# People of different nations and their looks **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982 "2004-10-19T05:49:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/1 "2004-10-19T05:49:37Z")
I read a thread by mangeorge a while back there where he asked about the two different types of Englishmen, and asked a few questions about what types were prevalent in England. But I find that there are defenitley features that are common among different people in different countried. Obviously racial features (however you want to define the word “race” which is pretty amorphous if you ask me) vary from place to place and in different places, people look different. By the way, all the generalizations that follow are completely based on my casual observation, but I wanna know if anyone else here notices these things too. But what I notice, are some simlarities. Lets look at the English, first. There is the Phil Collins type, as Mangeorge mentioned. I think of particular features that normally make me think that someone is English. Lets look at tony blair. He seems to have a typical set of English features. Look at his eyes. If you look at his upper eyelids, he has the thing where you can’t see the upper lids when his eyes are open looking straight ahead. This is a typical thing, I think with a lot of english folk. Look at Grahame Norton. He has this sort of look too with the arched eyebrows. They seem to have more round or squared off looking heads. [Tony Blair](http://pub.tv2.no/multimedia/na/archive/00132/Tony_Blair_270104_132530c.jpg) The Germans, on the other hand tend to have another set of features. Think [Oliver Kahn](http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/95175.jpg) . He’s defenitely my vote for the typical German look. He’s got the big brow and also deeply set eyes. Its a little harder to distinguish between Germans and English, because I think they have similar features, but it seems that Germans have a more robust look to their faces. Gerhard Schroeder also has the arched eyebrows like Blair, but also has a more compact face. It seems like Germans tend to have smaller eyes. If you look at the French, they have their own look too. It seems to me like they have a typical french nose, with somewhat larger eyes. Typical Italians, to me, tend to have the eyes where you can see their eyelids when they are open, and have the larger nose, and obviously more curly hair, etc. When I think of the US, we are pretty much racially integrated, but I think there are areas that are more homogeneous. If you look at the American South, I think that the white people there have had little recent influx of genes from foreign places. What is cool to me is if you go to New Orleans, is that you see that the local people from New Orleans tend to have a sort of look that represents that huge mix of Spanish, French, Indian, and slave that makes it much more varied. Obviously there are plain old white-folk that probably had less diversity in their background. So yeah, I think this is kind of a weird thread, but I’ve always noticed these differences. Maybe its because I have this predisposed notion of what people look like and only think about it when my ideas are confirmed. That is certainly true, but I think there is also something about these differences that make it special, and make the world a cooler place because of it. I guess what I’m trying to say that if you are going to make distinctions based on race, and race is just as subjective as the groups you are comparing, that you can certainly make distinctions based on any narrow group that you want, in this case, caucasian westerners. What’s the point of all of this? I dunno, really. I just like being able to notice any kind of diversity that is out there. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/2 "2004-10-19T07:13:16Z")
Oliver Kahn’s German? Looks like a Cro-Magnon to me. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/3 "2004-10-19T07:15:49Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Oliver Kahn’s German? Looks like a Cro-Magnon to me. Huh? That’s what he said. German. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/4 "2004-10-19T07:57:23Z")
I knew someone who swore all Americans had big foreheads. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/5 "2004-10-19T16:51:24Z")
Hehe, Oliver does look a little cro-magnon, doesn’t he? But I think its a little more difficult with Americans, as we’ve had a lot more mixing going on than most European countries. One person once told me that Americans have big teeth and big mouths. I thought that was funny. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/6 "2004-10-19T17:39:31Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > Look at Grahame Norton. He has this sort of look too with the arched eyebrows. Graham Norton is Irish. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/7 "2004-10-19T17:39:49Z")
> [@cazzle](#): > > I knew someone who swore all Americans had big foreheads. 😕 I have a big forehead, but I think that has more to do with my receding hairline than anything. The stereotypical Irish look seems to be high cheekbones with sort of a turned-up nose. In the director’s commentary on the Platoon DVD, Oliver Stone mentions that [Kevin Dillon](http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorsD/P00004666.HTML) has strong Irish features. I think [url=“[http://belleofsavannah.tripod.com/](http://belleofsavannah.tripod.com/)”]Dean Winters, who plays an Irish guy in Oz, is also well suited to the role, features-wise. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/8 "2004-10-19T17:40:56Z")
[Dean Winters](http://belleofsavannah.tripod.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/9 "2004-10-19T17:46:31Z")
[Irish caricatures from the 1800s.](http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/imageapp.php?Major=IM&Minor=F&SlideNum=15.00) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/10 "2004-10-19T18:44:43Z")
[The Definitive Guide](http://www.nationallampoon.com/nl/02_fb/foreigners/02_foreigners.asp) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/11 "2004-10-19T19:29:05Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > If you look at the French, they have their own look too. It seems to me like they have a typical french nose, with somewhat larger eyes. > > Typical Italians, to me, tend to have the eyes where you can see their eyelids when they are open, and have the larger nose, and obviously more curly hair, etc. I have noticed that different nations (or regions of nations) have a “signature” set of physical (usually facial) features that is fairly common among their denizens. The “French” look you describe strikes me as common in southern France – big brown eyes with a prominent nose that is either long and straight or slightly aquiline. This seems to be related to an overall Mediterranean look that’s also found in eastern Spain (cf Pablo Picasso), southern Italy (cf Al Pacino), and the former Yugoslavian republics (cf Goran Visnic). This is also a look common in Roman frescoes. This set of features has even been exported to Argentina, where the genetic influence of the Native American population has yielded a set of features that strikes me as “Argentinian”. The Italian features **Merkwurdigliebe** are in line with my perceptions of northern Italians (cf Mario Andretti and Sofia Loren). I also see very rough distinctions in the way some Scandinavians look (squarish faces, eyes trending to almond-shaped). Eastern Europeans and Russians show commonalities as well, but it’s harder for me to put my finger on them. You know where this kind of things seems most apparent? When watching an international event like the Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/12 "2004-10-19T20:53:27Z")
