Description
Haplogroup E1b1a1 (M180) is the dominant subclade of E1b1a and the most common Y-DNA haplogroup in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in West and Central Africa. It is the defining paternal lineage of Bantu-speaking populations and has undergone a massive demographic expansion associated with the Bantu expansion — the spread of Bantu-speaking agricultural peoples from a West African homeland (modern Nigeria/Cameroon border region) across Central, East, and Southern Africa over the past 3,000–5,000 years. E1b1a1 is also the most common Y-DNA haplogroup in the African diaspora in the Americas and Caribbean.
Interesting Fact
E1b1a1 is the paternal genetic signature of one of the largest population expansions in human prehistory: the Bantu expansion. Starting from a core area near modern Nigeria/Cameroon approximately 3,000–5,000 years ago, Bantu-speaking farmers carried E1b1a1 across the African continent, displacing or absorbing earlier hunter-gatherer populations across an area of over 9 million square kilometers.
Distribution by Ethnicity
| Ethnic distribution | Region | Frequency | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bantu (Congo) | Central Africa | n=400 | |
| Yoruba (Nigeria) | West Africa | n=500 | |
| Zulu (South Africa) | Southern Africa | n=300 | |
| African Americans | North America | n=800 |
Tags
References
- Berniell-Lee et al. (2009) — Genetic and demographic implications of the Bantu expansion: insights from human paternal lineages. Molecular Biology and Evolution 26(7), 1581–1589.