Kosovar Albanian height among tallest in Europe and the world

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A study conducted on Kosovar Albanians by Croatian and Montenigrin researchers

This study aimed to test average body heights in both the male and females of Kosovo, as well as the differences in heights of both sexes in relation to the Kosovo administrative regions. A total of 1623 subjects participated in the research: 830 boys and 793 girls all attending their final year of secondary school. The anthropometric measurements were taken for subjects of both sexes from five diff erent administrative regions of Kosovo. The measurements of body heights were taken by trained measurers in conformity with the ISAK protocol. Means and standard deviations were calculated for ages and body heights, as were frequencies for the calculation of the density of very short and very tall subjects. The results indicated that the average height of the male population of Kosovo was 179.52±5.96 centimetres and of the female population 165.72±4.93 centimetres. These results classify both the male and female populations of Kosovo among the tallest in the world. Regarding the regional differences, some variations have been observed, and the differences in body heights among specific regions clearly confirm the assumption that the population living in the Dinaric Alps is taller in relation to the rest of the population, while the specific average height of the central region, where the capital city is located, reflects the expected situation conditioned by continuous migrations from all other parts of Kosovo, as well as the fact that there is a growing secular trend towards the territory of the capital city, due to better economic and living conditions.



Height for males

Descriptive-statistics-among-male-subjects.png



Females


Descriptive-statistics-among-female-subjects.png




https://www.researchgate.net/public...al_Differences_in_Adult_Body_Height_in_Kosovo

http://www.mjssm.me/clanci/MJSSM_March_2019_Masanovic_69-76.pdf
 
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EDIT: The Study mentioned they didn't test certain areas as they were unavailable.
 
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Th is research contributes to an update on adult human heights among subjects of both sexes in Kosovo,both globally and partially per administrative regions. Th e contribution is evident due to the lack of relevantdata from previous research in this area, and the fact that a global study carried out by NCD Risk FactorCollaboration (2016) failed to include in its analyses the trend of changes in body height of the populationof Kosovo. Consequently, the aforementioned study excluded Kosovans as well as a few other countries fromthis research, which analysed 1472 populations in 200 countries and comprised more than 18.6 million participants.Th e results of this research study classify both males and females from Kosovo in a group of tall, but not the tallest nations in the world. The Kosovo males, with an average height of 179.52 centimetres, are not classified among the ten tallest nations in the world, but they are quite close to making the first ten due to a positive influence of the secular trend. If we classify the population living in the Dinaric Alps, the Kosovan males would be shorter than the 183.8 centimetres of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian male population (Gardasevic,Rasidagic, Krivokapic, Corluka, & Bjelica, 2017), the 183.36 centimetres of the Montenegrin male population (Popovic, 2017), the 182 centimetres of Serbian males (Popovic et al., 2013), the 180.5 centimetres of Croatian males (Juresa et al., 2012), or the 180.3 centimetres of Slovenian males (Starc & Strel, 2011). However, if we compare the average body height of males from Kosovo with the body heights of other nations, first of all with those in the region and wider, we observe interesting facts such as that the Kosovo male population is taller than the 178.1 centimetres of the Macedonian male population (Popovic, Bjelica, Georgijev, Krivokapic, &Milasinovic 2016), the 174 centimetres of Albanian males (Grasgrube, Cacek, Kalina, & Seberaet, 2014), the 178.8 centimetres of Austrian males (Hatton & Bray, 2010), the 177 centimetres of French males (Heroin,2003), or the 178.1 centimetres of Greek males (Papadimitriou et al., 2008). In contrast, the Kosovo female population, whose average height is 165.72 centimetres, is also one of the tallest nations in the world. If we classify the population living in the Dinaric Alps, the Kosovo female population is shorter than the 171.8 centimetres of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian females (Popovic et al., 2015), the 168.3 centimetres of the Montenegrin (Bjelica et al., 2012), the 167.4 centimetres of the Slovenians (Starc &Strel, 2011), the 166.8 centimetres of the Serbians (Popovic et al., 2013), or the 166.5 centimetres of the Croats(Juresa et al., 2012). Also, as in the case of the male populations, if we compare the average height of the Kosovo females with the average height of the other nations in the region and beyond, the results are intriguing. The female Kosovo population is taller than the 164.58 centimetres of the Macedonian females (Popovicet al., 2016), the 161.08 centimetres of Albanian females (Grasgrube et al., 2014), the 164.6 centimetres of French females (Herpin, 2003), the 162.5 centimetres of Italian females (Grasgrube et al., 2014), the 165.1centimetres of Polish females (Kulaga et al., 2011), or the 161.9 of Turkish females (Iseri & Arslan, 2009).Data on both male and female populations of Kosovo clearly confi rm its specifi c heights and the importanceof answering the question related to the extremely high values of average body heights of populations livingin the area of the Dinaric Alps, as well as the diff erences among the populations belonging to the same ethnicgroup living in Kosovo and Albania.It is the conclusion of the authors of the current research that the average body height of both gender-basedgroups from Kosovo in this study does not represent the maximum potential that might be reached by the population of Kosovo. Specifically, subjects from this study were boys and girls born in 1998. Th is year is intriguing as many inhabitants from the neighbouring countries might remember, but to remind those living inother parts of Europe or the world, at the end of the 20th century the children born in 1998 were growing upin a period of war and great crises which led to poor socio-economic conditions, which were refl ected in th equality of life, and consequently also human body height (Popovic, 2018). Based on this, it can be concluded that the population of Kosovo still has not reached its maximum genetic potential, and the secular trend hasyet to be completed. In addition, it is realistic to expect that the coming generations will reach a height that will place them among the world’s tallest nations. Th us, the new generations will face a whole range of questions regarding the value of body height, all earlier discussed in detail.Th e average body height of an overall population is interesting when comparing nations. However, this studycarries another, rather more interesting analysis that indicates diff erences among geographic areas of theDinaric Alps and other mountain ranges where, as a rule, the tallest people in the world live.Th e population of the central region is the tallest (180.62 cm), which was unexpected but logical. Th e authorsof this study did not expect to fi nd the tallest subjects in the central region, as it is not situated in the DinaricAlps, which is most probably due to migrations from other parts of Kosovo towards the capital city in recentdecades, since the capital city off ered better economic and living conditions. Still, more attention should bepaid to better living conditions than to migrations, as there is no available data. However, it can be assumedthat people migrated from both Dinaric and other regions, so these results are explained by the secular trendin the central region where Pristina, the capital city of Kosovo, is situated. Th erefore, the capital city should beomitted from future analysis due to the previously mentioned facts, which are interfering with the hypothesesof this study. On the second, third and fourth places are, from the tallest to the shortest people, the northern(180.29 cm), western (179.89 cm) and southern region (179.15 cm), all positioned in the Dinaric Alps, whichconforms with the assumptions made by the authors. Th is represents evidence that the inhabitants from theDinaric Alps belong to an extremely tall population as far as the average height is concerned. However, it
 
