The racial composition of the population. Formation of the four races on earth
There is a high probability that in the past there were only four large islands inhabited by tribes of primitive man in the Arctida archipelago. Each of the islands became unsuitable for existence at different times, so in the prehistoric era there were four massive migration processes with an interval of 0.5 million years. Each migration process led to the formation of a new race. In total, there are four races of people on the globe: blacks (African race, Africans, Africonoids), redskins (American race, American Indians, Americanoids), yellowskins (Mongoloid race, Mongoloids or Asians) and whiteskins (European race, Europeans or Caucasians). From everyday practice it is known that the more time a naked person spends under the rays of the sun, the darker his skin becomes. Several million years ago it was very warm on all the continents of the northern hemisphere, except for the lands of northern Atlantis. Therefore, all primitive people, getting from the cold mainland to the warm regions of Europe, Asia or Africa, took off their clothes made of animal skins and walked naked.
The color of the skin of all peoples, tribes and races on the territory of the snowy North Atlantis was white. The earlier a person left the "northern homeland", the longer he "sunbathed" under the sun on other continents, and the darker his skin became. The difference in skin color between races depends on the amount of organic matter melanin in it, which is produced in skin cells due to exposure to sunlight (mainly ultraviolet). Based on these considerations, the conclusion suggests itself that the black race was the very first to leave North Atlantis. According to rough estimates, this happened 4 million years ago. The red-skinned American Indians migrated to America second - 3.5 million years ago, the yellow-skinned Asians were the third - 3 million years, and the white-skinned Europeans were the latest - 2 million years ago. Europe. The reason for this "fair distribution" of the continents is that each of the four islands of the North Atlantis archipelago, inhabited by primitive people, was located at a considerable distance from the others. Therefore, one island was exactly opposite the territory of the continent of North America (Alaska), the other closely adjoined Europe, the third - to Asia (Siberia).
At the same time, Africa occupies a special position. It is located at a distance of 5000 kilometers from the former continent of Arctida (North Atlantis) when measuring the distance in a straight line (through Europe). How could the tribes of ancient man from North Atlantis get to the African continent earlier than to North America, Europe and Asia? There is a very simple explanation for this. The fact is that until about 10,000 years ago there was another continent in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which is called Atlantis (or South Atlantis). It started from Arctida, where it connected with the continent Arctida. It continued in a thin strip 500-1000 kilometers wide in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, passed through the island of Iceland, had a huge plateau 5000 × 2000 kilometers in size at the level of the Iberian Peninsula, and then connected with Africa. South Atlantis has now sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean and turned into the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Therefore, there is a strong possibility that African blacks come from the northern island of Svalbard. Based on the geographical conditions of the Arctida archipelago, which developed on Earth in the period of 3-5 million years ago, it can be argued that from the North Atlantis archipelago, primitive man could populate the continents using the southern direction of migration. Let us briefly describe the ways of distribution of each of the races.
Direction of migration of the black race (Africans)
The first island of the archipelago North Atlantis (Hyperborea), inhabited by primitive man, began to sink to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean 5 million years ago. Apparently, this island was about. Svalbard. Presumably, first the tribes settled on the continent of South Atlantis, the length of which is about 10,000 kilometers. For about 4 million years, the very first civilization on the planet developed in this place - the Negroid civilization of the Atlanteans. According to rough estimates total strength The population of South Atlantis 4 million years ago reached 0.2 million people. Atlantis was directly connected to Africa in two places: at Atlantic coast North and Central Africa. Starting about 1 million years ago, this continent began to slowly, in parts, sink to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, and finally Atlantis as a continent ceased to exist 5-10 thousand years ago. This caused the death of up to 80% of the Atlantean population.
The ancient continent of Atlantis has become the underwater Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Due to the flooding of the islands of Arctida, the tribes of the Atlanteans - Negroids were forced to hastily migrate to the African mainland. For 4 million years ago, Central (Equatorial) Africa was inhabited by primitive people. Consequently, the African continent was settled by an ancient man from the west, "Negroid Atlanteans." That is why archaeologists find a large number of stone tools with an age of 0.5 - 3 million years in Central Africa, and they are not in South and North Africa. Ancient people for 3 million years inhabited 20% of Africa and only Central Africa.
By the way, even 50 thousand years ago the Sahara desert did not exist, and in this place there was a savannah with a large number of lakes, swamps, tall grass and a diverse flora and fauna. The skin color of Africans changed in the following order: the white color of the skin was 4 million years ago on the lands of snow-covered Arctida, yellow - 3 million years ago on the lands of hot Atlantis, red - 2 million years ago among the first settlers on the land of Africa, black - starting from 0 ,1 million years ago in areas of Central Africa. The population of Africans 0.5 million years ago reached millions of people. From a long stay on the sunny African continent (over 4 million years), the white skin of white-skinned Africans turned black. All other races (red Americans, Asians with yellow skin and Europeans with white skin) lived on warm continents less time by 1-2 million years than Africans, and therefore their skin did not acquire black color. However, Arabs and Indians are representatives of the European race with white skin, but after several millennia of existence in hot countries (for example, in Africa), they acquired dark skin color (Algerians, Egyptians, Sudanese, Somalis).
Direction of migration of the red-skinned race (American Indians)
Many scientists erroneously claim that people came to America from Siberia (Asia). Scientists put forward a hypothesis that primitive people 30,000 years ago sailed in boats from Chukotka to Alaska through the Bering Strait. But it is well known that Siberia in the period from 3 million years ago to 1000 AD was inhabited by tribes of an exclusively Asian race. The classic representative of the Asian race has a small stature (150 centimeters), a narrow slit of the eyes, a wide, not protruding forward and short nose, a smoothed facial part of the skull with cheeks convex on both sides, men have almost no beard and mustache. American Indians have completely different face and body shapes. These are tall and strong people, their height reaches almost 2 meters, the eyes are of European type, the aquiline nose protrudes far ahead, and so on. American Indians are completely different from narrow-eyed Asians and Africans with thick noses and lips. They are more similar to Europeans, and if it were not for the color of their skin, it would be difficult to distinguish them from Europeans. Therefore, the hypothesis of the Asian origin of the American Indians is erroneous.
