Netherlands 182.5 cm 16,318,199 Denmark 181.5 cm 5,413,392 Switzerland 180.5 cm 7,450,867 Germany 180.2 cm 82,424,609 Croatia 180.0 cm 4,496,869 Norway 180.0 cm 137,253,133 Sweden 179.6 cm 8,986,400 Iran 178.7 cm 67,503,205 Austria 178.2 cm 8,174,762 Finland 178.2 cm 5,214,512 Czech Republic 178.0 cm 10,246,178 Romania 178.0 cm 22,355,551 South Africa 177.4 cm 42,718,530 Zimbabwe 177.2 cm 12,671,860 Australia 177.0 cm 19,913,144 Canada 177.0 cm 32,507,874 United Kingdom 177.0 cm 60,270,708 Greece 176.8 cm 10,647,529 France 176.6 cm 60,424,213 Ukraine 176.5 cm 47,732,079 Iraq 176.3 cm 25,374,691 Lebanon 176.2 cm 3,777,218 Ireland 176.1 cm 3,969,558 Zambia 176.0 cm 10,462,436 Russia 175.9 cm 143,782,338 Belgium 175.6 cm 10,348,276 United States 175.5 cm 293,027,571 Uzbekistan 175.4 cm 26,410,416 Poland 175.3 cm 38,626,349 Egypt 175.0 cm 76,117,421 New Zealand 175.0 cm 3,993,817 Senegal 175.0 cm 10,852,147 Portugal 174.6 cm 10,524,145 Saudi Arabia 174.6 cm 25,795,938 Argentina 174.4 cm 39,144,753 Uruguay 174.3 cm 3,399,237 Brazil 174.0 cm 184,101,109 Cuba 174.0 cm 11,308,764 Peru 173.8 cm 27,544,305 Thailand 173.6 cm 64,865,523 Spain 173.4 cm 40,280,780 Korea, South 173.3 cm 48,598,175 Paraguay 173.1 cm 6,191,368 Syria 173.0 cm 18,016,874 Chile 173.0 cm 15,823,957 Morocco 173.0 cm 32,209,101 Turkey 172.5 cm 68,893,918 Tunisia 172.3 cm 9,974,722 Colombia 172.3 cm 42,310,775 Algeria 172.2 cm 32,129,324 Mexico 171.8 cm 104,959,594 Cameroon 171.0 cm 16,063,678 Indonesia 170.0 cm 238,452,952 China 169.7 cm 1,298,847,624 Pakistan 169.3 cm 159,196,336 Japan 168.3 cm 127,333,002 Mongolia 168.0 cm 2,751,314 India 167.6 cm 1,065,070,607 Italy 165.6 cm 58,057,477 Philippines 165.0 cm 86,241,697 Korea, North 164.9 cm 22,697,553 Malaysia 163.5 cm 23,522,482 Vietnam 162.5 cm 82,689,518 Singapore 162.2 cm 4,353,893 Cambodia 160.0 cm 13,363,421
I think one true thing about the movie "300" was that Xerxes was depicted as a very tall man, according to ancient Greek sources, not only men but Persian women were also tall, for example Xenophon in Anabasis says:
http://www.allempires.com/Forum/ebook_view.asp?BookID=62&ChapterID=981 "But, perhaps, it is just as well that we did not stop; for I fear, if once we learn to live in idleness and to batten in luxury and dalliance with these tall and handsome Median and Persian women and maidens, we shall be like the Lotus-eaters[5], and forget the road home altogether."
Herodotus also talks about some very tall Persians, for example as you read here: http://www.allempires.com/Forum/ebook_view.asp?BookID=44&ChapterID=697, he says about Artachaees, an Achaemenid (a member of the dynasty ruling in Persia) and a man in high repute with Xerxes, that he was only four fingers short of five cubits, royal measure, it means this man was about 248 cm tall!!
Persians have been always proud to be tall, you can never see a non-Persian to be taller than Persians in the ancient Persian reliefs, look at Darius the Great in Behistun:
In the Sassanid period, it was also an important thing for Persians, for example you can read here: History of the Empire From the Death of Marcus/Book VI: "4. He thought it best to send another embassy to the Persian king to discuss the possibility of peace and friendship, hoping to persuade him or to intimidate him by his presence. The barbarian, however, sent the envoys back to the emperor unsuccessful. Then Artaxerxes chose four hundred very tall Persians, outfitted them with fine clothes and gold ornaments, and equipped them with horses and bows; he sent these men to Alexander as envoys, thinking that their appearance would dazzle the Romans. "
Yes, Iranians are tall, but generally in terms of physical build Asians tend to be smaller than those of African and European descent.
Maybe for this reason Iran's national teams usually win Asian Basketball and Volleyball championships, you know the third tallest NBA player is an Iranian who himself is also the third tallest player of Iran's national team:
"generally in terms of physical build Asians tend to be smaller than those of African and European descent."
I disagree on that one, I have met a lots of Koreans and especially Northern Chinese people and they are tall and stocky. A lots of Chinese immigrants in Canada and American are from Hong Kong and Taiwan and they are generally and historically shorter than Chinese in the North. (again nutrition and healthy environment play really big roles, the average income and quality of environments in China is very low in comparison with Europe).
