The population of our planet is so diverse that one can only be surprised. What kind of nationalities and nationalities can you meet! Everyone has their own faith, customs, traditions, and orders. Its own beautiful and extraordinary culture. However, all these differences are formed only by people themselves in the process of social historical development. What lies behind the differences that appear externally? After all, we are all very different:

• dark-skinned;
• yellow-skinned;
• white;
• with different eye colors;
• different heights and so on.

Obviously, the reasons are purely biological, independent of people themselves and formed over thousands of years of evolution. This is how modern human races were formed, which explain the visual diversity of human morphology theoretically. Let's take a closer look at what this term is, what its essence and meaning are.

The concept of "race of people"

What is race? This 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 as given by the science of biology.

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

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

All those signs of Homo sapiens as a biological species that lead to the formation of a person’s external appearance, but do not in any way 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 completely identical biological springboards for the development of certain abilities. Their general karyotype is the same:

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

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

The species of human races, formed over approximately 80 thousand years, have adaptive significance. It has been proven that each of them was formed with the aim of providing a person with the opportunity for a normal existence in a given habitat and facilitating adaptation to climatic, relief and other conditions. There is a classification showing which races of Homo sapiens existed before, and which ones exist today.

Classification of races

She's 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 a classification became widespread that included 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 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. After all, completely contrasting external features often became the cause of racial strife and conflicts.

Genetic research in recent years allows us to again talk about the division of the equatorial group into two. Let's consider all 4 races of people who stood out earlier and became relevant again recently. Let us note the signs and features.

Australoid race

Typical representatives of this group include the indigenous inhabitants of Australia, Melanesia, Southeast Asia, and India. The name of this race is also Australo-Veddoid or Australo-Melanesian. All synonyms make it clear which small races are included in this group. They are as follows:

• Australoids;
• Veddoids;
• Melanesians.

In general, the characteristics of each group presented 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 is an elongated shape of the skull in relation to the proportions of the rest of the body.
2. Deep-set eyes, wide slits. The color of the iris is predominantly dark, sometimes almost black.
3. The nose is wide, with a pronounced flat bridge.
4. The hair on the body is very well developed.
5. The hair on the head is dark in color (sometimes among Australians there are natural blondes, which was the result of a natural genetic mutation of the species that once took hold). Their structure is rigid, they can be curly or slightly curly.
6. People are of average height, often above average.
7. The physique is thin and elongated.

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

Therefore, the general characteristics described above for the entire race are only an averaged version of their combined analysis. Naturally, crossbreeding also occurs - the mixing 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 or large race.

Negroid race

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

• 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 be united in the equatorial group. However, research in the 21st century has proven the inconsistency of this order. After all, the differences in the manifested characteristics between the designated races are too great. And some similar features are explained very simply. After all, the habitats of these individuals are very similar in terms of living conditions, and therefore the adaptations in appearance are also similar.

So, the following signs are characteristic of representatives of the Negroid race.

1. Very dark, sometimes bluish-black, skin color, as it is especially rich in melanin content.
2. Wide eye shape. They are large, dark brown, almost black.
3. The hair is dark, curly, and coarse.
4. Height varies, often low.
5. The limbs are very long, especially the arms.
6. The nose is wide and flat, the lips are very thick and fleshy.
7. The jaw lacks a chin protrusion and protrudes forward.
8. The ears are large.
9. Facial hair is poorly developed, and there is no beard or mustache.

Negroids are easy to distinguish from others by their external appearance. 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, etc.

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

1. Narrow or oblique eye shape.
2. The presence of an epicanthus - a specialized fold of skin aimed at covering the inner corner of the eye.
3. The color of the iris is from light to dark brown.
4. distinguished by brachycephaly (short head).
5. The superciliary ridges are thickened and strongly protruding.
6. Sharp, high cheekbones are well defined.
7. Facial hair is poorly developed.
8. The hair on the head is coarse, dark in color, and has a straight structure.
9. The nose is not wide, the bridge is located low.
10. Lips of different thicknesses, often narrow.
11. Skin color varies among different representatives from yellow to dark, and there are also light-skinned people.

