The term Landrace pig or Landrace swine refers to any of a group of standardized breeds of

domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...

, and in this context the word ''

Landrace A landrace is a domesticated, locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of agriculture and pastoralism, and due to isolation ...

'' is typically capitalized. The original breed by this name was the

Danish Landrace pig The Danish Landrace, da, Hvid Dansk Landrace, italic=no, is a Danish breed of pig. It is of medium to large size, white in colour with a long body, fine hair, a long snout, and heavy drooping ears. There are two distinct varieties, the white ( ...

, from which the others were derived through development and crossbreeding. The breed was so-named because the foundation stock of the Danish Landrace were specimens from the local, free-breeding, non-

pedigreed Purebreds are "cultivated varieties" of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be "pedigreed". Purebreds breed true-to-type which means the p ...

stock of swine, i.e. the regional

landrace A landrace is a domesticated, locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of agriculture and pastoralism, and due to isolation ...

native to Denmark. The modern breeds are not themselves landraces, since they are formal breeds maintained through

selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant mal ...

rather than

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...

. The establishment and spread of the Danish breed gave the word ''

'' to the English language (it had already existed in Danish, German, Dutch and some other Germanic languages). Based on the ''Random House Dictionary''. Sources from the mid-20th century often mean the Danish Landrace swine in particular when referring to "Landrace" pigs, as most of the others had not been developed yet.

List of Landrace pig breeds

The most common Landrace pig breeds are: * American Landrace pig * Belgian Landrace pig *

British Landrace pig The British Landrace is a British domestic breed of pig and one of the most popular in the United Kingdom. It is pink with heavy drooping ears that cover most of the face and is bred for pork and bacon. The breed originated in the 1949 importati ...

* Bulgarian Landrace pig *

Canadian Landrace pig Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Dutch Landrace pig The Dutch Landrace pig ( nl, Nederlands Landras) is a standardized breed of domestic pig originating in the Netherlands. The breed was developed from the native landrace of pigs of the area, crossbred with strains from neighboring counties. The ...

Estonian Landrace pig The Estonian Bacon ( et, eesti peekon) is a meat pig breed from Estonia. It was developed from local landrace by crossbreeding it with German, Danish and Swedish landraces. Its appearance looks similar to the Danish Landrace. See also * List of ...

(a.k.a. Estonian Bacon pig) *

Finnish Landrace pig Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

French Landrace pig French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

German Landrace pig German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Italian Landrace pig The Italian Landrace ( it, Landrace Italiana, italic=no) is an Italian breed of domestic pig. It derives from the Danish Landrace breed developed in Denmark at the end of the nineteenth century. Stock was imported into Italy after the Second ...

Norwegian Landrace pig Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

Polish Landrace pig Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

South African Landrace pig South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

Swedish Landrace pig The Swedish Landrace is the leading breed of pig in Sweden. They have heavy drooping ears and a white coat. The Swedish strain of the Landrace pig originated from importations from neighboring countries, particularly Denmark. The Swedish Landrac ...

Swiss Landrace pig Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places *Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss International ...

Several have selectively bred varieties, and many have alternative names.

References

{{Landrace pig breeds navbox Pig breeds