Also, being tall doesnt mean you are physically more strong than people who are tall. I met a friend from Africa few years ago who is very tall (195cm) but very slim built and he told me that most of people in his village was like him, tall and very slim. In contrast, I have been to Mongolia and I found that Mongolian men arent as tall as Chinese and Koreans (probably due to nutrition factor as well) but they are very strong.
Its not only the matter of genetics but also of the diet. In my country people who were born during WW2 and also later, who lived in bad conditions during communist times and suffered hunger are much much smaller than those who were born after 1989 when conditions of living highly increased.
"I am a pure-blooded Polish nobleman, without a single drop of bad blood, certainly not German blood" - Friedrich Nietzsche
Yes, its a matter of diet. Koreans and the Japanese used to be tiny compared to Europeans and other Asians because they had less meat in their diet. This changed as their countries got richer. Today, Koreans and Japanese are just as big as others because of the change in their diet.
Middle Easterners today for the most part eat a lot of rice and not enough meat, and genetics also has something to do with it.
Europeans and Africans in general are physically bigger than native peoples of the America's and Asians.
When I go to Iran, everyone is shocked at what a "big" guy I am, but I dont even compare to some of the people I know and see here in the states, even the guys who dont work out at all.
Average Romans in ancient times didnt eat much meat and were short, but it didnt stop them in their attempt to conquer the world ;)
BTW Im 190 cm.
everyone back then was smaller because of their diet. people did not start getting significantly bigger until after the industrial revolution.
if we could travel back in time 500 years we would probably dominate everyone with our physical size.
Also, size has nothing to do with conquering, and the Romans didnt conquer the world, they conquered a few underdeveloped European tribes and weak north african nations. This is a misconception, no one ever talks about how weak the nations. the Romans actually conquered were. Romans could not conquer other similar powers, such as Parthia and Sassanid Persia.
If anything, the mongols are the true conquerers of the world, and they were very short.
It reminds me of what Plutarch said: http://www.fullbooks.com/Plutarch-s-Lives18.html he first says about Surena: "Surena was the tallest and finest looking man himself" and then talks about Sertorius and says "he had called all his army together, he caused two horses to be brought into the field, one an old, feeble, lean animal, the other a lusty, strong horse, with a remarkably thick and long tail. Near the lean one he placed a tall strong man, and near the strong young horse a weak despicable-looking fellow; and at a sign given, the strong man took hold of the weak horse's tail with both his hands, and drew it to him with his whole force, as if he would pull it off; the other, the weak man, in the mean time, set to work to pluck off hair by hair from the great horse's tail. And when the strong man had given trouble enough to himself in vain, and sufficient diversion to the company, and had abandoned his attempt, whilst the weak pitiful fellow in a short time and with little pains had left not a hair on the great horse's tail, Sertorius rose up and spoke to his army, "You see, fellow soldiers, that perseverance is more prevailing than violence, and that many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little. Assiduity and persistence are irresistible, and in time overthrow and destroy the greatest powers whatever. Time being the favorable friend and assistant of those who use their judgment to await his occasions, and the destructive enemy of those who are unseasonably urging and pressing forward." With a frequent use of such words and such devices, he soothed the fierceness of the barbarous people, and taught them to attend and watch for their opportunities."
As I have read, somewhere, sometime? It seems that height is much like the weather and other physical things, that is, it is or can be considered as cyclical!
As I remember reading somewhere, sometime, even Cro-Magnon man was considered as taller than modern man!
Of course lean times might well lead to smaller humans? But, even during the 18th century, I think, a leader of Austria had an entire division composed of men over six feet in height!
And, even in the late 1990's, when I was amongst a bunch of American military men based in Puerto Rico, at 5'11", it seems I mostly towered over about 90% of the troops!
The village near to my family's farm is called Rancocas. It was founded in the 1680s. I don't believe there is a doorway in any of the homes built before 1720, that is taller than 70", that's 5' 10". The Friends Meeting in town has an historian, from her records she was able t figure out that the average male height was about 5'6" and average for a woman was approx. 5'2".
The Home my parents lived in had a front door that was 5'8". This may seem like trivial information, until you factor in the fact that I am 6'7".
As the original settlers were all from England I assumed that the houses were reflecting the average height of the people of that time.
I don't think I saw Bulgaria on the list, so here it is - the average for males in 173.74 cm/5' 8.4" and 176.8 cm/5' 9.6", for females 165cm/5'5"-170cm/5'7". I'm above average for both, 180 cm/5'11", and used to take a lot of heat for that from my grandma. There is generational increase, my son is 190 cm/6'3". I used to hit myself on the head almost every time I entered the old house of my grandma in Shumen, which was low - /I never taught of measuring it how low, and now it's gone/ but was low enough to make a bump on my forehead
No, my father was this height, I suppose the gene jumped a generation. My ex was shorter than me, so the height gene wasn't on his side. But when it comes to chickens... American food is bad ...I eat here a fraction of what I eat in Bulgaria and have to eat once a day like a bird to keep decent weight...and when I go in Bulgaria I eat like a pig /stuff that I cannot find here/ and lose like 10-15 pounds minimum. The food is bad - and I buy everything raw and cook from scratch, but most people eat frozen microwavable food - and the weight problems here are massive...
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