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2nd Latin American Regulatory Conference (LARC) - Harmonization for... biodevicesbiz.com | 2nd Latin American Regulatory Conference (LARC) - Harmonization for... ubiomed.com | 2nd Latin American Regulatory Conference (LARC) - Harmonization for... biomedical-outsourcing.co... | First WGO Latin American Training Center Directors Meeting :: World... worldgastroenterology.org |
For the white Latino population of the United States, please see White Hispanic and Latino Americans
White Latin Americans[16] are the white population of Latin America. They are the descendants of 15th–to–19th century colonial-era settlers and of post-independence immigrants. Original settlers were mostly Spanish and Portuguese, but post-independence immigrants were more diverse, among them many Italian immigrants. Other large sources of immigrants were Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Poland, Lebanon and others. Smaller numbers came from various other European and Middle Eastern countries. The immigrants came principally in the late decades of the nineteenth and early decades of the twentieth centuries. Some twelve million people arrived in South America alone in this period, although many returned or re-migrated to other countries, including the United States and Canada. White Latin Americans number approximately 204 million, or 35.63% of a total population of 572.7 million.[citation needed]
[edit] History More than one and a half million Portuguese and Spaniards settled in their American colonies during the colonial period.[17][18] Small numbers of other Europeans also settled, usually as a reward for military service to Spain or Portugal. For the region as a whole, the number of post-independence immigrants far surpassed that of settlers during the colonial period.[19] Argentina and Uruguay were "inundated" with European immigrants, so that in the early 20th century Buenos Aires had a larger proportion of European-born population than did New York City. Argentina received more than half of the 11-12 million immigrants to South America in this time.[19] In Brazil, the most populous country in the region, the effect was consequently not as great, but the number of immigrants was large, at more than 4 million. [edit] AdmixtureSince the European colonization, the evolution of Latin America's population is embedded in a long and widespread history of intermixing, so that many White Latin Americans have Amerindian and/or sub-Saharan African and/or possibly Asian ancestry. cite web ||publisher=American Association of Physical Under the casta system of colonial Latin America, a person of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry would legally and automatically regain their limpieza de sangre (lit. "purity of blood") and be classified as criollo with others in that category (a designation denoting "pure" Spaniards born in the Americas), if they were of one-eighth or less Amerindian ancestry. These would be the offspring of a castizo (1/4 Amerindian and 3/4 Spanish) with a Spaniard or a criollo (who may himself have been mixed).[20] In practice, many castizos did themselves also subversively purchase their Whiteness all over Latin America, for a steep price,[21] with relevant "probanzas de limpieza de sangre" records altered, consolidating themselves within the lawfully white population. Additionally, at least in the parts of Latin America under the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Spanish territory north of South America, i.e. Central America (except Panama), Mexico, the Caribbean, Florida, and the present Southwestern United States; it later included the Louisiana region, to the Canadian border) officials in the late 16th century did actually decide "to grant limpieza certification to those who had no more than a fourth of native ancestry (called castizos)."[20] [edit] PopulationsIn terms of absolute numbers, the largest White population in Latin America is found in Brazil, with 95.3 million whites out of 191.9 million total Brazilians, or 49.7% of the total population.[7] Argentina has the second largest white population in Latin America, with 36 million, and Mexico or Colombia has the third largest white population, as estimates vary (see chart below for sources). In terms of percentage of the total population, Argentina has by far the largest white population, with 97% of the country self-identified as "white", although other sources estimate that percentage as low as 70.4 or 88,1 %. Depending on definition of "Latin America", the smallest White population in Latin America is either in Honduras, with only 1% White, approximately 75,000 people, or in Haiti. Guatemala has censuses which identify both Whites and Mestizos (people of mixed White and Amerindian ancestry) in one category, so the exact percentage of Whites in those countries is undetermined or unknown.
[edit] Central America[edit] Costa RicaIn 2009, Costa Rica had an estimated population of 4,509,290. Together, Whites (80%[citation needed]) and Mestizos combined make up 94% of the population, 3% are black people, 1% amerindians, 1% Chinese, and 1% other. Some other sources place the percentage of White people at 80%, or 3.6 million. Costa Rican-white ancestry is mostly Spanish but there are significant numbers of Costa Ricans descended from Italian, Greek, German, English, Dutch, French, Irish, Portuguese, Lebanese and Polish families, as well a sizable Jewish community.[32] [edit] El SalvadorOf the total Salvadoran population, 9% is white.[33] They're mostly of Spanish descent, others of Italian, German, French, and Palestinian ancestry. The majority of the white Salvadorans are in San Salvador, Chalatenango, Northern San Miguel, Northern La Union, and Santa Ana.