A more plausible hypothesis. The American Indians are representatives of the European race, who were the first to "bud off" from the Europoids of the sunken continent of Arctida, and moved to the territory of North America in the Alaska (or Greenland) region. Events unfolded in the following sequence. The second island of the North Atlantis archipelago (Hyperborea - site), inhabited by primitive people, began to sink to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean 3.5 million years ago and was located at a distance of about 100 kilometers from the territory of Alaska or the northern lands of Canada. North America was settled by the tribes of the future red-skinned American Indians from Alaska and in the direction from west to east (from Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic coast). It must be emphasized that the first Man of sense originated on the territory of North Atlantis 5 million years ago, for 1.5 million years the ancestors of the red-skinned race developed in “their” northern territory, and migrated to the lands of North America only 3.5 million years ago.
Archaeological excavations show that for 3 million years, American civilization developed exclusively in North America (modern Canada and the United States). This conclusion is based on the fact that the highest concentration of stone tools in North America is located in the Rocky Mountains (western United States). The population of America reached 1 million people 0.5 million years ago. Primitive people did not get to South America. The Amazon River, the mountains and the dense tropical forest surrounding it served as a natural barrier for primitive people to spread massively across the southern continent. For this reason, the territory of modern South American states (Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile) have absolutely no signs of the presence of primitive man. In South America, people appeared only 3 thousand years ago, and in North America - 3 million years ago. The skin color of the American Indians changed in the following order: the white color of the skin was 3.5 million years ago on the lands of the snow-covered Arctida, yellow - 3 million among the first settlers on American soil, red - 0.1 million years ago. The population of the American Indians 0.5 million years ago reached millions of people.
Direction of migration of the yellow-skinned race (Asians)
The third island of the North Atlantis (Hyperborea) archipelago, from which the tribes of the Mongoloid (Asian) race migrated 3 million years ago, is the current group of islands called the New Siberian Islands. The islands are away from north pole 1000 kilometers and are separated from the Asian continent by the Sannikov Strait, 80 kilometers wide. At that time, the New Siberian Islands represented a very large part of the land, exceeding the modern area by about 8 times. On this solid and huge island of Arctida, Homo sapiens also arose 5 million years ago, but over the course of 2 million years it developed in the conditions of the polar tundra. The main reason for its migration is not the flooding of the land by the waters of the ocean, but the cooling of the climate with all the ensuing consequences. Continuous evolutionary process The development of tribes on the territory of the New Siberian Islands over 2 - 5 million years contributed to an increase in the population to 30 thousand people. The same number of people crossed the Sannikov Strait 3 million years ago and populated the lands of modern Yakutia.
Gradually, the tribes migrated west to Ural mountains, to the east to the lands of Chukotka and to the south in the territory of modern Mongolia. For 3 million years, the civilization of the Mongoloid race has developed over a vast area, which is located between the Ob and Kolyma rivers. In 1982, during archaeological excavations in the Deering-Yuryakh region (140 kilometers from Yakutsk), stone tools were discovered, the age of which was determined by experts at 1.8 - 3.2 million years. The population of Asians 0.5 million years ago reached millions of people. In the period 0.5-3 million years ago, this area grew mixed forests with an unprecedented variety of flora and fauna. The primitive people who lived there had an abundance of meat food, berries, mushrooms, nuts, and fish. The beginning of a significant cooling of the climate in this territory caused a mass migration of Asians to the south, southeast and east. Five obstacles prevented the ancient Asian tribes from migrating west, to Europe: the Yenisei and Ob rivers, in the north a wide sea bay The Ob Bay is 100 kilometers wide and 900 kilometers long, the Ural Mountains and the endless swamps of swamps between the Yenisei and the Ob with a tributary of the Irtysh.
swamps West Siberian Lowland 1500 wide and 3000 kilometers long are the main and natural barrier that did not "let" the race of Asians into European territory. Below the swamp zone, exactly in the direction from north to south, there is a “solid wall” of high mountains: the Sayans, the Pamirs, the Tien Shan, the Himalayas. Thus, geographical barriers exist throughout the Asian continent, "marsh and mountain barriers" extend from north to south. The distance from the Yamal Peninsula (Arctic Ocean) to Bangladesh (Indian Ocean) is almost 7,000 kilometers. About 2.5 thousand kilometers of this distance are swamps, and about 4 thousand kilometers are mountains. There remains a narrow gap of 500 kilometers in the south of Siberia, which has no natural barriers to the migration of Asians from east to west. Due to natural barriers, the primitive people of the Mongoloid race long time absent in Central Asia and Europe. The skin color of the Mongoloids changed in the following order: white was 3 million years ago on the lands of snow-covered Arctida, yellow - 0.1 million years ago among the tribes that inhabited the warm (at that time) territories of Mongolia and China. The population of Asians 0.5 million years ago reached millions of people. The main directions of their migration were as follows.
Migration Destination No. 1. A small number of tribes (5% Mongoloids) migrated to the east: Yakutia → Chukotka → Kamchatka Peninsula → Aleutian Islands. Part of the Asian tribes penetrated even into Alaska through the narrow Bering Strait. However, at that time, North America had already been inhabited by American Indians for 0.5 million years, so after numerous military clashes, the migration of Asians to Alaska was stopped.
Direction of Migration No. 2. The second small direction of migration (15% of the Mongoloids) took place in the southeast direction: Yakutia → Far East→ Sakhalin Island → Japan → Korea.
