Origins and Ethnicity
Uruguay is a multiethnical society, which means that it is home to people of many different ethnical backgrounds. In that case, Uruguyans usually treat their nationality as a citizenship rather than an ethnicity.
Uruguayans share a Spanish linguistic and heavily Spanish cultural background with its neighbour Argentina. Most Uruguayans are descended from colonial-era settlers and immigrants from Europe with almost 88% of the population being of European descent, The majority of these European immigrants were mainly Spaniards, followed closely by Italians, including numbers of French, Germans, Portuguese, British (English or Scots), Irish, Swiss, Russians, Poles, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Belgians, Austrians, Croats, Greeks and Scandinavians. There are also smaller numbers of Turkish, Armenian, Serbs, Georgian and Lebanese people.
Almost the entire ethnic-European population has at least partial Spanish and/or Italian roots, with many having ancestry from various other ethnic groups, e.g. Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French and English descent.
Many Swiss settlements (colonias or "colonies") such as Colonia Suiza, Colonia Valdense and Nueva Helvecia were founded in the department of Colonia. Also, there are towns founded by early British settlers, such as Conchillas and Barker. A Russian colony called San Javier, is found in the department of Río Negro. Also there are Mennonite colonies in the department of Río Negro and in the department of Canelones.
Many of the European immigrants arrived in the late 19th century and have heavily influenced the architecture and culture of Montevideo and other major cities. For this reason, Montevideo and life within the city are very reminiscent of Western Europe.
The rest of the Uruguayan population is Black/Afro-Uruguayan of African descent and about 1 or 2% are of Asian descent, mostly are Lebanese/Syrian Arab, and Chinese or Japanese ancestry (see Bárbara Mori).
Amerindians make up a small population in the Rural North-West region, with Mestizos making up 6% of the Population.
Read more about this topic: Languages Of Uruguay
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