Nose width
Alar base width : intercanthal distance
How wide the nose is where the nostrils meet the cheek, expressed as a multiple of the distance between the inner corners of the eyes.
Also searched as alar base width, wide nose and nose width to eye distance.
How to read it
the alar base is narrow relative to the intercanthal distance for the reference group.
alar base width sits close to the reference mean relative to the intercanthal distance.
the alar base is wide relative to the intercanthal distance for the reference group. No measurement on this site is more inflated by a close camera. Ward et al. (2018) measured a ~30% apparent widening of the nasal base at 12 inches versus 5 feet, so read the capture-distance estimate above alongside this value.
92% of Saudi males and the large majority of African and East Asian adults have a nose wider than their intercanthal distance. The canon describes a minority of humans.
Conformity in published samples: na white 41% · east asian 19% · middle east m 7% · middle east f 33%
Reference values by population
| Reference population | Female (mean ± SD) | Male (mean ± SD) | n | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North American White | 0.987 ± 0.095 | 1.048 ± 0.113 | 2326 | Farkas 1994/2005 (NA White young adults) prov. |
| East Asian | 1 ± 0.1 | 1.055 ± 0.1 | 618 | Farkas 2005 (Chinese/Japanese/Vietnamese/Thai pooled); Jayaratne 2012 (Southern Chinese, n=103) prov. |
| South Asian | 1.063 ± 0.109 | 1.123 ± 0.12 | 210 | Farkas 2005 (Indian); Metgudmath 2022 prov. |
| African / African diaspora | 1.194 ± 0.125 | 1.261 ± 0.134 | 300 | Farkas 2005 (African-American, Zulu, Angolan) prov. |
| Middle Eastern | 1.048 ± 0.108 | 1.092 ± 0.116 | 348 | Farkas 2005 (Turkish, Iranian, Egyptian); Al-Sebaei 2015 (Saudi, n=168) prov. |
| Hispanic / Latino | 1.063 ± 0.112 | 1.121 ± 0.123 | 120 | Farkas 2005 (Mexican-American) prov. |
| Not specified — show pooled | 1.059 ± 0.146 | 1.117 ± 0.152 | 3922 | Unweighted pool of the six groups above prov. |
Where these numbers come from
Transcribed from the cited anthropometric literature; SDs of ratios are propagated conservatively (independence assumed). Entries marked prov. await line-by-line audit against the primary tables. See the norm provenance note.
Why every value has an error bar
Every value Canthion reports carries a 1σ uncertainty propagated from MediaPipe Face Mesh's published accuracy (3.96% of inter-ocular distance mean absolute error per landmark, Kartynnik 2019). On a typical photo with 300 px between the pupils, that is about 12 px of wander on every point. Small ratios and angles inherit it, so their intervals are wide. A number without an interval is a number pretending to be more precise than it is.
References
- Farkas, Hreczko, Kolar & Munro (1985). Vertical and horizontal proportions of the face in young adult North American Caucasians: revision of neoclassical canons. Plast Reconstr Surg 75(3):328–338. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3883374/
- Farkas, Katic & Forrest (2005). International Anthropometric Study of Facial Morphology in Various Ethnic Groups/Races. J Craniofac Surg 16(4):615–646. doi.org/10.1097/01.SCS.0000171847.58031.9E
- Al-Sebaei (2015). The validity of three neo-classical facial canons in young adults originating from the Arabian Peninsula. Head Face Med 11:4. doi.org/10.1186/s13005-015-0064-y
- Ward, Ward, Fried & Paskhover (2018). Nasal Distortion in Short-Distance Photographs: The Selfie Effect. JAMA Facial Plast Surg. doi.org/10.1001/jamafacial.2018.0009
Common questions
What is nose width?
How wide the nose is where the nostrils meet the cheek, expressed as a multiple of the distance between the inner corners of the eyes. The "orbitonasal canon" claims equality (1.00).
How is nose width measured from a photo?
It is computed from the face-mesh landmarks (al_R, al_L, en_R, en_L): alarWidth / dist(en_R, en_L). Every value carries a 1σ error bar propagated from the landmark detector's published accuracy, with a floor of ± 0.03, so a small difference inside the interval is not a difference.
What is a normal nose width?
Reference means and standard deviations from the anthropometric literature, by population. North American White: 0.987 ± 0.095 for women, 1.048 ± 0.113 for men; East Asian: 1 ± 0.1 for women, 1.055 ± 0.1 for men; South Asian: 1.063 ± 0.109 for women, 1.123 ± 0.12 for men; African / African diaspora: 1.194 ± 0.125 for women, 1.261 ± 0.134 for men. This value is provisional and awaits line-by-line audit against the primary tables. Your own value is placed on the distribution you choose, as a percentile with its error bar.
What does a low or high nose width mean?
Below the mean: the alar base is narrow relative to the intercanthal distance for the reference group. Above the mean: the alar base is wide relative to the intercanthal distance for the reference group. No measurement on this site is more inflated by a close camera. Ward et al. (2018) measured a ~30% apparent widening of the nasal base at 12 inches versus 5 feet, so read the capture-distance estimate above alongside this value.
Nose base width is one of the four traits with a large published sex difference.
Related measurements
The rest of the nose set, then the nearest measurements elsewhere on the face. Every one is computed on the same photograph, in the same run, with its own error bar.
Also: how bone-level measurements are taken from a photo · methodology · glossary · all 35 insight pages