Direction of Migration No. 3. The main direction of migration of the Mongoloid race (80%) passed to the south: Yakutia → Lake Baikal → Mongolia → China → Indochinese Peninsula → Indonesia → Philippines → New Guinea → Australia. The migration process of Asians from the regions of Central Siberia over the past 0.5 million years has occurred mainly in a southerly direction. An example can be given from recent history: numerous tribes of Manchus and Kitai, who used to inhabit the regions of Central Siberia near the Nizhnyaya Tunguska River, migrated to China only a few millennia ago.
The direction of migration of the white race (Europeans)
The fourth island of the archipelago of North Atlantis (Hyperborea), from which the tribes of the European race migrated 2 million years ago, is the current island called New Earth. It is the southernmost island of the Arctida archipelago. It is located 2 thousand kilometers south of the north pole of the Earth, so a cool climate later settled on it, which became the main reason for migration primitive people. In the past, the island of Novaya Zemlya was about 5 times larger in size. On this island, man also arose 5 million years ago, but for 3 million years he developed in the conditions of the Arctic. Due to the more southerly location of the island, the need for primitive man to leave it appeared only 2 million years ago, as severe colds began and mass extinction flora and fauna. Until that moment, on the island of Novaya Zemlya there were good conditions for human life.
Novaya Zemlya Island is separated from of Eastern Europe the Kara Gate Strait, 70 kilometers wide. About 2 million years ago, the strait was crossed by boats and rafts, presumably 100 thousand primitive people. In the north of the European continent, man found favorable conditions for life. The climate on the coast of the Arctic Ocean 2 million years ago was quite warm, similar to the climate of modern Italy. The tundra did not exist at that time. In northern Europe, the tundra arose only 0.3 million years ago. The Arctic coast of Europe was covered with dense forests. This geographical area is located 1.5 thousand kilometers south of the Arctic coast, and therefore, 2 million years ago it was many times warmer than the climate on the island of Novaya Zemlya. Two million years ago, the area between the Ob and Northern Dvina rivers was much warmer than today, covered at first with tropical, and after 1 million years ago with mixed forests with an abundance of animals, berries, mushrooms, nuts, there were a lot of fish in the rivers. In summer, the forests were full of wild apples, plums, pears, grapes, cherries, and cherries. Vegetables grew in the meadows: beets, carrots, pumpkins, watermelons, onions, garlic.
The region of the Pechora River became for millions of years the main center of primitive European civilization. For quite a long time (over 1 million years), the center of development of the ancient peoples of the European race was located in the area between the Pechora and Northern Dvina rivers. There, archaeologists find a huge number of stone tools, rock paintings, and places of numerous sites of primitive people. Millions of years ago, the climate in the north of America, Europe and Asia was the same as it is now in Italy - warm and humid. the past was a thousand times greater than it is now. Paleontological studies prove that once there were huge saber-toothed tigers and cave bears weighing up to several tons (Siberia), predators up to two meters high, similar to a very large wild boar (Central Asia), predators in the form of huge ostriches up to 5 meters high (South America) and so on.
Every day, an ancient person witnessed how one of the relatives (a child or a woman) was eaten by predatory animals. But most often men suffered from predators, who, alone, went far from the location of the tribe for hunting and fishing. A lone hunter armed with a stone ax or a spear almost always died, since millions of years ago he was instantly surrounded by dozens of hungry and large predators. The resistance was short and useless. The danger forced people to unite in clans and tribes, forced them to live and hunt collectively, 10-30 people each.
Further cooling of the climate in the north of Eastern Europe forced people to migrate from the area of the Pechora River. People of the white race began to intensively settle on the European continent. The ancient Europeans were prevented from spreading to the east, to the Siberian lands, by the same natural barriers as the Mongoloid race to the west: the swamps of the West Siberian lowland, the Yenisei and Ob rivers, the wide sea bay of the Gulf of Ob, the Sayan Mountains, the Pamirs, the Tien Shan, the Himalayas.
For 1 million years, the population of Europeans in the Pechora region increased to about 0.7 million people. The hypothesis of the existence of the Pechora center of ancient European civilization has many confirmations.
For example, the Hungarian tribes moved to Central Europe from the cold regions of the Ural Mountains 3,000 years ago, and the Sumerians migrated from Eastern Europe to Mesopotamia (Iran) 11,000 years ago. The Etruscans migrated to Central Europe, and then to the north of Italy.
Archaeological confirmation of the settlement of an ancient man from the Pechersk center of the primary settlement of the European race across the territory of Western Europe and Asia Minor (Middle East) is the spread of microliths that are completely identical in shape. Microliths are very sharp stone fragments made of obsidian or silicon, which were firmly attached to one side of a short wooden stick (no more than half a meter long). It was a stone prototype of the modern sickle, reaping knife. The stone sickle was the most common stone tool of the ancient agricultural peoples in Europe and Asia Minor. Before the advent of the era of distribution Agriculture(0.2 million years ago) stone sickles were widely used to cut the stems of various cereals from huge fields of wild wheat, barley, oats, rye and so on. When archaeologists from different countries compared stone microliths from the Urals and microliths found in the most ancient cultural layers of the earth in France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and India, they did not find the slightest difference between them. These were stone products made according to the technology of the once united people of the European race, the primary center of which was in Northern Europe.
Three directions of the earliest migration of the European race can be distinguished.
