When choosing and designing your character, you will be able to choose from:

Name: Fifteen letters maximum. This is the name of your character.
Race: Hume, Elvaan, Tarutaru, Galka, or Mithra. See below for more information on race.
Gender: Male or female. This option is only available for Hume, Elvaan, and Tarutaru.
Home Country: This is your character's starting country and the one he will pledge allegiance to. You may choose from San d'Oria, Bastok, or Windurst.
Body Type: Large, Medium, or Small. This affects character height mostly.
Face Type: Your character's face. There are a variety of styles to choose from.
Hair Colour: Your character's hair colour. There are different colours to choose from.
Job: You must choose one, but you can change it anytime you want after starting your character. Only basic jobs are available: Warrior, Monk, Thief, Red Mage, White Mage, and Black Mage.

Elvaan: Elvaans are the proud citizens of the Kingdom of San d'Oria. They are a very religious and devout people. This race has increased STR and MND, but suffers from a lower INT and DEX rating. It is best for attack melee classes. It has below average MP, but above average HP.

Hume: Humes inhabit the Republic of Bastok. They are willing to go the extra mile for their country, and the past of Bastok reflects this. This race is the most balanced of the five, but doesn't excel in any statistic except for CHR. It has average HP and MP. It is best for those who are willing to try every job.

Tarutaru: Tarutaru are the intelligent, short creatures of the Federation of Windurst. They all live in harmony with the Mithra. Their leader is the Star Sybil, who is said to be the reincarnate of the Goddess Altana on Vana'diel. This race has increased INT, but suffers from low STR and VIT. It has the largest MP pool than any other race in the game. It is best for magic users.

Mithra: Mithra are the catlike women of the Federation of Windurst. They are actually from the Elshimo continent, but have migrated to Windurst over time. There are still some Mithra in the homeland, but both factions follow a different cheftainess. The male Mithra are very rare and supposedly prefer to stay at home. This race has increased AGI and DEX, but takes a small penalty in VIT and CHR. It has average HP and MP. It is best for those who are willing to try every job, but remember that you can only be a female Mithra.

Galka: Galka inhabit the Republic of Bastok. They are very poor and treated badly by the Humes. Despite their male appearance, Galka are actually genderless and are reincarnated soon after their deaths. Their Talekeeper holds the memories of all Galkan people before their deaths, and is the true leader of the Galka. This race has increased STR and VIT, but takes a small penalty in INT and AGI. It has the highest HP pool than any other race in the game. It is best for defensive melee classes.