Experimental Blog # 206

Notes and comments on "People of the World" - Cultures and Traditions, Ancestry and Identity by Catherine Herbert Howell with K. David Harrison

"Currently, 7.3 billion of us live on Earth. < > We belong to more than 10,000 distinct ethnic groups and speak some 7,100 documented languages."
"This book describes in detail some 220 ethnic groups arranged and sequenced to reflect the migration of modern humans out of Africa, through time and into the world's regions."

There are 7 regional divisions:
# 1 is Sub-Saharan Africa with 27 ethnic groups: from the Hadza, with fewer than 1000 people to the Yoruba, with about 38 million people.
# 2 is North Africa and the Middle East with 12 ethnic groups: from the Nubians, with about 605,000 people to the Arabs, at about 377 million people.
# 3 is Asia with 42 ethnic groups: from the Yukaghir, at about 1,600 people to the Han, at 1.2 billion people. For some reason, although the Armenians, at 5.9 million people, and the Azeris{in Azerbaijan}, at 8.8 million people, are described; the people of neighboring Georgia are not.
# 4 is Oceania with 30 ethnic groups: from the Wurundjeri, at about 60 people to the Australians, at about 22.5 million people. "Today, 22.7 million Australians, of whom only 2 percent are Aboriginals, live in an area the size of the contiguous United States, making Australia the least densely populated country in the world."
# 5 is Europe with 37 ethnic groups: from the Faroese, at about 66,000 people to the Russians, at about 166 million people. For some reason, although the Lithuanians, at 2.3 million people and the Finns, at about 5.1 million people, are described; the people of Latvia and Estonia are not.
# 6 is North America with 30 ethnic groups: from the Havasupai, at about 1000 people to the Americans, at about 321 million people. "Today, Native Americans, also called American Indians, make up only 1.2 percent of the population."
# 7 is Central and South America with 42 ethnic groups: from the Amahuaca, the Kuikur, and the Tapirape', all at about 500 people each; to the Brazilians, at about 204 million people. Although the Euro-Caribbeans, at about 12 million people located in the Caribbean island nations and within the Germanic language family are described; as well as the Argentines, at about 43 million people, and the Chileans, at about 17.5 million people; no other European Latin Americans seem to be described in this National Geographic book.
   There are, at least, 8 Native American groups who are described and whose populations total somewhat less than 7 million people, and they are located in Mexico; but the population of Mexico is over 122 million people. Also, the populations of the Dominican Republic and Cuba together total close to 22 million people.