[edit] GuatemalaThe exact percentage of the white Guatemalan population is not known because the Guatemalan census combines mestizos and whites in one category, where they make up a combined total of 59.4%. Whites are mostly of Spanish descent, but there are also those of German, English, Italian, Scandinavian, and American descent. Some other sources place the percentage of white in 5.1%, or about 649,000 people.
[edit] HondurasHonduras contains perhaps the smallest percentage of whites in Latin America, with only 1% classified as white, or up to 75,000 of the total population. (If included, it might be Haiti, instead.) Of these, the majority are people of Spanish descent. [34]
[edit] NicaraguaMain articles: Nicaraguan and Demographics of Nicaragua  White Nicaraguans make up 17%, just over 1 million, of the Nicaraguan population.[31] The majority of White Nicaraguans are of Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese and French ancestry. In the 1800s Nicaragua experienced several waves of immigration, primarily from Europe. In particular, families from Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Belgium immigrated to Nicaragua, mostly to the departments in the Central and Pacific region. As a result, the Northern cities of Estelí, Jinotega and Matagalpa have significant fourth generation Germans. They established many agricultural businesses such as coffee and sugar cane plantations, and also newspapers, hotels and banks. The Jews of Nicaragua are descendants of Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe. Also present is a small Middle Eastern-Nicaraguan community of Syrians, Armenians, Palestinian Nicaraguans, and Lebanese Nicaraguans with a total population of about 30,000. [edit] PanamaWhite Panamanians form 10% ,[35] with the Spanish being the majority. Other ancestries includes Dutch, English, French, German, Irish, Greek, Italian, Lebanese, Portuguese and Russian.
[edit] North America[edit] Mexico .jpg) Lorena Ochoa - Mexico's number one golfer. Main article: White Mexican According to different sources, White Mexicans are estimated at 18%[9] of Mexico's population, or around 20 million people. The majority of them are of Spanish descent. However, many other, non-Iberian immigrants (mostly French) also arrived during the Second Mexican Empire. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, immigrants from Italy, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Lebanon and Israel also made Mexico their home.[37][38] In the 20th century, White Americans, Canadians, Greeks, Romanians, Portuguese, Armenians, Poles, Russians, Ashkenazi Jews, and immigrants from other Eastern European countries,[38] along with many Spanish refugees fleeing the Spanish Civil War also settled in Mexico.[39] Mexicans of unmixed European descent are found in all regions of the country, but are most common in the western, central, and northern states, especially in Aguascalientes, Nuevo Leon, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Sonora and Zacatecas.[40] Northern Mexico's population is predominantly white, due to very little mixing — both because of the scarcity of indigenous peoples there, a majority of whom remain isolated from the rest of the population, and the size of the region.[clarification needed] The white population of central Mexico is ethnically more diverse, as there are large numbers of non-Iberian European and Middle Eastern ethnic groups (mostly Italians, French and Lebanese). Non-Iberian surnames, most notably French, are also more common in central Mexico, especially in Mexico City and the state of Jalisco. [edit] QuebecThe official language of Quebec is French. Quebec is the only Canadian province whose population is mainly Francophone, with a 79% (5,877,660) Francophone majority, according to the 2006 Census.[41] The white people of European descent accounted for 91.2% of Quebec's population. 8.8% of Quebec's population is made up of visible minorities.[42] The definition of visible minority is taken from Canada's Employment Equity Act, which refers to "persons, other than Aboriginal persons, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour." Among those self-identifying as members of visible minorities are people of Blacks, South Asian, Arab, Latin American, Chinese, and other origins.[43][44]
[edit] Saint Pierre and MiquelonFrench is the official language of the Saint Pierre and Miquelon. The descendants of the first settlers – mainly Basques, Normans, and Bretons – make up much of the present population.[45]
[edit] Caribbean[edit] CubaMain article: Cubans White Cubans make up about 70%[12][46] of the total Cuban population, with the majority being of diverse Spanish descent. However, after the mass exodus resulting from Cuba becoming a soviet satellite nation in 1959 the amount of white Cubans actually residing in Cuba diminished. Today various records claiming the percentage of whites in Cuba are conflicting and uncertain; some reports (usually coming from Cuba) still report a less, but similar, pre-1959 number of 65% and others (usually from outside observers) report a 40-45%. Despite most white Cubans being of Spanish descent, many others are of French, Portuguese, German, Italian, and Russian descent.