Estimates of diversity for mtDNA types exceeded 0.94 in all populations, and 53 percent of the 255 types that were observed occurred only once. Of 96 shared types, 4 occurred at frequencies greater than 10 percent but less than 17 percent in any one population. There was statistically significant heterogeneity among these 11 populations; however, an analysis of variance that incorporated genetic distances between types showed that at least 95 percent of the variation present in the total sample was attributable to within-population diversity, and only 5 percent was due to between-population differences. Overall, heterogeneity with respect to mtDNA SSO types was grossly correlated with geographic distance between populations; the most extreme heterogeneity was observed between populations from East Asia and populations from West Asia. Regarding population genetics, the control region of mtDNA exhibited satisfactory qualities as a DNA typing locus. 6 tables, 5 figures, and 32 references