Altitude and adaptation: A study of geography and ethnic division |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Economics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong;2. Department of International Economics and Trade, Nanjing University, Hong Kong;3. Institute of Global Economics and Finance, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong;1. National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-di Herbs, Beijing 100700, China;2. National Academy of Innovation Strategy, Beijing 100871, China;3. Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, The Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;4. Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China;5. The School of Public Health, Institute for Chemical Carcinogenesis, Guangzhou Medical University, 195 Dongfengxi Road, Guangzhou 510182, China |
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| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate the influence of geography on ethnic division by drawing evidence from Tibetan ethnic regions in China. Using a novel township name index that identifies the ethnolinguistic origin of each township name, our empirical findings first show that regions with Han Chinese settlement in the past also witness higher concentration of Han population today. We also show that townships located at higher altitudes have less Han concentration. This altitude effect can be both indirect and direct; we find that the indirect effect through historical settlement is small compared to the direct physiological effect through altitude illness. The challenging environment of the plateau region acts as a physiological hindrance only for Han Chinese, and the natural separation continues to persist between the two groups. |
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| Keywords: | Cohabitation China Tibet Diversity Ethnography Ethnic division Altitude Altitude illness |
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