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

Caucasian

First of all, let’s designate the predominant habitats of people from this group. This:

• Europe.
• North Africa.
• Western Asia.

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

1. Mesocephaly - medium-headedness in the structure of the skull.
2. Horizontal eye shape, lack of pronounced brow ridges.
3. A protruding narrow nose.
4. Lips of varying thickness, usually medium in size.
5. Soft curly or straight hair. There are blondes, brunettes, and brown-haired people.
6. Eye color ranges from light blue to brown.
7. Skin color also varies from pale, white to dark.
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 without error, even without using additional genetic data.

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

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

Origin of the races of man

Where did such a variety of signs of people’s appearance 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 led to a wider spread of people. As a result, some groups found themselves in difficult climatographic conditions.

This led to the development and consolidation 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 for the head and body in Negroids. And the narrow shape of the eyes protects them from sand and dust, as well as from being blinded by white snow among Mongoloids. The developed hair of Europeans is a unique way of thermal insulation in harsh winter conditions.

Another hypothesis is called polycentrism. She says that different types of human races descended from several ancestral groups that were unequally distributed around the globe. That is, there were initially several foci from which the development and consolidation of racial characteristics began. Again influenced by climatographic 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 possible to say for certain about the validity of this or that hypothesis, since there is no evidence of a biological and genetic nature, or at the molecular level.

Modern classification

The races of people, according to current scientists, have the following classification. There are two trunks, and each of them has three large races and many small ones. It looks something like this.

1. Western trunk. Includes three races:

• Caucasians;
• capoids;
• Negroids.

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

Small races of capoids: Bushmen and Khoisan. They inhabit South Africa. In terms of the fold above the eyelid, they are similar to the Mongoloids, but in other characteristics they differ sharply from them. The skin is not elastic, which is why all representatives are characterized by the appearance of early wrinkles.

Groups of Negroids: pygmies, nilots, blacks. All of them are settlers from different parts of Africa, so their appearance is similar. Very dark eyes, same skin and hair. Thick lips and lack of chin protuberance.

2. Eastern trunk. Includes the following large 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 are very tall and often have an epicanthus, especially in children. However, the eyes are not as narrow as those of the Mongoloids. They combine the characteristics of several races.

Australoids consist of several groups:

• Melanesians;
• Veddoids;
• Ainians;
• Polynesians;
• Australians.

Their characteristic features were 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 large one is divided into many small ones, and they are compiled on the basis of not only small external distinctive features, but also include data from genetic studies, clinical tests, and facts of molecular biology.

Therefore, small races are what make it possible to more accurately reflect the position of each specific individual in the system of the organic world, and specifically, within the species Homo sapiens sapiens. What specific groups exist was discussed above.

Racism

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

However, from a scientific point of view, this theory is completely absurd and untenable. The genetic predisposition to the development of certain skills and abilities is the same among all peoples. Proof that all races are biologically equal is the possibility of free interbreeding between them while maintaining the health and vitality of the offspring.

And other eastern equatorial local races. Representatives of the classic type of the Australoid race are Australian aborigines. The australoid substrate is also represented in some populations of South and Southeast Asia, as well as Western Oceania. Most likely, the area of ​​formation of the Australoids and Veddoids was the eastern part of the tropical belt of the Old World - from Hindustan to Indochina and the Malay Archipelago. The settlement of Australia from this territory occurred in the Paleolithic. According to the theory and, Melanezoids were the first to populate Australia, followed by Australoids who migrated to the mainland in at least two waves, which was one of the reasons for the formation of several anthropological types among the aborigines.

