# White Cubans

White Cubans (Spanish: Cubanos blancos) are Cubans of total or predominantly European or West Asian ancestry, these stand out for having light or olive skin and self-identify as white. The 2012 Cuban census reported that White Cubans are currently the largest group in Cuba representing 64.1% of the population.

## History

In 1511, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar set out with three ships and an army of 300 men from Hispaniola to form the first Spanish settlement in Cuba, with orders from Spain to conquer the island. The settlement was at Baracoa, but the new settlers were to be greeted with stiff resistance from the local Taíno population. The Taínos were initially organized by cacique (chieftain) Hatuey, who had himself relocated from Hispaniola to escape the brutalities of Spanish rule on that island. After a prolonged guerrilla campaign, Hatuey and successive chieftains were captured and burnt alive, and within three years the Spanish had gained control of the island. In 1514, a settlement was founded in what was to become Havana.
During the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early part of the twentieth century, large waves of Canarians, Catalans, Andalusians, Castilians, and Galicians immigrated to Cuba. Many European Jews have also immigrated there, with some of them being Sephardic. 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. Historically, Chinese descendants in Cuba were classified as White.
In 1953, the census estimated that 72.8% of Cubans were of European ancestry, mainly of Spanish origin, 12.4% of Black African ancestry, 14.5% of both Black and White ancestry (mulattos), and 0.3% of the population was of Chinese and or East Asian descent (officially called "amarilla" or "yellow" in the census). However, after the Cuban revolution, due to a combination of factors, mainly mass exodus to Miami, United States, a drastic decrease in immigration, and interracial reproduction, Cuba's demography changed.
As a result, those of complete European ancestry and those of pure Black African ancestry have decreased, the mixed population has increased, and the Chinese (or East Asian) population has, for all intents and purposes, disappeared.

## Demographics

White Cubans 1774-2012 census :
| Year | Population | (%) pop. |
| 1774 | 96,440 | 56.19 |
| 1792 | 133,553 | 48.75 |
| 1817 | 238,910 | 43.20 |
| 1827 | 311,051 | 44.15 |
| 1841 | 418,291 | 41.51 |
| 1861 | 793,484 | 58.08 |
| 1877 | 981,039 | 65.00 |
| 1887 | 1,102,889 | 68.54 |
| 1899 | 1,052,397 | 66.91 |
| 1907 | 1,428,176 | 69.70 |
| 1919 | 2,088,047 | 72.28 |
| 1931 | 2,856,956 | 72.10 |
| 1943 | 3,553,312 | 74.36 |
| 1953 | 4,243,956 | 72.81 |
| 1981 | 6,415,468 | 65.98 |
| 2002 | 7,271,926 | 65.06 |
| 2012 | 7,160,399 | 64.12 |
White people in Cuba make up 64.1% of the total population according to the 2012 census with the majority being of diverse Spanish descent. However, after the mass exodus resulting from the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the number 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 55–60%.
Most of White Cubans being of Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arab, German, Italian, Irish, and Russian descent.
The Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies at the University of Miami says the present Cuban population is 38% White and 62% Black/Mulatto. The Minority Rights Group International says that "An objective assessment of the situation of Afro-Cubans remains problematic due to scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both pre- and post-revolution. Estimates of the percentage of people of African descent in the Cuban population vary enormously, ranging from 33.9 percent to 62 percent".

## Genetics studies

An autosomal study from 2014 found the genetic makeup in Cuba to be 72% White, 20% Black African, and 8% Native American with different proportions depending on the self-reported ancestry (White, Mixed and Black). According to this study Whites are on average 86% White, 6.7% Black African and 7.8% Native American with European ancestry ranging from 65% to 99%. 75% of whites are over 80% European and 50% are over 88% European According to a study in 2011 Whites are on average 5.8% African with African ancestry ranging from 0% to 13%. 75% of whites are under 8% African and 50% are under 5% African. A study from 2009 analyzed the genetic structure of the three principal ethnic groups from Havana City (209 individuals), and the contribution of parental populations to its genetic pool.
A contribution from Indigenous peoples was not detectable in the studied sample.