The traditionally nomadic pastoralist indigenous population of South Western Africa is known as khoikhoi.

In the population of the world, three shades of skin colour are seen. The skin colour has been considered as one of the distinguishing characteristics in the study of the human race.

Broadly speaking, the people of the world can be classified into three groups on the basis of skin colour.

(a) Leucoderma or white-skinned people: The Europeans are the classic example of this group. This category also includes the Western Asiatics, North Africans, Polynesians etc. who possess skin colour which varies from pinkish-white to light brown.

(b) Xanthoderms or yellow-skinned people: The Asiatic Mongoloids are the best representatives of this group. Besides them some Amerinds, Bushmen and Hottentots also exhibit a yellowish tinge in their skin colour.

(c) Melanoderma or Black-skinned people: The Negroids are the best example of this group. Papuans, Melanesians, Pre-Dravidians etc. fall in this division.

The human skin comprises two main layers- the epidermis or the upper layer, the dermis or the lower la. There is no blood supply in the epidermis. The skin pigments or melanians are found in this layer. The colour of the pigments varies from yellow to black. But it is to be noted that the colour of the skin depends on the amount of the granules present in the deeper layer of the epidermis.