People who first go on vacation to Southeast Asia often pay attention to the very small growth of the indigenous people. They seem to us very small in comparison with us. And in which countries do the smallest people live? Where do the giants live?

So, 5 countries with the tallest men:

1. Netherlands: 182.5 cm
2. Belgium: 181.7 cm
3. Estonia: 181.6 cm
4. Latvia: 181.4 cm
5. Denmark: 181.4 cm

As you can see, the tallest men on the planet live in Europe, mainly in the northern part.

5 countries with the tallest women:

1. Latvia: 169.8 cm
2. Netherlands: 168.7 cm
3. Estonia: 168.7 cm
4. Czech Republic: 168.5 cm
5. Serbia: 167.7 cm

The tallest women in the world also live in Europe, but there is no longer a clear range, but are distributed from south to north.

Now let's move on to the lowest men:

1. East Timor: 159.8 cm
2. Yemen: 159.9 cm
3. Laos: 160.5 cm
4. Madagascar: 161.5 cm
5. Malawi: 162.2 cm

In general, these are residents of Central Africa and Southeast Asia.

5 countries with the lowest women:

1. Guatemala: 149.4 cm
2. Philippines: 149.6 cm
3. Bangladesh: 150.8 cm
4. Nepal: 150.9 cm
5. East Timor: 151.2 cm

Here, too, are mainly residents of South-East Asia.

In general, in general, there is a tendency, the closer to the equator and the hotter the climate, the lower the indigenous people. And the further north the country is, the higher the inhabitants. Also, there is a dependence of population growth with the standard of living, the higher the standard of living, the higher the population, and vice versa, in less developed countries the population is generally below average. Of course, there are exceptions, but in general, such trends are visible.

What is the reason for such patterns? Most likely with the fact that in developed countries people work less exhausting physical labor, devote more to their health and proper nutrition, go in for sports, medicine, human rights are developed in such countries. In low-developed countries, most of the population is engaged in exhausting physical labor (most often in agriculture), often goes hungry, and devotes less to their health and sports. In addition, a person's height directly depends on where they live, for example, in dense forests and impenetrable jungles, it is easier for a population with a short stature to survive. Thus, continued genetic selection has led to such different results.

In general, there is a tendency towards an increase in average population growth in the world. Over the past 100 years, this indicator has increased in all countries of the world. So over the past 100 years in Iran, Greece and Japan, the average height of men has increased by more than 15 cm. And the average height of women in South Korea by as much as 20 cm! In Russia, the average height of men is 176.5 cm (an increase of 9 cm over 100 years), and of women 165.3 cm (an increase of 12 cm over 100 years). Again, this can be attributed to a sharp increase in the living standards of the population of the countries.

Scientists believe that global change human growth is undulating. In the ancient period, the inhabitants of the developed countries at that time had the growth of a modern person. Later, the growth of a person decreased and reached a minimum in the Middle Ages. There has been a steady increase in growth over the past 200 years. It is believed that in the next 50-100 years, the average height of a person will stop increasing, and perhaps in a few centuries a new decline will begin, initiated by some kind of disease or warriors. But this is all the distant future, which only our great-great-grandchildren will see.

The rest of the countries can be found in ours, in the "Medicine" section.

The growth of a person, inherent in genetics, is almost impossible to change, but a lot depends on the growth of a man and a woman in their lives. Are modern people really superior to their ancestors? Why don't we grow all our lives? What is the maximum height of the human skeleton? And which of famous people have you overtaken in growth?

Human growth is one of the most important indicators of the state of the body. It depends on a whole complex of hereditary properties, the intake of many substances into the body, its hormonal regulation, environmental conditions, social status and etc.

Growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland stimulates the development of cells and tissues. The natural cessation of growth is not due to a lack of hormone formation by the pituitary gland, but to an age-related decrease in the ability of cells and tissues of the body to respond to the action of this hormone. Insulin (a hormone of the pancreas), products of activity and adrenal glands also have a great influence on growth.

Excessive secretion of growth hormone leads to diseases such as acromegaly or gigantism, the lack of the same hormone - to growth retardation, up to dwarfism. Gigantism manifests itself more often in males. Lilliputians, or pituitary dwarfs, - proportional subjects. These include everyone whose height at the age of twenty does not exceed 140 centimeters for men and 130 centimeters for women.

