Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) was done using **data** from all 372 loci as implemented in Arlequin 2000 [25]. AMOVA enables the partition of genetic variance at a locus or several loci into variation within populations and variation between populations. In addition, AMOVA can be used for a hierarchical analysis of three genetic-variance components -those due to genetic differences (i) between individuals within groups, (ii) between populations within groups, and (iii) between groups. We conducted AMOVA analyses on the study sample using two models (a) a model in that partitioned the genetic variance into that within each ethnic group and that between ethnic groups, (b) a hierarchical model with the country as the first level and the ethnic group within each country as the second level. Additional locus-by-locus AMOVA analysis was done (see Additional file 2). Significance of the AMOVA values was estimated by used of 10,000 permutations. F ST , the fixation index or coancestry coefficient [26], was also computed as a measure of the effect of population division. F ST ranges from 0 (no population subdi-vision, random mating occurrence, no genetic divergence within the population) to 1 (complete isolation or extreme division), and F ST values of up to 0.05 represents negligible genetic differentiation. Allele-sharing genetic distances [14] were also computed between each pair of ethnic groups.