Southern direction of European migration (to Egypt and India). The main routes of settlement of Europeans were directed to the south, where probably 60% of the population of the Pechersk region migrated. In this direction, the Indian migration route stands out (north of Eastern Europe → Kazakhstan → Turkmenistan → Iran → Afghanistan → Pakistan → India) and the Arabian migration route (north of Eastern Europe → the Volga region → Transcaucasia → Turkey → Iraq → Saudi Arabia → Egypt → Sudan → Somalia) . Near the village of Trypillya (Ukraine, near the city of Kyiv), archaeologists have unearthed an ancient settlement of farmers of the Neolithic era. They called this culture Tripoli. Later it was found that the Trypillians occupied the vast territory of Moldova and Ukraine, and their kindred tribes (Boyans, Keresh, Cucuteni, linear-ribbon) lived in the Balkans and in the south of Western Europe. The remains of grain and bones of domestic animals were found at Trypillia settlements. The most interesting thing is that Trypillians and their relatives decorated dishes in the same way as people of Mesopotamian cultures (Hassun and Khalaf), i.e.
not by squeezing drawings on wet clay, but by painting with colored paints. They also made from clay figurines of goddesses, mostly seated, as in Chatal Guyuk (Iraq), and figurines of a bull, as in Crete and Greece. These archaeological finds once again prove that the settlement of Europeans from the Pechersk center mainly occurred to the south: Ukraine → Greece, Ukraine → Iraq.
It is interesting to note that the territory of Egypt was first inhabited by Negroids, and then by Europeans. In support of what has been said, there is such information from the history of the Ancient East. The territory of Africa, including Egypt, was inhabited by the peoples of the black race in the period from 1 to 3 million years ago. Archaeologists in North Africa have found a large number of graves of an ancient man of the earliest period. The deceased person was buried with his head to the south and on his left side, that is, facing west. By this position of the body, ancient people indicated the place of their origin - the face was directed towards the Atlantic Ocean, towards the location of the ancient continent of Atlantis. The head was directed to the south, which indicated that people of the African race came to the territory of Egypt from Central Africa, from the south. After 1 million years ago, the territory of Egypt was already inhabited by the peoples of the "white race", which arose in the north of Europe and settled Africa from the side of the Arabian Peninsula, that is, from the east.
Therefore, the custom of burial has changed a lot. They began to bury the dead, placing their bodies with their heads to the north and also on their left side, that is, facing east, facing the Arabian Peninsula. From this we can conclude that after 1 million years ago, the territory of modern Egypt began to be settled by Europeans, who came to Arabia from the northern lands of Eastern Europe, and came to Africa from Arabia, that is, from the eastern territories in relation to Africa. That is why the face of the deceased person was directed to the east, towards the location of the Arabian Peninsula. Thus, the posture of the deceased person indicated the place from which the migration of the ancestors of the European race to the African continent began. In addition, the deceased person was buried in a pose with the head directed not to the south (not towards the location of Central Africa), but to the north, that is, towards the location of Eastern Europe, the Arctic Ocean, towards the location of the first homeland of the European race - Arctida. Based on these archaeological documents, it can be argued that after 1 million years ago, the territory of Egypt began to be inhabited by tribes of the European race. This opinion is also confirmed by the fact that the ancient Egyptian language has some affinity with the ancient Semitic languages (Phoenician, Akkadian, Assyrian and Hebrew).
Western direction of European migration to Scandinavia. In the western direction (to the Scandinavian Peninsula), probably 10% of ancient Europeans migrated from the region of the Pechera River. The Scandinavian migration route starts from the north of Eastern Europe → Finland → Sweden → Norway. From 4 million to 0.2 million years ago, the climate on the Scandinavian Peninsula was relatively warm, especially on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The peninsula is washed by the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean, so the winters were very short (1 - 2 months) and mild (no more than 5 degrees Celsius). In summer it was very hot - about forty degrees Celsius. The territory was covered with dense forests, where wild animals abounded, and there were many fish in rivers and lakes. The ancient Varangians dressed in animal skins in winter, and in summer they wore coarse self-woven clothes. Sailing boats of the Vikings in very ancient times crossed the Baltic Sea, reached England, Iceland and Greenland. Probably, immediately after the occupation of Scandinavia, the Vikings began to smelt iron tools. The Scandinavian migration route has a certain historical continuation of its development.
Southwest direction of European migration. Probably, more than 30% of the population of the European race left Eastern Europe in the period of 1 - 2 million years ago and settled throughout Western Europe. Europeans settled from the Pechora River in 2 million years to the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic migration route began from the north of Eastern Europe → Ukraine → Romania → Yugoslavia → Germany → Italy → France → Spain → Portugal.
CONCLUSION. So, in the period from 3 to 5 million years ago, humanity (except for the Negroid race) concentrated on the northern lands of three continents: American Indians - on the territory of modern Canada and the United States (north America), the Mongoloid race - on the territory of Yakutia (northern Siberia), European race - in the region of the Pechora River (northern Europe). Over the next 2.7 million years, the continents were slowly settled. This was primary, free and peaceful process of human migration through the uninhabited expanses of the continents - site. The primary and free migration of mankind across the continents occurred very slowly in the period of 3-5 million years ago. American Indians settled North America and only much later (30 thousand years ago) part of South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru). The Amazon River became a serious obstacle for the ancient people of America, since ancient people settled south of the river only 2 thousand years ago. The tribes of the Mongoloid race spread to the south of China. The tribes of the European race from the Pechora River "spread" to Spain in the west and to India in the east.
The population of our planet today exceeds 7 billion people. This figure is increasing every day.
Population of the Earth
Scientists have determined that in just a decade, the number of people on Earth will increase by 1 billion people. However, such dynamics of the demographic picture was not always so high.
A few centuries ago, the number of people increased slowly. People died from bad weather conditions and diseases in early age because the development of science and technology was at a low level.
To date, the largest countries in terms of population are Japan, China and India. The population of these three countries becomes half of the world's population.
The smallest number of people live in countries whose territory covers equatorial forests, tundra and taiga zones, as well as mountain ranges. The bulk of the world's population lives in the Northern Hemisphere (about 90%).
Races
All mankind is divided into races. Races are organized groups of people who are united by common external features - body structure, face shape, skin color, hair structure.
