Race and ethnicity in Colombia descend mainly from three racial groups—Europeans, Amerindians, and Africans—that have mixed throughout the last 500 years of the country's history. Some demographers describe Colombia as one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the Western Hemisphere and in the World, with 900 different ethnic groups. Most Colombians identify themselves and others according to ancestry, physical appearance, and sociocultural status. Social relations reflect the importance attached to certain characteristics associated with a given racial group. Although these characteristics no longer accurately differentiate social categories, they still contribute to one's rank in the social hierarchy. A study from Rojas et al. involving 15 departments determined that the average Colombian (of all races) has a mixture of 47% Amerindian, 42% European, and 11% African.[2] These proportions also vary widely among ethnicities.
Genetic ancestry of Colombians according to a study published on the American Journal of Physical Anthropology:[2]
Colombia officially acknowledges three ethnic minority groups: the Afro-Colombian, indigenous, and Romani populations. The Afro-Colombian population consists mainly of blacks, mulattoes, raizales, palenqueros, and zambos (a term used since colonial times for individuals of mixed Amerindian and black ancestry). A 1999 resolution of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice acknowledged the Romani population as a Colombian ethnic group, although Romani people were not recognized in the 1991 constitution (unlike the Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations). Estimates vary widely, but the 2018 census found that the ethnic minority populations had increased significantly since the 1993 census, possibly owing to the methodology used. Specifically, it reported that the Afro-Colombian population accounted for 6.68 percent of the national population; the Amerindian population, for 4.31 percent; and the others like Romani for 0.06 percent[4] The 2018 census reported that the "non-ethnic population", consisting of whites and mestizos, constituted 87 percent of the national population.[5] A study by Latinobarómetro in 2023 estimates that 50.3% of the population are Mestizo or around 26 million people, 26.4% are White, 9.5% are Indigenous or around 5 million people, 9.0% are Black, 4.4% are Mulatto, and 0.4% are Asian, however estimates of each vary between sources. Therefore, it can be estimated that 26 million people are Mestizos (being the largest ethnic group in the country), 14 million people are White (includes castizos and euro-descendants), 5 million people are Indigenous, 5 million people are Black (excluding mulattos), 2 million people are Mulatto, and 200 thousand people are Asian, showcasing the diversity of Colombia as a nation.[6]
Rojas et al. (2010) measured the genetic mixture for fourteen Colombian departments:[2]
Distribution of racial/ethnic groups geographically
The various groups exist in differing concentrations throughout the nation, in a pattern that to some extent goes back to colonial origins. The Whites tend to live mainly in the urban centers like Bogotá or Medellín. The populations of the major cities are primarily mestizo and white. The large Mestizo population includes most campesinos (people living in rural areas) of the Andean highlands, where some Spanish conquerors mixed with the women of Amerindian chiefdoms. Mestizos had always lived in the cities as well, as artisans and small tradesmen, and they have played a major part in the urban expansion of recent decades.[5] According to the 2005 census, the heaviest concentration of the indigenous population (22 to 61 percent) is located in the departments of Amazonas, La Guajira, Guainía, Vaupés, and Vichada. The secondary concentrations of 6 to 21 percent are located in the departments of Sucre, Córdoba, Chocó, Cauca and Nariño. Amerindian communities have legal autonomy to enforce their own traditional laws and customs. Despite being around 4-10% of the population, the indigenous population has managed to regain nearly a quarter of the country's land titles under the 1991 constitution.[7]
People with African ancestry in Colombia are concentrated mostly in coastal areas.
Amerindian population of Colombia by municipality in 2005
The 1991 National Constitution of Colombia defined Territorial Entities (Entidades Territoriales) as departments, districts, municipalities and indigenous territories. Within an Indigenous Territory Entity (ETI) the people have autonomy in managing their interests, and within the limits of the constitution have the right to manage resources and define taxes required to perform their duties. ETIs are to be defined by the government in conformance with the Organic Law on Land Management. However, this law has yet to be sanctioned so in practice the territories are unregulated.[8]
The Black, Zambo and Mulatto populations have largely remained in the lowland areas on the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, its islands, and along the Cauca and Magdalena Rivers. The Afro desendent Colombian population is concentrated primarily (21% to 80% of their departments) in the departments of Chocó, San Andrés, Bolívar and in the lowland parts of Cauca (communities such as Lopez de Micay, Guapi, and Timbiqui), and Valle del Cauca departments (in areas like the largest city on the Pacific coast, Buenaventura, and large concentration in Cali), with secondary concentrations (10 to 18 percent of the departments) in Atlántico, Córdoba, Magdalena, Nariño (communities like El Charco, Tumaco and Barbacoas), Antioquia (mostly in Uraba region), La Guajira, Cesar, and Sucre departments. Chocó is the department with the largest concentration of African-descendants in Colombia.[9]
The population of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, which Colombia inherited from Spain after the Spanish had overcome an initial British settlement, is mostly Afro-Colombian, including several thousand raizal blacks. Despite the length of time during which Colombia has had jurisdiction over them, most raizales on these Caribbean islands have retained their Protestant religion, have continued to speak an English-basedcreole language as well as English, and have regarded themselves as a group distinct from mainland residents. A minute percentage of the insular population originated in Scotland and Syria.[10]
Ethnic groups according to self identification. Data from the 2018 Colombian Census.
