Total population | |
---|---|
20%–37% [1] [2] [3] [4] of the Colombian population | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Throughout the nation, especially in the Andean Region and the major cities [5] | |
Languages | |
Predominantly Colombian Spanish [ citation needed ] | |
Religion | |
Christianity (Roman Catholic)[ citation needed ] | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Europeans · West Asians Mestizo Colombians · White Latin Americans · White Americans · White Australians · Others |
White Colombians (Spanish : Colombianos Blancos) are Colombians who have total or predominantly European or West Asian ancestry. According to the 2018 census, 87.58% of Colombians do not identify with any ethnic group, being either White or Mestizo (of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry), which are not categorized separately. Unlike Black-Colombians and Natives. [6]
While most sources estimate Whites to be 20% of the country's population, [1] [2] [3] the Federal Research Division (using data from the 2005 census) puts that percentage at 37%. [4]
According to a Latinobarómetro poll, 25% of Colombians surveyed self-identified as White, [7] while another survey put that value at 37%. [8]
White Colombians primarily live in the Andean Region and the urban centres. [9] Most are of Spanish origin, but there is also a large population of Middle Eastern descendants, [10] as well as some Italian, [11] German, [12] and other European ancestries. [13] [14]
According to research published in 2014, which evaluated the Colombian genetic pool, the average Colombian genetic makeup is 65% European, 26% Amerindian, and 9% African, with self-identified white Colombians (19.3% of the samples) being 65% European, 26% Amerindian, and 9% African. [15]
The presence of Whites in Colombia began in 1510 with the colonization of San Sebastián de Urabá. Many Spaniards came searching for gold, while others established themselves locally as leaders of Christian social organizations. [16]
Basque priests introduced Handball into Colombia. [17] Along with business, Basque immigrants in Colombia were devoted to teaching and public administration. [17] In the first years of the Andean multinational company, Basque sailors navigated as captains and pilots on most of the ships until the country could train its own crews. [17] In Bogotá, there is a small colony of thirty to forty families who emigrated due to the Spanish Civil War. [18]
The first German immigrants arrived in the 16th century, contracted by the Spanish Crown, and included explorers such as Ambrosio Alfinger and Nikolaus Federmann. There was another small wave of German immigrants at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, including Leo Siegfried Kopp, the founder of the famous Bavaria Brewery. SCADTA, a Colombian-German air transport corporation established by German expatriates in 1919, was the first commercial airline in the Western Hemisphere. [19]
In December 1941, the United States government estimated that at least 4,000 Germans were living in Colombia. [20]
A wave of Ashkenazi immigrants came after the rise of Nazism in 1933, followed by as many as 17,000 German Jews. From 1939 until the end of World War II, immigration was forced to stop through anti-immigrant policies and restrictions on immigration from Germany. [21]
There were some Nazi agitators in Colombia, such as Barranquilla businessman Emil Prufurt, [20] but the majority were apolitical. Colombia asked Germans who were on the U.S. blacklist to leave and allowed German and Jewish refugees in the country illegally to stay. [20]
Colombia was one of the early focal points of Sephardi immigration. [22] Jewish converts to Christianity and some crypto-Jews also sailed with the early explorers. It has been suggested that the present-day culture of business entrepreneurship in Antioquia and Valle del Cauca is attributable to Sephardi immigration. [23] [ better source needed ]
The largest wave of Middle Eastern immigration began around 1880 and remained during the first two decades of the 20th century. They were mainly Maronite Christians from Lebanon, Syria and Ottoman Palestine, fleeing financial hardships and the repression of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. When they were first processed in the ports of Colombia, they were classified as Turks (in part because most of them had Ottoman Passports at the time).
During the early 20th century, numerous Jewish immigrants came from Turkey, North Africa, and Syria. Shortly after, Jewish immigrants began to arrive from Eastern Europe. [20] Armenians, Lebanese, Syrians, [24] Palestinians, and some Israelis [25] have continued to settle in Colombia. [24]
Between 700,000 and 3,200,000 Colombians have full or partial Middle Eastern descent. [26] [27] Due to a lack of information, it is impossible to know the exact number of people who immigrated to Colombia. A figure of 50,000-100,000 from 1880 to 1930 may be reliable. [24] Regardless of the figure, the Lebanese are perhaps the biggest immigrant group, next to the Spanish, since independence. [24] Cartagena, Cali, and Bogota were among the cities with Colombia's largest number of Arabic-speaking representatives in 1945. [24]
Chile's 2017 census reported a population of 17,574,003 people. Its rate of population growth has been decreasing since 1990, due to a declining birth rate. By 2050 the population is expected to reach approximately 20.2 million people, at which point it is projected to either stagnate or begin declining. About 85% of the country's population lives in urban areas, with 40% living in Greater Santiago alone. The largest agglomerations according to the 2002 census are Greater Santiago with 5.6 million people, Greater Concepción with 861,000 and Greater Valparaíso with 824,000.
