You mean it's extremely common in Muslim countries. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin_marriage_in_the_Middl...

I love this site down voting facts if it doesn't conform to preconceived "progressive" notions.

https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Cousin_Marriage_in_Islamic_Law

Seems so. Or more to the point of how data collected in the UK might reflect this trend (from the article you link): "According to a 2005 BBC report on Pakistani marriage in the United Kingdom, 55% of British Pakistanis marry a first cousin."

There was a recent debate in the UK Parliament about whether cousin marriage should be banned. It did not succeed.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztHyjdyWUOA

But there was a BBC documentary called "Should I marry my first cousin" for which the main conclusion was basically no.

AFAIK this is far more common in muslims but not in hindus, jains etc. While growing up I had heard/read that as per the Vedas you can not marry someone with whom you have a common ancestor within 7 generations. [My scientifically minded atheist parents agreed with the idea.] Of course, in practice this isn't always followed but in any arranged marriage such proscriptions would presumably be checked.

Southern India has particularly low Muslim populations - and definitely doesn’t follow that guidance.

The vedas have many sections which get widely ignored.

Edit: HN throttling is terrible. Here is a link to a couple studies [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32641190/], [https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Trends-in-consanguineous...]

AP has the highest rate, around 28%

I has asked friends who would know more about South India. If you have any references about statistics and causes please share. Thanks!

I found one map that may be interest: https://araingang.medium.com/cousin-marriage-in-south-asia-f...

But note that the article is really talking about first-degree incest/pedophila/sexual abuse which is taboo in pretty much every society.

Cross-cousin and uncle-niece marriage is prevalent among Hindus in most states of South India (except Kerala). 10-25% of all marriages.

In religion, you can find your reasons for anything. e.g. In Mahabharata, Arjuna and Abhimanyu married their cousins.

Pakistan doesn't represent all of South Asia.

None of India is looking particularly good, but each state in southern India looks to have 20-25% rates of first-cousin marriages. Pretty high.

The crazy thing is India has ample population to avoid this problem. It's not some isolated tribe or small island community. The reasons have to be social/political.

It’s the caste system + specific social factors.

Southern India it’s even higher