Since independence both Amerindians and blacks have continued to reside on the outskirts of national life. As a group, however, blacks have become more integrated into the national society and have left a greater mark on it for several reasons. Moreover, the blacks came from different areas of Africa, often did not share the same language or culture, and were not grouped into organized social units on arrival in the New World. Despite slave revolts, no large community of escaped slaves survived in isolation to preserve its African heritage, as did the maroons in Jamaica,[13] except for the village of Palenque de San Basilio, located southeast of Cartagena, which was one of the walled communities called 'palenques', founded by escaped slaves as a refuge in the seventeenth century. Of the many palenques that existed in former times, only the one of San Basilio has survived until the present day and developed into a unique cultural space.[14]
Finally, despite their position on the bottom rung of the social ladder, black slaves often had close relations—as domestic servants—with Spaniards and British and were therefore exposed to Spanish culture much more than were the Amerindians. Thus, blacks became a part of Colombian society from the beginning, adopting the ways of the Spanish that were permitted them and learning their language. By the end of the colonial period, the blacks thought of themselves as Colombians and felt superior to the Amerindians, who officially occupied higher status, were nominally free, and were closer in skin color, facial features, and hair texture to the emerging mestizo mix.[15]
Many blacks left slave status early in Colombian history, becoming part of the free population. Their owners awarded freedom to some, others purchased their liberty, but probably the greatest number achieved freedom by escape. Many slaves were liberated as a result of revolts, particularly in the Cauca valley and along the Caribbean coast. The elimination of slavery began with a free-birth law in 1821, but total emancipation was enacted only in 1851, becoming effective on January 1, 1852.[15]
Those blacks who achieved freedom sometimes moved into Amerindian communities, but blacks and zambos remained at the bottom of the social scale and were important only as a source of labor. Others founded their own settlements, mainly in unsettled lands of the Pacific basin where they were called cimarrones (maroons). Those regions were very unhealthy, inhospitable, and dangerous. Several towns, such as San Basilio de Palenque in the present department of Bolívar, and San José de Uré in southern Córdoba, kept the history of revolt alive in their oral traditions. In the Chocó area, along the Pacific, many of the black communities remained relatively unmixed, probably because there were few whites in the area, and the Amerindians became increasingly resistant to assimilation.[15]
In other regions, such as San Andrés y Providencia, or the Magdalena valley, black communities had considerable white and/or Amerindian admixture. Descendants of slaves have preserved relatively little of their African heritage or identification. Some placenames are derived from African languages, and some traditional musical instruments brought into the country by slaves are used throughout the country. Religion in the black communities remains the most durable link with the African past. Wholly black communities have been disappearing, not only because their residents have been moving to the cities but also because the surrounding mestizo and white populations have been moving into black communities. Eventual absorption into the mixed milieu appears inevitable. Moreover, as blacks have moved into the mainstream of society from its peripheries, they have perceived the advantages of better education and jobs. Rather than forming organizations to promote their advancement as a group, blacks have for the most part concentrated on achieving mobility through individual effort and adaptation to the prevailing system.[16]
Afro-Colombians are entitled to all constitutional rights and protections, but they continue to face significant economic and social discrimination. According to the 2005 census, an estimated 74 percent of Afro-Colombians earned less than the minimum wage. Chocó, the department with the highest percentage of Afro-Colombian residents, had the lowest level of social investment per capita and ranked last in terms of education, health, and infrastructure. It also continued to experience some of the country's worst political violence, as paramilitaries and guerrillas struggled for control of the department's key drug- and weapons-smuggling corridors.[16]
Media
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The television comedy Sábados Felices has been criticised for including a blackface character.[17][18]
Immigrants in Colombia
Colombia has received across its history different groups of immigrants.
Colombia was one of early focus of Basque and Sephardi immigration.[31] Between 1540 and 1559, 8.9% of the residents of Colombia were of Basque origin. Basque priests introduced handball into Colombia.[32] Jewish converts to Christianity and some crypto-Jews also sailed with the early conquistadors.[33]
Many immigrant communities have settled on the Caribbean coast, in particular recent immigrants from the Middle East. Barranquilla (the largest city of the Colombian Caribbean) and other Caribbean cities have the largest populations of Lebanese, Palestinian, and other Arabs.[34][35] In some sectors of society there is a considerable input of Italian and German ancestry.[36]
This is a demography of the population of Peru including population density, ethnicity, education level, the health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Mestizo is a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though their ancestors were Indigenous. The term was used as an ethno-racial exonym for mixed-race castas that evolved during the Spanish Empire. It was a formal label for individuals in official documents, such as censuses, parish registers, Inquisition trials, and others. Priests and royal officials might have classified persons as mestizos, but individuals also used the term in self-identification. With the Bourbon reforms and the independence of the Americas, the caste system disappeared and terms like "mestizo" fell in popularity.
