how many different races
4 major races. The world population can be divided into 4 major races, namely white/Caucasian, Mongoloid/Asian, Negroid/Black, and Australoid.This is based on a racial classification made by Carleton S. Coon in 1962 (in common usage the âËCapoidââ¢ and âËCongoidââ¢ groups classified by Coon is merged under âËNegroidââ¢).he United Nations, in a 1950 statement, opted to âdrop the term âraceâ altogether and speak of âethnic groupsâ. In this case, there are more than 5,000 ethnic groups in the world, according to a 1998 study published in the Scientific American. This fact is verified on: February 20, 2010.