[47] During the 18th, 19th and early part of the 20th century, large waves of Canarians, Catalans, Andalusians, Castilians, and Galicians emigrated to Cuba. Also, minor but significant ethnic influx is derived from various Middle Eastern nations, such as Lebanon, and there are about 1,500 Jews, some of them Sephardic.[48] Given Cuba's thriving economic during its capitalistic era, between 1901 and 1958, more than a million Spaniards arrived to Cuba from Spain; many of these and their descendants left after Castro's communist regime took power. [edit] Dominican Republic White Dominicans represent 16% of the total population[29], with the vast majority being of Spanish descent. Notable other ancestries includes French, Italian, Lebanese, German, and Portuguese.[51][52][53] In addition, the government of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo made a point of increasing the white population, or "whitening" the racial composition of the country by rejecting black immigrants from Haiti and the local blacks as foreigners.[54] He also welcomed Jewish refugees in 1938 and Spanish farmers in the 1950s.[55][56] [edit] Guadeloupe
[edit] HaitiNote: Many definitions of Latin America do not include Haiti Most of the white Haitians are descendants of French settlers, although most French left following the Haitian Revolution of 1791–1804, which resulted in Saint-Domingue's independence as the Republic of Haiti. The white community had numbered 32,000 in 1789.[57] There are also white Haitians that are descendants of Danes, Germans, Italians, Lebanese, Poles, Portuguese, Russians, and Syrians. The country has also small numbers of Haitians of Spanish descent, who are the descendants of the first settlers on the whole of Hispaniola before French rule came to Haiti. [edit] Martinique
Note: Many definitions of Latin America do not include Martinique White people in Martinique represent 5% of the population, as Martinique is an overseas French department, most whites are French.[58]
[edit] Puerto Rico  See also: Puerto Rican people and Demographics of Puerto Rico White Puerto Ricans of European, mostly Spanish descent, are said to comprise the majority. (See: Spanish immigration to Puerto Rico). In the year 1899, one year after the U.S invaded and took control of the island, 61.8% of people identified as White. For the first time in fifty years, the 2000, United States Census asked people to define their race. One hundred years later, the total has risen to 80.5% (3,064,862), one percent more than reported in 1950.[61] From the beginning of the twentieth century American observers remarked on the "surprising preponderance of the white race" on the island. One travel writer called Puerto Rico "the whitest of the Antilles". In a widely distributed piece, a geologist, wrote that the island was "notable among the West Indian group for the reason that its preponderant population is of the white race." In a more academic book he reiterated that "Porto Rico, at least, has not become Africanized.[62] During the 19th century, hundreds of Corsican, French, Lebanese, and Portuguese families, along with large numbers of immigrants from Spain (mainly from Catalonia, Asturias, Galicia, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia, and the Canary Islands) and numerous Spanish loyalists from Spain's former colonies in South America, arrived in Puerto Rico. Other settlers have included Irish, Scots, Germans, Italians, and thousands others who were granted land from Spain during the Real Cedula de Gracias de 1815 (Royal Decree of Graces of 1815), which allowed European Catholics to settle in the island with a certain amount of free land. After the United States took possession of Puerto Rico after the Spanish-American War, an influx of Jews and White Americans began settling in Puerto Rico, continuing to the present day. Spanish refugees arrived in Puerto Rico during Francisco Franco’s rule in Spain. [edit] Saint BarthélemyNote: Many definitions of Latin America do not include Saint Barthélemy Most of the population are French-speaking descendants of the first settlers from Normandy and Brittany.[63]
[edit] South America[edit] ArgentinaMain article: White Argentine White Argentines make up 88.1% of Argentina's population, or about 36.04 million people[41] Whites can be found in all areas of the country, but especially in the Central region called "Pampas" (Buenos Aires City and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Entre Ríos and La Pampa) and the Southern region called "Patagonia" (provinces of Río Negro, Neuquén, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego). White Argentines are mainly descendants of immigrants who came from Europe in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries[8][64]. The main contributors were Spain, Italy, France (mostly settled in Buenos Aires city and province), Eastern European nations such as Macedonia (Buenos Aires and Patagonia), and Scandinavia (especially Sweden). Smaller waves of settlers from Australia, South Africa and the United States are recorded in Argentine immigration records. By the 1910s, over 30 percent of the country's population was non-native Argentine after immigration rates peaked, and half of Buenos Aires' population was foreign-born.[65][66]. Other main contributors were Germans, Dutch, French, Irish, English, Welsh, Greeks, Jews, Poles and other East Europeans, and Arabs. It is estimated that Argentina received a total amount of six million European and Middle-Eastern immigrants during the period 1860-1945.
