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How many races of people exist on earth: history of origin and main differences. The human race What are the races of people

Anthropologists, on the basis of the main features (skin color, structure of the facial part of the head, the nature of the hairline, body proportions), distinguish large races of people: Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid and Australoid.

Races began to form at the end of the Stone Age on the basis of the largest territorial populations. It is possible that there were two main primary centers of race formation: the western (Euro-African) and the eastern (Asiatic-Pacific). Negroids and Caucasians were formed in the first center, and Australoids and Mongoloids were formed in the second. Later, during the development of new lands, mixed racial populations arose. For example, in North and East Africa, as well as in the south of Western Asia, the mixing of Caucasoids with Negroids began very early, in Hindustan - Caucasoids with Australoids, and partly with Mongoloids, in Oceania - Australoids with Mongoloids. Subsequently, after the Europeans discovered America, Australia and Oceania, new vast zones of interracial miscegenation arose. In particular, in America, the descendants of the Indians mixed with European and African settlers.

The history of the development of the modern human population takes place not only in the natural-geographical, but also in the socio-cultural environment. In this regard, the relationship between the two types of intraspecific communities - reproductive (populations) and historical-genetic (races) is changing radically. So, human races are large areal communities of people distinguished by genetic kinship, which outwardly manifests itself in a certain similarity of physical features: skin color and iris, hair shape and color, height, etc.

The largest (by number) large race is Caucasoid - 46.4% of the population (together with transitional and mixed forms). Caucasoids have straight or wavy soft hair in shades from light to dark, they have light or dark skin, a large coloration of the iris (from dark to gray and blue), a very developed tertiary gilding cover (beard in men), insufficient or average protrusion of the jaws , narrow nose, thin or medium thick lips. Among Caucasians, branches are distinguished - southern and northern. The northern branch is characteristic of the Nordic countries; southern - common in southern Europe and North America, Western Asia and North India, it also includes the Caucasoid population of Latin America. Between the southern and northern branches there is a wide band of transitional types, including the population of Central and partly Eastern Europe, Siberia and the Russian Far East, as well as the Caucasoid population of North America and Australia.

The Mongoloid (Asian-American) large race, together with transitional and mixed forms, makes up more than 36% of the world's population. Mongoloids are distinguished by yellow skin, black straight hair, underdeveloped tertiary hairline; characteristic dark eyes with an epicanthus (fold of the upper eyelid), a narrow or medium-wide nose, cheekbones that protrude very much.

There are two branches: Asian and American. The Mongoloids of Asia are divided into two main groups - continental and Pacific. Among the continental Mongoloids, the most common are northern or Siberian Mongols, Buryats, Yakuts, Evenks, etc.), Less common are Eastern Mongoloids, mainly Chinese. The northern groups of the Pacific Mongoloids are represented by northern Tibetans, Koreans, and others. The American branch of the Mongoloids includes the indigenous inhabitants of North and South America - the Indians.

The transitional forms of the Mongoloid race include a population that has significant Australoid features: wavy hair, dark and olive skin from the Incas, a flat face, a wide nose. These are Viet, Lao, Khmers, Malays, Javanese, southern Chinese, Japanese and other peoples of Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The Negroid (African) large race (16.6% of the world's population), as well as its transitional and mixed forms, are characterized by dark brown skin, black curly hair, dark eyes, moderately bulging cheekbones, thick lips, wide nose, very developed prognathism. It includes the indigenous population of Africa (south of the Sahara) - blacks, as well as the Negro population of hay, Central America, the Antilles, Brazil. A separate group is made up of low-growing tribes of tropical forests - Negrilli (pygmies), as well as South African Bushmen and Hottentots.

The Australoid (Oceanian) large race (0.3% of the world's population) is represented by the Melanesians, the Papuans of New Guinea and the Aborigines of Australia. Australoids are very close to Negroids and are characterized by dark skin color, wavy hair, significant tertiary hairline on the face and body in men. Among the Papuans and Melanesians of Oceania there are undersized tribes - Negritos, living on the Malay Peninsula and the Andaman Islands; small tribes of the Vedas live in remote areas of India and the countries of Southeast Asia, and the Ainu live on the Japanese islands.

