Skin Reflectance of Selected World Populations

All samples are composed of indigenous populations, and readings are taken on areas of the body not exposed to the sun. Higher values indicate lighter skin, and lower values darker skin.

Country and population or area	Observed reflectance at 685 nm
EUROPE
Netherlands	67•37
Germany (Mainz)	66•90
United Kingdom (Northern)	66•10
Spain (Basques)	65•70
United Kingdom (Wales)	65•00
Ireland (Rossmore)	64•75
Spain (Leon)	64•66
Belgium	63•14
United Kingdom (London)	62•30
WEST ASIA
Iraq/Syria (Kurds)	61•12
Turkey	59•15
Israel	58•20
Lebanon	58•20
Jordan	53•00
Saudi Arabia	52•50
NORTH AFRICA
Algeria (Aures)	58•05
Tunisia	56•30
Morrocco	54•85
Libya (Tripoli)	54•40
Libya (Fezzan)	44•00
SOUTH ASIA
India (Northern)	53•26
Pakistan	52•30
India (Southern)	46•70
EAST ASIA
China (Southern)	59•17
Vietnam	55•90
Japan (Northern)	54•90
Philippines (Manila)	54•10
Cambodia	54•00
Japan (Southwest)	53•55
Nepal (Eastern)	50•42
AUSTRO-MELANESIA
Papua New Guinea	35•30
Australia (Darwin)	19•30
AMERICAS
Greenland (Southern)	55•70
Peru (Nunoa)	47•70
Peru (Maranon)	43•05
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
South Africa (Hottentot)	46•80
Botswana (San)	42•40
Zaire	33•20
Kenya	32•40
Ethiopia	31•70
Tanzania (Sandewe)	28•90
Namibia	25•55
Cameroon (Fali)	21•50
Mozambique (Chopi)	19•45

Jablonski and Chaplin. "The Evolution of Human Skin Coloration". J Hum Evol, 2000.