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Red Hair distribution across Europe (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 6 days ago by bestboyfriendintheworld@sh.itjust.works to c/map_enthusiasts@sopuli.xyz
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Map showing frequency of red hair across Europe. Five color-coded ranges: red (over 10%) concentrated in Ireland and Scotland, orange (5-9%) in parts of UK and northern Europe, brown (2-4%) in Scandinavia and Germany, darker brown (1-2%) in central Europe, and darkest brown (under 1%) in southern Europe. Shows clear north-south gradient with highest concentrations in Celtic regions.

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[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 27 points 6 days ago

Thanks, this helps me with my travel plans

[-] blarghly@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago

😏

[-] CanadaPlus@futurology.today 1 points 4 days ago

You going rainy and depressing, or Russia?

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

I live in Seattle, so Russia is worse

[-] blarghly@lemmy.world 18 points 6 days ago

Okay, questions:

  • Why is Ireland split like that?
  • What's up with the hot spot on Russia?
  • Whats going on with all the light blue splotches? That color isn't on the legend, and it seems oddly specific for "no data"
[-] bestboyfriendintheworld@sh.itjust.works 27 points 6 days ago

The light blue splotches are lakes.

[-] blarghly@lemmy.world 21 points 6 days ago

That makes more sense. But not as much sense as making them the same color as the ocean.

[-] hitmyspot@aussie.zone 9 points 6 days ago

Looks like radius from Belfast and Dublin, the big cities, which had more immigration from the uk. However, that doesn’t explain north versus south which should skew differently if that was the case.

[-] Skua@kbin.earth 9 points 6 days ago

The southern part is Cork, the second biggest city in the republic. Dublin and Cork are where Norse and then British settlement was most concentrated over time as well

[-] adoxographer@feddit.dk 5 points 5 days ago

Maps without sources are like blondes with dyed red hair.

[-] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 days ago

Okay, plz explain. We all want to know.

[-] bestboyfriendintheworld@sh.itjust.works 12 points 6 days ago

Probably related to dark winters, cloudy weather, low melanin levels, and genetic isolation on islands.

I’m just guessing the following:

Trade and shipping from the British isles across the North Sea to the Baltics also moved people along those routes.

The red center in Russia might be due to Viking settlement and establishment of Rus.

Blond and blue eyes have a high distribution around the Baltic Sea mostly due to similar reasons.

[-] CanadaPlus@futurology.today 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

That's nowhere near Rus (if the Viking thing even happened). It's a particular Finnic population.

[-] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 5 days ago

I mean why is there this spot in russia :-)

[-] BenM2023@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

Because the Vikings settled and formed The Russians around Ukraine, from where they spread and eventually formed Russia.

[-] CanadaPlus@futurology.today 1 points 4 days ago

That's closer to Khazakhstan.

[-] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 days ago

But what about that red head spot?

There must be some (maybe forgotten) wild story about it

[-] Skua@kbin.earth 3 points 5 days ago

I think that's Udmurtia. Udmurts are an Ugric minority people within Russia, and they've got a really high incidence of red hair

[-] CanadaPlus@futurology.today 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Somebody with red hair had a lot of children there right before the population suddenly grew. Or maybe was one of the survivors when it regrew after a national disaster. The founder effect, in other words.

Other people are talking about selection. The numbers are in, that accounts for maybe 5% of genetic change over the last 10,000 years. The rest is just chaos.

this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2026
99 points (98.1% liked)

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