Meet the African Pygmies | Shortest People in the world?
The African Pygmies or Congo Pygmies, are a group of ethnicities native to Central Africa, mostly the Congo Basin, traditionally surviving on a forager and hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
Researchers have traditionally defined pygmies as populations with an average adult male height of no more than 155 centimeters, or about 5 feet, 1 inch.
The forested lands of Middle and West Africa are home to Pygmies, which are known to be the shortest people in the world. Despite thousands of years having passed, Pygmies attract the attention of the world with the primitive lifestyle that they have preserved since the "first age."
There is not any solid information about the origin of Pygmies, but they have lived in the region for approximately 5,000 years and have been shown to be one of the oldest inhabitants of Africa.
These indigenous people, who are about 120 centimeters tall were given the name "Pygmy" which means "dwarf" by the Europeans. Pygmy men are approximately 10 centimeters longer than their women. With their curly hair and fuzzy bodies, Pygmies differ from other groups and have broad chins, flat noses and large eyes.
Various theories have been proposed to explain the short stature of pygmies. Some studies suggest that it could be related to adaptation to low ultraviolet light levels in rainforests. This might mean that relatively little vitamin D can be made in human skin, thereby limiting calcium uptake from the diet for bone growth and maintenance, and leading to the evolution of the small skeletal size.
Other explanations include lack of food in the rainforest environment, low calcium levels in the soil, the dense nature of the jungle, and adaptation to heat and humidity.
It is assumed that today there are about 120,000 Pygmies in the world. Most of them live in a forested area, close to the Atlantic Ocean, in Congo and Cameroon. Smaller Pygmy groups are found also in Rwanda, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Zambia, Gabon and Angola.
Pygmies in Cameroon and Congo are separated into two groups, Baka and Bage Pygmies. Baka Pygmies spend their life in the undiscoverable parts of the forests out of the public gaze, while Bage Pygmies live together with the Bantu people, who consist one of the largest tribes in Cameroon and live in areas near forestlands. The Pygmies which are more interested in living the settled life are Bage Pygmies.
Living in small groups, Pygmies construct temporary cottages to live in by using bamboo trunks and large leaves they gathered from other trees.
Pygmies, who do not like connecting with outsiders and being photographed, lead a different life from the settled people of the Africa continent.
Still living a primitive life, Pygmies spend most of their time hunting in the deep forests and gathering fruit plants.
Not using any form of money, Pygmies interchange products they hunted and gathered with other groups in return for their needs. By organizing various contests, they teach their children hunting and gathering.
The Pygmy people follow the job-sharing method to meet their daily needs. Women keep busy with fishing and construction of their cottages, while men go hunting.
Recently, the Cameroon government initiated social integration programs to make Pygmies adopt to settled life. Under the context of the programs, Pygmies are given education in various areas such as agriculture, apiculture and animal breeding.
Although they have been accepted as citizens of the countries they live in over time, they still cannot benefit from many social services like health care. Regulating their social life according to highly complicated rules, Pygmies generally prefer persons out of their tribe for marriages. Although polygamy is not forbidden, it is rarely seen within their culture.
Their living spaces are narrowing down day by day, as they are not allowed to live in forests which are turned into national parks.
The Pygmies are interesting set of people. Generally, they're peaceful and welcoming
