Five RFLPS of X-linked coagulation factor IX were evaluated in more than 500 normal persons (723-804 X chromosomes) of both sexes who belonged to eight ethnic groups: Anglo-Americans, Basques, Swedes, African-Americans, East Africans, East Indians, Chinese, and Malays. The polymorphisms, 5' to 3', were BamHI, XmnI, TaqI, MnlI, and HhaI. A PCR procedure was developed for three previously described RFLPs-XmnI, TaqI, and MnlI; a PCRP procedure was developed for BamHI, and a PCRP which had been described by others was used for HhaI. Europeans were the most polymorphic, African-Americans and East Africans were intermediate, and Orientals were the least polymorphic. Extragenic 3' HhaI was highly polymorphic in most groups, and extragenic 5' BamHI was polymorphic only in persons with African ancestry. Two major haplotypes predominated among 247 men, and the expected and observed heterozygosities were concordant among women. Allelic association was very strong between the three intragenic PCRPs; it was present but weak between 5' extragenic BamHI and XmnI. No association was found between 3' extragenic HhaI and MnlI.