Antioquia is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part of the Andes mountain range. Antioquia has been part of many territorial divisions of former countries created within the present-day territory of Colombia. Prior to adoption of the Colombian Constitution of 1886, Antioquia State had its own sovereign government.
Zambo or Sambu is a racial term historically used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed Amerindian and African ancestry. Occasionally in the 21st century, the term is used in the Americas to refer to persons who are of mixed African and Native American ancestry.
Chocó Department is a department of the Pacific region of Colombia known for hosting the largest Afro-Colombian population in the nation, and a large population of Amerindian and mixed African-Amerindian Colombians. It is in the west of the country, and is the only Colombian department to have coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It contains all of Colombia's border with Panama. Its capital is Quibdó.
Huila is one of the departments of Colombia. It is located in the southwest of the country, and its capital is Neiva.
Afro-Latin Americans or Black Latin Americans are Latin Americans of sub-Saharan African ancestry.
Latin Americans are the citizens of Latin American countries.
Indigenous Colombians, also known as Native Colombians, are the ethnic groups who have inhabited Colombia before the Spanish colonization of Colombia, in the early 16th century.
The Caribbean region of Colombia or Caribbean coast region is in the north of Colombia and is mainly composed of 8 departments located contiguous to the Caribbean. It's the second most populated region in the country after Andean Region with approximately 11 million residents according to the Colombian Census 2018. The area covers a total land area of 110,000 km2 (42,000 sq mi), including the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina in the Caribbean Sea.
Colombians are people identified with the country of Colombia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Colombians, several of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Colombian.
Central America is a subregion of the Americas formed by six Latin American countries and one (officially) Anglo-American country, Belize. As an isthmus it connects South America with the remainder of mainland North America, and comprises the following countries : Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.
White Latin Americans or European Latin Americans are Latin Americans of total or predominantly European ancestry.
Afro-Colombians, also known as Black Colombians, are Colombians who have predominantly or total Sub-Saharan African ancestry, these stand out for having dark skin. In the national censuses of Colombia, black people are recognized as 3 official groups: the Raizals, the Palenques and other Afro-Colombians.
López de Micay is a town and municipality in the Cauca Department, Colombia. It is located on the Pacific Coast of the Cauca Department in the Naya Region on the foothills of the Colombian Western Cordillera. It is located 84 km from the departmental capital, Popayán.
Timbiqui is a town and municipality in the Cauca Department, Colombia. It is located on the Pacific Coast of Colombia on the estuary of the Timbiqui River. An earthquake affected its inhabitants on the first of October, 2012.
Hispanic and Latin American Australians refers to Australians who are of Hispanic, and/or Latin American origin irrespective of their ancestral backgrounds, and their descendants. Brazilian Australians make up the largest proportion of Latin American Australians, while Chilean Australians make up the largest group of Hispanic Australians, followed by Salvadoran Australians. Most Hispanic and Latin American Australians speak English but many continue to use Spanish or Portuguese as well.
The demographics of Colombia consist of statistics regarding Colombians' health, economic status, religious affiliations, ethnicity, population density, and other aspects of the population. Colombia is the second-most populous country in South America after Brazil, and the third-most populous in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico.
Bolivians are people identified with the country of Bolivia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Bolivians, several of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Bolivian.
Latin America's population is composed of a diverse mix of ancestries and ethnic groups, including Indigenous peoples, Europeans, Africans, Asians, and those of mixed heritage, making it one of the most ethnically diverse regions globally. The specific composition of the group varies from country to country. Many have a predominance of European-Amerindian or Mestizo population; in others, Amerindians are a majority; some are dominated by inhabitants of European ancestry; and some countries' populations have large Mulatto or African populations.
1 2 3 Rojas, Winston; Parra, María Victoria; Campo, Omer; Caro, María Antonieta; Lopera, Juan Guillermo; Arias, William; Duque, Constanza; Naranjo, Andrés; García, Jharley; Vergara, Candelaria; Lopera, Jaime; Hernandez, Erick; Valencia, Ana; Caicedo, Yuri; Cuartas, Mauricio; Gutiérrez, Javier; López, Sergio; Ruiz-Linares, Andrés; Bedoya, Gabriel (September 2010). "Genetic make up and structure of Colombian populations by means of uniparental and biparental DNA markers". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 143 (1): 13–20. doi:10.1002/ajpa.21270. PMID20734436. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
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