Such external signs formed as a result of the adaptation of human physiology to the conditions external environment. There are three major races: Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid.
The most numerous is the Caucasoid race, it includes about 45% of the world's population. Caucasoids inhabit the territory of Europe, part of Asia, South and North America and Australia.
The second largest is the Mongoloid race. The Mongoloid race includes people living in Asia, as well as the natives of North America - the Indians.
The Negroid race ranks third in terms of numbers. Representatives of this race live in Africa. After the slaveholding period, representatives of the Negroid race remained to live in South and North America.
peoples
Large races are formed by representatives of many peoples. Most of the world's population belongs to the 20 major nations, their number exceeds 50 million people.
Peoples are communities of people who lived in the same territory for long periods of time. historical periods and united by cultural heritage.
AT modern world there are about 1500 peoples. The geography of their settlement is the most diverse. Some of them are settled all over the planet, some are around within the limits of the settlement.
1. The racial composition of the world population
Race - a historically formed group of people who have similar, inherited external and internal characteristics.
The division of man into races began in prehistoric times, tens of thousands of years ago. Perhaps the emergence of races was influenced by local natural conditions although this is not always easy to install.
Currently, there are three types of races: main (large), mixed and transitional. There are four main or large races on the globe: Caucasoid (about 40% of the world's population), Mongoloid (about 20%), Negroid (10%), Australoid (less than 1%). Thus, these four races unite about 70% of the world's population.
The rest of its inhabitants belong to the transitional races. These races were formed a very long time ago, in prehistoric times, as a result of a long interracial mixing. There are many transitional races, but in terms of the number of representatives and the area of the range, they are significantly inferior to the main races. Transitional include the Ethiopian, Malay and other races.
Another racial category is sometimes called mixed races, formed as a result of interracial marriages already in historical time, that is, relatively recently. Particularly intensive formation of mixed races took place in America in the process of its colonization by Europeans and displacement a large number blacks - slaves from Africa. Hence the naming of transitional races: mestizo, mulatto, sambo. In the offspring of interracial marriages, the transmission of racial traits by inheritance does not always occur. That is why some experts consider mixed races to be real races.
Initially, the distribution areas of the main races looked like this:
- the Caucasoid race settled within North Africa, almost all of Europe and Southwest Asia;
- the Negroid race developed in Africa south of the Sahara;
- the Mongoloid race dominated north of the Himalayas.
As a result of a long process of human settlement across the planet, the boundaries of the ranges have changed greatly, and the number of races has also increased.
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, and also 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 discovery by Europeans of 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.
History of human population development modern look occurs 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 fundamentally changing. Human races are large areal communities of people distinguished by genetic relationship, which outwardly manifest themselves in a certain similarity. physical signs: skin color and iris, hair shape and color, height, etc.
The largest (by number) race is Caucasoid - 46.6% 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 variety of iris (from dark to gray and blue), a very developed tertiary hairline (beard in men), insufficient or medium .. .
Human Origins. The most important stage in the development of the geographic shell of the Earth was the appearance of man. Bee humanity belongs to species Homo sapiens (reasonable man), a member of the family of hominids, order of primates, class of mammals. Other members of the hominin family are the ancestors of modern humans and are known only in the fossil state. The closest relatives of man in the animal world are modern great apes.
The order of primates, according to the most common point of view, includes three suborders - lemur-like (lemurs), tarsier-like (tarsiers) and human-like, that is, all higher and lower, monkeys and humans. The most ancient representatives of primates - lemurs and tarsiers - appeared in the fauna of the globe already in the first half of the Paleogene and widely settled on its surface. At the end of the Paleogene, monkeys began to appear on the continents of the Old World, and already in the Oligocene deposits the remains of higher narrow-nosed monkeys were found, from which the ancestors of modern man, the hominids, as well as the ancestors of modern anthropoid apes, anthropomorphic monkeys, subsequently emerged.
On the continents of the New World, monkeys also appeared in the Paleogene, but there they were represented by a special branch of humanoids - the lower broad-nosed monkeys. narrow-nosed monkeys in general, and consequently, anthropoid apes are absent in both the fossil and modern fauna of America.
The fauna of Australia lacked not only all primates, but almost all higher mammals in general.
Great apes reached a particularly wide distribution and great diversity in the Miocene and Pliocene, and the area of \u200b\u200btheir settlement covered Europe, a significant part of Africa and western Asia up to North India. Obviously, most of they were led by an arboreal way of life, like all other primates, but it is possible that even then certain types of monkeys living on earth appeared.
At the beginning of the Quaternary period, anthropoid apes were still very widespread, and in the structure of some of them there is a great similarity with humans and with modern anthropomorphic apes.
In the open, treeless expanses of South Africa, upright, bipedal monkeys apparently lived, which were distinguished by a particularly great resemblance to modern man. These fossils african monkeys, who lived in herds, are united in the subfamily of Australopithecus. Their essential features were upright posture, the presence pelvic bones, hips and the device of teeth, very much reminiscent of human. Australopithecus can be considered the ancestors of hominids, and therefore of modern humans.
The transition of certain groups of great apes from an arboreal lifestyle to a terrestrial existence and bipedal walking contributed to the liberation of the forelimbs and the expansion of their functions, i.e. the appearance of hands and the transition to upright walking, as well as the herd lifestyle of our ancestors, creating the possibility of collective protection and mutual support . In the process of the struggle for existence, Australopithecus developed the beginnings of labor activity, which in turn led to the development and improvement of the whole organism of our ancestors.
It was labor, as was proved by F. Engels in his famous work “The role of labor in the process of turning a monkey into a man”, that was the main driving force evolution from apes to humans. In the process of labor and close communication of our ancestors with each other, the most important means of communication appeared - speech, with the development of which the brain and consciousness improved.