[edit] BoliviaWhite Bolivians make up 15% of the nation's population, or up to 1.4 million.[30] The white population consists mostly of criollos, which consist of families of relatively unmixed Spanish ancestry from the Spanish colonists and also Spanish refugees fleeing the 1936–1939 Spanish Civil War. These have formed much of the aristocracy since independence. Other smaller groups within the white population are Germans, who founded the national airline Lloyd Aereo Boliviano, as well as Italians, Americans, Basques, Lebanese, Croats, Russians, Polish, and other minorities, many of whose members descend from families that have lived in Bolivia for several generations.
[edit] BrazilMain article: White Brazilian  According to 2009 estimates, White Brazilians make up 49.7% of Brazil's population, or 95.3 million people.[7] Whites are found in the entire territory of Brazil, although the main concentrations are in the South and Southeastern parts of the country. By 1822, an estimated 500,000–700,000 Europeans had left for Brazil, most of them male colonial settlers from Portugal.[69][70] Rich immigrants, who established the first sugarcane plantations in Pernambuco and Bahia, and, on the other hand, banished New Christians and Gypsies fleeing from religious persecution were among the early settlers. In the 18th century, an estimated 600,000 Portuguese arrived, including wealthier immigrants, as well as poor peasants attracted by the Brazil Gold Rush that was going on in Minas Gerais.[71] After independence Brazil started to attract larger numbers of European immigrants. It happened particularly after 1850, as a result of the end of the Atlantic slave trade and the expansion of coffee plantations in the region of São Paulo.[72][73] The immigration boom occurred between the mid–19th and mid–20th centuries, when nearly five million Europeans immigrated to Brazil, most of them Italians, Portuguese, Germans, Spaniards, Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and Ashkenazi Jews. From 1877 to 1903, 1,927,992 immigrants entered Brazil, which was an annual average of 71,000. The peak occurred in 1891, when 215,239 Europeans arrived.[74] The period was characterized by an intense immigration of Italians (58.49%) and a decrease on the participation of the Portuguese (20%).[75] After World War I, the Portuguese were once again the main group of immigrants, and Italians dropped to the third place. Spanish immigrants rose to second place, as a result of the poverty that affected millions of rural Spanish workers.[76] Germans came in fourth, mainly during the Weimar Republic, due to the poverty and unemployment brought by World War I.[77] From 1914 to 1918, the entry of immigrants of "other nationalities" increased. This category was composed of immigrants from Poland, Russia and Romania, who immigrated probably for political reasons, as well Jewish immigrants, who arrived in the 1920s. The other important group was composed of Syrian and Lebanese people.[75] After World War II, the European immigration reduced greatly, although from 1931 to 1963 1.1 million immigrants entered Brazil, mostly Portuguese.[74] And in mid-1970s, Portuguese refugees immigrated to Brazil after leaving their former African colonies because of their independence and others from Macau because of strict dictatorial rule[78][79]. [edit] ChileMain articles: Demographics of Chile and Immigration to Chile  In 2009, Chile had an estimated population of 16,970,000, of which approximately 8.8 million or 52,7% are white european, with mestizos estimated at 44%.[10] Other studies, found a white majority that would exceed 64% to 90% of the Chilean population.[80] [81] [82] Chile's various waves of immigrants consisted Spanish, Italians, Irish, French, Greeks, Germans, English, Scots, Croats, and Palestinian arrivals. The largest ethnic group in Chile arrived from Spain and the Basque regions in the south of France. Estimates of the number of descendants from Basques in Chile range from 10% (1,600,000) to as high as 27% (4,500,000).[83][84] [85] [86] [87] [88] [89] [90] In 1848 an important and substantial German immigration took place, laying the foundation for the German-Chilean community. Sponsored by the Chilean government for the colonization of the southern region, the Germans (including German-speaking Swiss, Silesians, Alsatians and Austrians), strongly influenced the cultural and racial composition of the southern provinces of Chile. The German Embassy in Chile estimated 500.000 to 600.000 Chileans are of German origin.[91] It is estimated that near the 5% of the Chilean population is of Asian origin immigrants descendant, chiefly of the Middle East (i.e. Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese and Middle East Armenians), are around 800,000.[92] [93] Note that Israelis, both Jewish and non-Jewish citizens of the nation of Israel may be included. Chile is home to a large population of immigrants, mostly Christian, from the Levant.[94] Roughly 500,000 Palestinian descendants are believed to reside in Chile.[95][96] [97] [98] [99] Other historically significant immigrant groups include: Croatia whose number of descendants today is estimated to be 380,000 persons, the equivalent of 2.4% of the population.