Growth also depends on social well-being. It is noticed that once the difference between an aristocrat and a poor man reached 20-22 centimeters. In the 13th century, the average height of recruits from the south of France was 154 centimeters, and from Paris - 162 centimeters; at the same time in Russia the average height of service people was 162-164 centimeters, while Muscovites were taller than Novgorodians.

The growth of a newborn depends on the size of the parents, the size of the uterus, the mother's nutrition, the presence or absence of toxic processes in her body, as well as the number of previous births. From birth to 7–8 years old, boys and girls generally differ little in body length. After 8-10 and up to fifteen, girls grow a little faster, and then boys grow taller than girls.

Girls stop growing by the age of fifteen or sixteen, boys - by the age of 18-21. The growth of bones in length is most often completed by the time of puberty, and in men it occurs later than in women, which is why they often have a higher growth. Statistics show that over the past hundred years, the growth of adolescents has increased by an average of 10 percent, which is about 17.5 centimeters.

At present, the average height of a Russian man is 176, and a Russian woman is 168 centimeters. On average, the height of men is 13.5 centimeters higher than the height of women.

Psychologists say that men have an irresistible desire to reach the 183-centimeter mark. At the same time, it is possible that the taller a man is, the more sexually in demand he is.

These days, the taller a woman is, the faster she climbs the career ladder. It is possible that its growth is due to the significant content of the male sex hormone testosterone in the body.

It is believed that a man should be taller than a woman. And if he is a ruler, a boss, then his figure, at least in the representation of subordinates and in the image (sculpture, painting), as a rule, rises above ordinary people.

According to American researchers, the wife's height exceeds the husband's height in only one of 720 married couples. But A. Pushkin barely reached the shoulder of his wife Natalia Goncharova.

According to research, goodies are more often presented as tall and physically strong people. And women of all cultural backgrounds recognize tall men as more attractive.

Don Quixote had, judging by the famous literary work, a long narrow body. Sancho Panza, on the other hand, was short, stumpy, had a short neck and massive muscles. Now think how our ideas about these literary characters would change if they exchange bodies with each other ...

There is an international club, which currently numbers about 3 thousand people, whose height exceeds 2 meters. If in the first years of the club's existence its members only consoled each other, then later they began to fight for the production of furniture, shoes and clothing designed for their growth, for the reduction of taxation, etc.

In A. Belyaev's science fiction novel "A Man Who Lost His Face," hormones brought the beauty Gedda Lux to a height of 287 centimeters. Such growth has not yet been recorded in real people. But in the life of men (their limbs are usually longer than the length of the body), the following records take place: the Russian Fedor Makhnov's height reached 285 centimeters, the Finn Kayanus and the Dutchman Albert Kramer - 282. Records for women (they usually have the length of the body prevailing over the length extremities): the German woman Marianna Veda was 255 centimeters tall, and the American Dolores Pullard was 250 centimeters. In Russia, the tallest was, obviously, Elizaveta Lysko - 227 centimeters.

Nowadays, the Turk Sultan Kosen is recognized as the tallest man in the world, his height is 247 centimeters, and the Chinese Bao Xishun is 236 centimeters. Zhytomyr Leonid Stadnik with a height of 255 centimeters is still an unofficial record holder and continues to grow.

In 1872, in England, a marriage was concluded between Scotchwoman Anna Swan (height 234 centimeters) and captain of the guardsmen Martin Bates (height 218 centimeters).

But there are limiting values \u200b\u200bfor human growth. We cannot reach a height of 3-4 meters: our bones are not designed for such a load. Below I give data on the growth of a number of very famous people that I managed to collect, based on information in the periodicals.

The rise of famous people

The smallest, obviously, should be recognized as a thirty-seven-year-old woman described in the 17th century by the French naturalist Buffon, who had a height of 43.3 centimeters, and the Filipino Juan de la Cruz, 48 centimeters tall. Nowadays, the height of the twenty-five-year-old Turk Suleiman Erie is 87 centimeters, and the eight-year-old inhabitant of the island of Java Karey is 51 centimeters. In 2010, the eighteen-year-old Nepalese Gyanendra Tapa Magar, who is 55 centimeters tall, entered the Guinness Book of Records.

Often in some states, undersized subjects also unite in clubs, because tax services do not take into account that they have to order special clothing, shoes, furniture, adjust the car control system to their height, etc.

Discussion

The table has such a politically correct error. Putin's growth is classified information. Try to type in the search ?! In fact, not 170 cm, of course, but much less. Likewise Medvedev.

