I know it must be because (if you believe in evolution) of our distant heritage being primarly darker, then spreading through out the world. But Asia, Africa, and most of Europe are darker rather than lighter? Why?
131394
I point out that "God made them" fails entirely to explain the situation.  Adam and Eve cannot contribute enough different versions of genes (four total, assuming no duplicates) to account for the modern diversity of hair color, much less the really complicated traits (over 100 different versions in some cases).\n\nAncestral humans were dark haired.  Mutant genes for different hair colors have occured at various times in history.  Caucasians seem to have several.  It's not clear why.  It's suspected that it may have to do with general color reduction to allow us to produce more vitamin D (I think that's the one we produce with sunlight).  Dark hair on the body would absorb light and keep it off the skin, just like melanin in the skin would absorb it and keep it from being used.\n\nThe people who lived in Japan before it's current ethnic group moved in had a red hair gene that was fairly common and still crops up on occasion in Japan to this day, though not at all often.
39343
All 7 continents were joined together billions of years ago. However through time, they gradually split up, resulting in North and South America, and Australia to be separate from the main body-Europe, Asia and Africa.\n\nI figured because Europe and Asia had different coloured people which each had their unique tradition and customs. As they ruled differently due to customs, tradition and prctices, they probably decided to each govern their own way and thus they spilt up into 'different continents', though Europe and Asia are on the same piece of land.
458647
Funny, I thought about that too. Not only are there people of European descent in Africa but most north Africans (Berbers and Arabs) are classified as 'white' too. I wish we could get rid of all the racial labels and just be HUMAN. Also, some East Indian and Native Americans are as dark as or darker than 'black' people. Racial labels are stupid.
303678
Science explains that the world used to look more like a place called "Pangea", where all of the continents were connected. Over billions of years, the continents started to separate until they were in their present state.\n\nLook up "Pangea" for more information.
177678
My guess of why darker people prefer hot climates and light people prefer cooler climates has to do with evolution and genetics.  Pigments have evolved according to exposure to the sun - the lesser intense sun,  the lighter the pigment.  The more exposure to sun and heat,  the darker the pigment.  Darker pigments tolerate more heat and exposure.  A light-skinned person would fry much sooner in a desert than a dark-skinned person.  (Although dark skin DOES burn).  I've studied very little biology and anthropology,  so,  don't know for sure.   Humans will evolve to being all about the same color in a few million years, anyway.  Don't worry about it.
311314
That guy must be retarded. Of course Greeks are white. Caucasian peoples are technically those who originate in a region near the Caucus mountains in Russia, but that's just a technical definition.  Actually all Caucasians belong to the larger Indo-European family, which includes Indians and Persians (Iranians). Hicks and racists incorrectly believe that "whites" must look lilly white in order to classify as white, but that's not the case. Indo-European ("Aryan") people spread throughout many parts of Asia and Europe some ten thousand years ago. The skin color is caused by the pigment melanin. In latitudes where sunlight is less intense (such as Northern Europe) the skin is paler and contains less melanin in order to absorb more ultraviolet radiation (which helps the body create its own vitamin D). People in more southern latitudes became darker from greater melanin in the skin to protect against the harmful side-effects of UV radiation (think of it as a trade-off between the advantages of light skin- making more vitamin D- and the disadvantages- such as skin cancer from UV).  Skin color does not necessarily correlate to the definition of "white" or Caucasian.
591650
French colonies in Africa. \nNo, Europeans aren't supposed to be Caucasian. I don't know where you heard that from?
468187
Not to be too la-di-da or flippant, but we're all African.  It's the cradle of the human race.\n\nNothing wrong with acknowledging the shared experiences of people who share your skin color, though.  Especially when there's still so much racism, explicit and implicit, in the world.
142552
that's due to climate,food....and various reasons....everybody has adapted themselves with the part of world they live in......u must have heared about survival of the fittest(EVOLUTION).
326025
Because in the scheme of things, the rest of the world doesn't care about Africa.  The biggest and wealthiest nations support other countries.  But they don't support places like Africa, Haiti, Jamaica, etc.  What do these places have in common?  The race of most of the inhabitants of those places is the same.   It's a culture and ethnic reason why they are so far behing.  Costa Rica doesn't have that problem.  India doesn't have that problem.  Spain doesn't have that problem.  You think about it, and it will become clear.
