KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global Restaurants Inc. KFC primarily sells chicken pieces, wraps, salads and sandwiches. While its primary focus is fried chicken, KFC also offers a line of grilled and roasted chicken products, side dishes and desserts. Outside the USA, KFC offers beef based products such as hamburgers or kebabs, poutine, pork based products such as ribs and other regional fare.

The company was founded as Kentucky Fried Chicken by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952, though the idea of KFC's fried chicken actually goes back to 1930. Although Sanders died in 1980, he remains an important part of the company's branding and advertisements, and "Colonel Sanders" or "The Colonel" is a metonym for the company itself. The company adopted KFC, an abbreviated form of its name, in 1991. Starting in April 2007, the company began using its original name, Kentucky Fried Chicken, for its signage, packaging and advertisements in the U.S. as part of a new corporate re-branding program; newer and remodeled restaurants will adopt the new logo and name, while older stores will continue to use the 1980s signage. Additionally, Yum! continues to use the abbreviated name freely in its advertising.

History[link]

The restaurant in North Corbin, Kentucky where Colonel Sanders developed Kentucky Fried Chicken

The first KFC restaurant, situated in South Salt Lake, Utah and since replaced by a new KFC on the same site

Born and raised in Henryville, Indiana, Sanders passed through several professions in his lifetime.^[2] Sanders first served his fried chicken in 1930 in the midst of the Great Depression at a gas station he owned in North Corbin, Kentucky. The dining area was named Sanders Court & Café and was so successful that in 1935 Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon granted Sanders the title of honorary Kentucky Colonel in recognition of his contribution to the state's cuisine. The following year Sanders expanded his restaurant to 142 seats, and added a motel he bought across the street.^[3] When Sanders prepared his chicken in his original restaurant in North Corbin, he prepared the chicken in an iron skillet, which took about 30 minutes to do, too long for a restaurant operation. In 1939, Sanders altered the cooking process for his fried chicken to use a pressure fryer, resulting in a greatly reduced cooking time comparable to that of deep frying.^[4] In 1940 Sanders devised what came to be known as his Original Recipe.^[5]

The Sanders Court & Café generally served travelers, often those headed to Florida, so when the route planned in the 1950s for what would become Interstate 75 bypassed Corbin, he sold his properties and traveled the U.S. to sell his chicken to restaurant owners. The first to take him up on the offer was Pete Harman in South Salt Lake, Utah; together, they opened the first "Kentucky Fried Chicken" outlet in 1952.^[6] By 1963 there were outlets in the United Kingdom in Blackpool, Manchester and London. By 1964 Kentucky Fried Chicken was sold in over 600 franchised outlets in both the United States and Canada. One of the longest-lived franchisees of the older Col. Sanders' chicken concept, as opposed to the KFC chain, was the Kenny Kings chain. The company owned many Northern Ohio diner-style restaurants, the last of which closed in 2004.

Sanders sold the entire KFC franchising operation in 1964 for $2million USD, equal to $14,987,124 today.^[7] In 1970 it was sold to Heublein for $285 million.^[8] In 1982 it was sold to R.J. Reynolds and most recently to PepsiCo in 1986, which made it part of its Tricon Global Restaurants division, which in turn was spun off in 1997, and has now been renamed to Yum! Brands.

In 2001, KFC started tests in Austin, Texas restaurants of "Wing Works" chicken wing line sold with one of a few flavored sauces. Also, KFC hired a consultant to develop a breakfast menu.^[9]

Additionally, Colonel Sanders' nephew, Lee Cummings, took his own Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises (and a chicken recipe of his own) and converted them to his own "spin-off" restaurant chain, Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken.

