Race and ethnicity in Colombia

**Race and ethnicity in Colombia** descends mainly from three racial groups: Amerindians, Africans, and Caucasians that have mingled 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 85 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. Genetic research with over 60,000 blood tests and 25 variables, determined that the average Colombian (of all races) has an admixture of 70% European, 20% native Amerindian and 10% African ancestry, however these proportions vary widely from one region to another. These proportions also vary widely among ethnicities.

## Racial/ethnic groups and their frequency

*See also: White Colombians, Afro-Colombians, Indigenous peoples in Colombia, Mestizo Colombians, Arab Colombians*
Colombia officially acknowledges three ethnic minority groups: the Afro-Colombian, indigenous, and Romani populations. The Afro-Colombian population consists mainly of blacks, mulattoes, raizales, palenqueros, and zambos (a term used since colonial times for individuals of mixed Amerindian and black ancestry). A 1999 resolution of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice acknowledged the Romani population as a Colombian ethnic group, although Romani people were not recognized in the 1991 constitution (unlike the Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations). Estimates vary widely, but the 2005 census found that the ethnic minority populations had increased significantly since the 1993 census, possibly owing to the methodology used. Specifically, it reported that the Afro-Colombian population accounted for 10.5 percent of the national population (4.3 million people); the Amerindian population, for 3.4 percent (1.4 million people); and the Romani population, for 0.01 percent (5,000 people).

The 2005 census reported that the "non-ethnic population", consisting of whites, mestizos and castizos, constituted 86 percent of the national population. The 86 percent figure is subdivided into 49 percent mestizo and 37 percent white.

## Distribution of racial/ethnic groups geographically

The various groups exist in differing concentrations throughout the nation, in a pattern that to some extent goes back to colonial origins. The Whites tend to live mainly in the urban centers, particularly like Bogotá or Medellín, and the burgeoning highland cities. The populations of the major cities are primarily white and mestizo. The large Mestizo population includes most campesinos (people living in rural areas) of the Andean highlands where some Spanish conquerors had mixed with the women of Amerindian chiefdoms. Mestizos had always lived in the cities as well, as artisans and small tradesmen, and they have played a major part in the urban expansion of recent decades.

According to the 2005 census, the heaviest concentration of the indigenous population (22 to 61 percent) is located in the departments of Amazonas, La Guajira, Guainía, Vaupés, and Vichada. The secondary concentrations of 6 to 21 percent are located in the departments of Sucre, Córdoba, Chocó, Cauca, Nariño, and Putumayo. Amerindian communities have legal autonomy to enforce their own traditional laws and customs. Despite its small percentage of the national population, the indigenous population has managed to obtain nearly a quarter of the country's land titles under the 1991 constitution.

The 1991 National Constitution of Colombia defined Territorial Entities (*Entidades Territoriales*) as departments, districts, municipalities and indigenous territories.
Within an Indigenous Territory Entity (ETI) the people have autonomy in managing their interests, and within the limits of the constitution have the right to manage resources and define taxes required to perform their duties. ETIs are to be defined by the government in conformance with the Organic Law on Land Management.
However, this law has yet to be sanctioned so in practice the territories are unregulated.

The Black, Zambo and Mulatto populations have largely remained in the lowland areas on the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, its islands, and along the Cauca and Magdalena Rivers. The Afro-Colombian population is concentrated primarily (21% to 80% of their departments) in the departments of Chocó, San Andrés, department of Bolívar and in the lowland parts of Cauca (communities such as Lopez de Micay, Guapi, and Timbiqui), and Valle del Cauca departments (in areas like the largest city on the Pacific coast Buenaventura and large concentration in Cali), with secondary concentrations (10 to 18 percent of the departments) in Atlántico, Córdoba, Magdalena, Nariño (communities like El Charco, Tumaco and Barbacoas), Antioquia (mostly in La Uraba region), La Guajira, Cesar, and Sucre departments. Chocó is the department with the largest concentration of African-descendants in Colombia.

