The 1000 Genomes Project created a public catalogue of human genetic variation from more than 2,500 people across multiple populations.
Reference frequencies help researchers distinguish common polymorphisms from rarer candidates when studying disease and evolution. They also make it possible to benchmark variant-calling methods across ancestries.
The catalogue is not a complete inventory of humanity and cannot be used alone to label a variant benign or harmful. Frequency is one piece of interpretation alongside functional, clinical and family evidence.
STKEY note: this post explains the resource and links to the original consortium analysis.