Which of the following human races inhabits in China, Mongolia and Japan?

Geography ·Previously asked in BPSC CCE 2024

View the full solved paper: GS 2024 (Series G)

Question

Which of the following human races inhabits in China, Mongolia and Japan?

  1. A. Australoid
  2. B. Negro
  3. C. Mongoloid (Correct answer)
  4. D. Nordic

Correct Answer

Option C — Mongoloid

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Mongoloid.

Key Points

  • The Mongoloid race is the human racial group that predominantly inhabits China, Mongolia and Japan, as well as much of East and Southeast Asia.
  • Typical physical features associated with this group include a yellowish-brown skin tone, straight black hair, a broad flat face and an epicanthic fold of the eyelid.
  • The other groups belong to different regions: the Australoid race is associated with the aboriginal peoples of Australia and parts of South India; the Negroid race with Sub-Saharan Africa; and the Nordic (a Caucasoid sub-type) with Northern Europe (Scandinavia).
  • Since the question refers to the peoples of China, Mongolia and Japan, the Mongoloid race is the correct answer.

Additional Information

  • The three classical racial divisions — Mongoloid, Caucasoid and Negroid — are a nineteenth-century anthropological scheme now regarded as scientifically obsolete, though exams still test the terminology.
  • In India, Mongoloid features are associated with the north-eastern states and the Himalayan belt.
  • Modern genetics finds more variation within these groups than between them, which is why the classification has been abandoned in research.