Recipe[link]

The recipe of 11 herbs and spices used by KFC in the preparation of their chicken remains a trade secret.^[10][11] Portions of the secret spice mix are made at different locations in the United States, and the only complete, handwritten copy of the recipe is kept in a vault in corporate headquarters.^[12]

On September 9, 2008, the one complete copy was temporarily moved to an undisclosed location under extremely tight security while KFC revamped the security at its headquarters. Before the move, KFC disclosed^[13] that the recipe, which includes exact amounts of each component, is written in pencil on a single sheet of notebook paper and signed by Sanders.^[14] It was locked in a filing cabinet with two separate combination locks. The cabinet also included vials of each of the 11 herbs and spices used. Only two unnamed executives had access to the recipe at any one time.^[15] One of the two executives said that no one had come close to guessing the contents of the secret recipe, and added that the actual recipe would include some surprises. On February 9, 2009, the secret recipe returned to KFC's Louisville headquarters in a more secure, computerized vault^[16] guarded by motion detectors and security cameras. Reportedly, the paper has yellowed and the handwriting is now faint.^[14]

In 1983, writer William Poundstone examined the recipe in his book Big Secrets. He reviewed Sanders' patent application, and advertised in college newspapers for present or former employees willing to share their knowledge.^[17] From the former he deduced that Sanders had diverged from other common fried-chicken recipes by varying the amount of oil used with the amount of chicken being cooked, and starting the cooking at a higher temperature (about 400 °F (200 °C)) for the first minute or so and then lowering it to 250 °F (120 °C) for the remainder of the cooking time. Several of Poundstone's contacts also provided samples of the seasoning mix, and a food lab found that it consisted solely of sugar, flour, salt, black pepper and monosodium glutamate (MSG). He concluded that it was entirely possible that, in the years since Sanders sold the chain, later owners had begun skimping on the recipe to save costs.^[18][19][20] Following his buyout in 1964, Colonel Sanders himself expressed anger at such changes, saying:

That friggin' ... outfit .... They prostituted every goddamn thing I had. I had the greatest gravy in the world and those sons of bitches-- they dragged it out and extended it and watered it down that I'm so goddamn mad!^[19][20]

Ron Douglas, author of the book America's Most Wanted Recipes, also claims to have figured out KFC's secret recipe.^[21]

Products[link]

Packaging[link]

The famous paper bucket that KFC uses for its larger sized orders of chicken and has come to signify the company was originally created by Wendy's restaurants founder Dave Thomas. Thomas was originally a franchisee of the original Kentucky Fried Chicken and operated several outlets in the Columbus, Ohio area. His reasoning behind using the paper packaging was that it helped keep the chicken crisp by wicking away excess moisture. Thomas was also responsible for the creation of the famous rotating bucket sign that came to be used at most KFC locations in the US.^[22]

Menu items[link]

Chicken[link]

• KFC's specialty is fried chicken served in various forms. KFC's primary product is pressure-fried pieces of chicken made with the original recipe. The other chicken offering, extra crispy, is made using a garlic marinade and double dipping the chicken in flour before deep frying in a standard industrial kitchen type machine.
• Kentucky Grilled Chicken – This marinated grilled chicken is targeted towards health-conscious customers. It features marinated breasts, thighs, drumsticks, and wings that are coated with seasonings before being grilled. It has less fat, calories, and sodium than the Original Recipe fried chicken.^[23] Introduced in April 2009 and was adapted mid-2011 in the UK as the "Brazer".
• KFC has two lines of burgers or sandwiches: its "regular" chicken sandwiches/burgers and its Snackers line. The regular sandwiches/burgers are served on either a sesame seed or corn dusted roll and are made from either whole breast fillets (fried or roasted), chopped chicken in a sauce or fried chicken strips. The Snackers line are cheaper items that consist of chicken strips and various toppings. These are known as "burgers" in most countries and "sandwiches" in the United States. There is the chicken fillet burger (a chicken breast fillet coated in an original-recipe coating with salad garnish and mayonnaise) and a Zinger Burger (as with the former but with a spicier coating and salsa). Both of these are available as "tower" variants in some locations, which include a slice of cheese and a hash brown.
  • KFC considers its Double Down product a sandwich or burger in spite of containing no bread.
• A variety of finger foods, including chicken strips, wings, nuggets, and popcorn chicken, and potato wedges, are served with various sauces.
• Several pies have been made available from KFC in some locations. The Pot Pie is a savory pie made with chicken, gravy and vegetables. In the second quarter of 2006, KFC introduced its variation on Shepherd's pie called the Famous Bowl, known simply as the Chicken Bowl outside the US. Served in a plastic bowl, it is layered with mashed potatoes or rice, gravy, corn, popcorn chicken, and cheese, and is served with a biscuit. The bowl had been available at KFC's special test market store in Louisville since the third quarter of 2005.
• The KFC Twister is a wrap that consists of either chicken strips or roasted chicken, tomato, lettuce and (pepper) mayonnaise wrapped in a tortilla. In Europe, the Twister is sold in two varieties: 1) the Grilled Twister (chicken strips),^[24][25][26] and 2) the Grilled Mexican twister/Spicy Toasted Twister (UK) (chicken breast supplemented by tortilla chips and salsa, UK: adds only salsa to pepper mayonnaise),^[27][28][29]
• KFC Fillers are a 9 in (23 cm) sub, available in four varieties over the summer period in Australia.
• Shish kebab – in several markets KFC sells kebabs.
• Kentucky Barbecued Chicken – barbecued chicken dipped in the original recipe
• Wrapstar is a variant of the KFC Twister, consisting of chicken strips with salsa, cheese, salad, pepper mayonnaise and other ingredients, contained in a compressed tortilla.^[30][31]