The transition of human ancestors to the manufacture of tools, i.e., to conscious labor activity, contributes to the transformation of the primitive herd of anthropoid apes into human society, the development of which takes place in the future not only according to biological laws, but also according to new, social laws.
The appearance of the first hominids - the oldest people or ape-people (proto- or archanthropes) - should be attributed to the very beginning of the Pleistocene (or the very end of the Neogene, according to other classifications). Findings of bone remains on the island of Java (Pithecanthropus), in northern China (Synanthropus), near Heidelberg in Germany (Heidelberg Man), etc., belong to different stages development of archanthropes and testify to their very wide distribution across the continents of the Old World from the Yellow River basin to the islands of the Malay Archipelago and from Western Europe to South Africa.
In many structural features, the most ancient people were still very close to anthropomorphic monkeys, but at the same time they were much closer to modern man than their ancestors, the Australopithecus. There is evidence that the earliest people used fire, although they did not know how to produce it.
The next stage of human evolution were ancient people (paleoanthropes), or, as they were originally called, Neanderthals (after the Neandertal valley near Düsseldorf, where the bone remains of human ancestors of this stage of development were first found).
Neanderthals lived between 200-300 millennia and 40-50 millennia BC, i.e., in the first half of the Pleistocene (the Lower Paleolithic era). They were widely distributed throughout Eurasia and Africa. Their bone remains were found on the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in the Crimea, on the island of Java, in Palestine, in the area of Lake. Victoria in Africa.
Neanderthals made tools not only from stone, but also from bone, knew how to make fire artificially, lived in caves, and obtained food by gathering and hunting. The time of the greatest prosperity of the Neanderthals coincides with the time of maximum glaciation, so the climate of most of the inhabited territory was harsh, the animal world included a mammoth, a woolly rhinoceros, a cave bear and other large animals, the fight against which was difficult and dangerous.
In the process of labor and mutual communication, articulate speech developed, which in turn contributed to the rapid improvement of the brain. “First labor, and then along with it articulate speech were the two most important stimuli under the influence of which the monkey brain gradually turned into a human brain ... ". brain development and brain activity entailed the improvement of methods of obtaining food and protection from enemies, as well as the change and improvement of the entire organism of ancient man. The Neanderthals were replaced by modern humans. By the name of the village of Cro-Magnon (Central Massif of France), where the main finds of fossil people were discovered modern type They are often referred to as Cro-Magnons. Currently, the term "neoanthrope" has become widespread.
The first finds of bone remains of modern humans date back to the beginning of the 19th century. in Western Europe. These remains, found in the deposits of the end ice age(Pleistocene) on the border between the Lower and Upper Paleolithic, indicate high development Cro-Magnons, about significant differences in their structure from paleoanthropes and almost complete similarity with modern people. At the same time, it should be noted that people of the neoanthrope stage, who lived in different parts of the globe, had quite clearly defined racial differences.
Ancestral home of man. polycentrism and monocentrism. At present, most anthropologists recognize that humanity belongs to one biological species and its origin from one species of animal ancestors.
He also causes controversy and the fact that a person could appear only on the continents of the Old World.
Neither America nor Australia, which did not have the closest relatives and ancestors of man in their animal world, could be the ancestral home of mankind. Also excluded is the north of Eurasia, which was covered with continental ice just in the period during which the formation of a modern type of man took place. Consequently, the areas of human origin could be located only in the southern half of Eurasia or in Africa.
However, there is still no consensus on the question of whether this entire territory was the scene of the emergence of man through the gradual evolution of all groups settled over it, or whether man arose from any one group of paleoanthropes, within a limited area.
The first theory - the theory of polycentrism - is popular in the West and is also supported by some Soviet anthropologists. The majority of Soviet researchers, however, belong to the group of supporters of monocentrism, that is, the theory of the emergence of man within one limited area. The location of this area is still controversial. Many data give reason to believe that it was located in the southern half of Africa. However, there are suggestions in favor of Central and South Asia.
human races. Within a single biological species to which all mankind belongs, there are pronounced physical differences.
People inhabiting various regions of the globe differ from each other in the color of their skin, hair and eyes, in the structural features of the skull, soft parts of the face, and many other physical characteristics that are inherited and are called racial characteristics. Historically formed groups of people, united by a common origin, expressed in a common hereditary signs of body structure, are called human races.
The formation of racial differences took place at the early stages of the formation and development of man under the influence of various environmental conditions and isolation large groups people from each other. The beginning of the formation of modern races dates back to the Upper Paleolithic. Findings of bone remains of people of a modern species in the deposits of that time in different parts of the globe indicate the existence of pronounced physical differences among them.
In the course of the development of human society, large groups of people spread throughout the globe and adapted to natural conditions. At present, racial signs have lost their adaptive value and remained only as hereditary traits. It is customary to distinguish three main, so-called large races: Mongoloid, Caucasoid and Equatorial, or Negro-Australoid.
The characteristic features of the Mongoloid race are the yellowish skin color (therefore they used to say the “yellow” race), black straight hard hair, protruding cheekbones, and a somewhat oblique slit of the eyes. The upper eyelid of many Mongoloids extends beyond the lower, forming a special fold (epicanthus) that protects the eyes from strong wind and dust. This sign developed among the Mongoloids because this race was formed in the desert and steppe regions of Asia with a dry climate, strong winds and dusty air.
For most representatives of the Caucasoid ("white") race, whitish skin is characteristic. Ho among peoples living in more warm countries, the skin is swarthy. The hair is light, dark and even black, straight or wavy, the nose is straight, the face is narrow.
A characteristic feature of people of the equatorial race is a dark (sometimes almost black) skin color. On this basis, earlier this race was called "black". Dark color skin depends on the content in it of a special coloring matter - melanin, which weakens the effect of sunlight (especially ultraviolet) rays on the human body. The equatorial race was formed in the hottest regions of the globe, located close to the equator. In addition to dark skin, representatives of the equatorial race are characterized by black wavy or curly hair, a wide nose, and thick lips.