In other racial types (mixed) - about 14 million people, include Polynesians, Micronesians, Hawaiians, Malagasy (mixing of southern Mongoloids with Negroids and southern Caucasoids - Arabs), mestizos (Caucasians with Mongoloids), mulattoes (Europeans with blacks), sambo (Negroes with Indians).

The population of Europe almost entirely belongs to the Caucasoid race (about 17% of the region's population belongs to the northern Caucasoids, 32% - to the south and more than half - in the transitional and Central European forms).

On the territory of the former USSR, the majority of the population (85.4% according to 1987 data) belongs to the Caucasoid race, represented by all its branches. The southwestern groups of Russians belong to the northern branch, and most of the peoples of the Caucasus belong to the southern branch. The indigenous peoples of Eastern Siberia and the Far East are the Mongoloids. The transitional forms include the majority of Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians and other peoples of Eastern Europe, as well as the peoples of the Urals, Western Siberia, Altai and Kazakhstan, living in the contact zone with the Mongoloids.

In Asia, various groups of all four races are common: 29% - Caucasoids (Southwest Asia and North India) Asian Mongoloids - 31% and southern Mongoloids - 25% (South China, Indonesia, Indochina) Japanese type - 4.3%, over 10 million people represent Australoids, on the Arabian Peninsula, part of the population has features of Negroids.

The population of Africa (54%) belongs to the Negroid race, prevails in countries located south of the Sahara. In the north of the continent live Caucasoids (25% of the population of Africa), in the south - live about 5 million Caucasoids and their descendants who migrated in the past from Western Europe. The modern population of Africa is characterized by a large number of transitional forms (Ethiopians, Fulbe - Negroids and Caucasoids, Malagasy - Mongoloids, Negroids, Caucasoids).

In America, the racial composition of the population is very diverse, which is associated with the participation of representatives of three large races in its formation. Aborigines (Mongoloids: Indians, Aleuts, Eskimos) live compactly only in certain areas of the Mexican Highlands, in the Andes, in the deep regions of South America, in the Arctic regions (5.5%). At present, the Caucasoid race is widely represented - 51% (almost 9/10 of the population of the USA and Canada, over 1/4 of the population of Latin America). Mestizos are numerous in America - 23% (almost the entire population of Mexico, Central American countries, Venezuela, Chile, Paraguay and other countries), fewer mulattoes - 13% (African Americans of the USA, Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, peoples of the West Indies), there are groups sambo. Negroids (7%) live in Brazil, the USA, make up the main population of Haiti, Jamaica and other countries of the West Indies.

In Australia and New Zealand, representatives of the Caucasoid race predominate (77% of the total population), Melanesians and Papuans make up 16.5%, Polynesians and Micronesians - 4.2%. The mixing of Oceanians with Caucasians, as well as immigrants from Asia, led to the formation of large mestizo groups in Polynesia, Micronesia, the Fiji Islands and New Caledonia.

The number of individual races is growing unevenly: over the past quarter of a century, the number of Negroids has grown 2.3 times, mestizos and mulattos of America - almost 2 times, southern Mongoloids - by 78%, Caucasians - by 48% (northern branch - only 19%, southern - by 72%).

According to the conditional classification of scientists, all races of people on the planet are divided into 4 groups - Negroid, Mongoloid, Australoid and Caucasoid. Each has characteristic features of appearance, formed under the influence of a certain geographical area.

Figure 1. Ainu. Japan

According to scientists, the origin of modern biological types has its roots since the formation of the original human groups. They began to settle from the region of Madagascar to South Asia, Australia, and the Far East. In the process of evolution, a variety of peoples arose. The history of the emergence of nationalities was of interest to many researchers.

In the 19th century people with white skin color were singled out in a separate category, they were called "Aryans", attributed to the "higher" group. This caused a lot of conflicts and disputes. In the middle of the XX century. this pseudoscientific term has fallen out of use.

The first attempts to explain the origin of various types of nationalities date back to the 18th century. At the same time, even the Greeks in their writings mentioned a person with dark skin, considering his progenitor Phaethon (son of the sun god Helios). The Bible says that biological types come from the sons of Noah and their offspring.

The most important features by which nationalities are formed, as well as their names:

skin color, eyes, hair;
height and physique;
structure of the skull and face.