Other products[link]

Coleslaw

• In some locations, KFC may sell hamburgers, pork ribs or fish. In the U.S., KFC began offering the Fish Snacker sandwich during Lent in 2006. The Fish Snacker consists of a rectangular patty of Alaskan Pollock on a small bun, and is the fifth KFC menu item in the Snacker category.^[32]
• Some locations also may sell KFC 'Mashies' – balls of mashed potato cooked in original recipe batter^[33]
• Three types of salads (which can be topped with roasted or fried chicken) are available at KFC in the United States: Caesar, house, and BLT salads.
• The Boneless Banquet
• Zinger Burger – A regular sized burger which consists of a spicy chicken fillet with lettuce and mayonnaise in a burger bun. Cheese, tomato, bacon and pineapple can be added upon request in some locations. Barbecue sauce can also replace/join the mayonnaise in some locations.
• Chili Cheese Fries^[34] – By 2007, 2 former KFC/A&W Restaurants locations in Berlin and Cologne, Germany had reverted to KFC-only locations and the third location in Garbsen (by Hannover) was closed in 2005. The only remnant from the former A&W menu are the Chili Cheese Fries which were added to the systemwide KFC Germany menu.
• Parfait desserts – "Little Bucket Parfaits" in varieties such as Fudge Brownie, Chocolate Crème (once called the Colonel's Little Fudge Bucket), Lemon Crème and Strawberry Shortcake are available at most locations in the US.^[35]
• Kentucky Nuggets - a chicken nugget product available at KFC from December 1984. It is still sold in New Zealand (as "Chicken Nuggets") and Australia, but has been discontinued in some other countries (e.g. Canada) since 1996.
• Sara Lee Desserts – Available in either Cookies and Cream Cheesecake or Choc Caramel Mousse in some locations.
• Krushers, available in Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Malaysia. These are drinks containing "real bits". They include "classic krushers", "smoothie krushers" and "fruit krushers". Some outlets are now equipped with "Krushbars" to serve these drinks. In the U.K., Krushers are known as Krushems.
• Pastel de nata - varieties of the Portuguese Egg Tart is offered in several Asian locations.

Side dishes[link]

• Other than fried chicken, many KFC restaurants serve side dishes like coleslaw, various potato-based items (including potato wedges [formerly known as Kentucky Fries], french fries and mashed potatoes with gravy), biscuits, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, macaroni salad, rice, steamed vegetables and corn on the cob.

