GC*1F and low GC*1S frequencies among the Sinhalese are comparable to those of the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Thais, Malays, Vietnamese, Laotians and Tibetans. A 1998 study conducted by D.E. Hawkey showed dental morphology of the Sinhalese is closely related to those of the Austro-Asiatic populations of East and Northeast India. Hemoglobin E a variant of normal hemoglobin, which originated in and is prevalent among populations in Southeast Asia, is also common among the Sinhalese and can reach up to 40% in Sri Lanka. Paternal Line Y-DNA of Sinhalese The most common Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups found in the Sinhalese are Haplogroup R2, Haplogroup R1a and Haplogroup L. Maternal Line MtDNA of Sinhalese Ranweera et al. (2014) found the most common mtDNA haplogroup in the Sinhalese to be Haplogroup M, Haplogroup U (U7a) and Haplogroup R(R30b) and Haplogroup G (G3a1′2). Haplogroup M represents the dispersal of modern humans around 60.000 years ago along the southern Asian coastline following a southern coastal route across Arabia and India to reach Australia short after. Haplogroup U7 is considered a West Eurasian–specific mtDNA haplogroup, believed to have originated in the Black Sea area approximately 30,000 years ago. In South Asia, U7 occurs in about 12% in Gujarat, while for the whole of India its frequency stays around 2%, and 5% in Pakistan. In the Vedda people of Sri Lanka it reaches its highest frequency of 13.33% (subclade U7a). It is speculated that large-scale immigration carried these mitochondrial haplogroups into India. References Sinhalese Sinhalese Sinhalese Indo-Aryan peoples Sinhalese people