SUMMARYSeventy-seven healthy Ethiopians were genotyped for polymorphisms in the immunoglobulin G Fc receptors (FccR) FccRIIa, FccRIIIa and FccRIIIb, including the SH allele. The genotype and allele frequencies were compared with those of 96 healthy Norwegians. Ethiopians had higher frequencies of the SH-FccRIIIb (P=0 . 001), FccRIIIa-158 V (P=0 . 026) and FccRIIIb-Na2 (P=0 . 046) alleles. The genotype distributions of FccRIIa, FccRIIIa and FccRIIIb, however, did not differ signi®cantly from those of the Norwegians. The data were also compared with those reported from studies on other ethnic groups. The variation of different polymorphisms both within and between ethnic groups may in¯uence differences in the incidence rates of infectious and autoimmune diseases.