Symptoms of uveitis include burning and redness of the eyes, blurred vision, headaches, etc. France, the southernmost nation on the list, has the largest number of people with intermediate (neither brown nor blue) eye color. Eye color results from the amount of pigment (melanin) you have in the front layer (stroma). An iris with little melanin appears blue, while those with more little melanin appear green or hazel. More than 80 percent of the inhabitants of Estonia and Scandinavian countries have blue eyes. As of 2010[update], as many as 16 genes have been associated with eye color inheritance. One mutation 10,000 years ago has today resulted in almost 200 million pairs of blue eyes, and people with blue eyes have more blue-eyed children. ", "Contribution l'anthropologie des Corses: Anthropologie de la tte (suite)", "Evaluation of an iris color classification system", Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, "Subspecies comparison of the Genus: Corucia", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eye_color&oldid=1140743886. Brown is the most common eye color in the United States, just as it is globally. According to medical science, people with light-colored eyes such as blue, green or grey have a higher risk of eye cancer. "They have all inherited the same switch at exactly the same spot in their DNA.". Having blue eyes has its advantages. [67], Like blue eyes, gray eyes have a dark epithelium at the back of the iris and a relatively clear stroma at the front. Bilirubin thus accumulates in the blood and makes the sclera and skin yellow. [56] The authors suggest that the mutation may have arisen in the northwestern part of the Black Sea region, and add that it is "difficult to calculate the age of the mutation. The brightly colored eyes of many bird species result from the presence of other pigments, such as pteridines, purines, and carotenoids. In theory, blue eyes may have protected a person from acquiring vision disorders caused by these periods. Longer wavelengths of light tend to be absorbed by the dark underlying epithelium, while shorter wavelengths are reflected and undergo Rayleigh scattering in the turbid medium of the stroma. This is because - according to research - redheads are more sensitive to hot and cold pain. Keep that 70-79% global estimate for brown eyes in mind when you look at the numbers below from a study in the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics.. In humans, the pigmentation of the iris varies from light brown to black, depending on the concentration of melanin in the iris pigment epithelium (located on the back of the iris), the melanin content within the iris stroma (located at the front of the iris), and the cellular density of the stroma. [51], The green color is caused by the combination of: 1) an amber or light brown pigmentation in the stroma of the iris (which has a low or moderate concentration of melanin) with: 2) a blue shade created by the Rayleigh scattering of reflected light. Blue eye color is determined by melanin, and melanin is actually brown by nature. Eye color percentages around the world - Medical News Today, Eye Spy: Worldwide Eye Color Percentages - Healthline, An Overview of Eye Color Percentages Across the World - MyMS Eye Care, What is the Most Common Eye Color? [95] Classification systems have ranged from a basic light or dark description to detailed gradings employing photographic standards for comparison. Page published on Wednesday, February 27, 2019. A number of causes are responsible, including genetic, such as chimerism, Horner's syndrome and Waardenburg syndrome. A study in Rotterdam (2009) found that it was possible to predict eye color with more than 90% accuracy for brown and blue using just six SNPs. About 5% of the worlds population have hazel eyes. Green eyes: The most attractive eye color? As of 2010, researchers believe that as many as 16 different genes influence eye color in humans, and most of these genes play a crucial role in the production, transportation, and storage of melanin pigment. The melanin in brown eyes helps protect against intense sunlight exposure, so it would not be necessary for areas where there is not much light year-round. The macula, which is at the retina's center, is susceptible to damage as you age. While ocular melanomas may happen at any age, the risk goes up as you get older. Aesth Plast Surg. The hazel eye color is primarily due to the combination of a decent amount of melanin and Rayleigh scattering. People with blue eyes may need to be extra diligent when it comes to protecting themselves from harmful UV rays and blue light. Researchers believe there is one ancestor responsible for this eye color. Plus, although this cancer is extremely rare, light-eyed folks are also more susceptible to sun damage from exposure to UV rays. A common cause in females with heterochromia is X-inactivation, which can result in a number of heterochromatic traits, such as calico cats. For blue-eyed people, this top layer lacks melanin. Eye color depends on how much of a pigment called melanin lives in the iris of the eye. Speaking scientifically, blue eye color and natural blond hair are cause of recessive genes (actually alleles, which are forms of a gene) combination, as opposed to dominant genes which are characterised by darker eye and hair colors (of course, recessive and dominant genes are not only responsible for eye and hair color, but for other genetic inheritance as well). Summary. [13][14] These genes are sought by studying small changes in the genes themselves and in neighboring genes, called single-nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs. (This same effect makes the sky appear blue.). If you see a dark outline around your iris -- the colored part