One of the important areas of study of the Australian race is to establish its origin. Directly related to the question of origin is the question of establishing kinship with other human races and, accordingly, the question of the place of Australian Aborigine populations in racial classification. Most often, the Australian race is combined with the Veddoid race. The basis for this is the significant morphological similarity of representatives of these races and the relative geographical proximity of the Australoid and Veddoid areas. Most researchers consider the Australian and Veddoid races as two branches of a single racial trunk. Also often close to the small Australoid race is the Melanesian race, whose habitat is directly adjacent to Australia. As evidence of such proximity, not only signs of external similarity are cited, but also data from odontological and dermatoglyphic studies, which examine non-adaptive anthropological signs. Assumptions about the unity of Australoids and Melanezoids are also confirmed by some genetic studies. Moreover, according to these studies, the Papuans are closer to the Australian aborigines than the Melanesians themselves. On the other hand, some calculations by geneticists do not allow common ancestors of Australoids and Melanezoids, while showing the genetic similarity of Australoids with the population of India, and Papuans with Mongoloids. Outwardly, Australoids are similar not only to Melanezoids, but also to African Negroids. Similar characteristics of these races were the reason for the widespread hypothesis in the past about the origin of the Australian aborigines from common ancestors with the Negroid population of Africa. Both races are similar in a number of adaptive characteristics (skin color, nose width, lip thickness, body proportions), however, Australians are noticeably different from Africans, including in appearance - wavy hair, sloping forehead, developed. Modern research, including genetic research, refutes the point of view about the unity of Australoids and African Negroids - the genetically Negroid race is opposed not only to the Australoid race, but also to all other human races combined. It is believed that the similar external characteristics of Australoids and Negroids may have arisen as a result of convergent development in similar climatic conditions, or may be part of some ancient condition common to all human races. Another race with which Australians are supposed to be related is the Kuril, or Ainu, race. The Ainu are united with the Australian race by dark skin, strong growth of mustache and beard, prognathism, massive skull, and relatively wide nose. Meanwhile, all these characteristics are much less pronounced among the Ainu than among the Australoids, and the craniological characteristics of these races differ very much. In addition, despite partial morphological similarities with Australoids, genetically the Ainu are close to Mongoloids.

Classic racial classifications consider a variety of kinship options for representatives of the Australian race. For example, V.V. Bunak included the Australian race in the ancient Indonesian branch of the southern racial trunk along with the Kuril, Polynesian and Indonesian races. Within the southern trunk, the ancient Indonesian branch in the classification of V.V. Bunak is opposed to the continental branch with the Veddoid and Badari races. G. F. Debets united the Australian and the Veddoid race, which was close to it, together with the Melanesian, Negrito and Tasmanian into one racial subbranch, which, in turn, together with the Kuril (Ainu) and South Indian races constituted the oceanic branch of the large Negro-Australoid race. The formation of the Australian race, according to this classification, was significantly influenced by the Melanesian race. In the studies of Ya. Ya. Roginsky and M. G. Levin, the Australian small race is included in the large equatorial (Australian-Negroid) race along with the Bushman (South African), Negril (Central African), Negro, Melanesian and Veddoid (Ceylon-Sunda) races . In the classification of V.P. Alekseev, the local Australian race, together with the Andaman, Negrito mainland, Negrito Philippine, Melanesian, Tasmanian, Polynesian and Ainu (Kuril) races, is united into the Australoid branch of the Euro-African racial trunk.

The Australoid (Australian) small race is characterized by such anthropological characteristics as:

The differences between Australoids and Veddoids include: darker skin tones; more developed tertiary hairline; larger head and face sizes; greater massiveness of the skull; more developed eyebrow; greater prognathism; greater width of the nose and some other features.

According to a number of researchers, some anthropological characteristics of the Australian aborigines can be considered archaic. Such archaic features include the massiveness of the skull, one of the main distinguishing features of Australoids. Massiveness is expressed primarily in a highly developed eyebrow, large thickness of the bones of the arch, a frequently encountered sagittal ridge on the forehead and other indicators. Meanwhile, the massiveness of the skull was uncharacteristic for the African ancestors of the aborigines - this feature developed later, and therefore cannot be considered as a protomorphic feature. Another feature of Australoids, which is considered to be the original one, is the relatively small volume of the skull. This feature is also secondary, since it was formed relatively recently, not earlier.

