Intermarriage

Intermarriage normally refers to marriage between people belonging to different religions, tribes, nationalities or ethnic backgrounds.

It has likely been a part of human life, to some degree, ever since there were any divisions in the human species at all. Today with increased globalisation and its effect on communication and travel, intermarriage is likely accelerating. It is still very controversial or even forbidden in certain places of the world, while in some places is totally acceptable, or even encouraged for various reasons.

Some have speculated that at some point in the future, intermarriage will blend the human species into one homogenous group again.

See also exogamy.

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Intermarriage can also refer to the practise of continuous marriage between a relatively small number of families. Many royal families would continually intermarry, amongst themeselves or with other royal families. Intermarriage, in this fashion, was often practised for political reasons (to consolidate power or to improve trade), as well as the fact that many royal families felt it was beneath them to marry anyone else who was not also royalty. This type of intermarriage led to inbreeding where certain physical and genetic characteristics become more prominent with each passing generation. A famous instance of this was the disease haemophilia, which was present in several of Europe's royal families.

See also

• Jewish view of marriage
• Interreligious marriage

External links

• Asian-Nation: Asian American Intermarriage/Interracial Marriage by C.N. Le, Ph.D.