The inhabitants of the Dinaric Alps (former Yugoslavia and Albania) have long been known as people of impressive body height, but after World War II, there was a critical lack of data related to this phenomenon. This anthropological synthesis includes the measurements of 47,158 individuals (24,642 males and 22,516 females) from the period 2010−2018 and describes detailed regional differences in male stature in the Western Balkans. According to these data, young men from Montenegro (182.9 cm) are currently the tallest 18-year-olds in the world, surpassing their Dutch peers (182.4 cm), and 18-year-old boys from Dalmatia are even taller (183.7 cm) at a regional level. A continuous belt of extraordinary height means (>184 cm) stretches from the Adriatic coast of Dalmatia through Herzegovina to the central part of Montenegro. This article summarizes all the key socio-economic, nutritional, and genetic data, and offers possible explanations for this anthropological phenomenon. Since the remarkable height of the Dinaric populations cannot be connected with any commonly known environmental factor, the most probable hypothesis is genetic and links these physical characteristics with the local founder effect of Y haplogroup I-M170. Furthermore, given that both the level of socio-economic development and dietary protein quality are still sub-optimal, the local upward trend in body height has the potential to continue in the future.

Department of Anthropology Faculty of Science Masaryk University 602 00 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Biostatistics Institute of Public Health 34000 Kragujevac Serbia

Faculty for Sport and Physical Education University of Montenegro 81400 Niksic Montenegro

Faculty for Sport and Physical Education University of Tetovo 1200 Tetovo North Macedonia

Faculty of Sport University of Ljubljana 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia

Faculty of Sports Studies Masaryk University 625 00 Brno Czech Republic

Gimnazija Metković 20350 Metkovic Croatia

Kosovo Olympic Academy 10 000 Prishtina Kosovo

Srednja ekonomsko ugostiteljska škola 85000 Bar Montenegro

Western Balkan Sport Innovation Lab 81000 Podgorica Montenegro

Biology (Basel). 2022 Jul 13;11(7):1050. doi: 10.3390/biology11071050. PubMed

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Correction: Grasgruber et al. Mapping the Mountains of Giants: Anthropometric Data from the Western Balkans Reveal a Nucleus of Extraordinary Physical Stature in Europe. Biology 2022, 11, 786