Branches are distinguished within the large races, and within them so-called small races.
Part of the Mongoloids 25-30 thousand years ago moved through the northeast of Asia to America, forming the American branch, which is close to the Caucasoid race in a number of physical features.
Within the Asian branch of the Mongoloid race, a number of small races are distinguished in turn: Northern Mongoloids, Eastern Mongoloids, etc.
The large equatorial race, in the process of its formation, was divided into two branches - the Oceanian and the African. Races are distinguished in each branch: in the Oceanian - Australian, Vedoid, Melanesian, etc.; in African - Negro, Bushman-Hotentot and Negril.
The large Caucasoid race is also subdivided into two branches - northern and southern.
In the process of the development of human society and its settlement on the continents, the geographical isolation of individual groups of people gradually disappeared, and communication between races increased. As a result of this, a process of mixing of races took place, the result of which are transitional and mixed anthropological types.
In modern racial classifications, mixed forms of ancient origin are distinguished, then mixed forms formed in the Middle Ages and modern times.
The first category of transitional and mixed races formed in the early stages human history mainly as a result of contacts between large races. This category includes, for example, the Dravidian race, formed as a result of contacts between Caucasoids and Australoids, the Ethiopian race - in the area of contacts between Negroids and Caucasoids, etc.
In the Middle Ages, some anthropological types of Asia were formed (for example, Central Asian, South Siberian), Africa (Sudanese), etc.
To mixed types The new time includes the mestizo population, which was formed as a result of the resettlement of representatives of Caucasians on the continents of the Western Hemisphere. These mixed types include mestizos and mulattos of the North and South America, the "colored" population of South Africa and some others.
At the present time, not all peoples can be fully attributed by their physical type to any one large race. In the composition of one people, one can meet representatives of various races and anthropological types, and some physical types can only be attributed to one or another race with great difficulty.
Equivalence of races and criticism of racism. A detailed study of the features of the physical structure of a person in general and the features of the structure of representatives of various human races confirms the fact that all mankind belongs to one biological species and its emergence in one center. According to the main, most significant features of the body structure, all human races are very close to each other and to the same extent significantly differ from their original form - the anthropomorphic monkey. Similar features common to all representatives of the Homo sapiens species are, firstly, those that provide upright posture - the length of the foot in relation to the length of the thigh, the structure of the foot, the structure of the muscles of the legs, etc. Further, the structure belongs to the category of similar features hands, larynx and brain. All of the listed signs of body structure are associated with social labor activity people and are the most essential features of man, distinguishing him from his ape-like ancestor and apes.
In addition, all human races are similar to each other in many other, less significant ways. All this points to the same level of development of all races, to their biological equivalence and to the same adaptation to labor activity.
The differences that exist between races (color of the skin, hair and eyes, hair shape, height, structure of the skull and soft parts of the face, etc.) belong to minor, insignificant features of a person and do not enter into the category of signs that distinguish a person from monkeys. Therefore, belonging to a particular race cannot be considered as evidence of more or less high level development, greater or lesser proximity to the ape-like ancestor of man. It has also been established that all races also have features similar to monkeys, and that these features are more or less evenly distributed among all races. All these data serve as a refutation of pseudoscientific theories about the unequal value of races and about the superiority of some races over others, propagated by some representatives of bourgeois science. In an effort to justify the imperialist policy of oppression of some peoples by others, reactionary bourgeois scientists preach the biological superiority of the "higher" (Caucasoid) race over the "lower" (Mongoloid and Equatorial). Proclaiming the thesis about the "inferiority" of the equatorial and Mongoloid races, about the inability of the peoples belonging to these races to independent comprehensive development, they point to the supposedly great biological proximity of these races to monkeys, and also argue that different races descended from different ancestors. It is characteristic that at present there are almost no supporters of racism among bourgeois anthropologists.
Soviet science stands on the point of view that all human races are equally capable of progress and that the inequality in the level of development of different peoples that exists to this day is due to the uneven development of human society and does not in the least depend on the racial affiliation of this or that people. . The backwardness of many peoples of Asia and Africa is explained by their difficult colonial past.
Language. Racial characteristics, although they are a consequence of social history, in modern society have only a secondary, auxiliary value.
the most important distinctive feature Man in comparison with animals is the language - the main means of communication between people. "Being brought to life by the needs of people's communication in the process of labor, language arises and develops along with thinking, penetrating into all aspects of the activity of human society."
The similarity of language is the most important condition for the formation of tribes, nationalities, nations, i.e., those ethnic communities into which the modern population of the Earth is divided.
By common origin from one language, the main modern languages are combined into groups, and related groups - into linguistic families. At the same time, the linguistic kinship of peoples does not reveal an organic connection with the division of mankind into races, although in some cases there is a coincidence of the distribution areas of some racial types and certain language families and groups.
Due to the fact that language is of great all-round importance in the formation of ethnic communities, the modern classification of the peoples of the world in Soviet enthography is based on linguistic, i.e. linguistic, affiliation and all peoples are united in families and groups corresponding to language families and groups.
The most common are the 10 languages of the world, which are spoken by almost 60% of all mankind: Chinese (690 million people), English (270 million people), Russian (150 million people), Spanish (150 million people). ), Hindi and Urdu (150-180 million people), Japanese (95 million people), German (90 million people), Arabic (85 million people), Portuguese (85 million people) , French (60 million people).
Number, distribution and population density. As of the beginning of 1965, approximately 3,200 million people live on the globe. Throughout human history, not only the population has changed, but also the rate of its growth.
