Top 10 peoples facts

Ainu. The Ainu are an indigenous people in Japan, today almost completely assimilated by the Japanese. The Ainu women tattooed their mouths, starting at a young age with a small spot on the upper lip, gradually increasing with size. When they reached age 15–16, their tattoos were completed. Thus were they qualified for marriage.

Australian Aborigines were one of the only groups of people in the world not to wear any type of clothing. Both men and women were naked. Today, of course, things have changed considerably and Aboriginals dress the same as Australians.

None. There are no common Thai surnames. Surnames were largely introduced to Thai culture only by the 1913 Surname Act. Under Thai law, only one family can use any given surname: any two people of the same surname must be related, and it is very rare for two people to share the same full name.

Australian Aborigines. Among the Tiwi of the Melville and Bathurst islands off the northern coast of Australia, females were betrothed at birth. Females in this society were always married. This practice was related to the Tiwi belief that females became impregnated by child spirits. However, Tiwi society also required that every individual has a "social father" - a husband of the children's mother.

In Africa. The sandstone cliff in Bandigara Escarpment rises about 500 meters high and has a length of approximately 150 kilometers. The area of the escarpment is inhabited today by the Dogon people, but small houses attached to the cliff face were built by the Tellem people, who were pygmies or "small red people". Tellem people dissapeared for unknown reason before the area was discovered by Europeans. Dogons describe the Tellem as possessing the power of flight.

Cherokee. According to the 2000 census, 281,069 U.S. citizens self-identify as Cherokee. These numbers are closely followed by Navajo (269,202). Other tribal groups are considerably smaller, only Sioux (108,272) and Chippewa (105,907) exceed 100,000.

Tatar. There are about 6 million speakers of Tatar in Russia, mostly in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, where it is the official language along with Russian. The language is used by Volga Tatars, not to be confused with the Crimean Tatar Language, to which it is related but with which it is not readily mutually intelligible.

Indigenous Australians. Although Madagascar is only 230 km away from Africa, the old African people didn't like to go deep in the sea. The first people who actually have reached Madagascar were Austronesians from Borneo around 500 BC.

Samoa, Pacific Ocean. The warrior carries a weapon called Nifo'oti, typical to the area. It's a mixture of a traditional weapon used in Oceania with an agricultural tool imported by Europeans.

In Japan. The Ainu are an indigenous people who lived in the Northern Island of Japan, Hokkaido, and Sakhalin Island. They are now almost completely assimilated by the Japanese. Once considered to be Caucasian, based on their appearance; but DNA testing has disproven this. The Ainu language is an isolate with no known relatives.