It is an unfortunate fact that skin color dictates alot more than how a person looks. This is especially true for countries such as the United States, where skin color is used to define race and ethnicity. Research to probe the disparities by skin color among African American women found that dark skin was associated with disadvantages across socioeconomic, health, and psychosocial domains. The research concluded that dark skin disadvantage was the predominant form of colorism. Colorism is defined as prejudice or discrimination against people who have a dark skin tone.
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As such, some cosmetic companies around the world market products that promise to turn the skin brighter, whiter, or fairer. Such tactics are common in countries with darker skin tones such as India.
This has led to the establishment of a skin whitening industry that sells products or services to reduce the amount of melanin or pigment. Its most lucrative region, according to a report by BBC, is the Asia Pacific. According to StrategyR, the skin whitening industry was valued at $8.0 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $11.8 billion in 2026. The market is dominated by women as they account for almost 80% of the total sales worldwide.
The predominant reason why lighter skin tone is more desirable is because it has traditionally been associated with wealth and status. This is especially true for countries that have the so-called ‘brown skin’, as the shade of their skin is highly dependent on their exposure to the sun. In such countries, wealthy people acquired lighter skin tones because they stayed indoors, whereas laborers acquired darker skin tones because they worked under the sun. Then, there is the impact of colonialism, where colonialists from the western part of the world were wealthier and had light skin tones.
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The situation is also similar for countries such as the United States and England, which have a history of slavery. Slaves were typically captured from Africa, which has countries with the darkest skin color in the world. So, a dark skin tone came to be associated with slavery, while a lighter tone was affiliated with wealth and status.
Fast forward to today, while the skin whitening industry still exists, much has changed. There has been mass-scale awareness and backlash against the harmful marketing tactics employed by well-known cosmetics brands that contributed to racial prejudice. This has led to cosmetic companies adjusting their marketing and branding to refrain from promoting the significance of fairer skin. Unilever’s Fair & Lovely, for example, renamed itself to Glow and Lovely. A product that now promises glowing skin rather than a fair one.
Regardless of the backlash against ‘whitening’ or ‘fairness’ products, the skincare market is huge and continues to grow. In our piece about the countries with the world’s best skin, we learned that it is projected to reach a whopping $273.3 billion by 2023 and is currently growing at a compounding annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7% for the forecast period of 2022 to 2031. The region that is expected to generate the highest revenue for the skincare market by the end of 2031 is Asia-Pacific.
While skin whitening products and services continue to grow, dark skin color is getting much-needed appreciation. Many mainstream models, for example, hail from countries with the darkest skin color. Therefore, it is worth looking at some of the countries with the darkest skin color in the world.
Pixabay/Public Domain
Methodology
To curate our list of the 20 countries with darkest skin color in the world, we used 5 (1,2,3,4,5) sources. Each time a country was mentioned by one of our sources, we noted it down. Then, we summed up the total number of times each country appeared on our sources and called this frequency. To rank the countries objectively, we also came up with the ranking factor, which is dependent on the overall ranking of the country on our sources. Our fifth source is a map of African countries according to their skin tone. We ranked these countries either 1,2,3, depending on the skin tone.
The calculation of our ranking factor is as follows: 20 / (sum of ranking x 100). The higher the sum of ranking (i.e. the lower the country ranks overall on our sources), the lower the ranking factor. We designed the ranking factor so that it will always be in decimals.
Then, for our Insider Monkey Score, we simply added frequency to the ranking factor. In this way, more importance is placed on the number of times the country appeared in our sources while also considering the city’s rank in our sources. If, for example, country A has an Insider Monkey Score of 2.2, its frequency is 2, and the ranking factor is 0.2.
As a final tiebreaker, we used the population of the countries. If, for example, country A and country B have the same Insider Monkey Score but country B has a higher population, it ranks higher on our list.
20 – Central African Republic
Insider Monkey Score – 1.07
Central African Republic is among the 20 countries with the darkest skin color in the world. The country is incredibly diverse and is home to more than 80 ethnicities. Its major ethnicity is Baya people who contribute to just about 29% of the population. The second major ethnicity in the country is Banda, contributing to about 30% of the population.
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19 – Angola
Insider Monkey Score – 1.07
Next up on our list is Angola, a country located in the southern part of Africa. Angola is the seventh largest country in Africa and is the second largest Portuguese-speaking country in terms of area and population. The country is home to over 300,000 white people despite being one of the countries with the darkest skin color in the world.
18 – Republic of Congo
Insider Monkey Score – 1.07
With an Insider Monkey Score of 1.07, the Republic of Congo ranks 18th on our list of the countries with darkest skin in the world. It is a country located in the central part of Africa.
17 – Democratic Republic of Congo
Insider Monkey Score – 1.07
Right after the Republic of Congo, we have its neighbor, The Democratic Republic of Congo, as the 17th country with the darkest skin color in the world. It is home to 250 ethnicities, of which Bantu people constitute the largest majority.