[100][101] Other authors claim, on the other hand, that close to 4.6% of the Chilean population must have some Croatian ancestry.[102] Over 700,000 Chileans may have British (English, Scottish and Welsh) origin. 4.5% of Chile's population.[103] Chileans of Greek descent are estimated 90,000 to 120,000.[104] Most of them live either in the Santiago area or in the Antofagasta area, and Chile is one of the 5 countries with the most descendants of Greeks in the world.[105] The descendants of Swiss add 90,000[106] and it is estimated that about 5% of the Chilean population has some French ancestry.[107] 600,000 to 800,000 are descendants Italians. Other groups of European descendants have followed, but are found in smaller numbers. They did transform the country culturally, economically and politically. [edit] ColombiaThe white Colombian population is approximately 25% of the total population.[108] Mestizo Colombians make up another 50% of the population.[24] White Colombians are mostly descendants of Spaniards, but some are also of Italians, Germans, British, French, Belgians, Irish, Portuguese, and from the Middle-East:Lebanese. The Colombian Paisa Region received a strong immigration wave from Spain (Basques, and others from Extremadura and Andalusia) during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. This region is considered over 40% white. However, new genetic research in a well-defined "white population" of this region shows a DNA-mithochondrial ancestry (99%) related with Embera-people (a Colombian native group)(Carvajal-Carmona et al, 2003). [edit] Ecuador
White Ecuadorians, mostly criollos, descendants of Spanish colonists and also Spanish refugees fleeing the 1936—1939 Spanish Civil War, account for 7%[original research?], or approximately 960,000,[109] of the Ecuadorian population. Most still hold large amounts of lands, mainly in the northern Sierra, and live in Quito or Guayaquil. There is also a large number of white people in Cuenca, a city in the southern Andes of Ecuador, due to the arrival of Frenchmen in the area, in order to measure the arc of the Earth. Cuenca, Loja, and the Galápagos attracted German immigration during the early 20th century, and the Galápagos also had a small Norwegian fishing community until they were asked to leave.
[edit] French GuianaNote: Many definitions of Latin America do not include French Guiana 12% of the population, mostly French.[110]
[edit] ParaguayEthnically, culturally, and socially, Paraguay has one of the most homogeneous populations in South America. The exact percentage of the white Paraguayan population is not known because the Paraguayan census does not include racial or ethnic identification, save for the indigenous population,[111] which reached 1.7% of the country's total in the last census in 2002.[112] Other sources estimate the other groups. The mestizo population is estimated at 95% by the CIA World Factbook, and all other groups at 5%.[113] Thus, Whites and the remaining groups (Asians, Afro-Paraguayans, others, if any) combine for approximately 3.3% of the total population. The majority of whites are of Spanish descent with others being of Italian, German, or of other European descent.
[edit] Peru Main article: European Peruvian White Peruvians represent 15% of the population, or 4.4 million people according to the CIA Factbook.[26] They are descendants primarily of Spanish colonists, and also of Spanish refugees fleeing the Spanish Civil War, after world war 2 many German refuges fled to Peru and settled in large cities, while many others descend from Italian, French (mainly Basques), Austrian or German, Portuguese, British, Russians, Croatians, Lebanese and Syrian immigrant families. The majority of the whites live in the largest cities, concentrated usually in the northern coastal cities of Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura, and of course the capital Lima. The only southern city with a significant white population is Arequipa. To the north Cajamarca and San Martín Region are also places with a strong Spanish influence and ethnic presence.
[edit] UruguayWhite Uruguayans represent approximately 93% of the population and are of prevalently European descent,[28] mainly Spaniards (both colonial settlers, post-Independence immigrants, and refugees fleeing Spanish Civil War), followed closely by Italians, then British, Germans, French, Swiss, Russians, Portuguese, Poles, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Dutch, Belgians, Croatians, Lebanese, Armenians, Greeks, Scandinavians, and Irish.
[edit] Venezuela Main article: White Venezuelan Venezuela has no official race percentages; however, unofficial estimates put the white Venezuelan percentage at 21.6 or 5.7 million people. The majority of white Venezuelans are of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, and other European descent. Nearly half a million European immigrants, mostly from Spain (as a sequel of the Spanish Civil War), and from Italy and Portugal, entered the country during and after World War II, attracted by a prosperous, rapidly developing country where educated and skilled immigrants were welcomed.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
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