592036
The Bible never explicitly says where the Garden of Eden was, but geographic hints in the text suggest somewhere in Southwest Asia (modern-day Iraq).\n\nThis makes sense, since the first cities and the first human civilization started in that region (what the Greeks called Mesopotamia, the region between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers).\n\nBut, it appears that humans did not originate there.  We only built our first cities there and our first state-level societies originated there.\n\nScientists who study human origins have developed a strong case that modern humans first appeared in Eastern Africa.  Why do they think this?  The fossil record for early humans goes back much farther in Eastern Africa than anywhere else in the world:  In fact, proto-human fossils can be found there that link with the common ancestor we share with Chimpanzees.\n\nAs far as "normal color", please bear in mind that race has very little to do with skin color:  Ethnic variation is more than skin deep:  Anthropologists can tell the difference between a East Asian skull and an African one, or even a Native American tooth from a European one.\n\nSkin color is a superficial difference that has a simple explanation:  The SUN.  Human populations who have lived for thousands of years in regions with intense and direct sunlight have evolved more MELANIN, a sun-absorbing protein, in their skin.  Melanin is like natural sunblock, and it makes your skin darker.\n\nEuropeans are descended from nomadic tribes that wandered in some of the most sunless and desolate places on earth during the last Ice Age.  Without sunlight penetrating the skin, the body cannot create Vitamin D.  Without vitamins or fortified milk to drink, they literally became sick.  Those with lighter skin had an advantage and the population very quickly lost much of the melanin in their bodies:  They lost it in their skin (white skin), their hair (blonde or red hair), and even in their eyes (blue eyes are the result of very little melanin in the iris).\n\nNature has not decreed a "normal" skin color.  Evolution is relentlessly practical:  The best skin color is the one that works best for the local environment.\n\nIn our modern era of sunblock, indoor living, heavy clothing, and vitamin-enriched food, skin color has no meaning except to help indicate where most of your ancestors came from.\n\nA few words about the Bible:  Surgery was performed by human beings THOUSANDS of years before the Bible was written.  We know this because we find skeletons quite often with evidence of dental surgery, skull trepanning (drilling holes in the skull to relieve fluid pressure on the brain), and we also find other kinds of evidence of other surgical procedures.\n\nAs far as "scheduling", just take a look at Stonehenge:  This was built about 10,000 YEARS before the Bible was written and it is essentially a religious ceremonial site that also happens to be an accurate calendar (the ancient Celts were great astronomers and they sighted certain stars by means of those big stones and could therefore predict seasonal changes).\n\nI could go on and on, but I have to end by making a point about the gay thing:  Yes, male and female exist for a reason and that reason has EVERYTHING to do with reproduction.  So, when heterosexuals have sex while using birth control, they are also committing an unnatural act -- according to your logic.  It is also "horrible" for a sterile woman or an infertile man to have sex with anyone.\n\nI think it is clear that YOU are the one "asking questions that will only raise more and still never gets it".
448447
I know it's a cultural thing, but you'd better embrace your dark skin, there's so many people who try to get your color.  I suppose that if you remain in cooler climates your skin will lighten up on its own.  Mine does without me trying.
570818
No, they decend from a different genetic line from Africans or Europeans.  They are genetically isolated to Asia, just as "whites" are genetically isolated to Europe, and "Blacks" are genetically isolated to "Africa" (and wherever they were sold as slaves).
659702
yeah, in like 500-1000 years like everyone is going to become the same skin color because of the race mixing going on until then.  we will be all the same color and we wont really know who is german, swedish,  or african for sure.  maybe they will be racist against people with i.e. blue eyes, or black hair. but not because skin color or ancestry
587267
Its dark in your world, isn't it?  :-)
43738
Homogeneous just means the same, or uniform throughout.  It doesn't necessarily apply to race.  You can certainly have a genetically homogeneous population, but that is a much higher level of sameness than a racially homogeneous population.  Within any racial group there is a huge amount of genetic variability.  \n\nOK, Kurdiatcha's response to my analysis is entirely correct. I will point out, though, that I never said it was anything other than speculation.  At any rate, I hadn't slept in about 3 days, and in that context my analysis made perfect sense to me.  Sorry!\n\nNew theory: I think the perseption that there is more physical diversity in Europe than Africa or Asia could be partially explained by the fact that Europe is geographically smaller.  So it's just that all the different groups are more crammed together and it ends up looking more diverse.\n_________\n\n>>>It was one of the better responses I’ve seen on Yahoo\n>>>answers. It just happened to be incorrect.\nSo I never use the expression "lol," but it seems rather appropriate here.  That was well said.  Thanks : )\n\nYou're probably right on my other theory too.  I should just stop speculating on this entirely.  I do want to point out, though, that the guy who posted the question and said Europeans look more different than Asians is Asian (at least he said so in another question), so I don't think you're entirely correct that people are always more tuned in to difference within their own racial group.  I wouldn't have bothered to speculate on the issue at all (after you shoot down my first theory, that is) except I thought it could possibly hold some tinsy bit of truth because of that.
58436
Yes we branched off from their line over 2 million years ago so there should be considerable variations  (we walk erect).  At some point in history human hair may have been a way to attract members of the opposite sex (you forgot that males have long hair too).\n\nEvolution is not that quick to say that we are from apes, apes and us are from the same tree jsut as we are from the same evolutionary tree as all other mammals.  we just broke off from others at different times in the history of the earth.