. This is:

• Europe.
• North Africa.
• Western Asia.

Thus, representatives unite the two main parts of the world - Europe and Asia. Since the living conditions were also very different, then the general signs are again an average option after analyzing all the indicators. Thus, the following features of appearance can be distinguished.

1. Mesocephaly - medium head in the structure of the skull.
2. Horizontal section of the eyes, absence of strongly pronounced superciliary ridges.
3. Narrow protruding nose.
4. Lips of different thickness, usually of medium size.
5. Soft curly or straight hair. There are blondes, brunettes, brown-haired.
6. Eye color from light blue to brown.
7. Skin color also varies from pale, white to swarthy.
8. The hairline is very well developed, especially on the chest and face of men.
9. The jaws are orthognathic, that is, slightly pushed forward.

In general, a European is easy to distinguish from others. Appearance allows you to do this almost unmistakably, even without using additional genetic data.

If you look at all the races of people, the photo of whose representatives is located below, the difference becomes obvious. However, sometimes the signs are mixed so deeply that the identification of the individual becomes almost impossible. He is able to belong to two races at once. This is further aggravated by intraspecific mutation, which leads to the appearance of new traits.

For example, Negroid albinos are a special case of the appearance of blonds in the Negroid race. A genetic mutation that disrupts the integrity of racial traits in a given group.

Origin of human races

Where did such a variety of signs of the appearance of people come from? There are two main hypotheses that explain the origin of human races. This is:

• monocentrism;
• polycentrism.

However, none of them has yet become an officially accepted theory. According to the monocentric point of view, initially, about 80 thousand years ago, all people lived in the same territory, and therefore their appearance was approximately the same. However, over time, growing numbers have led to a wider settlement of people. As a result, some groups found themselves in difficult climatic conditions.

This led to the development and fixation at the genetic level of some morphological adaptations that help in survival. For example, dark skin and curly hair provide thermoregulation and a cooling effect on the head and body in Negroids. And the narrow cut of the eyes protects them from sand and dust, as well as from blinding by white snow among the Mongoloids. The developed hairline of Europeans is a kind of thermal insulation in severe winters.

Another hypothesis is called polycentrism. She says that different types of human races descended from several ancestral groups that were unevenly settled around the globe. That is, there were initially several foci, from which the development and consolidation of racial characteristics began. Again, under the influence of climatic conditions.

That is, the process of evolution proceeded linearly, simultaneously affecting aspects of life on different continents. This is how the formation of modern types of people from several phylogenetic lines took place. However, it is not necessary to state for sure about the validity of this or that hypothesis, since there is no evidence of a biological and genetic nature, at the molecular level.

Modern classification

The races of people according to the estimates of current scientists have the following classification. Two trunks stand out, and each of them has three large races and many small ones. It looks like this.

1. Western trunk. Includes three races:

• Caucasians;
• capoids;
• negroids.

The main groups of Caucasians: Nordic, Alpine, Dinaric, Mediterranean, Falian, East Baltic and others.

Minor races of capoids: Bushmen and Khoisans. They inhabit South Africa. In the fold above the eyelids, they are similar to the Mongoloids, but in other ways they differ sharply from them. The skin is not elastic, which is why the appearance of early wrinkles is characteristic of all representatives.

Groups of Negroids: Pygmies, Nilots, Negroes. All of them are settlers of different parts of Africa, therefore they have similar signs of appearance. Very dark eyes, the same skin and hair. Thick lips and no chin protrusion.

2. Eastern trunk. Includes the following major races:

• australoids;
• americanoids;
• Mongoloids.

Mongoloids - are divided into two groups - northern and southern. These are the indigenous inhabitants of the Gobi Desert, which left its mark on the appearance of these people.

Americanoids are the population of North and South America. They have a very high growth, the epicanthus is often developed, especially in children. However, the eyes are not as narrow as those of the Mongoloids. Combine the characteristics of several races.

Australoids consist of several groups:

• Melanesians;
• veddoids;
• Ainu;
• Polynesians;
• Australians.

Their characteristic features have been discussed above.

Minor races

This concept is a rather highly specialized term that allows you to identify any person to any race. After all, each big one is subdivided into many small ones, and they are already compiled on the basis of not only small external distinguishing features, but also include data from genetic studies, clinical analyzes, and molecular biology facts.

Therefore, small races - this is what allows you to more accurately reflect the position of each individual in the system of the organic world, and specifically, in the composition of the species Homo sapiens sapiens. What specific groups exist was discussed above.

Racism

As we found out, there are different races of people. Their signs can be strongly polar. This is what led to the emergence of the theory of racism. She says that one race is superior to another, since it is made up of more highly organized and perfect beings. At one time, this led to the appearance of slaves and their white masters.

However, from the point of view of science, this theory is completely absurd and untenable. The genetic predisposition to the development of certain skills and abilities is the same for all peoples. The proof that all races are biologically equal is the possibility of free interbreeding between them with the preservation of the health and viability of the offspring.