Towns of Twins

The University of Texas estimates that 32 out of every 1,000 people in this world are a twin or 16 pairs in 1,000, which translates to 3 percent of the population. This figure appears to vary by region, race and ethnicity. Certain ethnic groups produce more twins than usual. Others produce less. While researchers agree that identical twins happen by sheer chance, having fraternal twins is hereditary. If someone else in your family had fraternal twins, then you are more likely to give birth to fraternal twins. If a mother herself is a fraternal twin, the chance of conceiving twins increases four-fold. These factors cause twins to usually run in families and in certain ethnic groups as a whole. In fact, race and ethnicity seems to play a major role in twinning. For instance, in the U.S., twins are most common among African-Americans (36.8 per 1000) and least common in Hispanic/Latino Americans (21.8 per 1000). A pair of twin girls in the “twin town” of Kodinhi, India. Photo credit   The highest rate of twin births has been observed to occur among the Yoruba community in southeast Nigeria centered around a sleepy farming town called Igbo-Ora . As many as 45 to 50 sets of twins are born here per 1000 live births. In other words, nearly 10% of the population are twins. The unusually large number of twin births in the region have earned the town the nickname of “Twin Capital of the World.” While nobody has been able to prove medically, research has suggested that the multiple births could be related to the eating habits of the women in the region. It is possible that the high consumption of a specific type of yam containing a natural chemical may stimulate the ovaries to release an egg from each side. But then, the large number of twins being born here could also be a simple matter of genetics. Either way, for this predominantly rural community, it doesn’t matter.