Ethnic Groups in Latin America - Ethnic Groups

Ethnic Groups

• Native American. The indigenous population of Latin America, the Native Americans, arrived during the Lithic stage. In post-Columbian times they experienced tremendous population decline, particularly in the early decades of colonization. They have since recovered in numbers, surpassing sixty million (by some estimates), though with the growth of the other groups meanwhile, they now compose a majority only in Bolivia and Guatemala and, per some sources, in Peru. In Ecuador, Native American are a large minority that comprises two-fifths of the population. Mexico's 14% (9.8% in the official 2005 census) is the next largest ratio, and one of the largest Amerindian population in the Americas in absolute numbers. Most of the remaining countries have Native American minorities, in every case making up less than one-tenth of the respective country's population. In many countries, people of mixed Native American and European ancestry make up the majority of the population (see Mestizo).
• Asians. People of Asian descent number several million in Latin America. The first Asians to settle in the region were Filipino, as a result of Spain's trade involving Asia and the Americas. The majority of Asian Latin Americans are of Japanese or Chinese ancestry and reside mainly in Brazil and Peru; there is also a growing Chinese minority in Panama. Brazil is home to perhaps two million people of Asian descent, which includes the largest ethnic Japanese community outside of Japan itself, estimated as high as 1.5 million, and circa 200,000 ethnic Chinese and 100,000 ethnic Koreans. Ethnic Koreans also number tens of thousands of individuals in Argentina and Mexico. Peru, with 1.47 million people of Asian descent, has one of the largest Chinese communities in the world, with nearly one million Peruvians being of Chinese ancestry. There is a strong ethnic-Japanese presence in Peru, where a past president and a number of politicians are of Japanese descent. The Martiniquais population includes an African-White-Indian mixed population, and an East Indian (Asian Indian) population. The Guadeloupean East Indian population is estimated at 14% of the population.
• Blacks. Millions of African slaves were brought to Latin America from the 16th century onward, the majority of whom were sent to the Caribbean region and Brazil. Today, people identified as "Black" are most numerous in Brazil (more than 10 million) and in Haiti (more than 7 million). Among the Hispanic nations and Brazil, Puerto Rico leads this category in relative numbers, with a 15% ratio. Significant populations are also found in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela. Latin Americans of mixed Black and White ancestry, called Mulattoes, are far more numerous than Blacks.
• Mestizos. Intermixing between Europeans and Native Americans began early in the colonial period and was extensive. The resulting people, known as Mestizos, make up the majority of the population in half of the countries of Latin America. Additionally, Mestizos compose large minorities in nearly all the other mainland countries.
• Mulattoes. Mulattoes are people of mixed European and African ancestry, mostly descended from Spanish or Portuguese settlers on one side and African slaves on the other, during the colonial period. Brazil is home to Latin America's largest mulatto population. Mulattoes form a majority of population in the Dominican Republic and, depending on source, Cuba as well, and are also numerous in Venezuela, Panama, Peru, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Ecuador. Smaller populations of mulattoes are found in other Latin American countries.
• Whites. Beginning in the late 15th century, large numbers of Iberian colonists settled in what became Latin America (Portuguese in Brazil and Spaniards elsewhere in the region), and at present most white Latin Americans are of Spanish or Portuguese origin. Iberians brought the Spanish and Portuguese languages, the Catholic faith, and many Iberian traditions. Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico contain the largest numbers of whites in Latin America. Whites make up the majorities of Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay, and depending on source, in Cuba, also; whites make up half of Brazil's population. Of the millions of immigrants since most of Latin America gained independence in the 1810s–1820s, Italians formed the largest group, and next were Spaniards and Portuguese. Many others arrived, such as French, Germans, Greeks, Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Estonians, Latvians, Jews, Irish and Welsh. Also included are Middle Easterners of Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian descent; Most of them are Christian. Whites presently compose the largest racial group in Latin America (36% in the table herein), and, whether as White, Mestizo, or Mulatto, the vast majority of Latin Americans have white ancestry.
• Zambos: Intermixing between Africans and Native Americans was especially prevalent in Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil, often due to slaves's running away (becoming cimarrones: maroons) and being taken in by Amerindian villagers. In Spanish speaking nations, people of this mixed ancestry are known as Zambos or (in Middle America), and Cafuzos in Brazil.

In addition to the foregoing groups, Latin America also has millions of tri-racial peoples of African, Native American, and European ancestry. Most are found in Colombia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, with a much smaller presence in other countries.