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It could be the food consumption a factor as well. Kosovo's per capita income Is still low, so this influences the kinds of food they could afford to buy. So I would expect as economy of Kosovo improves, the Hight of its population to grow by at least 1 cm.
There is another factor in populations height: The body proportions. South Albania where I am from has in average people with shorter legs compared to upper body. This creates athletic disadvantages, but it does have other functional advantages as well. I would say functional organs of Sothern Albanians should be larger since they have more room to accommodate them, so physically Southern Albanians are generally strong. In general very tall people have very long legs, and shorter upper buddy. I still think the body proportions of southern Albanians are more beneficial, for the practical life
 
It could be the food consumption a factor as well. Kosovo's per capita income Is still low, so this influences the kinds of food they could afford to buy. So I would expect as economy of Kosovo improves, the Hight of its population to grow by at least 1 cm.
There is another factor in populations height: The body proportions. South Albania where I am from has in average people with shorter legs compared to upper body. This creates athletic disadvantages, but it does have other functional advantages as well. I would say functional organs of Sothern Albanians should be larger since they have more room to accommodate them, so physically Southern Albanians are generally strong. In general very tall people have very long legs, and shorter upper buddy. I still think the body proportions of southern Albanians are more beneficial, for the practical life

Yeah, I have long legs and long arms and short trunk/upper body. But it depends on what type of tall people. Some tall people are really tall and heavy built especially Borreby types found in Montenegro and among some Ghegs and also Northern Europe/Central Europe but a lot of Ghegs are rather lean and tall. But there are also stocky types.

There are advantages and disadvantages to everything.

These studies claim taller people are more successful etc but I don't necessarily believe that to be true.

They claim it has an advantage in sports also. Maybe it has an advantage in basketball, football and running but I am not sure about weightlifting. In MMA and Boxing one would have a reach advantage. In general life, maybe picking things that are high.

A taller person could also be able to add more mass but I don't think height in general plays a role in strength as many shorter people are strong.

I met a Southern Albanian guy, he wasn't short nor tall. Normal height and was really strong.

I heard some regions of Southern Albania should be tall too. But I don't know. I haven't looked at studies in Albania but there should be done regional breakdowns to see the differences between regions. Much more height studies should be done because even there people haven't reached their potential and have been malnourished before.


