The story of human migration and evolution is written in hair DNA. In sub-Saharan Africa, genes favour tight, curly hair. But in east Asia, mutations have led to straighter, thicker hair. In Europe, other mutations brought wavy and straw-coloured hair.
Curly hair is not certain to a race or ethnicity, it appears all over the world in many forms. White, brown, black and everything inbetween! There is also a scale on which curly hair is classified (2a-4c).
Curly hair can be found in all parts of the world. With Caucasians, research shows that “45 percent of European people have straight hair, 40 per cent have wavy hair and 15 per cent have curly hair.” Curly hair is not exclusive to one race and it does not mean you have to be mixed raced to have curly hair.
The African hair is generally curly or frizzy, and grows almost parallel to the scalp. It has the slowest growth rate of 0.9 centimeters per month due to its spiral structure which causes it to twist on itself as it grows. African hair has a flattened shape.
The gene for curly hair in Caucasians
It has been long established that curly hair is a dominant trait in Caucasians and straight hair is recessive.
Yes, only 11% of the population have curly hair.
Hair morphology is one of the more conspicuous features of human variation and is particularly diverse among people of European ancestry, for which around 45% of individuals have straight hair, 40% have wavy hair, and 15% have curly hair.
Caucasians have the highest hair density among the ethnicities studied. Black people have the lowest. Asian people have hair density that falls somewhere in between.
A: About 70 percent of Hispanics have curly or wavy hair.
Caucasian, Asian and Indian hair samples were put to the test for the World's Best Hair study. Their results put an end to any splitting of hairs over the issue: in terms of health, the Indian hair is the best, topping other ethnic groups on all four counts.
Genotyping results show that 94.9% of Black people have curly hair. Additionally, 12.7% of Europeans and 12% of Asian people have curls. Biracial hair is a complicated term, and it does not refer specifically to one hair type or shape.
With Caucasians, research shows that “45 percent of European people have straight hair, 40 per cent have wavy hair and 15 per cent have curly hair.” Curly hair is not exclusive to one race and it does not mean you have to be mixed raced to have curly hair. It's actually not rare for Caucasians to have curly hair.
Sarah Medland, approximately 17% of Italians have curly hair. Overall, 45% of European people have straight hair, 40% have wavy, and 15% have curly hair. Therefore, Italians are slightly above the European curly hair average. Italian genes have adapted to both the northern and southern climates of Italy.
The same study showed that Asian (East and West) hair shape is also mostly straight (46.7%) or wavy (41.3%), with some curly hair (12%) (n = 92). However, African hair shape is mostly curly (94.9%), with some wavy hair (5.1%) (n = 39).
Lots of traits are statistically rare: Left-handedness (just 10 percent of the population!), curly hair (11 percent!), and blond hair (4 percent!), to name a few.
Less than 20% of people have naturally curly hair. The percentage gets even smaller when you consider the scores of guys out there who don't embrace their curls.
However, the use of Chino has survived in modern Mexican Spanish via the term pelo chino (Chino hair) when referring to curly hair.
Did you know that over 50% of the residents of Mexico City have curly hair?! Yep, over half of the population has some sort of textured hair due to their Indigenous, Latin American, & Native American backgrounds.
The diameter of Mexican hair is also intermediate between that of Asian and Caucasian hair. In general, Mexican hair most commonly possesses a mild curl – with 73% of subjects possessing hair shape that equates to a Type II ranking.
When it comes to the race that tends to lose the most hair, that goes to Caucasians. Additionally, West Asian (specifically Indian) people are likely to experience similar hair loss levels to Caucasians.
Many Asians have naturally straight hair, but there is a significant group of us who do have naturally curly or wavy hair! However, because it's the norm to see straight and sleek hair, curly haired boys and girls tend to think that their hair is some kind of unruly straight hair that isn't behaving.
Curly hair is dominant, so someone is more likely to have curly or wavy hair if at least one of their parents does. Recent research points to trichohyalin, a protein in hair follicles, as having primary influence over hair curl. However, there are many genes contributing to hair curliness, most of them unknown.
Your hair is naturally voluminous
Curls adds volume to your hair effortlessly, and you never have to worry about it being flat, limp and lifeless like those with straight hair. Even on days when you straighten your curls, there is always going to be that little amount of volume that will make others go green with envy.
Since curly hair is a dominant gene, there is a good likelihood that one or two curly-haired parents will produce a curly-haired cutie. But genetics are tricky, and there's a chance that two parents with curls could carry the straight hair recessive gene, and pass that onto their offspring.
Curly hair is often associated with a fun-loving, warm hearted and outgoing personality. If you have curly hair you are perceived as being courageous, outspoken, and spontaneous. You are probably someone who likes to challenge perceptions and norms. You celebrate your uniqueness and value your roots.