What is race

Anthropologists define a race as a historical group of people who share a common physical type. Each group comes from a specific geographic area.

The emergence of this term has created a lot of debate on the part of scientists. Some believed that the Arabic word "ras" - the head or the beginning - served as the beginning. Others turned to the Italian "razza" - a tribe. There is a version about the origin from the Latin "generatio" - the ability to give birth.

Classification

The first to put forward his classification was the French philosopher Francois Bernier in 1684. However, even the ancient Egyptians identified 4 types of people by skin color, calling them "black", "yellow", "white", "red".

There is no generally accepted classification. The books by Y. Roginsky and M. Levin are more popular on this issue. They singled out 4 main groups, taking into account their geography of residence.

Source: http://woman-l.ru/rasy-lyudej

australoid race

The way humanity looks today is the result of the development of human groups, the description of which distinguishes different special biological types. Races of people on earth began to exist for about 40 thousand years. This period on earth refers to the time of the settlement of people in geographical areas.

Human races differ in morphological features, have their own characteristics. Within the species Homo sapiens (“reasonable man”), four main races are distinguished on the planet.

How many races exist on earth: history of origin and main differences

Figure 2. Australoids

They make up 10% of the population. The main place of settlement is Australia.

Due to the hot climate in the process of evolution, the most characteristic features were distinguished:

dark skin, hair color, eyes;
wavy, curly hair;
wide nose;
thick lips;
strong, massive lower face, elongated skull;
wide-set eyes;
growth is average or below average;
skinny body.

Negroid race

Figure 3. Negroid

The following features of this group stand out:

blue-black skin due to melanin pigment;
dark or brown eyes of a large shape with a wide slit;
coarse dark hair;
low growth;
long powerful arms;
wide nose;
thick lips;
large ears;
protruding jaw;
a beard or mustache may rarely appear on the face.

Mongoloid race

Figure 4. Mongoloid family

This nation has not been fully explored. It was formed in a severe continental climate. For this reason, representatives of this group have strong immunity, adapt well to natural changes. Mongoloids are divided into two groups - northern, southern peoples. Bright representatives are ethnic Mongols.

Signs:

oblique eye shape;
on the inner corner of the eye there is a fold - epicanthus;
light iris;
a special structure of the skull - a short head;
thickened ridges protrude above the eyebrows;
low growth;
dark coarse hair;
low-set nose bridge with a narrow nose;
narrow lips;
swarthy, yellow skin.

Caucasian race

Figure 5. Caucasian family

The most significant nationality - about 45% of the world's population. There are two branches - southern, northern.

Signs:

clear facial features;
the color of hair, skin, eyes varies from light to dark tones;
straight, wavy hair of soft texture;
thin or medium lips;
narrow nose protruding from the plane of the face;
the fold of the upper eyelid is not formed;
brushes, feet of large sizes;
strongly pronounced hairline on the body;
growth is average or above average.

Origin of human races

According to one scheme from molecular biology, there are 2 large divisions of biological types that appeared about 100 thousand years ago:

Negroid.
Caucasoid-Mongoloid - its differentiation into two subgroups happened about 45 thousand years ago.

Their formation took place under the influence of natural conditions during the development of Homo sapiens, starting from the Paleolithic and Mesolithic.

Two theories of origin are put forward:

Polycentrism. According to this theory, groups were formed during the evolution of several nationalities on different continents. Caucasoids - in Europe, Negroids - in Africa, Australoids - in Australia, Mongoloids - in Asia.
Monocentrism. The theory claims that the groups formed only 25 thousand years ago in the process of the settlement of neoanthropes from their places of origin. In this case, the possibility of crossing is allowed.

Minor races

At the end of the XX century. began to distinguish two groups of biological types of man:

Large - Europeans, Mongoloids, Negroids, Australoids.
Small - mixed races.

Recently, the mixing of nationalities occurs often. Such couples have a child who belongs to a small race. The gene of the parent with darker skin always dominates. Stand out:

Metis - a mixture of a Mongoloid with a Caucasian.
Mulatto - a mixture of a Negroid with a Caucasian.
Sambo is a mixture of Mongoloid and Negroid.