16 – Ethiopia
Insider Monkey Score – 1.07
Ethiopia is 16th on our list of countries with darkest skin color. Like most African countries, it is also incredibly diverse and is home to more than 90 ethnic groups. The largest of these ethnicities is that of Ormoros people, contributing to more than 34% of the population. The second largest ethnicity in the country is that of Amharas people, who contribute to more than 28% of its people.
15 – Namibia
Insider Monkey Score – 1.1
Namibia is among the top 15 countries with the darkest skin color in the world. It is a southern African country with 6% white and 7% mixed-race people.
14 – Burkina Faso
Insider Monkey Score – 1.1
On our 14th spot, we have Burkina Faso, a landlocked country located in the western part of Africa. The country is home to more than 22 million people and several ethnicities that belong to two major Western African cultural groups: the Gur and the Mande. However, the ethnicity that contributes to most of its population is Mossi.
13 – Côte d’Ivoire
Insider Monkey Score – 1.1
Côte d’Ivoire is another West African country on our list of the countries with the darkest skin color in the world. The Akan community makes up for majority of people in the country.
12 – Guinea
Insider Monkey Score – 1.2
With an Insider Monkey Score of 1.2, Guinea ranks 12th on our list of the 20 countries with the darkest skin color in the world. The country is home to more than 20 ethnicities, the majority of which are Fulani people who contribute to more than 33.4% of its population.
11 – Rwanda
Insider Monkey Score – 2.01
Rwanda marks the first entry on our list where the country appears on more than one of our sources. It is a landlocked country located in the Eastern part of Africa. The country is dominated by the Hutus ethnicity, which contributes to 85% of its population.
10 – Somalia
Insider Monkey Score – 2.03
Somalia is among the top 10 countries with the darkest skin color in the world. Somalian people have slightly distinguishable features compared to others in Africa. Many people perceive them to have delicate and fine features with almond-shaped eyes. The majority of people who live in the country are ethnic Somali.
9 – Zimbabwe
Insider Monkey Score – 3.01
With an Insider Monkey score of 3.01, Zimbabwe ranks 9th on our list of countries with the darkest skin color in the world. This landlocked country in Southern Africa has a population of more than 16 million people, 0.4% of which are white people. The most dominant ethnic group in the country is Shona.
8 – Kenya
Insider Monkey Score – 3.01
Next up on our list is Kenya, a country known for its sociable and friendly people. Kenya is incredibly diverse as it is home to at least 42 ethnicities and no ethnic group forms the majority in the country. The most dominant of those ethnicities, however, is of Kikuyu people, who contribute to 20% of its population.
7 – Ghana
Insider Monkey Score – 3.02
With an Insider Monkey Score of 3.02, Ghana ranks 7th on our list of the 20 African countries with the darkest skin color. This West African country is home to 75 ethnic groups. The most dominant ethnic group in the country is of Akan people, who contribute to more than 45% of the population.
6 – Uganda
Insider Monkey Score – 3.02
Uganda is home to four major ethnicities which include Bantu, Nilotics, Nilo Hamites, and the Hamites. The Bantu ethnicity is most dominant in terms of population.
5 – Tanzania
Insider Monkey Score – 3.03
Tanzania is among the top five countries with the darkest skin color in the world. It is a country located in the eastern part of Africa and includes the plains of Serengeti. Its population includes more than 120 indigenous African people. The largest ethnic group in the country are Sukuma people.
4 – Malawi
Insider Monkey Score – 4.01
Next up on our list is Malawi. A small country in Southern Africa that has the fourth-highest percentage of people living in extreme poverty. There are ten major ethnic groups in the country, with the Chewa people contributing the most to its population.
3 – Nigeria
Insider Monkey Score – 4.01
Next up on our list is Nigeria, which is also among the top 3 countries with the darkest skin color. It is located in the Gulf of Guinea and is known for its wildlife reserves. Its people are known for their tall and well-proportioned physical appearance. Nigeria is also incredibly diverse as it is home to 371 ethnic groups. The largest ethnic group, Hausa, makes up 25% of the Nigerian population.
2 – Senegal
Insider Monkey Score – 4.02
The westernmost country of West Africa, Senegal, is the runner-up of our list of the 20 countries with the darkest sin color in the world. The country is home to about 36 ethnicities, with the Wolof people contributing as the largest ethnic group.
1 – South Sudan
Insider Monkey Score – 5.04
The country with the darkest skin in the world is South Sudan. The East African country was mentioned by all of our sources. Like most African countries, it is also incredibly diverse with 64 ethnic groups. The Dinker ethnicity contributes to the majority of its population at about 36%. The second largest ethnicity in the country is that of the Nuer people, who contribute to about 16% of the population. Other major ethnicities in South Sudan include Shilluk, Azande, Bari, Kakwa, Kuku, Murle, Mandari, Didinga, Ndogo, Bviri, and Lndi.
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Disclosure: none. 20 Countries With Darkest Skin Color in the World is originally published on Insider Monkey.
