2023: 1930 Chronology: Appendix 3: Race and Ethnicity in Contemporary Latin America

RACE AND ETHNICITY IN CONTEMPORARY LATIN AMERICA

There is no single system of races or ethnicities that covers all modern Latin America, and usage of labels may vary substantially. In Mexico, for example, the category mestizo is not defined or applied the same as the corresponding category of mestico in Brazil. In spite of these differences, the construction of race in Latin America can be contrasted with concepts of race and ethnicity in the United States. The ethno-racial composition of modern-day Latin American nations combines diverse Amerindian populations, with influence from Iberian and other European colonizers, and equally diverse African groups brought to the Americas as slave labor, and also recent immigrant groups from all over the world.

Racial categories in Latin America are often linked to both continental ancestry or mixture as inferred from phenotypical traits, but also to socio-economic status. Ethnicity is often constructed either as an amalgam national identity or as something reserved for the indigenous groups so that ethnic identity is something that members of indigenous groups have in addition to their national identity. Racial and ethnic discrimination is common in Latin America where socio-economic status generally correlates with perceived whiteness, and indigenous status and perceived African ancestry is generally correlated with poverty and lack of opportunity and social status.

The contemporary classification of individuals in Latin America includes the following categories:

• Amerindians.The indigenous population of Latin America, the Amerindians, arrived during the Lithic stage -- the earliest stage of human habitation of the Americas. In pre-Columbian times, the Amerindians numbered over one hundred million. In post-Columbian times, they experienced tremendous population decrease, particularly in the early decades of colonization. They have since recovered in numbers, surpassing sixty million by some estimates. With the growth of other groups, they now compose a majority only in Bolivia and Peru. In Guatemala, Amerindians are a large minority who comprise two-fifths of the population. Mexico's fourteen percent (14%) (9.8% in the official 2005 census) is the next largest population, and one of the largest Amerindian populations in the Americas in absolute numbers. Most of the remaining countries have Amerindian minorities, in every case making up less than one-tenth of the respective country's population. In many countries, people of mixed Amerindian 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 trading in 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 about two million people of Asian descent; this includes the largest ethnic Japanese community outside Japan itself (estimated as high as 1.5 million), and about 200,000 ethnic Chinese and 100,000 ethnic Koreans. Ethnic Koreans  number tens of thousands 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 (Alberto Fujimori) and a number of politicians are of Japanese descent. The Martinican population includes an African-White-Indian mixed population, and an East Indian (Asian Indian) population. The Guadeloupe East Indian population is estimated at fourteen percent (14%) of the population.

• Blacks.  Millions of Africans 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 Latin American nations, Brazil has the largest number of Blacks with seven percent (7%) of the population being Afro-Latin American. Significant populations are also found in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela and Uruguay.  Latin Americans of mixed Black and White ancestry, called Mulattoes, are far more numerous than Blacks.

• Mestizos. Intermixing between Europeans and Amerindians 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. In Latin America, Mulattoes descend primarily from Spanish or Portuguese settlers on one side, and African on the other. Brazil is home to Latin America's largest mulatto population. Mulattoes are a population majority in the Dominican Republic and, depending on the source, Cuba as well. Mulattoes are also numerous in Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay. 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. The Portuguese colonized Brazil primarily, and the Spaniards settled elsewhere in the region. 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-Latin traditions. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela contain the largest absolute numbers of Whites in Latin America. Whites make up the majorities of Argentina, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Chile, Uruguay, and depending on the source in Cuba. Whites make up nearly half of Brazil's population. Ever since most of Latin America gained independence in the 1810s–1820s, millions of people have immigrated there. Of these immigrants, Italians formed the largest group, and next were Spaniards and Portuguese. Many others arrived, such as French, Germans, Greeks, Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Croats, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Irish, and Welsh. Also included are Jews, as well as Arabs of Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian descent; most of them are Christian.  Whites presently compose the largest racial group in Latin America (approximately thirty-six percent [36%]) and, whether as White, Mestizo, or Mulatto, the vast majority of Latin Americans have white ancestry.

• Zambos. Intermixing between Africans and Amerindians was especially prevalent in Colombia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Brazil, often due to slaves 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 in Middle America, and Cafuzos in Brazil.

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