Interesting Y-DNA btw.
 
Yeah, I have long legs and long arms and short trunk/upper body. But it depends on what type of tall people. Some tall people are really tall and heavy built especially Borreby types found in Montenegro and among some Ghegs and also Northern Europe/Central Europe but a lot of Ghegs are rather lean and tall. But there are also stocky types.

There are advantages and disadvantages to everything.

These studies claim taller people are more successful etc but I don't necessarily believe that to be true.

They claim it has an advantage in sports also. Maybe it has an advantage in basketball, football and running but I am not sure about weightlifting. In MMA and Boxing one would have a reach advantage. In general life, maybe picking things that are high.

A taller person could also be able to add more mass but I don't think height in general plays a role in strength as many shorter people are strong.

I met a Southern Albanian guy, he wasn't short nor tall. Normal height and was really strong.

I heard some regions of Southern Albania should be tall too. But I don't know. I haven't looked at studies in Albania but there should be done regional breakdowns to see the differences between regions. Much more height studies should be done because even there people haven't reached their potential and have been malnourished before.


Interesting Y-DNA btw.
My Y DNA shows that from my male side very likely I am a descendant of a either a Goth or a Viking. My other matches are all in North. Another individual with this haplogroup appears in Dibra (Macedonia) with the last name Cani. My male side originates in Struga region but moved in south around 1800.
 
My Y DNA shows that from my male side very likely I am a descendant of a either a Goth or a Viking. My other matches are all in North. Another individual with this haplogroup appears in Dibra (Macedonia) with the last name Cani. My male side originates in Struga region but moved in south around 1800.

Aha. I thought it might be related to some of those ancient samples found in the Balkans.

Anyway, some of the shortest countries in Europe also live the longest and have least rates of cancer like Spain, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus etc Greece is also good on the longevity part.

North European countries are tall and live long but they have high rates of cancer.

Some South Slavic West Balkan countries , despite being tall, have high rates of cancer and their longevity isn't one of the highest in Europe. (Serbia, Montenegro etc)

Japan also short, but has one of the highest life expectancy in the world.
 
I would see this as a situation where: the shortrer guy with his more compact body as a consequence has even better health but has to giveup on some benefits that a taller body could provide him with, on the other hand being taller might give you some instability/exposure from your health point of view but gives you better physical abilities in certain fields, there are pros and cons in both scenarios;
me myself I am 1.86m tall, with my father from Divjake (near lushnje) being 1.70m and my mother from berat being 1.57m, idk what to say about it.
My uncle (father's brother) is 1.90m and very robust, would actually pass as jugoslav, me too.
+ not related to height i have noticed lots of baltic phenotypes in south albania compared to northern areas/jugoslavia where noric/light dinaric go for the major, at first i suggested MAYBE some bulgarian influnce thinking that the south who knows when and who knows how was once settled by slavs in the middle ages, backed by typical bulgar -ec ending settlements such as: zharnec, pogradec, poloska, etc.
but genetics suggests that the slavic influences in the area got to be attributed to jugoslavs rather than bulgars: higher I2b haplo concentrations out of ex jugoslavia area than anywhere else, whereas bulgarians/makedoniana score higher on R1a, and the place names that for the majority are jugo: Divjake, Voskopoje, Velipoje, zagorje, trebeshina, spolat, kuçove, etc...

Tell me what you think about the topic, and if we should open a thread about it.
 
genetics suggests that the slavic influences in the area got to be attributed to jugoslavs rather than bulgars
It still a bit early to draw conclusions on this, but, so far, Y-DNA results actually indicate that the Slavic portion if ancestry in Tosks arrived mainly from Bulgaria and Macedonia, not Yugoslavia. Historical data is in agreement with this.
 
It still a bit early to draw conclusions on this, but, so far, Y-DNA results actually indicate that the Slavic portion if ancestry in Tosks arrived mainly from Bulgaria and Macedonia, not Yugoslavia. Historical data is in agreement with this.

On the historical side i got to give you all the reasons of the world because it's true, the bulgarian empire once conquered those lands, and on the phenotype side of things this would justify the more baltic types rather than noric, in blond/pale skinned people, being that bulgarians came from modern day ukrain and were mostly genetically from there.
+ the people here are not so tall like yugos, but they are not too short either, i would say that looking by eye they are around the 1.76m but due to malnutrition in the communist regime, with better nutrinition now, given that we are a heavily agricultural area, we will get back on the 1.80m hopefully, but don't see how we could push higher than that.
But how do you explain the heavy I2 given that bulgarians are mostly R1a, at least in myzeqeja & skrapar + north laberia.
 