Most often, children born from mixed marriages are called mestizos.

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Ancient artifacts. Origin of races on earth:

On planet Earth, there is a huge variety of nationalities, which are characterized by a certain religion, traditions, cultural values. Races are a broader concept, uniting people according to morphological characteristics. They were formed as a result of evolution and socio-historical development of the population. The racial affiliation of a person has always been of interest, anthropology studies its origin, formation, signs.

concept

The etymology of the word "race" appeared from the middle of the 19th century as a result of borrowing from the French language "race", the German language "rasse". The further fate of the word is unknown. However, there is a version that the concept comes from the Latin word "generatio", which means "the ability to give birth."

A race is such a system of human populations, which is characterized by similarity in hereditary biological characteristics (external phenotype), which were formed in a certain geographical area.

Morphological features that allow dividing the population into groups include:

height;
body type;
the structure of the skull, face;
skin color, eyes, hair, their structure.

Do not confuse the concepts of nationality, nation and race. The latter may include representatives of different nationalities and cultures.

The significance of races lies in the formation of adaptive features in the population that facilitate existence in a certain territory. The study of groups of people with identical morphological features is carried out by the section of anthropology - racial studies. Science considers the definition, classification, how they appeared, the factors of development and the formation of racial characteristics.

What are the races: the main types and resettlement

Until the 20th century, the number of races in the world was 4, depending on the characteristic features. Large groups united representatives of humanity, while differences in appearance often became the reason why strife and conflicts occurred between peoples.

The main races of people that are on earth, taking into account the territory of settlement, are shown in the table:

There are no Negroids outside the African continent. Australoids are located within a certain range. The percentage of races on earth was distributed according to the following indicators:

Asian population - 57%;
Europeans (without Russia) - 21%;
Americans - 14%;
Africans - 8%;
Australians - 0.3%.

There are no inhabitants in Antarctica.

Modern classification

After the 20th century, the following classification became widespread, which includes 3 racial types. This phenomenon is due to the unification of the Negroid and Australoid groups into mixed races.

Allocate modern varieties of races:

large (European, mixture of Asian and Negroid, equatorial race - Australo-Negroid);
small (different types that were formed from other races).

The racial division includes 2 trunks: western and eastern.

Caucasians;
negroids;
capoids.

The eastern stem includes Americanoids, Australoids and Mongoloids. According to anthropological characteristics, Indians belong to the Americanoid race.

There is no generally accepted classification of separation according to various characteristics, which is considered direct evidence of the continuity of biological processes of variability.

Signs of human races

Racial features include many characteristics of the human structure, which are formed under the influence of the hereditary factor and the influence of the environment. Biology studies the external signs of the human appearance.

Races have been of interest to specialists since ancient times. Their distinctive features, description, pictures, help to understand the race of a particular person.

Caucasoid

Representatives of white people are characterized by a light or swarthy skin tone. The hair is straight or wavy from light to dark in color. In men, hair grows on the face. The shape of the nose is narrow and protruding, the lips are thin. belong to this race.

There are sub-races of the Caucasoid race:

southern Caucasian;
northern european.

The first type is characterized by dark, and the second - light hair, eyes and skin.

The appearance of a classical European is personified by the Falian race. The Falids are a variety of the Cro-Magnid race, which has undergone Nordic influence. The second name of this subtype is northern Cro-Magnid. They differ from the Nordids by a low and wide face, a low-set bridge of the nose, a pronounced red skin tone, a steep forehead, a short neck and a massive body.

Falids are common in the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Iceland, Germany, the western part of the Baltic states. In Russia, falids are rare.

australoid

Australoids include the Veddoids, Polynesians, Ainu, Australians, and Melanisians.

There are several features of the Australoid race:

The skull is elongated in relation to other parts of the body - dolichocephaly.
The eyes are set wide apart, the incision is wide with a dark or black iris.
A wide nose with a pronounced flat bridge of the nose.
Body hair is developed.
Dark coarse hair, sometimes blond due to a genetic mutation. Hair may be slightly curly or curly.
Average height, sometimes above average.
Lean and lean physique.

It is difficult to recognize a representative of the Australoid race due to the mixing of different nations.

Mongoloid

Mongoloid people have special features that allow them to adapt to difficult climatic conditions: sands and winds in the desert, snow drifts.