Discontinued products[link]

• The Colonel's Rotisserie Gold – This product was introduced in 1993 as a response to the Boston Market chain's roasted chicken products, and a healthier mindset of the general public avoiding fried food. Purportedly made from a "lost" Col. Sanders recipe, it was sold as a whole roaster or a half bird. It is unknown as to whether or not Col. Sanders really had anything to do with developing the recipe, however, according to one of Sanders' daughters, he did tinker with a rotisserie product at one time.^[36]
• Tender Roast Chicken – This product was an offshoot of "The Colonel's Rotisserie Gold". Instead of whole and half birds, customers were given quarter roasted chicken pieces. For a time, customers could request chicken "original", "Extra Tasty Crispy", or "Tender Roast".
• Chicken Little sandwich – a value oriented sandwich that sold for US$0.39^[37] in the U.S. during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was a small chicken patty with mayonnaise on a small roll, similar to White Castle's mini chicken sandwich.^[38]
• Extra Tasty Crispy (ETC) – Chicken much like the Extra Crispy served today, except ETC was prepared using chicken that had been soaking for 15 minutes in a special marinade machine. There is some speculation that the marinade may have been made with trans-fats,^{[citation needed]} and KFC has promised to no longer use trans-fats in their chicken. The known ingredients were garlic and chicken stock. In the summer of 2007, KFC started marketing the chicken just as "Extra Crispy" without the marinade.
• Smokey Chipotle – Introduced in April 2008. The chicken was dipped in chipotle sauce then doubled breaded and fried. It has been discontinued since August 2008.

Nutritional value[link]

KFC has used partially hydrogenated oil in its fried foods. This oil contains relatively high levels of trans fat, which increases the risk of heart disease.

In the United States, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) filed a court case against KFC with the aim of making it use other types of oils or make sure customers know about trans fat content immediately before they buy food. In October 2006, KFC said it would begin frying its chicken in trans fat-free oil (<0.5g per serving) in the United States. This would also apply to their potato wedges and other fried foods, however, the biscuits, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes would still contain trans fat. Trans fat-free soybean oil was introduced in all KFC restaurants in the U.S. by April 30, 2007, and CSPI dropped its lawsuit.^{[citation needed]}

However, outside the United States the company has continued to use other types of oil that have drawn criticism over their health effects. In Australia, KFC was reported to be using palm oil with up to 1 per cent trans-fat and 52 per cent saturated fat content as late as 2007, after restaurants in the United States had changed to trans-fat free oil.^[39]

Advertising[link]

Despite his death in 1980, Sanders remains a key symbol of the company in its advertising and branding. Early television advertisements for KFC regularly featured Sanders licking his fingers and talking to the viewer about his secret recipe, and by the 1960s both the Colonel and the chain's striped bucket had become well-known. The bucket as product placement can be seen in the hands of both Annette Funicello and Dwayne Hickman in 1965's How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, and was also featured prominently in the 1968 Peter Sellers vehicle, The Party. KFC itself was featured in 1980's Superman II. The Colonel made appearances as himself in Jerry Lewis's The Big Mouth (1967), Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blast-Off Girls (1967) and Al Adamson's Hell's Bloody Devils (1970), as well as an appearance in 1968 on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

Before he became a platinum-selling pop star in the 1970s, Barry Manilow sang the commercial jingle "Get a Bucket of Chicken",^[40] which was later included on Barry Manilow Live as part of "A Very Strange Medley."

Throughout the mid 1980s, KFC called on Will Vinton Studios to produce a series of humorous, claymation ads. These most often featured a cartoon-like chicken illustrating the poor food quality of competing food chains, mentioning prolonged freezing and other negative aspects.^[41] TV ads also featured Foghorn Leghorn advising Henery Hawk to visit the restaurant for better chicken.

In the 1980s, KFC was an associate sponsor for Junior Johnson's NASCAR Winston Cup Series cars, with such drivers as Darrell Waltrip, Neil Bonnett, and Terry Labonte.

