Cultural variation makes the world interesting and the proof is on every page of this panorama of ethnic diversity. From the Inuit of the Arctic to the Berbers of North Africa, from the Ainu of Japan to the Basques and Bretons of France, the world's most compelling ethnic groups are here - some as small as the 6,000 Foi of New Guinea and others as numerous as the 100,000,000 Javanese of Indonesia. Filled with National Geographic's trademark photographs and maps, the book's nine chapters highlight the world's major continental-cultural areas and describe in detail the traditions, values, religions, and lifestyles of more than 150 ethnic groups.The writers, leading anthropologists and experts, have a firsthand knowledge of the peoples they describe and of the historical and geographical forces that have influenced them. An exhaustive list of more than 5,000 ethnic groups worldwide and their locations provides an invaluable resource for better understanding the breadth of human variation on the planet. But beyond just information, the images are extraordinary - Otavaleño women in Ecuador washing long skeins of wool in a mountain stream . . . a proudly mustachioed Hungarian Magyar in traditional attire . . . a Dogon fortune-teller in Mali divining the future from a pattern in the sand . . . Tobriand Islanders ranging through the Pacific in outrigger canoes . . . and scores of other wonderfully evocative scenes from all over the globe. At once a celebration of glorious diversity, a comprehensive reference, and a thoughtful look at the universal human instinct to identify with a group, 'Peoples of the World' invites you on a boundless journey of discovery, an odyssey that is as fascinating as it is unforgettable.