of your eye -- this is your limbal ring. Although most common eye color in Latvia that ranks 7th on our list oftop countries that have the most blondes and blue eyes as a percentage ofpopulation, is blue and greyish-blue and hair blond, there is also a certain amount of population being grey-eyes and brown haired, whose roots can probably be traced to the ancient Livs, who have later been assimilated. The iris is the colored part of your eye that has multiple layers. Hazel eyes are most common in North Africa, the Middle East, Brazil, and Spain. Less melanin, the eyes are blue. They studied the genes that coded blue eyes in all of these individuals. In other words, it's impossible to know for sure if your children will have blue eyes or any other color. What do the numbers on your eyeglass frames mean? Blue eyes are also found in Central Asia, North Africa, South Asia, West Asia, and Southern Europe. The incidence of blue eyes continues to decline among American children. The website WorldAtlas.com takes a stab at estimating the breakdown of eye colors worldwide. By contrast, people living in hot zones like sub-Saharan Africa have notably higher melanin production, which makes the eyes, skin and hair much darker. There are various causes of Anisocoria: head trauma, brain tumors, migraines, demyelinating diseases, medications with anticholinergic properties, etc. Blue light may also damage your retinas. Hearing Research. The Greek goddess Athene appears with gray eyes (). For years, researchers had searched for it on the OCA2 gene. Diabetes Metab Res Rev. Around 70% to 80% of the people also have blue eyes. If you have a darker iris color, you are at a greater risk of developing this eye disease. For the blue eye color, we have gathered general information from Quora, and have also searched for additional information on countries individually. [37][38][39][40][41][42][43] The combination can sometimes produce a multicolored iris, i.e., an eye that is light brown/amber near the pupil and charcoal or dark green on the outer part of the iris (or vice versa) when observed in sunlight. Bookmark Quiz Bookmark Quiz Bookmark. Genetic research suggests that until about 10,000 years ago, pretty much everyone had brown eyes. That same study suggested an intriguing possibility: Blue-eyed northern Europeans may have somehow adapted an ability to fend off seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D., also known as the winter blues). This one person with a genetic mutation had children, and the trait was passed to the next generation. Home Improvement / story. [66] 56% of Slovenes have blue/green eyes. In fact, only about 17 percent of the world's population has blue eyes. Share with Friends Add To Playlist. That brings us to the question of beauty, and what are beauty standards in different populations and countries. [95] Others have attempted to set objective standards of color comparison. From 6-36 months, cells in the iris start producing melanin and the eye color will change. While researchers can't yet prove eye color indicates a hearing problem, they did find that those with lighter-colored eyes had more significant hearing loss after being exposed to loud noises. Even though amber is similar to gold, some people have russet or copper colored amber eyes that are mistaken for hazel, though hazel tends to be duller and contains green with red/gold flecks, as mentioned above. Krystina is a Technical Writer with a background in healthcare. ", Blue eyes in lemurs and humans: same phenotype, different genetic mechanism, SKIN/HAIR/EYE PIGMENTATION, VARIATION IN, 1; SHEP1 - 227220, Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Ask A Scientist, "An Ocularist's Approach to Human Iris Synthesis", "Admixture in Latin America: Geographic Structure, Phenotypic Diversity and Self-Perception of Ancestry Based on 7,342 Individuals", "Iris melanocyte numbers in Asian, African American, and Caucasian irides", "Iris color and intraocular pressure: the Blue Mountains Eye Study", "Induction of tyrosinase gene transcription in human iris organ cultures exposed to latanoprost", "Race, iris color, and age-related macular degeneration", "Iris color as a prognostic factor in ocular melanoma", Blue Eyes Versus Brown Eyes: A Primer on Eye Color. So, there's less worry of a vitamin D deficiency for redheads. Perhaps not surprising, at the very bottom of the list with an approximate 16 percent blue-eyed population sits the United States and Spain. The green color is from a combination of a blue hue from Rayleigh scattering and "yellow" from the yellow pigment called lipochrome. The human eye consists of two types of light and color receptors in the retina. It has shown that indigenous people of Melanesia evolved blonde hair independently of the European population, having around 5-10% of blondes, despite darker eye and skin color. Brown melanin is the only pigment that exists in the eye; there is no pigment for hazel or green or blue. 2011;27(6):609-613. doi:10.1002/dmrr.1214. Although the stereotypical constatation is that Swedes are tall, blue-eyed and blond, those assumptions have never actually been confirmed. Eye color is a polygenic phenotypic character determined by two factors: the pigmentation of the eye's iris[1][2] and the frequency-dependence of the scattering of light by the turbid medium in the stroma of the iris. Which country has the most people with blue eyes? MDQL won't back down. Iceland, the northernmost country of the bunch, has the greatest percentage of people with blue eyes. "From this we can conclude that all blue-eyed individuals are linked to the same ancestor," said Eiberg. People with green eyes have a bit more melanin than people with blue eyes. About 5% of the worlds population and 18% of