A 1982 episode of Little House on the Prairie titled "Wave of the Future" featured a character presumed to be Col. Sanders offering Harriet Oleson a fried chicken franchise (perhaps a subliminal advertisement for KFC), but his character was credited as "Bearded Man" for legal reasons. This subplot was an anachronism as Sanders had not yet been born at the time the episode was set (the late 19th century).

In 1997, KFC briefly re-entered the NASCAR Winston Cup Series as sponsor of the No.26 Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet with driver Rich Bickle at the Brickyard 400.

A co-branded Long John Silver's and KFC

A co-branded KFC-Taco Bell

By the late 1990s, the stylized likeness of Colonel Sanders as the KFC logo had been modified. KFC ads began featuring an animated version of "the Colonel" voiced by Randy Quaid with a lively and enthusiastic attitude. He would often start out saying "The Colonel here!" and moved across the screen with a cane in hand. The Colonel was often shown dancing, singing, and knocking on the TV screen as he spoke to the viewer about the product.

The animated Colonel is uncommon today. Still using a humorous slant, the current KFC campaign revolves mostly around customers enjoying the food. It also features a modified version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" as the theme song for practically all its commercials, though the restaurant actually hails from Kentucky.

In 2006, KFC claimed to have made the first logo visible from outer space, though Readymix has had one since 1965.^[42][43] KFC says "It marked the official debut of a massive global re-image campaign that will contemporize 14,000-plus KFC restaurants in over 80 countries over the next few years." The logo was built from 65,000 one-foot-square tiles, and it took six days on site to construct in early November. The logo was placed in the Mojave Desert near Rachel, Nevada.^[44] It is located in the northern section of Rachel, Nevada at 37°38′46″N 115°45′03″W / 37.6460°N 115.7507°W / 37.6460; -115.7507 (KFC logo), a few miles from the eastern border of Area 51.

Many KFC locations are co-located with one or more of Yum! Brands restaurants, Long John Silver's, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, or A&W Restaurants. Many of these locations behave like a single restaurant, offering a single menu with food items from both restaurants.^[45] The first such combination, a KFC-Taco Bell, opened in Clayton, North Carolina in 1995.^[46]

Revival of Kentucky Fried Chicken old logo

One of KFC's latest advertisements is a commercial advertising its "wicked crunch box meal". The commercial features a fictional black metal band called "Hellvetica" performing live, the lead singer then swallows fire. The commercial then shows the lead singer at a KFC eating the "wicked crunch box meal" and saying "Oh man that is hot".

Commercials in the early 2000s tried to imply that the abbreviation stands for Kitchen Fresh Chicken. In New Zealand KFC used the slogan Kiwi For Chicken during the late 2000s. In 2007, the original, non-acronymic Kentucky Fried Chicken name was resurrected and began to reappear on company marketing literature and food packaging, as well as some restaurant signage.

In 2010, an advertisement was shown in Australia showing a white Australian cricket fan feeling "awkward" when surrounded by black West Indies fans, and sharing a bucket of KFC to befriend them. The advert was criticised for apparently referencing the racial stereotype of African Americans eating fried chicken. Though KFC stated that it was "misinterpreted by a segment of people in the US",^[47] the ad was later pulled from television. Australian commentators have noted that the racial stereotype does not exist in Australia and the cricket fans in the ad are not African American, but West Indies cricket supporters (the West Indies cricket team was playing a Test cricket series against the Australian cricket team at the time of the ad).^[48][49]

In 2010, Yum! signed a naming rights deal with the Louisville Arena Authority for Louisville's new downtown arena, which opened on October 10 of that year as the KFC Yum! Center.

