The relationship between
race and genetics is relevant to the controversy concerning
race classification. In everyday life many societies classify populations into groups based on phenotypical traits and impressions of probable geographic ancestry and socio-economic status - these are the groups we tend to call "races". Because the patterns of variation of human genetic traits can be both abrupt and
clinal, with a gradual change in trait frequency between population clusters, it is possible to statistically correlate clusters of physical traits with individual geographic ancestry. The frequencies of
alleles tend to form clusters where populations live closely together and interact over periods of time. This is due to
endogamy within
kin groups and lineages or
national,
cultural or
linguistic boundaries. This causes genetic clusters to correlate statistically with population groups when a number of alleles are evaluated. Different clines align around the different centers, resulting in more complex variations than those observed comparing continental groups.