The population of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, which Colombia inherited from Spain after the Spanish had overcome an initial British settlement, is mostly Afro-Colombian, including several thousand raizal (those with roots) blacks. Despite the length of time during which Colombia has had jurisdiction over them, most raizales on these Caribbean islands have retained their Protestant religion, have continued to speak an English-based creole language as well as English, and have regarded themselves as a group distinct from mainland residents. A minute percentage of the insular population originated in Scotland and Syria.

## Immigrants in Colombia

Colombia has received across its history different groups of immigrants.

White Colombians are mainly of Spanish descent, who arrived in the beginning of the 16th century when Colombia was part of the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuries, other European and Middle Eastern peoples migrated to Colombia, notably Lebanese people but also Palestinians, Syrians, Germans, Italians, French, Lithuanians, and British among others.

Colombia was one of early focus of Basque and Sephardi immigration. Between 1540 and 1559, 8.9% of the residents of Colombia were of Basque origin. Basque priests introduced handball into Colombia. Jewish converts to Christianity and some crypto-Jews also sailed with the early conquistadors.

Many immigrant communities have settled on the Caribbean coast, in particular recent immigrants from the Middle East. Barranquilla (the largest city of the Colombian Caribbean) and other Caribbean cities have the largest populations of Lebanese, Palestinian, and other Arabs. In some sectors of society there is a considerable input of Italian and German ancestry.

There are also important communities of Chinese, Japanese, Romanis and Jews. British and Jamaicans migrated mainly to the islands of San Andres and Providencia.

Since 2010 there is a major migration trend of Venezuelans, due to the political and economic situation in Venezuela.

## See also

* Immigration to Colombia
* Indigenous peoples in Colombia

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bushnell & Hudson, p. 86.
2. ↑ Tiempo, Casa Editorial El. "Los colombianos tienen un componente europeo mayor que el pensado". http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-13474795. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
3. ↑ Ruiz-Linares, Andrés, et al. "Admixture in Latin America: geographic structure, phenotypic diversity and self-perception of ancestry based on 7,342 individuals." PLoS Genetics 10.9 (2014): e1004572.
4. ↑ Bushnell & Hudson, p. 86-87.
5. ↑ Bushnell & Hudson, pp. 87-88.
6. ↑ http://www.territorioindigenaygobernanza.com/col\_06.html
7. ↑ http://www.mincultura.gov.co/areas/poblaciones/comunidades-negras-afrocolombianas-raizales-palenqueras/Documents/Caracterizaci%C3%B3n%20comunidades%20negras%20y%20afrocolombianas.pdf
8. ↑ Bushnell & Hudson, p. 88.
9. ↑ "'Lost Jews' Of Colombia Say They've Found Their Roots". npr.org. https://www.npr.org/2012/12/20/167714541/lost-jews-of-colombia-say-theyve-found-their-roots. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
10. ↑ Possible paradises: Basque emigration to Latin America by José Manuel Azcona Pastor, P.203
11. ↑ Vargas Arana, Pilar, and Luz Marina Suaza Vargas. "Los árabes en Colombia: Del rechazo a la integración." (2007).
12. ↑ "The Arab immigration to Colombia" (in Spanish). nodo50.org. http://www.nodo50.org/csca/agenda08/misc/arti48.html. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
13. ↑ "The ethnic and cultural diversity of Colombia" (in Spanish). pedagogica.edu.co. http://www.pedagogica.edu.co/storage/ps/articulos/pedysab15\_09arti.pdf. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
14. ↑ Wabgou, M., Vargas, D. & Carabalí, J. A. (2012). "Las migraciones internacionales en Colombia. Investigación & Desarrollo, 20(1) 142–167.". uninorte.edu.co. http://rcientificas.uninorte.edu.co/index.php/investigacion/article/view/2116/2827.
15. ↑ "Características de los migrantes de Venezuela a Colombia" (in Spanish). 2017-08-14. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/c80f3a\_d2e0a0b4821e4238ae021904026a4459.pdf.

### Works cited

* Bushnell, David and Rex A. Hudson. "Racial distinctions". In *Colombia: A Country Study* (Rex A. Hudson, ed.). Library of Congress Federal Research Division (2010).