So Mayakovsky was a giant among his own people! Somehow I was amazed myself when I went to the houses-museums of writers - there they have such small beds, small shirts lie)))

Length is a horizontal measure and is best used by undertakers in discussions of human height. It would be more correct to talk about height.

In the error table. Hitler's height, for example, 175.

Comment on the article "The height of men and women: what depends on. Norms and records"

I wish you next year to break all records and grow to the desired mark! My friend is -150, another woman is definitely not more than 140. That is, they live fully. AND great amount men love petite ones.

On littlevane they are discussing just [link-1] Depends not on age, but on growth zones, if closed, then no longer. I took mine at 12 regarding growth, with growth hormones all the norms turned out to be, but Men grow longer than women, if I remember correctly until 25.

AT modern world being lonely is much easier than before, and this is already a historical fact. Women and men have ceased to depend on each other in everyday and financial terms, and if single men still met at all times, then single women used to be much harder to survive alone. There are no fewer single women now. But for what reasons do they choose loneliness and is it a conscious choice? In her article, psychologist Olga Volkova will talk about what psychology she is ...

daughter 21, height 156. I have a height of 175 :-) At one time went to the doctors and to the endocrinologist, everything is normal. Men of any height are suitable for short women, and Kolomna versts still look for boyfriends.

The United States has invented a new term to describe extreme obesity - "excessive obesity." The rate of obesity in the United States and the world is forcing scientists and doctors to introduce a new scale for assessing this disease. The consequence of a heavy diet in the United States has been an increased percentage of obese people. At the same time, if earlier people suffered from obesity of the first and second degrees, today more and more men and women have weight that literally defies description. This is the state of 6% of the US population. To ...

If a woman is tall herself (from 178-180), then a short man next to her height, for example, 175, looks harmonious. A tall man and a small woman with a difference of 25-30 cm, in my opinion, also do not look ice.

She wanted not to work, rrraz - and on maternity leave. Or you don't have to work at all if you don't want to. Nobody will condemn, only support. How about men? You also don't want to work sometimes. But it is necessary :) How would you react to the fact if your husband said that they say "I'm tired of it, I quit, I don't want to work, I want to lie on the couch and do nothing." *** Topic moved from blogs

For many women, pregnancy leaves scars, stretch marks and folds on their bodies. This is a reality that women are trying to hide, and not to show the media. But one photographer decided to change our attitude towards the mother's body. Early last year, Jade Bill, a young mother from Tucson, Arizona, walked into her studio, undressed, picked up her one-month-old baby, and took a series of self-portraits. In the pictures, she saw an unfamiliar body - roundness that was not there before pregnancy. What she saw did not ...

A question that has worried me personally for a long time, what should be dominant for a woman: a happy family life or rapid career growth? Moreover, this question, apparently, worries more than one of me, since in my life I have seen many "real wives" and at least many "hardened careerists". And I have met those who belong to the golden mean (she herself!). Let me try to describe those and others: Real wife. It is clear that a woman does not work anywhere and at best ...

When does the feeling of old age come? Someone feels like an old man at the age of 20, and someone at 70 behaves like a child. Interestingly, women are especially sensitive to age. Men, on the other hand, worry little about the passing years. British scientists conducted a study to find out at what age a person begins to feel that he is getting old. The poll showed that the beautiful half of humanity “grows old” at 29 years old, and the strong half at 58! Why? Various factors influence the sensation. Women...

How tall do you think is tall for women and men? So it depends on the generation. In my mother's post-war class, the tallest girl was 165 cm, and she was tall - the average height of her classmates was about 155-158 cm. In my class, the height of 165 cm was the most ...

It has been scientifically proven that psychological support for a woman in labor reduces pain sensitivity, promotes the physiological course of labor, and also shortens their period in time. The generic dominant controls the complex process of childbirth, which depends on the neurohumoral changes in the body of a pregnant woman. Without psychological preparation, a feeling of fear of expectation arises in any woman in labor, or childbirth will be normal for her, for her unborn child, which they dream about, which she has been waiting for so much ...

Today I quarreled with my husband again. And for the last year this has been happening for the same reason: I am on maternity leave, the child is two years old, I have taken over most of my life. Thank God my mother is actively helping me, without her I would be unbearable. Every time my husband comes home from work, he looks for an excuse to find fault with the cleanliness of the apartment. I am tormented by the question, why did it not bother him before, but now, even some uncleaned toy after a child becomes my "joint"? Let me explain. When we started living together ...