The characteristics of the Mongoloid appearance include a number of features:

Oblique cut of the eyes.
On the inner corner of the eye there is an epicanthus - a fold of skin.
Light, dark brown iris.
Short-headedness (a feature of the structure of the skull).
Thickened, strongly protruding ridges above the eyebrow.
Weak hair on the face and body.
Dark straight hair with a rigid structure.
A narrow nose with a low nose bridge.
Narrow lips.
Yellow or swarthy skin.

A distinguishing feature is a small growth.

Yellow-skinned Mongoloids predominate in numbers among the population.

Negroid

The fourth group is characterized by a list of features:

Blue-black coloring of the skin due to the increased content of the pigment - melanin.
The eyes are large in shape with a wide slit, black or dark brown.
Rigid, curly black hair.
Short stature.
Long arms.
Flat, wide nose.
Lips are thick.
The jaw protrudes forward.
Ears are large.

On the face, the hairline is not developed, the beard and mustache are weakly expressed.

Origin

For a long period of time, people with white skin were considered representatives of the superior race. On the basis of this, military conflicts were unleashed in the struggle for the first race on earth. Entire peoples were mercilessly exterminated for the right to dominate the planet.

Note some interesting facts about the origin of races. The German anthropologist F. Blumenbach considered the most beautiful representatives of the Georgians. There is a special term "Caucasian race", which is considered the most numerous.

Mixing of blood of representatives of different groups is common. For example, mulatto is a term for a mixture of an Asian and a European. A mixture of a Negroid and a Mongoloid race is defined by Sambo, and a Caucasoid and a Mongoloid is a mestizo.

Of interest is the question of which race the Indians belong to - they were formed from the Australoid group.

Rasens are one of the well-known varieties of the Great Race. In world history, her descendants were called Tyrrhenians.

The appearance of the Rasen is characterized by a number of features:

Brown eyes;
dark blond or dark brown hair;
short stature.

Most often, racens have 2 blood types. The representatives of this race are characterized by steadfastness, strong spirit and rage, which contributed to a high level of military readiness.

They act as an East Slavic ethnic group. In terms of numbers, this is the most numerous people on the planet. According to Wikipedia, there are a total of 133 million representatives of Russian nationality.

Racism

Deciphering racism: "Discrimination against people on the basis of ethnic origin, skin color, culture, citizenship, religion and mother tongue."

The term refers to reactionary ideology and politics, which is aimed at the justified exploitation of people.

Racism flourished in the middle of the 19th century in America and England, Germany and France. It was this that served as ideological support for the slave trade, the seizure of land by colonies in Oceania, Australia, Asia, Africa, and America.

Racists adhere to the ideology that there is a certain relationship between mental, intellectual, social qualities and physical structure. Higher and lower races were distinguished.

Adherents of the racist ideology believed that initially pure races arose, and later a mixture of peoples formed new ones. Children appeared with combined features of appearance.

It is believed that the mestizo is different from its blood parents:

attractive appearance;
poor adaptation to the conditions of existence;
predisposition to genetic diseases;
low reproductive function, blocking further mixing of blood;
possible homosexual preferences.

The problem of incest is a crisis of self-identification: during military conflicts, it is difficult to determine a person to one citizenship and nationality.

Crossbreeding is constantly observed and as a result, transitional types appear at the boundaries of the ranges, smoothing out the differences.

The mixing of races from the point of view of science is considered as the species unity of people, their relationship and fertility of offspring. However, the problem is the possible disappearance of a small people or a small branch of a large race.

Racism is contrary to the ideals of any human society. It is a global problem for humanity.

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:

height;
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.

Large: Caucasoid (European), Mongoloid (Asian-American), Equatorial (Australian-Negroid).
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.

Dolichocephaly - an elongated shape of the skull in relation to the proportions of the rest of the body.
Deep-set eyes, wide slit. The color of the iris is predominantly dark, sometimes almost black.
The nose is wide, the bridge of the nose is pronounced flat.
The body hair is very well developed.
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.
The growth of people is average, often above average.
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.

