Negrito

Regions with significant populations
Philippines (Luzon, Palawan, Panay, Negros, Cebu, and Mindanao) India (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia) Thailand (Southern Thailand) Burma (Southern Burma)
Religion
Animism
Related ethnic groups
Australoid race, Melanesians

Negrito group photo (Malaysia, 1905).

Negritos in a fishing boat (Philippines, 1899).

The Negrito are a class of several ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia.^[1]

Their current populations include 12 Andamanese peoples of the Andaman Islands, six Semang peoples of Malaysia, the Mani of Thailand, and the Aeta, Agta, Ati, and 30 other peoples of the Philippines. Reports from British traders also speak of negrito people on Borneo (Sarawak). (Journal of the Malayan Branch Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XXIX, part 1, 1956)

Negritos share some common physical features with African pygmy populations, including short stature, natural afro-hair texture, and dark skin; however, their origin and the route of their migration to Asia is still a matter of great speculation. They are the most genetically distant human population from Africans at most loci studied thus far (except for MC1R, which codes for dark skin).

They have also been shown to have separated early from Asians, suggesting that they are either surviving descendants of settlers from an early migration out of Africa, commonly referred to as the Proto-Australoids, or that they are descendants of one of the founder populations of modern humans.^[2]

Etymology[link]

The term "Negrito" is the Spanish diminutive of negro, i.e. "little black person", referring to their small stature, and was coined by early European explorers.^[3]

Occasionally, some Negritos are referred to as pygmies, bundling them with peoples of similar physical stature in Central Africa, and likewise, the term Negrito was previously occasionally used to refer to African Pygmies.^[4]

Origins[link]

Being among the least-known (by outsiders) of all living human groups, the origins of the Negrito people is a much debated topic. The Malay term for them is orang asli, or original people.

They are likely descendants of the indigenous Australoid populations of the Sunda landmass and New Guinea, predating the Austronesian Mongoloid peoples who later entered Southeast Asia.^[5]

Alternatively, some scientists claim they are merely a group of Australo-Melanesians who have undergone island dwarfing over thousands of years, reducing their food intake in order to cope with limited resources and adapt to a tropical rainforest environment.

Anthropologist Jared Diamond in his book, Guns, Germs, and Steel suggests that the Negritos are possible ancestors of the Aboriginal Australians and Papuans of New Guinea, groups regarded as Australoid.