Most Africans with the exception of Ethiopians and Somalians have relatively kinky/coiled hair. The texture is very different to that of Europeans or Asians. Why is that?
I've heard it has to do with the shape of the hair follicle which is flat but also the thickness of the hair itself. Is this true?
As this article details, the texture of hair is influenced by many aspects of the hair follicle, primarily the follicle shape (curved or not, angle relative to scalp), distribution of particular cells within the follicle, and the coordination of cellular activity in the follicle (symmetrical or asymmetrical activity).
The article also confirms, as the question recognizes, that a great variety of hair textures are found in all parts of the world, so that categorizing hair by country or continent of origin is specious.
