What is the Origin and Reason for Green Eyes?

What is the Origin and Reason for Green Eyes?

Chapters:

0:00 Green Eyes
1:11 The Green-Eyed People of China
1:43 Genetics and Origins of Green Eyes
6:22 Reason for Green Eyes

When and where did green eyes first develop and for what reason? Now green eyes are the rarest eye colour, with only 2% of the entire world’s population having them. As a general breakdown of eye colour worldwide:

Brown eyes: 70 to 80%
Blue eyes: 8 to 10%
Hazel eyes: 5%
Amber eyes: 5%
Gray eyes: 3%
Green eyes: 2%

What’s your eye colour out of interest? Please let me know in the comments below… People of European descent represent the largest share of those with green eyes, and they are most common in Northern, Western and Central Europe. More specifically, Ireland, Scotland and other parts of northern Europe have the highest share of people with green eyes.
Iceland is one, with around 8–10% of men and 18–21% of women having them, and in the Netherlands, 6% of men and 17% of women have green eyes. In Europe more broadly, they're found in around 8 percent of the population. Among European Americans, green eyes are most common among those of Celtic and Germanic ancestry, at about 16%.

Even though they’re most common in Europe, people with green eyes can be found all over the world, even as far as remote parts of China. Liqian, a remote village in Western China, is known for its high percentage of people with green eyes and blond hair. Some suggest they’re descended from Roman soldiers who got stranded in China, but this isn’t proven. DNA results from 2010 that analysed these villagers did indicate that they are almost two thirds of Caucasian origin, potentially lending support to this Roman theory but it’s still debated.

Now what causes green eyes? Initially, scientists used to believe that eye colour in general was decided by two genes—one from each parent. Now, they know as many as 16 genes influence the amount of melanin produced by the iris, with the OCA2 and HERC2 genes heavily involved in eye colour. Melanin absorbs light, so irises with high amounts of melanin appear darker. These genes however interact in complex ways, and we are still trying to fully work out how this all works.

Sources:

Eye color - Wikipedia

Ulivi S, Mezzavilla M, Gasparini P. Genetics of eye colours in different rural populations on the Silk Road. Eur J Hum Genet. 2013 Nov;21(11):1320-3. doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2013.41. Epub 2013 Mar 13. PMID: 23486544; PMCID: PMC3798846.

DNA tests show Chinese villagers with green eyes could be descendants of lost Roman legion | Daily Mail Online

Rayleigh scattering - Wikipedia

Iris (anatomy) - Wikipedia

Silk Road - Wikipedia

Creative Commons Imagery:

JCS File:Goldene Kamera 2012 - Scarlett Johansson 3.JPG - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. CC BY 3.0 Deed | Attribution 3.0 Unported | Creative Commons

#greeneyes #eyecolour #ancestry

[celtichistorydecoded]

Please let me know your thoughts below... Thanks for watching!

I have blue eyes 😀

[andreaandrea]

Thank you for NOT using an AI voice and for showing yourself on the video. I appreciate that!

[a.jlondon]

I have Green Eyes and billions of freckles. It's Great to be Rare! Hello from Canada

[heidithesausage]

My sister & I have green eyes, both parents have blue eyes. Australian (German Dad & Irish/ Polish mum)
Thanks for reminding us to appreciate the gift of being green. 🤩

[evelynbare]

I'm just grateful to have eyes that see!

[marjan_t]

Khaki-green eyed Asian here - hello from Kazakhstan! 👋

[KamilazWarszawy]

Hi! I'm one of the 2% of people with green eyes (very green) and I'm from Poland. My father has green eyes and my mother blue eyes, my green eyes change slightly colour from a bright green to a more bland greyish tone depending on the light conditions, as you said in the video. Thank you for your explaination.

[bridgetdoran]

Zimbabwean 🇿🇼 African here with green eyes and blond hair and freckles. I have Scottish Ancestry.

[jen]

Green eyes - my best feature and they are very striking and change colour with different lighting and clothing colour. People are captivated by them and I know it. Scottish Irish and welsh ancestry.

[annieansell]

I have green eyes with a blue rim on the outer edge. I had blue eyes up to the middle of last year when they started changing. Hello from Australia 🇦🇺.

[christianmccann]

Im irish ive black hair on my head and a red beard and ive green eye s .. proud Celt

[pennywolf]

I have green eyes but people often think they are blue or grey. It depends on the color of the clothes I wear and lighting.

[mkirwin]

I have green eyes and freckles. Born and raised in Iowa, USA. My extended family immigrated to USA from Scotland, Ireland, Denmark and Netherlands.

[stevenhoskins]

TEXAN HERE: I have blond hair & green eyes. I'm genetically English, Scottish, Welsh & Irish. I'm the only person in my family with green eyes. Everyone else, on both sides have blue eyes. My son ended up with green eyes too.

[Querencia]

My optometrist said I’ve the greenest eyes he’s ever seen. My eyes are lime green, with gold flecks. My ancestry: Prussian, German, Irish, Norwegian. Both my parents had green eyes.

[ashlar]

I have green eyes but there's some flecks of gold as well. They do change color depending on what color I"m wearing- red and purple really make my eyes pop. Sometimes they're even gray. Always been told they're my best feature.

[foxerrr]

Virginia, USA here! I have green eyes, freckles and auburn hair. My family ancestry is primarily from Scotland.

[hansiwirsching]

Hello from franconia, a region in the middle of germany,
to the greeneyed brothers and sisters

[TruthHumble]

I am a woman from Germany Freesland( North of Germany) and I have shining real green eyes with a little gold in it.
I didn't know that we 💚 green-eyed people are belonging to the rare 1 % with green eyes on this earth.
As I was a little child my eyes were very big and looked like cat eyes. I' ve heard that as we age, the green in our eyes will become darker. Maybe older green eyed people are able to confirm this theory ?
I am greeting all my 💚fellowship friends who are also enjoying their green eyes 💚 🍀❤️🇩🇪🤗

[tleigh]

Green eyes, blonde hair, and freckles. My mother has green eyes and red hair, my son is blonde with green eyes also. Hello from Virginia, USA!