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.
Latin Americans are the citizens of Latin American countries.
Asian Argentines, are Argentine citizens or residents of Asian ancestry. The vast majority trace their ancestry to West Asia, primarily from Lebanon, Syria and Armenia, and the Far East, primarily from China and Japan. However, there are other communities of Indian origin as well. Asian Argentines settled in Argentina in large numbers during several waves of immigration in the 20th century.
Argentina has a racially and ethnically diverse population. The territory of what today is Argentina was first inhabited by numerous indigenous peoples. The first white settlers came during the period of Spanish colonization, beginning in the 16th century. The Spaniards imported African slaves, who would go on to become the first Afro-Argentines. Following independence from Spain in the 19th century and well into the 20th century, numerous migration waves took place, with Argentina being the second most popular destination for migrants in the early 20th century, after the United States. Most of these migrants came from Europe.
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.
White Latin Americans or European Latin Americans are Latin Americans of total or predominantly European ancestry.
Chileans are an ethnic group and nation native to the country of Chile and its neighboring insular territories. Most Chileans share a common culture, history, ancestry and language. The overwhelming majority of Chileans are the product of varying degrees of admixture between European ethnic groups with peoples indigenous to Chile's modern territory. Chile is a multilingual and multicultural society, but an overwhelming majority of Chileans have Spanish as their first language and either are Christians or have a Christian cultural background.
Arab Colombians refers to Arab immigrants and their descendants in the Republic of Colombia. Most of the migrants came from Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Palestine. When they were first processed in the ports of Colombia, they were classified as Turks because what is now Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine were then territories of the Ottoman Empire. It is estimated that Colombia has a Lebanese population of 3.2 million. Meanwhile, the Palestine population is estimated between 100,000-120,000.
Immigration to Colombia during the early 19th and late 20th Century, is what makes it one of the most diverse countries in the world, above other countries in the Latin region. Colombia inherited from the Spanish Empire harsh rules against immigration, first in the Viceroyalty of New Granada and later in the Colombian Republic. The Constituent Assembly of Colombia and the subsequent reforms to the national constitution were much more open to the immigrants and the economic aperture. However naturalization of foreigners, with the exception of those children of Colombians born abroad, it is still difficult to acquire due 'Jus soli' law is not allowed by the government, and only 'Jus sanguinis' law is accepted. Immigration in Colombia is managed by the "Migración Colombia" agency.
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.
Argentines are the citizens of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, several of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Argentine.
White Argentines, also known as Caucasian Argentines, are Argentines who have predominantly or total European or West Asian ancestry, these stand out for having light or olive skin. The vast majority of White Argentines have ancestry from immigrants who arrived in the early 20th century and later years although some have ancestry from the first colonizers. White Argentines are currently the largest group in Argentina.
Lebanese Colombians are Colombians of Lebanese descent. Most of the Lebanese community's forebears immigrated to Colombia from the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for economic, political and religious reasons. The first Lebanese moved to Colombia in the late nineteenth century. There was another wave in the early twentieth century. It is estimated that over 10,000 Lebanese immigrated to Colombia from 1900 to 1930.
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.
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 has a mixture of 47% Amerindian, 42% European, and 11% African. These proportions also vary widely among ethnicities.
Immigration to Uruguay began in several millennia BCE with the arrival of different populations from Asia to the Americas through Beringia, according to the most accepted theories, and were slowly populating the Americas. The most recent waves of immigrants started with the arrival of Spaniards in the 16th century, during the colonial period, to what was then known as the Banda Oriental.
The history of the Jews in Colombia begins in the Spanish colonial period with the arrival of the first Jews during the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Syrian Venezuelans refers to Venezuelan citizens of Syrian origin. Syrians are the largest immigrant group of Arabic origin in Venezuela.
Asian Colombians are Asian immigrants in Colombia and their descendants. The majority of Asian Colombians are of Chinese and Japanese descent, with a smaller portion being of Korean descent. There are also notable South Asian, Southeast Asian, Arab, and Middle Eastern descending populations.