Americans have hazel eyes -- a mixture of green, gold, and orange. Brown eyes: Estimates show that 70%-80% of the worlds population have brown eyes. Gray is the second-rarest natural eye color after green, with 3% of the world's population having it. Which eye color is most common icy blue, beguiling brown or glimmering green? For example, the film actor Lee Van Cleef was born with one blue eye and one green eye, a trait that reportedly was common in his family, suggesting that it was a genetic trait. The color of our eyes depends on how much melanin is present in the iris. A mosaic can have two different colored eyes if the DNA difference happens to be in an eye-color gene. When one iris has a different color from the other, it is complete Heterochromia. That little DNA blip was blue eye color, according to researchers at the University of Copenhagen. For our research, on the matter of the hair color, we have found the information on Jorian and Cogweb (Cognitive Cultural Studies, from the University of California). Blond hair percentage: 75. Blue is the second most common and brown tops the list with 45% of the U.S. population and possibly almost 80% worldwide. Eyes only appear to be these colors because of the way light strikes the layers of the iris and reflects back toward the viewer. Why do some people have light blue eyes and others have dark blue? Blue is the second most common color, followed by hazel (a blend of green and brown), amber, gray, and green. Arina was adopted by a family in Toronto four years . They look blue because of how light is reflected. Heterochromia is extremely rare in humans, and less than 1% of the worlds population has this condition. A chimera can have two different colored eyes just like any two siblings canbecause each cell has different eye color genes. In addition to having significantly less melanin in their iris than people with brown eyes, hazel eyes or green eyes, blue-eyed individuals don't have very much variation in the part of their DNA responsible for melanin production. [19] A 2010 study of eye color variation in hue and saturation values using high-resolution digital full-eye photographs found three new loci for a total of ten genes, allowing the explanation of about 50% of eye colour variation.[20]. An estimated 29% of the population of Edinburgh, Scotland, has green eyes one of the rarest eye colors worldwide. She specializes in cornea, cataracts, external eye disease, and refractive surgery. [68] Alternatively, it has been suggested that gray and blue eyes might differ in the concentration of melanin at the front of the stroma.[68]. When a portion of one iris is a different color from its remaining part, it is sectoral Heterochromia. Blue eyes and blond hair (as well as all others for that matter) are the results of genetic variations. Blue light is then reflected out, which makes the iris appear blue even though it's actually colorless. Finnish people pride themselves in their honesty, humility, pensiveness, and perseverance, which not surprisingly, are all attributes associated with the color blue. For just about everyone, the back layer of each eye is brown. Normally, there is a thick layer of melanin on the back of the iris. These seemingly insignificant physical features are two of the most dominant characteristics of Sweden's population. The mutation causes a lowered production of melanin which is a pigment located in the eyes that determines its color. The ScotlandsDNA project has launched a program to count all the country's redheads - and to learn why . Mujica-Mota MA, Schermbrucker J, Daniel SJ. The genetics of eye color are so complex that almost any parent-child combination of eye colors can occur. Are contact lenses a good choice for kids? Research has found that eye color may play a role in various areas of health and well-being. 9. These clear lenses block 100% UV both indoors and outside, and automatically darken when they're exposed to outdoor sunlight. The mutation occurred between . [55] Eiberg and colleagues suggested in a study published in Human Genetics that a mutation in the 86th intron of the HERC2 gene, which is hypothesized to interact with the OCA2 gene promoter, reduced expression of OCA2 with subsequent reduction in melanin production. This would be analogous to the change in the color of the sky, from the blue given by the Rayleigh scattering of sunlight by small gas molecules when the sky is clear, to the gray caused by Mie scattering of large water droplets when the sky is cloudy. In Norway, an estimated 75% of the population . Since the inner ear uses melanin, and blue eyes come from a lack of melanin, some researchers hypothesize there may be a link between eye color and acquired hearing loss. Ireland and Scotland have the next-highest populations of people with blue eyes. The canals of cities like Amsterdam are a great place to spend time exploring, while surrounded by breathtaking architecture. How does a parent with a different eye color have a blue-eyed child? [47][48] In Scotland, 29% of people have green eyes. Similarly, people with hazel, gray and green eyes have varying quantities of tint in the front layer. Medicaid: Eligibility and Vision Benefits. Comments. [27] Green eyes contain the yellowish pigment lipochrome.