Very dark, sometimes blue-black, skin color, as it is especially rich in melanin content.
Wide eye slit. They are large, dark brown, almost black.
The hair is dark, curly, coarse.
Growth varies, often low.
The limbs are very long, especially the arms.
The nose is wide and flat, the lips are very thick, fleshy.
The jaw is devoid of a chin protrusion, protrudes forward.
Ears are large.
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.

Narrow or slanting eyes.
The presence of epicanthus - a specialized skin fold aimed at covering the inner corner of the eye.
The color of the iris is light to dark brown.
characterized by brachycephaly (short head).
Superciliary ridges thickened, strongly protruding.
Sharp high cheekbones are well defined.
The hairline on the face is poorly developed.
The hair on the head is coarse, dark in color, of a straight structure.
The nose is not wide, the bridge of the nose is low.
Lips of different thickness, usually narrow.
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:

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.

Mesocephaly - medium head in the structure of the skull.
Horizontal section of the eyes, absence of strongly pronounced superciliary ridges.
Narrow protruding nose.
Lips of different thickness, usually of medium size.
Soft curly or straight hair. There are blondes, brunettes, brown-haired.
Eye color from light blue to brown.
Skin color also varies from pale, white to swarthy.
The hairline is very well developed, especially on the chest and face of men.
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:

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.

Racial differences have been and continue to be the cause of different studies, as well as conflicts and discrimination. A tolerant society tries to pretend that racial differences do not exist, the constitutions of countries state that all people are equal among themselves ...

However, there are races and people are different. Of course, not at all in the way that supporters of the "higher" and "lower" races would like, but differences do exist.

Some research by geneticists and anthropologists today reveals new facts, which, thanks to the study of the emergence of human races, allow us to take a different look at some stages of our history.

Racial trunks

Since the 17th century, science has put forward a number of classifications of human races. Today their number reaches 15. However, all classifications are based on three racial pillars, or three large races: Negroid, Caucasoid and Mongoloid with many subspecies and branches. Some anthropologists add to them the Australoid and Americanoid races.

According to the data of molecular biology and genetics, the division of mankind into races occurred about 80 thousand years ago.

First, two trunks stood out: Negroid and Caucasoid-Mongoloid, and 40-45 thousand years ago there was a differentiation of proto-Caucasoids and proto-Mongoloids.

Scientists believe that the origins of the origin of races originate in the Paleolithic era, although the process of modification en masse humanity only from the Neolithic: it is in this era that the Caucasoid type crystallizes.

The process of formation of races continued with the migration of primitive people from continent to continent. Thus, anthropological data show that the ancestors of the Indians who moved to the American continent from Asia were not yet established Mongoloids, and the first inhabitants of Australia were "racially neutral" neoanthropes.

What does genetics say?

Today, questions of the origin of races are for the most part the prerogative of two sciences - anthropology and genetics. The first, on the basis of human bone remains, reveals the diversity of anthropological forms, and the second tries to understand the relationship between the totality of racial traits and the corresponding set of genes.

However, there is no agreement among geneticists. Some adhere to the theory of uniformity of the entire human gene pool, others argue that each race has a unique combination of genes. However, recent studies more likely indicate the correctness of the latter.

The study of haplotypes confirmed the relationship between racial traits and genetic characteristics.

It has been proven that certain haplogroups are always associated with specific races, and other races cannot obtain them except through the process of racial mixing.

In particular, Luca Cavalli-Sforza, a professor at Stanford University, based on an analysis of the “genetic maps” of European settlement, pointed out significant similarities in the DNA of the Basques and the Cro-Magnon. The Basques managed to preserve their genetic uniqueness largely due to the fact that they lived on the periphery of migration waves and practically did not undergo miscegenation.

Two hypotheses

Modern science relies on two hypotheses of the origin of human races - polycentric and monocentric.

According to the theory of polycentrism, humanity is the result of a long and independent evolution of several phyletic lines.

Thus, the Caucasoid race was formed in Western Eurasia, the Negroid race in Africa, and the Mongoloid race in Central and East Asia.

Polycentrism involves the crossing of representatives of protoras at the borders of their ranges, which led to the emergence of small or intermediate races: for example, such as the South Siberian (mixing of Caucasoid and Mongoloid races) or Ethiopian (mixing of Caucasoid and Negroid races).

