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Concept
Red hair
Summary
Red hair, also known as orange hair or ginger hair, is a human hair color found in 1–2% of the world population, appearing with greater frequency (2–6%) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations. It is most common in individuals homozygous for a recessive allele on chromosome 16 that produces an altered version of the MC1R protein.
Red hair varies in hue from a deep burgundy or bright copper, or auburn, to burnt orange or red-orange to strawberry blond. Characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin, it is typically associated with fair skin color, lighter eye color, freckles, and sensitivity to ultraviolet light.
Cultural reactions to red hair have been varied. The term "redhead" has been in use since at least 1510.
Red hair is most commonly found at the northern and western fringes of Europe; it is centred around populations in the British Isles and is particularly associated with the Celtic nations.
Ireland has the highest number of red-haired people per capita in the world, with the percentage of those with red hair at around 10%.
Great Britain also has a high percentage of people with red hair. In Scotland, around 6% of the population has red hair, with the highest concentration of red head carriers in the world found in Edinburgh, making it the red head capital of the world. In 1907, the largest ever study of hair colour in Scotland, which analysed over 500,000 people, found the percentage of Scots with red hair to be 5.3%. A 1956 study of hair colour among British Army recruits also found high levels of red hair in Wales and in the Scottish border counties of England.
Byzantine writers, Jordanes and Procopius described the early Slavic peoples as having ruddy hair and skin tone. Later by the 10th century, Southern Slavic populations would have darker hair and skin tone, as the Slavs assimilated the indigenous inhabitants of the Balkans, including Greek and Illyrian peoples.
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