Slogans[link]

Advertising slogans over the years have included: "Finger lickin' good" (before 2006), "Follow your taste" (2006–2010), and "So good" (2010–present).^{[citation needed]}

Reception[link]

Environmental concerns[link]

KFC in the US has been accused by Greenpeace of a large destruction of the Amazon Rainforest, because the supply of soy used for chicken food that KFC receives from Cargill has been traced back to the European KFC. Cargill has reportedly been exporting soy illegally for several years.^[50] The Greenpeace organization researched the issue and brought it to the attention of the parent company YUM! Brands, Inc. The parent company denied the illegal operation, and said that their supply of soy is grown in parts of Brazil.^[50] Greenpeace has called on KFC to stop purchasing soy from Cargill, to avoid contributing to the destruction of the Amazon.^[50][51]

Greenpeace launched a new campaign in May 2012 highlighting KFC's deforestation of rainforests in Indonesia to create its packaging,^[52] which is supplied by Asia Pulp and Paper, a company exposed for using illegal timber and contributing to the decline of the Critically endangered Sumatran tiger.^[53]

Trademark disputes[link]

In 1971, Sanders sued Heublein Inc., KFC's parent company at the time, over the alleged misuse of his image in promoting products he had not helped develop. In 1975, Heublein Inc. unsuccessfully sued Sanders for libel after he publicly referred to their gravy as "sludge" with a "wallpaper taste".^[54]

In May 2007, KFC (Great Britain) requested that Tan Hill Inn, in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom refrain from using the term 'Family Feast' to describe its Christmas menu,^[55] although this problem was quickly resolved with the pub being allowed to continue use of the term.^[56]

Animal rights[link]

Protesters demonstrating outside a KFC restaurant in Royal Oak, Michigan

Since 2003, animal rights and welfare organizations, led by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), have been protesting KFC’s treatment of the animals used for its products. These groups claim that the recommendations of the KFC Animal Welfare Advisory Council have been ignored.^[57] Adele Douglass, a former member of the council, said in an SEC filing reported on by the Chicago Times, that KFC "never had any meetings. They never asked any advice, and then they touted to the press that they had this animal-welfare advisory committee. I felt like I was being used."^[58][59]

KFC responded by saying the chickens used in its products are bought from suppliers like Perdue Farms, Tyson Foods, and Pilgrim's Pride, and that these suppliers are routinely monitored for animal welfare violations.^[60] Several PETA undercover investigations and videos of these and other KFC suppliers purporting to show chickens being beaten, ripped apart, and thrown against walls contradict KFC’s claims.^[61] PETA has criticised some of the practices of chicken breeders, such as beak trimming and overcrowding, but KFC says its suppliers meets UK legal requirements. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recommends a maximum stocking density of 34 kg—around 30 chickens—per square metre, and say that in circumstances where beak trimming needs to be carried out to prevent the birds injuring each other, only one third of the beak should be trimmed "measured from the tip towards the entrance of the nostrils".^[62] PETA states that they have held more than 12,000 demonstrations at KFC outlets since 2003 because of this alleged mistreatment of chickens by KFC suppliers.^[63]

In June 2008, KFC Canada agreed to PETA's demands for better welfare standards, including favoring suppliers who use controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK) of chickens, and other welfare standards as well as introducing a vegan sandwich at 65% of its outlets. PETA has called off its campaign against KFC Canada, but continues to demonstrate against KFC elsewhere in the world.^[64]

Dispute over ingredients[link]

In Summer 2011, a KFC franchisee serving Fiji, Kazi Foods, was forced to close down all three KFC locations in that country, due to the dispute over increasing duties and the eventual ban on the importation of specific key ingredients used to make the chicken. The restaurants closed as without the ingredients the chicken will not be up to KFC corporate standards.^[65]

Settlements in the news[link]

In April 2012, KFC was ordered to pay AUD$8m to a girl who contracted salmonella poisoning and suffered brain damage and was paralysed from eating a Twister wrap at a KFC location in western Sydney, Australia. KFC have announced they will be appealing the decision. ^[66]

International operations[link]

According to the corporate website, KFC is present in 110 countries and territories around the world. It has in excess of 5,200 outlets in the United States and more than 15,000 units in other parts of the world.^[67] In Quebec, however, its name is PFK. An outlet opened in Nairobi, Kenya on August 2011. It is the first US-based fast food restaurant in the nation as well as in East Africa.^[68]

In December 2011 the first Croatian KFC was opened in Zagreb.^[69]

  Countries with KFC restaurants

KFC in Fujairah, UAE

KFC sign at The Junction Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, where the country's first KFC outlet was built.

