Mongoloid /ˈmɒŋ.ɡə.lɔɪd/ is a term used for all or some peoples indigenous to East Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, North Asia, Northern Europe, the Arctic, the Americas, the Pacific Islands, and Madagascar. Individuals within these populations often share certain associated phenotypic traits, such as epicanthic folds (epicanthus), sinodonty and neoteny. The term is a historical term that referred to a grouping of human beings historically regarded as a biological taxon.
Epicanthic folds and oblique palpebral fissures are common among Mongoloid individuals. Most exhibit the Mongolian spot from birth to about age four. Mongoloid individuals have straight, black hair and dark brown almond-shaped eyes, and have broad, relatively flat faces as well.
Traits more controversially ascribed to Mongoloids include high intelligence and a stoic, taciturn, unaggressive demeanor. The extent to which individual psychological makeup is a social construct, rather than a matter of biology, remains a matter of debate. (See also the articles Race and intelligence and Model minority.)