I would see this as a situation where: the shortrer guy with his more compact body as a consequence has even better health but has to giveup on some benefits that a taller body could provide him with, on the other hand being taller might give you some instability/exposure from your health point of view but gives you better physical abilities in certain fields, there are pros and cons in both scenarios;
me myself I am 1.86m tall, with my father from Divjake (near lushnje) being 1.70m and my mother from berat being 1.57m, idk what to say about it.
My uncle (father's brother) is 1.90m and very robust, would actually pass as jugoslav, me too.
+ not related to height i have noticed lots of baltic phenotypes in south albania compared to northern areas/jugoslavia where noric/light dinaric go for the major, at first i suggested MAYBE some bulgarian influnce thinking that the south who knows when and who knows how was once settled by slavs in the middle ages, backed by typical bulgar -ec ending settlements such as: zharnec, pogradec, poloska, etc.
but genetics suggests that the slavic influences in the area got to be attributed to jugoslavs rather than bulgars: higher I2b haplo concentrations out of ex jugoslavia area than anywhere else, whereas bulgarians/makedoniana score higher on R1a, and the place names that for the majority are jugo: Divjake, Voskopoje, Velipoje, zagorje, trebeshina, spolat, kuçove, etc...

Tell me what you think about the topic, and if we should open a thread about it.

Do you remember when Moisiu was president, a journalist from England who visited Tirana, wrote an article saying that Albanian males have short, curbed legs? He was saying a lot of things and I remembered many protested his writing's as biased, racist etc.. Moisiu included. He also was saying that Albanians are a lot more fair than English think. Now I have started to think that his article was not without merit. If the cradle has anything to do with it, who knows?. I tried hard to find the article but its not on the internet. Shortage in south is genetic I think, has nothing to do with food. I have seen third generation Albanian American and was like us born in the country, in the short side.
 
Aha. I thought it might be related to some of those ancient samples found in the Balkans.

Anyway, some of the shortest countries in Europe also live the longest and have least rates of cancer like Spain, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus etc Greece is also good on the longevity part.

North European countries are tall and live long but they have high rates of cancer.

Some South Slavic West Balkan countries , despite being tall, have high rates of cancer and their longevity isn't one of the highest in Europe. (Serbia, Montenegro etc)

Japan also short, but has one of the highest life expectancy in the world.

The Balkan clade of I2A2 is L 701. 95% of Albanians belonging to I2a2 are L701. Also this haplogroup ( L 701)is present in Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, which shows Balkan origin. L 801 where I belong to is present in Germany, England, Ireland, Scandinavia. Tall people from North have long legs, mostly. Normal people( average height) from North are proportional, and to my view they are most beautiful people to watch(physically) .Tall people with short upper body look like they have their buts in their shoulders. Japanese are getting taller with the new eating diet. But Albanians ( south) have always had a dairy diet so don't expect much.
 
But how do you explain the heavy I2 given that bulgarians are mostly R1a, at least in myzeqeja & skrapar + north laberia.

First of all, your info is wrong. I don't understand: you have been here for about a year and you still throw made up statements about statistics. All you need is Google and 3-4 clicks to get this.

According to Eupedia:
Croatia has 37% I2a1 and 24% R1a. The ratio is 37/24=1.54
Bosnia & Hercegovina has 50.5% I2a1 and 18% R1a. The ratio is 37/24=2.80
Montenegro has 29% I2a1 and 9.5% R1a. The ratio is 37/24=3.05
Serbia has 34% I2a1 and 18% R1a. The ratio is 34/18=1.89
Macedonia has 23% I2a1 and 12.5% R1a. The ratio is 37/24=1.84
Bulgaria has 20% I2a1 and 17% R1a. The ratio is 20/17=1.18

According to the Albanian DNA project, Tosks have 10.6% I2a1 and 8.9% R1a. The ratio is 10.6/8.9=1.19


Much more important than these broad statistics are the more specific branches of I2a1 and R1a, as both haplogroups have diverse histories of migration within them. So far, it seems Tosk Albanians have a ratio of I-DinNorth/I-DinSouth which is closer to Bulgaria than to ex-Yugoslavia. It also seems that I-Z17855 will be more prominent in South Albanian I-CTS10288 than in Yugoslavian one. It is also possible a significant portion of it will be I-Y18331. These possibilities require verification through deeper tests of Tosks, so this question is not settled yet.

And to relate to the topic: I do see any relation between Y-DNA and height in Albanians.
 
