Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)

Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)

Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA) is the dominant paternal lineage of Western Europe. In human genetics, Haplogroup R1b is the most frequently occurring Y-chromosome haplogroup in Western Europe and in parts of sub-Saharan Central Africa (for example around Chad and Cameroon). R1b is also present at lower frequencies throughout Eastern Europe, Western Asia, Central Asia, and parts of North Africa, South Asia, and Siberia. Due to European emigration it also reaches high frequencies in the Americas and Australia. While Western Europe is dominated by the R1b1a2 (R-M269) branch of R1b, the Chadic-speaking area in Africa is dominated by the branch known as R1b1c (R-V88). These represent two very successful "twigs" on a much bigger "family tree."