In this post, I want to dwell in detail on various factors and circumstances that stimulate the onset and development of obesity. I'll start with two of the most significant factors, namely: the availability of food and the introduction of technology into everyday life. The first factor - the availability of energy values \u200b\u200b- directly affects the incidence of obesity. There is a dependence of the onset of this disease on the increased consumption of high-calorie carbohydrates and fat-containing foods. It has...

Since nothing has been discussed here yet, let's try to discuss something simple first :) In the age conference, the question "what size of clothes / shoes to buy", etc. often pops up. Maybe let's try to write down how tall our children were at 10 years old and 11 years old (who have already turned), well, or in the interval between 10-11, and then we will build a diagram, it would be interesting to look at the distribution clearly :)

that is, do you consider it normal that a woman has sex with different men, being married and kind of loving one? Yes, the price does not depend on age, personally checked. It directly depends on the number of buyers, I alone can easily ...

But according to all tables, this is in line with the norms, growth is below average. It grows evenly, 6 cm per year. I'm already going to sleep :) And about the massage, by the way, I heard from you for the first time :) In basketball - well, it still depends on the character.

Something like facial beauty for a woman. I would compare the low (significantly below normal) height in a boy with a conspicuous external defect in a girl. Yes, it all depends on the attitude towards oneself, self-esteem, complexes, etc. etc...

Therefore, when a permanent partner appears, a man (and a woman too) behaves like a hungry person who has fallen into A, its size depends on the prevailing efforts and the degree of his own sexual hunger. When hunger becomes more, then less effort is required.

I do not mean those who are restricted by the prescriptions of religion, etc. Maybe men will also answer about their experience in terms of the number of women before and during marriage? In addition, I know several people whose second man became a husband :) 2. Probably depends on the person, because ...

"God, how men were crushed!" - Do you know such an exclamation? I wonder if the male population is really getting lower, or does it just seem to the ladies who have grown up and climbed on heels? About what a man of average height is and what exactly this indicator is determined in the world and in our country, we will talk in the article.

Is height an indicator of sexuality?

Men of average height, probably, with some envy look at tall and therefore such noticeable friends. “Eh, I would have his height! I would have won all the beauties! " - something like this they reason. And they are wrong.

In Switzerland, researchers drew attention to the fact that especially pronounced sexuality is inherent in men of precisely average height. It is interesting that the lower the representative of the stronger sex, the higher his libido.

More than 500 men aged 20 to 54 took part in the experiment, as a result of which it was found that everyone whose height did not exceed 170 cm showed themselves to be strong, passionate and gentle partners. By the way, the ladies noticed these qualities almost from the first minutes of their acquaintance.

Scientists explained this by the fact that a man of average height and below, as a rule, has complexes associated with this indicator, so he tries to prove himself, to establish himself in various areas, which, in particular, includes sex.

Is the growth of a man a guarantee of his success?

In our ancestors, the growth of a man was directly related to his health, strength and ability to feed and protect his family, so there is nothing surprising in the desire of modern ladies to see a tall man next to them. This is primarily due to the basic instinct.

AND modern men high growth, by the way, have not only this advantage. As proven, they tend to have a higher average income and are easier to move up the career ladder. Scientists attribute this to high self-esteem and leadership qualities in such people.

It would seem that large in all respects, representatives of the stronger sex should have a lot of children. But no! As Dutch scientists have found out, the most fertile is a man of average height. By the way, he gets married earlier and has his first child earlier. So, despite the love of beautiful ladies for tall partners, for some reason they start a family with a man of average height. You can't argue with statistics!

So what is the average height of a man?

The growth of each of us depends on the combination of 180 genes and, of course, on the lifestyle of the mother who carried the child. And then - and from the lifestyle of the person himself. Once the average height of a European man was 160 cm, and our contemporaries stretched out on average to 176 cm.

Over time, the concept of what is the average height of a man in the world has changed a lot. In knightly armor, which are kept in museums in Rome, now only a teenager can fit. Since the height of these warriors did not exceed 167 cm.

The growth of the European has increased by 11 cm

What exactly affects the number of centimeters from crown to heels for each person? It is no secret to anyone that the data on the dependence of growth rates on race. Asians are short people. Their average height is 165 cm, while Europeans grow up to 178 cm.

But not only genetic inheritance determines these parameters. In prosperous countries than where the economy is. After all, the quality of the eaten food, and their variety, and the absence of the need to work hard, along with developed health care, help a person to become taller. This is probably why, until recently, the average height of a man from America was the largest in the world.

