White people: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:49, 10 September 2005

Revision as of 23:25, 10 September 2005

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== Areas of habitation==

Countries with a majority of White ethnic Europeans include all the nations of [[Europe]], as well as some of the countries colonized by them through the [[15th century]] to [[19th century]]; such as the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Argentina]], [[Uruguay]], asiatic [[Russia]] and oceanic [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]]. In these nations, the relatively small [[indigenous]] populations were overwhelmed by White colonists from one or more European "[[Motherland|mother countries]]". The distribution of Europeans worldwide may be explained by the traditional argument that Europeans thrive best in [[temperate]] climates above about 30° latitude in both hemispheres, but do not fare well in the [[tropics]], except at high elevations. Indeed, Europeans have colonized most of those portions of the north and south [[temperate]] zones which had low indigenous population densities at the time of their "discoveries", which excluded [[East Asia]] but included virtually all other temperate regions. [[Blacks]] and Amerindians, who have traditionally been thought to tolerate tropical climates better than Whites, are (along with mestizo and mulatto peoples) predominant in tropical Latin America.

Whites are also nearly unique in that they exhibit a variety of hair and eye colours. In parts of the world north of 50° North latitude, sunlight is low and weak enough that people (and white coloured polar animals for that matter) with blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin have an advantage over those with darker colouration. Benefits include resistance to [[rickets]], possibly [[frostbite]], and a suggested [[aesthetic]] appeal. However, the only major part of the world where such conditions exist is in northern [[Europe]] and western [[Russia]]. Parts of [[Alaska]] and western [[Canada]], and, in the Southern Hemisphere (south of 50° South latitude), a small section of South America including [[Tierra del Fuego]] and the [[Falkland Islands]] would fit the requirement as well, but they were thinly populated at the time of discovery and are now dominated by the descendants of European settlers.

Significant minorities of Whites live in [[Souththe Africa]],various [[Zimbabwe]],Latin [[NamibiaAmerica]],n and [[New CaledoniaCaribbean]] and othercountries, [[PacificSouth IslandsAfrica]], and in the various [[Latin AmericaZimbabwe]]n and, [[CaribbeanNamibia]] countries. Many of these nations have experienced considerable political conflict between the White minority (descendents of settlers from the former colonial power) and a mixed or non-European unmixed majority, heightening the sense of White racial identity.

==See also==