Ethiopid (also spelledAethiopid)[a] is anoutdated racial classification of humansindigenous toNortheast Africa, who were typically classified as part of theCaucasian race – theHamitic sub-branch, or in rare instances theNegroid race.[1][2][3] The racial classification was mainly made up of theAfroasiatic-speaking populations of the Horn of Africa, but to an extent included certainNilo-Saharan populations of theNile Valley and theGreat Lakes region.[4][5]
According toJohn Baker (1974), in their stable form, their center of distribution was considered to beHorn of Africa, among that region'sHamito-Semitic-speaking populations.[1] Baker described them as being of medium height, with a dolicocephalic or mesocephalic skull (seecephalic index), an essentially Caucasoid facial form, an orthognathic profile (noprognathism) and a rather prominent, narrow nose, often ringlety hair, and an invariably brown skin, with either a reddish or blackish tinge.[1]
The concept of dividing humankind into three races calledCaucasoid,Mongoloid, andNegroid (originally named "Ethiopian") was introduced in the 1780s by members of theGöttingen school of history and further developed by Western scholars in the context ofracist ideologies during the age ofcolonialism.[6]
With the rise of moderngenetics, the concept of distinct human races in a biological sense has become obsolete. In 2019, theAmerican Association of Biological Anthropologists stated: "Race does not provide an accurate representation of human biological variation. It was never accurate in the past, and it remains inaccurate when referencing contemporary human populations."[6]