Do you remember when Moisiu was president, a journalist from England who visited Tirana, wrote an article saying that Albanian males have short, curbed legs? He was saying a lot of things and I remembered many protested his writing's as biased, racist etc.. Moisiu included. He also was saying that Albanians are a lot more fair than English think. Now I have started to think that his article was not without merit. If the cradle has anything to do with it, who knows?. I tried hard to find the article but its not on the internet. Shortage in south is genetic I think, has nothing to do with food. I have seen third generation Albanian American and was like us born in the country, in the short side.

I remember about Moisiu, not much about the journalist doh
 
First of all, your info is wrong. I don't understand: you have been here for about a year and you still throw made up statements about statistics. All you need is Google and 3-4 clicks to get this.

According to Eupedia:
Croatia has 37% I2a1 and 24% R1a. The ratio is 37/24=1.54
Bosnia & Hercegovina has 50.5% I2a1 and 18% R1a. The ratio is 37/24=2.80
Montenegro has 29% I2a1 and 9.5% R1a. The ratio is 37/24=3.05
Serbia has 34% I2a1 and 18% R1a. The ratio is 34/18=1.89
Macedonia has 23% I2a1 and 12.5% R1a. The ratio is 37/24=1.84
Bulgaria has 20% I2a1 and 17% R1a. The ratio is 20/17=1.18

According to the Albanian DNA project, Tosks have 10.6% I2a1 and 8.9% R1a. The ratio is 10.6/8.9=1.19


Much more important than these broad statistics are the more specific branches of I2a1 and R1a, as both haplogroups have diverse histories of migration within them. So far, it seems Tosk Albanians have a ratio of I-DinNorth/I-DinSouth which is closer to Bulgaria than to ex-Yugoslavia. It also seems that I-Z17855 will be more prominent in South Albanian I-CTS10288 than in Yugoslavian one. It is also possible a significant portion of it will be I-Y18331. These possibilities require verification through deeper tests of Tosks, so this question is not settled yet.

And to relate to the topic: I do see any relation between Y-DNA and height in Albanians.

sorry i was still using the old data about it, didn't see this picture before, but interesting.
Far more interesting is to define all the possible branches that there are within us; problem is that from the albanians interested in genetics there ain't much interest about clades that don't fit the TRINITY of R1b J2b E-V13.
but can you tell me: what are the major theories about the balkan I2 clade, not the dinaric one? And what clade of R1a do we (in the south) have?

[Edit] what i mean by non dinaric I2 is the other clade that was around 2% among albanians in general.
 
The Balkan clade of I2A2 is L 701. 95% of Albanians belonging to I2a2 are L701. Also this haplogroup ( L 701)is present in Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, which shows Balkan origin. L 801 where I belong to is present in Germany, England, Ireland, Scandinavia. Tall people from North have long legs, mostly. Normal people( average height) from North are proportional, and to my view they are most beautiful people to watch(physically) .Tall people with short upper body look like they have their buts in their shoulders. Japanese are getting taller with the new eating diet. But Albanians ( south) have always had a dairy diet so don't expect much.

At the end what do the experts say? I2b-din is balkan like Maciamo said simce the begin or it is slavic?
I mean, Outside of the balkans i don't see any heavy I2b concentration among slavs in general, both western and eastern slavs.
And what origin does the R1a among albanians have? slavic or maybe some paleo-balkan/thracian?
 
At the end what do the experts say? I2b-din is balkan like Maciamo said simce the begin or it is slavic?
I mean, Outside of the balkans i don't see any heavy I2b concentration among slavs in general, both western and eastern slavs.
And what origin does the R1a among albanians have? slavic or maybe some paleo-balkan/thracian?
I2a1b-Din & certain R1a clades are equally Slavic and contributed just as much to the Slavic ethnogenesis. Their modern distribution is simply due to bottlenecks and founder effects. You should know this info already, since you've been here more than a year.

Haplogroup has nothing to do with height. It's more about diet.

Croatian males were 165cm on average in the 1880s, they were some of the shortest people in Europe back then:

qsTRlRo.png
 
problem is that from the albanians interested in genetics there ain't much interest about clades that don't fit the TRINITY of R1b J2b E-V13.

This trinity thing is a dumb idea that only one person has/had. Whoever self-identifies as Albanian and inherited the language is Albanian. Please stop mentioning this insanely stupid stuff that no one supports.

but can you tell me: what are the major theories about the balkan I2 clade, not the dinaric one?

You need to be more specific. Which branch of I2 are you talking about? Try to focus on branches with historical timeline TMRCAs.

And what clade of R1a do we (in the south) have?
Read this: http://www.gjenetika.com/perberja-gjenetike-e-shqiptareve-sipas-linjave-aterore-2019/.
 
I always thought that Kosovar Albanians who live in Kosovo are taller then those who live abroad...


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