1
I think it has to do with exposure. The countries in the Balkan region where people are allegedly taller on average are rather small and people usually do not have the means to travel across Europe so they remain rather unknown. The Balkan peninsula is still the most obscure region in the continent. We get more exposure from the Northern countries.
I also feel people tend to overreact over the averages in Europe, there is obviously regional differences but they are not as drastic as people tend to portray them (realistically the average gap for the most part is from 1 to 4 centimetres at most from one country to another). I have traveled through many different countries in Europe and I never felt that I was shorter than average and I measure only 180 centimetres.
The exception being from my experience the Netherlands. They are indeed significantly taller than the average. I get that in the Balkan peninsula there is also tall people but it seems to be mostly exclusive to men, whereas among the Dutch that rule seems to apply as well to women. I have never seen such a disproportional amount of women who are taller than 185 centimetres as among the Dutch.
Also the average is just the average, does not mean everyone will be within its range. Some of the shortest members in the forum are actually Dutch or from the Balkans. Portugal has one of the shortest averages but at least half of the Portuguese members in here are over 180 centimetres.
Bookmarks