Genetic Demography of an Urban Greek Immigrant Community

Document Type

Article

Authors

Toni Tripp-Reimer, The University of Iowa, Iowa City IA

Abstract

In a study in historical demographic anthropology conducted during 1976-77 on an urban Greek immigrant community in Columbus, Ohio, demographic and social data were obtained for 1,286 individuals through parish records, census information, 102 structured interviews with family units, and participant observation. The results show that the generations of immigrants differed from each other in rates of fertility, mortality, and migration. This generational variation affects the estimation of natural selection, genetic drift and gene flow. The population exhibited a trend showing differential fertility to be a more significant factor in natural selection than was mortality. However, microdifferentiation from natural selection as well as from genetic drift was low when compared with other human populations. Gene flow was deduced to have been the major evolutionary force operative in the Columbus Greek community.

Recommended Citation

Tripp-Reimer, Toni (1980) "Genetic Demography of an Urban Greek Immigrant Community," Human Biology: Vol. 52: Iss. 2, Article 10.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol52/iss2/10