South Africa has hit the headlines after a study found that it is the country with the most beautiful and big-hipped women in the world.
Data collected by market research company GitNux detailed the hip size of women in 17 countries, which typically corresponds to the size of their buttocks.
South Africa ranked first, with an average hip of 41.73 inches, followed by Argentina (41 inches) and Sweden (40.9 inches).
The United States failed to crack the top five, while the United Kingdom did not even make the list.
Brazil, which has long been considered the world capital of large rear ends, was not included in the dataset.
Argentina came in a close second at 41 inches on average. Its capital, Buenos Aires, is seen as the center of plastic surgery in the world, including procedures such as BBLs.
Sweden had the third largest hips at 40.9 inches, despite the stereotype of its women being tall, thin and blonde.
Greece and Germany rounded out the top five, with 40.74 and 40.6 inches respectively.
Meanwhile, the United States narrowly missed out on the top five, coming in at number six with an average of 40.2 inches.
Indian women had the narrowest hips at just 36.1 inches, which may be due to India having the second highest obesity rate among nearly 200 countries.
The researchers did not give reasons why these countries ranked the way they did, although data and country surveys suggest that obesity, plastic surgery data, and local bone structure may explain the rankings.
Over time, research has found that large hips became a desirable trait because they were a sign of a woman’s youth and fertility.
A study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, for example, found that the structure of the spine can have an effect on the size of the spine. In the study, men were more attracted to pictures of women with a 45-degree curve from the back to the buttocks.