Pygmy peoples

Pygmy peoples

Aka Pygmies on the Congo Basin in 2014
Regions with significant populations
Central Africa, Oceania, Southeast Asia

In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a population) for populations in which adult men are on average less than 150 cm (4 ft 11 in) tall.^[1]

Although the term is sometimes considered derogatory because it focuses on a physical trait,^[2][3][4] it remains the primary term associated with the African Pygmies, the hunter-gatherers of the Congo Basin (comprising the Bambenga, Bambuti and Batwa).^[5] The terms "Asiatic pygmies" and "Oceanic pygmies" have also been used to describe the Negrito populations of Southeast Asia and Australo-Melanesian peoples of short stature.^[6] The Taron people of Myanmar are an exceptional case of a pygmy population of East Asian phenotype.