According to available scientific data, at the beginning of the Neolithic (10-15 thousand years ago), only a few million people lived on the globe and the population increased very slowly. By the beginning of our era, the population of the Earth was approximately 200 million people, in 1000 - 300 million people.
As you grow productive forces and reducing the dependence of human society on nature, the rate of population growth increased more and more. In 1500, the world's population was already about 500 million people, in 1800 - more than 900 million, and by the beginning of the 20th century. - more than 1600 million people. Over the past century and a half, the rate of population growth, despite devastating wars, has been particularly rapid. To date, compared with 1900, the world population has doubled. Recently, the world's population has been increasing by an average of 60 million a year.
The rapid increase in the rate of population growth is associated with the development of productive forces, economic and cultural progress, first of all in Europe, and then in other parts of the world. The development of health care and the fight against epidemics led to a sharp reduction in mortality, first in Europe, and in recent decades in developing countries in Asia and Africa. While maintaining a high birth rate, especially characteristic of the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, the population growth rate is continuously increasing, and, according to the calculations of the UN demographic service, by the year 2000 the world population should exceed 6 billion people.
English reactionary economist Malthus ( early XIX c.) argued that the population of the world tends to grow faster than the means of subsistence, and that this must inevitably lead to an absolute overpopulation of the world. Some modern bourgeois followers of Malthus are trying to prove that the rapid growth of the population, allegedly obeying only biological laws, is the main cause plight workers, especially in economically backward countries, and will inevitably lead to a shortage of means of consumption to provide for the population of the whole world. By this they, by the way, seek to justify imperialist wars that reduce population growth. However, the classics of Marxism-Leninism proved that population growth does not depend on the laws of nature, but on the laws of the development of society. Under the conditions of an advanced socialist system, the level of development of the productive forces is so high that the growth of the output of social production outstrips the growth of the population and must fully ensure a high standard of living for the people.
The distribution of population across the globe is extremely uneven. Over 85% live in the Eastern Hemisphere, with more than 2,400 million people in Eurasia, that is, 77% of the total population of the globe, more than 260 million people in Africa, and 17 million people in Australia and Oceania. About 420 million people live on both American continents.
With an average population density of inhabited continents of 24 people per 1 sq. km. km average density in foreign Europe per 1 sq. km - 86, in Asia (without Russia) - 67, in Russia - 10, in America - 10, Africa - 9, Australia and Oceania - about 2 people per 1 sq. km. km.
About 10% of the land is completely devoid of a permanent population. Such territories include Antarctica, the polar islands of America and Asia, some desert regions of Central Asia and Africa.
Population distribution within habitable land also has big differences, depending on the interaction of a number of factors: natural conditions and related types economic activity people, prescription of settlement of this or that territory and level community development people within a given country.
In the fertile lowlands ancient centers agricultural culture, on the coasts of the seas and oceans, where important trade routes pass, or in areas with the most highly developed industry, the population density is sometimes tens of times higher than the average population density of inhabited land, reaching 500, 600 and even 1000 people per 1 sq. km. On the other hand, areas that have only recently begun to be settled or backward in economic terms, unfavorable in their natural features for development - tundra, dry steppes and deserts, taiga or rainforests have a low population density, barely reaching 1 person per 1 sq. km or even less.
Humanity is a mosaic of races and peoples that inhabit our globe. The representative of each race and each nation has a number of differences in comparison with representatives of other population systems.
However, all people, despite their race and ethnicity, are an integral part of a single whole - earthly humanity.
The concept of "race", division into races
A race is a system of a population of people who have a similarity of biological characteristics that have been formed under the influence of the natural conditions of the territory of their origin. Race is the result of adaptation human body under the natural conditions in which he had to live.
The formation of races took place over many millennia. According to anthropologists, this moment there are three main races on the planet, including more than ten anthropological types.
Representatives of each race are interconnected by common areas and genes that provoke the emergence of physiological differences from representatives of other races.
Caucasoid race: signs and resettlement
The Caucasoid or Eurasian race is the largest race in the world in terms of numbers. A characteristic feature of the appearance of a person belonging to the Caucasian race is an oval face, straight or wavy soft hair, a wide slit of the eyes, and an average thickness of the lips.
The color of eyes, hair and skin varies depending on the region of the population, but always has light shades. Representatives of the Caucasian race evenly inhabit the entire planet.
The final settlement on the continents occurred after the end of the century geographical discoveries. Very often, people of the Caucasian race tried to prove their dominant position in front of representatives of other races.
Negroid race: signs, origin and resettlement
The Negroid race is one of the three major races. The characteristic features of people belonging to the Negroid race are elongated limbs, dark, melanin-rich skin, a wide flat nose, large eyes, curly hair.
Modern scientists believe that the first person of the Negroid race arose around the 40th century BC. in present-day Egypt. The main region of settlement of representatives of the Negroid race is South Africa. Over the past centuries, people of the Negroid race have settled down significantly in the West Indies, Brazil, France and the United States.
Unfortunately, representatives of the Negroid race have been oppressed by "white" people for many centuries. They faced such anti-democratic phenomena as slavery and discrimination.
Mongoloid race: signs and resettlement
The Mongoloid race is one of the largest world races. The characteristic features of this race are: swarthy skin color, narrow slit eyes, short stature, thin lips.
Representatives of the Mongoloid race mainly inhabit the territory of Asia, Indonesia, the islands of Oceania. Recently, the number of people of this race begins to increase in all countries of the world, which is caused by an intensification of the wave of migration.
The peoples that inhabit the earth
People - a certain group of people who have a common series of historical features - culture, language, religion, territory. Traditionally, a stable common feature of a people is its language. However, in our time, there are cases when different peoples speak the same language.
For example, the Irish and Scots speak English, although they are not English. To date, there are several tens of thousands of peoples in the world, which are systematized into 22 families of peoples. Many peoples that existed before disappeared or assimilated with other peoples at that moment.