What is more common? Olive-skinned Europeans or fair-skinned Middle Easterners?

[Tooting Carmen]

Ages ago, I made a thread asking whether Mediterranean-looking Scandinavians or Nordic-looking Southern Europeans were more commonplace, so here is its long-awaited sequel. Put simply, is it more common for Europeans to have pigmentation like this Portuguese man?


Or for Middle Easterners to have pigmentation like this Lebanese man?

[Sikeliot]

Olive skinned South Europeans. Judging by the Portuguese customers I saw at work this week (mostly Madeirans), the average one is quite dark skinned for European standards..

[robertsmith]

Olive-skinned Europeans

[Comte Arnau]

Olive-skinned Europeans, as long as the weather is sunny.

[Tooting Carmen]

Olive skinned South Europeans

Yes but I'm including the North of Europe here too...

[Tooting Carmen]

More votes and suggestions please

[Hadouken]

probably equally

[Tooting Carmen]

probably equally

Perhaps, but of course it varies a lot between countries in both Europe and the Middle East, no? But then once you take both Europe as a whole and the Middle East as a whole - the intention of this thread is exactly that - then maybe you are right.

[Hadouken]

Perhaps, but of course it varies a lot between countries in both Europe and the Middle East, no?

well I think that you will find more light pigmented people in the northern middle east rather than the south (like oman , yemen etc.)

[Tooting Carmen]

well I think that you will find more light pigmented people in the northern middle east rather than the south (like oman , yemen etc.)

Of course, but even for Lebanon (and Syria, Turkey and the Caucasus) the guy I posted is rather atypical isn't he?