The Out of Africa Migration
Learn how Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa beginning around 70,000 years ago, eventually populating every continent on Earth.
The Out of Africa migration is the story of how a single species — Homo sapiens — spread from its evolutionary homeland in Africa to populate the entire planet. Beginning roughly 70,000 years ago, small groups of modern humans crossed into the Arabian Peninsula and from there dispersed across Asia, Europe, Australia, and eventually the Americas. Within 60,000 years, they had reached every habitable continent.
Genetic evidence tells us that all non-African humans descend from a remarkably small founding population — perhaps as few as a few thousand individuals. This genetic bottleneck left its mark in the reduced genetic diversity found outside Africa. DNA analysis has also revealed that migrating humans interbred with other hominin species along the way — Neanderthals in Europe and the Middle East, Denisovans in Asia — adding small but significant contributions to the modern human genome.
The migration was not a deliberate journey but an incremental process driven by population pressure, climate shifts, and the human capacity for adaptation. Over generations, groups moved into new territories, adapted to new environments — from tropical coastlines to frozen tundra — and developed the diverse cultures, languages, and physical characteristics that define humanity today.