According to the observations of researchers, the body length of the average man has increased by 11 cm since the end of the 19th century - from 167 cm to 178 cm.

War is not a hindrance to growth

But, by the way, despite the proven dependence of growth on living standards, it turned out that during the two world wars and the Great Depression, experienced by mankind, the average body length of people continued to increase. It would seem that growing poverty, lack of food and hardships should have affected the described indicator, but no, this did not happen. On the contrary, the man of average height was getting taller!

Scientists try to explain this phenomenon by the fact that people in such periods tried to have fewer children in the family, which means that the number of eaters decreased and the quality of nutrition came to a relative norm, and the child grew up unhindered. Although, of course, such arguments do not look convincing. Since food during the war could hardly be brought back to normal. So this fact still remains a mystery, by the way, as well as the increase in the number of boys born before each war.

Perfect partner growth

But, be that as it may, the average height of a European for last years increased significantly. In this regard, the perceptions of attractiveness have obviously changed.

Researchers from the Netherlands conducted a survey of 50,000 young men and women about what should ideally be the growth of a partner, and at the same time how satisfied they are with their growth. It turned out that women seem especially attractive to men 20 cm taller than them, but the stronger sex will prefer a lady who does not reach their height of only 7.5 cm.

On average, according to the findings of scientists from the University of Groningen, the ideal (that is, desired by the majority of respondents) average height of a man and a woman in a pair is 190 cm and 175 cm. Yes, high preferences in height!

Growth gap between rich and poor has narrowed

For thirty years scrupulous scientists from Great Britain have been trying to determine the relationship between material well-being and the anatomical features of each of the people. They now argue that the average height of a man in the world has increased more in 300 years than in the previous several thousand years. So, they emphasize, such a leap speaks of a direct connection of this indicator with material well-being.

So, 200 years ago, representatives of aristocratic families were taller than commoners. At the beginning of the century before last, for example, a 14-year-old proletarian teenager did not exceed 130 cm, and his peer from a wealthy family was about 25 cm taller. Our contemporaries, rich and poor, are 7 cm, which confirms the general increase in welfare and the level of medicine.

What average growth rates indicate

The conclusion that it is the average population growth that is the most accurate indicator of the health of a nation is, of course, correct, but genetics cannot be discounted. The countries of Africa can hardly be classified as economically prosperous, but at the same time in Tutsis and Nilots, men stretch up to 185 cm, or even up to 2 m, while pygmies do not grow above 150 cm.

True, in the prosperous Holland, the average height of a man is 188 cm. And the fair sex of this country can hardly be called "inch" - they grow up to 177 cm. In Sweden, Denmark and Norway, these showed only a centimeter less.

What is the height of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian men

Full confirmation of the idea of \u200b\u200ba direct connection between the parameters of the average growth of a nation and its economic well-being is also noticeable among representatives of the Slavs, who, by the will of fate, live today in different countriesoh.

So, the growth of an average man, a resident of the USSR, in the 70s was 168 cm.And in the 80s the male population grew by 3 cm.

At the beginning of market reforms, the average Russian reached about 176 cm. The average height of a man in Ukraine is not very different from him - he is 175.3 cm.

In 1997, the Belarusians were slightly lower. They grew up to 174 cm. But in 2008, according to research by the Department of Anthropology, 18-year-old boys were already 177 cm tall. As studies show, since 1925 this nation has grown by 15 cm, which, you see, is quite good. True, this process of rapid growth, once called acceleration, has already stopped. This is especially noticeable in urban residents, while in rural areas it is still ongoing.

The average height of men in Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, as well as in other states, of course, closely depends on many indicators. By the way, it has been noticed that this can be associated with the level of education of the mother. After all, it is she who organizes the diet and daily routine of her child, which cannot but affect whether the boy will subsequently be a tall enough man.

The average height of a man is a sign of what?

So, as you probably already understood, the average height of residents of different countries and nations can differ. And the influence of many factors can contribute to this:

• genetics (for example, Asians belong to undersized nations, and Scandinavians have always been distinguished by their high growth);
• the level of well-being in the state (in successful Japan and China - countries originally inhabited by low residents, growth has recently increased by almost 12 cm, and the average Japanese is now almost the same height as an American);
• it is not unimportant whether a specific person lives in the city or in the countryside;
• how the mother carried and raised the child;
• does a person have chronic diseases, which, by the way, are capable of influencing growth, taking away on average up to 3 cm?