Wow, I’m glad nobody has attempted to brand me with being some sort of racial scientist. I remeber the Mangeorge thread where he asked if there were two types of Englishmen. He took a beating for that. The way I see it is like this… Homo Sapiens really can’t be classified into races with any defenite boundaries, but there are certainly traits that can be defined on the global scale. Natives of sub-saharan Africa are black, Europeans are white, etc. If you then focus on a smaller group inside the whole (eg, caucasians, or whites (again not a fixed group, but you can make an arbitrary one for a new frame of reference)) you can spot even more subtle differences. Obviously there is mixing within any groups you could define inside this subset “white” but there are generalities that one can make to make distinctions. I noticed that Danish people seem to look very homogeneous. Its truely amazing to see the number of people with Blonde hair in Denmark. If I have my history correct, its a lot different than say, the Netherlands, as they have had a long history of being a destination for many groups of people from around the world. Of course, to me Dutch people tend to have a distinctive look too. But what about the Scandinavian countries? What evidence is there of different groups coming in and mixing in? I know there was a lot of viking activity, but that would have been inside Scandinavia, correct? Take the English example. They had a long history of invasion. You have so many identifiable groups that have invaded (from different places) that you could understand more variation inside the populace. What do people think about that? Do you notice a population that is more or less homogeneous. I would nominate America as one of the least homogeneous because we have always had diversity, up until this day. What are the most homogeneous? I have already mentioned Scandinavian countries. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/13 "2004-10-19T22:46:27Z")
I like to think I can usually spot a white American walking on the streets of Sydney before they open their mouth. It can’t really be racial at all given the fact that Australians and Americans only diverged from common stock a few centuries ago (although there is a bigger Eastern European and Jewish influence on you guys). I think it is a collection of minor clues that does it. The most notable one would be that Americans have better skin. There’s a radiant babyish glow about their skin which is a result of not spending decades squinting into bright sunlight as Australians do. Then again, this doesn’t explain why I can pick them as Americans and not British etc. The cut of the clothes seems to have something to do with it too, but I can’t quite put my finger on that. As for the British, I agree that Blair seems “typical” to me. My quintessential German would have to be Boris Becker. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/14 "2004-10-20T03:05:25Z")
Wrong about Sofia Loren being northern Italian. She is from Naples. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/15 "2004-10-20T03:31:31Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > What are the most homogeneous? I have already mentioned Scandinavian countries. Japanese? ---
**Author:** ![Daftbugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Daftbugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daftbugger)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/16 "2004-10-20T09:42:48Z")
I think this thread is interesting. On my MSc course, it was mostly Chinese and Malayasian students. Oddly they’d talk to me, but not any of the other English students as they thought I wasn’t English! I don’t think I could look more English, personally (OK, OK [Pic](http://www.manchesterjitsu.org/galleryPhotos/gallery30/PICT0027.jpg) ) They said it was because I had light coloured eyes or something. On the other hand, my friend said that all Canadian men have really long bodies and little short legs! ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/17 "2004-10-20T11:03:57Z")
Here’s a link ([http://www.nordish.com/](http://www.nordish.com/))I stumbled across once, which presumably depicts different visual characteristics of European and especially Nordic races. Don’t blame me if it’s Nazi propaganda (though they claim not) or something I’ve only just looked at the pictures, which include many pretty actresses. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/18 "2004-10-20T13:21:23Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > Japanese? Well, I have spent some time in Japan, and other than the hair (almost every Japanese person I met had straight, black hair, not counting artificial alterations like that orangish dye that a lot of people over there seem to use - what is that stuff called anyways?) there was quite a bit of variety in skin shade, nose shape, eye-distance, and other features. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/19 "2004-10-20T13:36:41Z")
There is a very specific Slavic look. There are many Russian immigrants here in Chicago and I can often tell their nationality before I can verify for certain (ie, if I can sneak a peek at the magazine someone is reading to see what language it’s written in). Vladimir Putin has it. It has something to do with high cheekbones, but after that it’s hard to pin down. ---
**Author:** ![Daftbugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Daftbugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daftbugger)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982/20 "2004-10-20T13:56:40Z")
> [@RandomLetters](#): > > Well, I have spent some time in Japan, and other than the hair (almost every Japanese person I met had straight, black hair, not counting artificial alterations like that orangish dye that a lot of people over there seem to use - what is that stuff called anyways?) there was quite a bit of variety in skin shade, nose shape, eye-distance, and other features. It’s called bleach! If you try to bleach really black hair it goes orange. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-of-different-nations-and-their-looks/269982.md?page=2)