Demographics of Latin America
Latin America has a very diverse population, with many ethnic groups of different ancestries or races, the majority of which are either of European, Amerindian, or African descent, or a mix of any of these.
Only in three countries do the Amerindians make up the largest segment of the population: in Guatemala and Bolivia they represent a majority of over 50%, and in Peru they constitute a plurality of just under 50%. In the rest of the Continent, most people with a Native American lineage are admixed with one or more other racial lineages.
Since the 16th century a large number of Iberian colonists left for Latin America: the Portuguese to Brazil and the Spaniards to the rest of the region. An intensive race mixing between the Europeans and the Amerindians occurred (mostly in, and after, the 1800s) and their descendants, known as mestizos, make up the majority of the population in several Latin American countries, such as Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela.
Starting in the late 16th century, a large number of black African slaves was brought to Latin America, the majority of whom were sent to the Caribbean and Brazil. Nowadays, African descendants make up the majority of the population in most Caribbean countries. Many of the African slaves in Latin America mixed with the Europeans, and their descendants, known as Mulattos, make up the majority of the population in some countries such as the Dominican Republic and Cuba, and a large proportion of the populations of Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and Belize. Mixing between Africans and Amerindians also occurred, and their descendants are known as Zambos, found primarily in Venezuela and Colombia. Many Latin American countries also have a substantial tri-racial population, their ancestry being a mix of European, Amerindian, and African, most notably in Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Brazil.
Large numbers of European immigrants arrived in Latin America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most of them settling in Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil. The majority population of this combined region is composed of Whites, most of whom, more than 90%, are descendants of the top five groups of European immigrants: Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, Germans and Irish. Some of the other groups are Poles, Russians, Welsh, Ukrainians, French, Croatians and European Jews. In all, more than two thirds of Latin America’s overall white population resides in this region.
In this same period, many immigrants came from the Middle-East and Asia, including Indians, Lebanese, Syrians, and, more recently, Koreans, Chinese and Japanese (mainly to Brazil). In the late 19th century, a small wave of Americans, mostly from the former Confederate States or the Southern U.S., settled in Brazil and fewer across Latin America.
This diversity of Latin America has profoundly influenced religion, music, and politics, and gave rise to a weak feeling of identity. This opaque cultural heritage and identity is called Latin or Latino in United States’ English. Outside of the U.S., and in many languages (especially romance ones) “Latino” just means “Latin”, referring to cultures and peoples that can trace their heritage back to the ancient Roman Empire. Latin American is the proper term.