See also[link]

	Kentucky portal
	Louisville portal
	Companies portal
	Food portal

• List of fast food restaurants

References[link]

Footnotes

General sources

• "KFC Great American Success Story" by Bruce Schreiner (The Associated Press)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kentucky Fried Chicken

• KFC official website
• KFC mobile website

The term black people is used in some socially-based systems of racial classification for humans of a dark-skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups represented in a particular social context. Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class and socio-economic status also play a role, so that relatively dark-skinned people can be classified as white if they fulfill other social criteria of "whiteness" and relatively light-skinned people can be classified as black if they fulfill the social criteria for "blackness" in a particular setting.^[1]

As a biological phenotype being "black" is often associated with the very dark skin colors of some people who are classified as "black". But, particularly in the United States, the racial or ethnic classification also refers to people with all possible kinds of skin pigmentation from the darkest through to the very lightest skin colors, including albinos, if they are believed by others to have African ancestry, or to exhibit cultural traits associated with being "African-American". As a result, in the United States the term "black people" is not an indicator of skin color but of socially based racial classification.^[2]

Some definitions of the term include only people of relatively recent Sub-Saharan African descent (see African diaspora). Among the members of this group, dark skin is most often accompanied by the expression of natural afro-hair texture. Other definitions of the term "black people" extend to other populations characterized by dark skin, sometimes including people indigenous to Oceania.^[3][4]

Physiological traits[link]

Dark skin[link]

Map of indigenous skin color distribution in the world based on Von Luschan's chromatic scale.

The evolution of dark skin is linked intrinsically to the loss of body hair in humans. By 1.2 million years ago, all people having descendants today had the same receptor protein of today's Africans; their skin was dark, and the intense sun lowered the chance of survival of those with lighter skin that resulted from mutational variation in the receptor protein.^[5] This is significantly earlier than the speciation of Homo sapiens from Homo erectus some 250,000 years ago.

Skin cancer as a result of ultraviolet light radiation causing mutations in the skin is less common among people with dark skin than it is among those with light skin.^[6][7] Dark skin prevents an essential B vitamin, folate, from being destroyed. In the absence of modern medicine and diet, a person with dark skin in the tropics would live longer, be healthier and more likely to reproduce than a person with light skin. As evidence of this expectation of adverse effects of light skin in the tropics, White South Africans ^[8] and white Australians have some of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world.^[9]

Conversely, as dark skin prevents sunlight from penetrating the skin, it hinders the production of vitamin D₃. When humans migrated to less sun-intensive regions in the north, low vitamin D₃ levels became a problem, and humans with lighter skin were more successful in reproducing. White people of Europe, who have low levels of melanin, naturally have an almost colorless skin pigmentation, especially when untanned. This low level of pigmentation allows the blood vessels to become visible, which gives the characteristic pale pink color of white people. The loss of melanin in white people is thought to have been caused by a mutation in one letter out of 3.1 billion letters of DNA.^[10]

The genetic mutations leading to light skin, though different among East Asians and Europeans,^[11] suggest the two groups experienced a similar selective pressure due to settlement in northern latitudes.^[12]

Black skin pigmentation has been linked to a number of other properties, including tactile characteristics, and slower and less pronounced development of wrinkles.^[13]

Hair[link]

The texture of hair in people of Sub-Saharan African ancestry is noticeably different from that of European and Asian populations. Herodotus described the peoples of Libya (the "western Ethiopians") as woolly-haired.