A man of average height in different countries may turn out to be 165 cm and 184 cm in height, while being considered a typical representative of the stronger sex among his fellow citizens, especially not distinguished by this parameter.

And women from Latvia. Today the average Dutchman is 183 centimeters tall, while the average Latvian woman is 170 centimeters tall.

The researchers, who published their work in the journal eLife, studied changes in the height of people in 187 countries around the world, starting in 1914. It turned out that men from Iran and women from South Korea have the most significant "gains" - on average, their height increased by about 16 and 20 centimeters, respectively.

In the UK, the height of men and women increased by an average of 11 centimeters over the same period. And today the average inhabitant of Foggy Albion reaches 178 centimeters in height, and the inhabitant - 164 centimeters.

In 1914, Russian men occupied the 35th line of the list of the tallest people, their indicators reached 167 centimeters, TASS reports. In 2014, they "grew" by almost ten centimeters, the average figure today is 176 centimeters. However, despite this, in the modern ranking, they dropped to 42nd place compared to other men.

Russian women have grown by about 12 centimeters in 100 years - from 153 to 165 centimeters. And they occupy the 23rd line of the rating, while in 1914 they were content with only 53.

Scientists note that data on the inhabitants of the United States give a significant contrast to the study. Over the past century, men and women have grown by only six and five centimeters, respectively.

Indeed, in the ranking of the tallest people on the planet, US residents have lost their former positions. Back in 1914, they were ranked third among the tallest men on Earth, and women were fourth. Today they got 37th and 42nd places.

It is noted that the list of the highest inhabitants of the planet is dominated by people living in European countries.

Now let's clarify the situation concerning the "smallest" inhabitants of the planet. The shortest men live in East Timor - their average height is 160 sentiments. And the shortest women live in Guatemala. By the way, similar indicators were observed in 1914. According to scientific work, 100 years ago, the average woman at the age of 18 there reached a height of 140 centimeters, today she is no higher than 150 centimeters.

Interestingly, some of the most noticeable changes in growth occurred in East Asians. People in Japan, China and South Korea are much taller than they were 100 years ago.

"South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh), on the other hand, has seen the smallest change in growth in the past hundred years. Here, the 'gain' ranged from one to six centimeters," says one of the study authors James Bentham of Imperial College London.

In addition, in parts of Black Africa (a group of African countries located south of the Sahara Desert), average growth has declined since the 1970s. For example, in Uganda and Sierra Leone, the level of decline reaches several centimeters.

Some of the difference in growth around the world can be attributed to genetics, but the study's authors say the DNA code may not be the dominant one.

Study lead author Majid Ezzati of Imperial College London said in an interview with BBC News: “About a third of the changes can be attributed to genetics, but it does not reveal why the changes have occurred over time. Genes do not change as quickly, and neither do they are changing all over the world at once. "

From this, the scientist concludes that changes that have occurred over time are largely determined by the environment.

Other studies have shown that being tall can have both positive and negative sides.

Tall people tend to have a longer life expectancy and a lower risk of various heart diseases. On the other hand, scientists have found evidence that taller people are at greater risk of contracting certain cancers - colon, breast, and ovarian.

"One hypothesis is that growth factors can stimulate cell mutation," says Elio Riboli, another study author.

In 1914, the growth of the average Korean woman was 142.2 cm, and after 100 years it came to 162.3 - this is almost the growth of the average Russian (165.3 cm). The tallest women in 2014 live in the Baltics: in the top three are Latvia and Estonia with an average of 168-169 cm. The shortest women are citizens of Guatemala and the Philippines, where the average height does not reach one and a half meters. The Philippines is also one of those countries where growth in the 20th century has hardly increased.

Men grow too. The records were broken by the citizens of Iran: their average height increased by 16 cm, which, however, did not make them giants: the average Iranian height of 173.6 is still shorter than Danes, Belgians and Estonians, whose average height exceeds 180. The smallest men live in the West Timor and Yemen - they barely reach 159 cm.

The Guardian published a table with the average height of the inhabitants of 200 countries in 1914 and 2014, which borrows the results from the study of Imperial College London, published today in the scientific journal eLife. James Bentham, one of the co-authors of the study, attributed the gains in global population growth to improved nutrition, sanitation and health systems. "For an individual, genes play a key role in how his growth will be, but at the scale of a population, genes are no longer so important," the scientist notes.

Another co-author of the study, Elio Riboli, notes: “The news is good: the taller the person, the longer the life expectancy: taller people are less susceptible to cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, being tall is associated with an increased risk of developing certain cancers. "