EFFECT OF INTERREGIONAL MIGRATION ON GEOGRAPHIC VARIABILITY IN BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL TRAITS IN GREAT-BRITAIN

Over 19% of individuals born in England, Scotland, and Wales during Ma rch 3-9, 1958, resided in 1981 in a region different from the region o f their birth. This internal migration among the 11 regions increased geographic homogeneity for one genetic variable (ABO blood group). Cra mer's V for mother's A, O, and B or AB blood group decreased from 0.05 04 to 0.0476. Mother's Rh+/- blood group was not significantly differe nt among regions of place of birth or subsequent place of residence of the offspring. Variability among the regions increased by migration f rom region of birth to region of residence 23 years later for the soci al class of male head of household (Cramer's V increased from 0.0815 t o 0.0877) and for years of schooling completed (V increased from 0.107 to 0.129). Stature behaved more like the social variables (mean squar e deviation among regions increased from 371 cm(2) to 481 cm(2) in fem ales and from 426 cm(2) to 471 cm(2) in males), but body weight tended to become more uniform among regions (mean square deviation decreased from 220 kg(2) to 178 kg(2) in females and from 315 kg(2) to 260 kg(2 ) in males).