Such "afro-hair" texture is denser than its straight counterparts. Due to this, it is often referred to as "coily", "thick", "nappy", "bushy", or "woolly". For several reasons, possibly including its relatively flat cross section (among other factors^[14]), this hair type conveys a dry or matte appearance.^[15][16] Its unique shape renders it prone to breakage when combed or brushed.^[16]

The specific characteristics of the natural afro-hair form are unique among all mammals.^{[clarification needed][dubious – discuss][17]} The texture likely predates the evolution of dark skin. It evolved when, as pre-human australopithecines lost most of their fur to enable perspiration, the need to protect the newly exposed pale skin underneath this body hair was crucial (see^[18] in light of Rogers and others., 2004 and Harding and others., 2000). The trait ceased to be essential to survival at the equator upon the evolution of hairless dark skin. Yet it has continued to be expressed vestigially among most Melanesians, Andaman Islanders, and sub-Saharan Africans.

Sub-Saharan Africa[link]

A black woman and her albino son from Tanzania

Sub-Saharan Africa is a common, if imprecise term that encompasses African countries located south of the Sahara Desert. It is commonly used to differentiate the region culturally, ecologically, politically and, more controversially, racially, from North Africa, which has historically been considered part of the Mediterranean sphere and whose residents are primarily of Arab ethnicity.

Because the indigenous people of this region are primarily dark-skinned, it is alternatively called "Black Africa".^[19] However the terminology Black Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa is considered by some as a pejorative term and a vestige of colonialism, which divided Africa into European terms of homogeneity.^[20] Some criticize the use of the term, because, as it has become in many quarters synonymous with Black Africa, people may not realize that there are also indigenous black populations in North Africa. In addition, the Sahara cuts across countries such as Mauritania, Mali, Niger, and Chad, leaving some parts of them in North Africa and some in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some black Africans prefer to be culturally distinguished from those who live in the north of the continent.^[21]

Cultural ideas of a black race[link]

South Africa[link]

A Khoisan man, an ethnic group in South Africa.

In South Africa during the apartheid era, the population was classified into four main racial groups: Black, White, Asian (mostly Indian), and Coloured. The Coloured group included people of mixed Bantu, Khoisan, and European descent (with some Malay ancestry, especially in the Western Cape). The Coloured definition occupied an intermediary position between the Black and White definitions in South Africa.

The apartheid bureaucracy devised complex (and often arbitrary) criteria in the Population Registration Act to determine who belonged in which group. Minor officials administered tests to enforce the classifications. When it was unclear from a person's physical appearance whether a person was to be considered Colored or Black, the "pencil test" was employed. This involved inserting a pencil in a person's hair to determine if the hair was kinky enough for the pencil to get stuck.^[22]

During the apartheid era, those classed as "Coloured" were oppressed and discriminated against. But, they had limited rights and overall had slightly better socioeconomic conditions than those classed as "Black".

In the post-apartheid era, the ANC government's laws in support of their affirmative action policies define "Black" people to include "Africans", "Coloureds" and "Asians". Their affirmative action policies have also favored "Africans" over "Coloureds". Some South Africans categorized as "African Black" openly state that "Coloureds" did not suffer as much as they did during apartheid. The popular saying by "Coloured" South Africans to illustrate their dilemma is:

We were not white enough under apartheid, and we are not black enough under the ANC (African National Congress)

In 2008, the High Court in South Africa ruled that Chinese South Africans who were residents during the apartheid era (and their descendents) are to be reclassified as "Black people" solely for the purposes of accessing affirmative action benefits, because they were also "disadvantaged" by racial discrimination. Chinese people who arrived in the country after the end of apartheid do not qualify.^[23]

Other than by appearance, "Coloureds" can usually be distinguished from "Blacks" by language. Most speak Afrikaans or English as a first language, as opposed to Bantu languages such as Zulu or Xhosa. They also tend to have more European-sounding names than Bantu names.^[24]

In the Middle East[link]

Near East and North Africa[link]

Black African and Near Eastern peoples have interacted since prehistoric times.^[25][26] Some historians estimate that as many as 14 million black slaves were transported across the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Sahara Desert in the Arab slave trade from 650 to 1900 CE.^[27][28] The Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismail "the Bloodthirsty" (1672–1727) raised a corps of 150,000 black slaves, called his Black Guard, who coerced the country into submission.^[29][30]