From the standpoint of monocentrism, modern races emerged from one region of the globe in the process of settling neoanthropes, who subsequently spread across the planet, displacing more primitive paleoanthropes.

The traditional version of the settlement of primitive people insists that the human ancestor came from Southeast Africa. However, the Soviet scientist Yakov Roginsky expanded the concept of monocentrism, suggesting that the habitat of the ancestors of Homo sapiens went beyond the African continent.

Recent studies by scientists from the Australian National University in Canberra have cast doubt on the theory of a common African human ancestor.

So, DNA tests of an ancient fossilized skeleton, which is about 60 thousand years old, found near Lake Mungo in New South Wales, showed that the Australian aborigine has nothing to do with the African hominid.

The theory of multi-regional origin of races, according to Australian scientists, is much closer to the truth.

An Unexpected Ancestor

If we agree with the version that the common ancestor of at least the population of Eurasia came from Africa, then the question arises about its anthropometric characteristics. Was he similar to the current inhabitants of the African continent, or did he have neutral racial characteristics?

Some researchers believe that the African species Homo was closer to the Mongoloids. This is indicated by a number of archaic features inherent in the Mongoloid race, in particular, the structure of the teeth, which are more characteristic of the Neanderthal and Homo erectus.

It is very important that the population of the Mongoloid type has a high adaptability to various habitats: from equatorial forests to the arctic tundra. But representatives of the Negroid race are largely dependent on increased solar activity.

For example, in high latitudes, children of the Negroid race have a lack of vitamin D, which provokes a number of diseases, primarily rickets.

Therefore, a number of researchers doubt that our ancestors, similar to modern Africans, could have successfully migrated around the globe.

northern ancestral home

Recently, more and more researchers claim that the Caucasoid race has little in common with the primitive man of the African plains and argue that these populations developed independently of each other.

Thus, the American anthropologist J. Clark believes that when representatives of the "black race" in the process of migration reached Southern Europe and Western Asia, they encountered a more developed "white race" there.

Researcher Boris Kutsenko hypothesizes that at the origins of modern humanity there were two racial trunks: Euro-American and Negroid-Mongoloid. According to him, the Negroid race comes from the forms of Homo erectus, and the Mongoloid race - from Sinanthropus.

Kutsenko considers the regions of the Arctic Ocean to be the birthplace of the Euro-American trunk. Based on the data of oceanology and paleoanthropology, he suggests that the global climate changes that occurred at the border of the Pleistocene and Holocene destroyed the ancient continent - Hyperborea. Part of the population from the territories that had gone under water migrated to Europe, and then to Asia and North America, the researcher concludes.

As evidence of the relationship between Caucasians and North American Indians, Kutsenko refers to the craniological indicators and characteristics of the blood groups of these races, which "almost completely coincide."

fixture

The phenotypes of modern people living in different parts of the planet are the result of a long evolution. Many racial traits have obvious adaptive value. For example, dark pigmentation of the skin protects people living in the equatorial belt from excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays, and the elongated proportions of their bodies increase the ratio of body surface to its volume, thereby facilitating thermoregulation in hot conditions.

In contrast to the inhabitants of low latitudes, the population of the northern regions of the planet, as a result of evolution, acquired a predominantly light skin and hair color, which allowed them to receive more sunlight and satisfy the body's need for vitamin D.

In the same way, the protruding "Caucasian nose" evolved to warm the cold air, and the epicanthus of the Mongoloids was formed as a protection of the eyes from dust storms and steppe winds.

sexual selection

It was important for ancient man not to allow representatives of other ethnic groups into his range. This was a significant factor in the formation of racial characteristics, thanks to which our ancestors adapted to specific environmental conditions. Sexual selection played a big role in this.

In each ethnic group, focused on certain racial characteristics, their own ideas about beauty were fixed. Whoever these signs were more pronounced - he had more chances to pass them on by inheritance.

While the tribesmen, who did not fit the standards of beauty, were practically deprived of the opportunity to influence the offspring.

For example, the Scandinavian peoples, from the point of view of biology, have recessive traits - skin, hair and light-colored eyes - which, thanks to sexual selection that lasted for millennia, formed into a stable form adaptive to the conditions of the north.

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