One of the earliest attempts to identify anthropological variants in the area of ​​the Australian race was the study of anthropologist J. M. Morant (1927), who distinguished the Arnhem Land Aborigines, contrasting them with all other Australian Aborigines. Subsequently, several attempts have been made to describe the variations of Australian anthropological types, the most famous of which is the classification proposed by (1967). According to S. V. Drobyshevsky, based on the available information, primarily based on the works of J. B. Birdsell, three to six main anthropological types of Australoids can be distinguished:

It is traditionally believed that all Australian Aborigines are descendants of one wave of settlers. At the same time, there are also theories of “dihybrid” and “trihybrid” settlement of Australia that are not recognized by most anthropologists. The first theory assumes two waves of migration - the migration of people of the gracile type and the subsequent migration of people of a more massive build. The second theory, the so-called trihybrid concept of the settlement of the Australian continent, suggests three waves of migration. This concept, put forward by J.B. Birdsell, explains, among other things, the reason for the formation of several anthropological variants of the Australian aborigines. Barrinoid Australians and Tasmanians are believed to be relics of the first wave of settlers, which were melanesoid dark-skinned, curly-haired, short populations. The second wave of settlers, vaguely similar to the Ainu, gave rise to the Murray anthropological variant with lighter skin and slightly wavy hair. Partially, the Murray-type aborigines displaced the descendants of the first wave, and partially mixed with them. The ancestors of the Murrays, in turn, were partially supplanted by the ancestors of the third, so-called Carpentarian wave of settlers. The Murray type survived mainly in South Australia and partly in the western and eastern regions of the continent, while the Carpentarian type, darker-skinned, wavy-haired and tall, became dominant in the north and central regions of Australia. The conventionally indicated migrations took place 40, 20 and 15 thousand years ago

Australoid race - one of the large races of humanity, unites representatives of the Australian, Veddoid and Melanesian small races.

In the XIX-XX centuries. Australoids were either included in the Negroid race, or along with them - in the hypothetical equatorial race. Even then it was noted that many Australoids differ from Negroids, as a rule, in their strong development tertiary hairline, dominant wavy hair, highly developed brow ridges.

Modern genetics has refuted the concept of the equatorial race.

Aborigines of Australia

Australoids have a massive skull with little massiveness of the rest of the skeleton, strong brow ridges, large jaws, large teeth, short neck, very dark pigmentation of the skin, hair and eyes, a very wide nose, deep-set eyes, wavy, less often straight or curly hair, beard growth and a strong mustache, height above average and tall, very elongated physique.

It differs from the Australian small race in its shorter beard and mustache, less wide nose, shorter height, and wider lips. There are numerous transitions to the Mongoloid and Caucasoid races.

Melanesian minor race

Very dark skin, hair and eyes, hair is curly, less often wavy, often long, the face is relatively narrow, the eye shape is very large, the eyes are set deep under the strong brow ridges, the thickness of the lips is large, the growth of the beard, mustache and body hair can be quite strong , short height, elongated build.

The closest genetic relationship between Australoids and Mongoloids. These are the two most genetically similar large races on our planet. Australoids are genetically very far from Caucasoids, but somewhat less than from Negroids.

(or Australian race) (Australoids) - the indigenous population of Australia. Characteristic features: large massiveness of the dolichocranal skull with a small massiveness of the rest of the skeleton, strong brow ridges, large prognathous jaws, large teeth, short neck, very dark pigmentation of the skin, hair and eyes (sometimes lumps of pigment even extend beyond the iris; however, in some groups of the Central In Australia, light hair color is found), a very wide nose with a relatively high bridge, deep-set eyes, wavy hair (in the southwest in Victoria there are curly-haired groups, perhaps this is a consequence of mixing with the Tasmanians, who moved in large numbers to the port of Philip in the early period European colonization), the growth of the beard and mustache is strong, a special type of direction of hair on the body is noted, height is above average and tall, the physique is very elongated. Sometimes they are separated into an independent large race, sometimes they are combined with Negroids into the Australo-Negroid or Equatorial race, and based on the structure of their teeth they are classified as belonging to the eastern supra-racial trunk. The Veddoid and Melanesian races are closest to the Australoid race, with which they are sometimes combined into the Austral-Veddoid race.

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• - is part of the large equatorial race. Characterized by dark skin, a wide nose, wavy hair, and strong hair growth on the face and body. Distributed in Australia, South Asia and Oceania...

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"Australoid race" in books

7.1. Race