Average human height varies from country to country, and if we were to take the average as measured by the world’s tallest man at 8ft.11 inches, and that of the world’s shortest man at 1ft 8 inches, then we could say that the average human height was 5ft 3 and one half inches.

This is clearly not the case since the average human height for the world is in fact 5ft 6 inches. But considerable variation exists between nations, and regions. For instance the average height of an American male is 5ft 9 inches, and the female being 5ft 4 inches.

Yet the average height of a male in Peru is only 5ft 4 inches, and such differences in average height are common throughout the world.

Height is dependant upon a number of conditions affecting growth, such as the genetic make up of the person, the amount of nutrition available, and the general metabolism of the person.

The environment has a specific effect on height also, and existing environmental conditions at a particular time play their part in height determination. 17th century European males were a few inches shorter than their modern counterparts, and it is thought that this was due to the extremely cold weather conditions prevailing at the time. Maybe this explains the short stature of the Eskimo people?

The sex of the person also plays a role in determining height, usually throughout the world, the average height of the female is always much shorter than the male.

The height variations can be considerable between differing populations. The average height of a female in Holland is 5ft 7 inches while the female counter4part in Indonesia is only 4ft 9 inches. Realistically it is difficult to gain a meaningful average height of the world’s population because of the regional height variations which do take place

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