[52]. This form of hearing loss comes from damage to the inner ear or to the nerve going from the ear to the brain. Some of the eye-color genes include OCA2 and HERC2. Brown melanin is the only pigment that exists in the eye; there is . Countries with the most blue-eyed people. It is important to always wear sunglasses and eyeglasses whenever possible - especially when spending time outdoors or staring at screens for long periods of time. [32] The bright yellow eyes of the great horned owl are thought to be due to the presence of the pteridine pigment xanthopterin within certain chromatophores (called xanthophores) located in the iris stroma. In fact, the iris (the colored part of the eye) has two layers, both of which have brown tint in them. One possible explanation for the difference in the appearance of gray and blue eyes is that gray eyes have larger deposits of collagen in the stroma, so that the light that is reflected from the epithelium undergoes Mie scattering (which is not strongly frequency-dependent) rather than Rayleigh scattering (in which shorter wavelengths of light are scattered more). Transillumination defects can almost always be observed during an eye examination due to lack of iridial pigmentation. Eye color in non-human animals is regulated differently. Norway. Because melanocyte cells continually produce pigment, in theory eye color can be changed. With a 75.5 percent blue-eyed population, Iceland boasts the fourth spot on this list. Eye color is one of the first things people notice about one another. That's 13 million people, out of the 7.6 billion on Earth. Vika is the story of her final year at a rural boarding school in Eastern Ukraine. Dissection reveals that the iris pigment epithelium is brownish black due to the presence of melanin. [33] In humans, yellowish specks or patches are thought to be due to the pigment lipofuscin, also known as lipochrome. 2000-2023 AAV Media, LLC. The percentage rises to 40 percent if the cat has one blue eye, while upwards of 65 to 85 percent of all-white cats with both eyes blue are deaf. [82], Wilson's disease involves a mutation of the gene coding for the enzyme ATPase 7B, which prevents copper within the liver from entering the Golgi apparatus in cells. Another hypothesis about heterochromia is that it can result from a viral infection in utero affecting the development of one eye, possibly through some sort of genetic mutation. Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a human hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin.The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. As estimated by the United Nations, the world currently has over 8 billion people, and every one of them is different from one another. Germans are only slightly more likely to have blue eyes than intermediate (hazel, green, etc.) For the shade of purple, see, "Brown eyes" redirects here. Quizzes; Events; Quiz Creation; Community; Videos; Private Events . [29] Brown eyes are common in Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Americas. Normal eye colors range from the darkest shades of brown to the lightest tints of blue. Ready? [12] A specific mutation within the HERC2 gene, a gene that regulates OCA2 expression, is partly responsible for blue eyes. They lower your risk of developing cataracts, for instance. Activities of melanocytes are responsible for our skin pigmentation, as it is familiar, and also eye and hair color. [17], There is evidence that as many as 16 different genes could be responsible for eye color in humans; however, the main two genes associated with eye color variation are OCA2 and HERC2, and both are localized in Chromosome 15. Researchers believe there is one ancestor responsible for blue eyes that descended from the Black Sea region of southeastern Europe anywhere between 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. Blue eyes are an inherited trait. This genetic switch limits how much melanin is produced in the iris effectively "diluting" brown eyes to a shade of blue. "Originally, we all had brown eyes," said Hans Eiberg, associate professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the university. Estonia is the country most known for its fair-skinned, blue-eyed population, followed closely by Finland. [4] This is the same scattering that accounts for the blue appearance of the sky. [102], "Iris color" redirects here. Although hazel mostly consists of brown and green, the dominant color in the eye can either be brown/gold or green. Although the percentage of blonde blue-eyed people in Germany is very high, the highest concentration of these characteristics is in the north of the country, at least according to the resources we have used for this research. It shows that in most of Scotland and Ireland, as well as a random patch in central Russia, 10% of people are of the ginger genre. Almost all humans have some brown in their eyes. They are also part of what makes Swedes so unique! Britain has traditionally been home to people with brown eyes but a study by SCOTLANDSDNA found that eyes in the country are now 48 per cent blue. Research has shown that lighter iris colors are associated with: A higher risk of ocular uveal melanoma (a type of eye cancer), No difference in the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, is serving as Zillow's health advisor. And in the end, we have gone through some maps provided by Unsafe Harbour made on basis of some scientific research on the matter of countries that have the most blondes and blue eyes as a percentage of population. 207,208 - (1968), Last edited on 21 February 2023, at 15:18, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Phenotypes and Genotypes for human eye colors. Below is a list of the top six countries with the most blue-eyed people. [91] However, there is a study that found that dark-eyed people perform better at "reactive-type tasks", which suggests they may have better reaction times. 10 . Hazel eyes are usually a combination of green and brown and often flecks of gold or orange. Researchers found that only 17 to 22 percent of white cats with non-blue eyes are born deaf. From harmful UV rays familiar, and the trait was passed to the generation! 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