Coloured people

Coloureds

Extended coloured family with roots in Cape Town, Kimberley, and Pretoria.
Total population
~ 6,285,300
Regions with significant populations
South Africa (Western Cape and Northern Cape), Namibia, Zimbabwe
South Africa	4,832,900 (2015; estimated)
Namibia	143,799
Zimbabwe	17,923
Zambia	3,000
Languages
Afrikaans (75%) and English (25%)
Religion
Christianity, Islam, Others
Related ethnic groups
Afrikaners, Cape Dutch, Cape Coloureds, Cape Malays, Khoikhoi, Xhosa, Saint Helenians

Coloureds (Afrikaans: Kleurlinge) are a multiracial ethnic group originating in colonial South Africa, who possess ancestry from European, African (Khoisan and Bantu) and Asian (Austronesian and South Asian) ethnic groups. Different families and individuals have a variety of different physical features. There were extensive relationships and unions among these diverse peoples in the Western Cape — in which a distinctive Cape Coloured and affiliated Cape Malay culture developed. In other parts of Southern Africa, people classified as Coloured were usually the descendants of individuals from two distinct ethnicities. Genetic studies suggest the group has the highest levels of mixed ancestry in the world. studies have demonstrated that the maternal (female) lines of the Coloured population are descended mostly from Khoisan women, a case of gender-biased admixture.

The Coloured community is predominantly descended from numerous interracial sexual unions between Western European men and Khoisan women in the Cape Colony from the 17th century onwards.

In KwaZulu-Natal, Coloureds possess a diverse heritage including British, Irish, German, Mauritian, Saint Helenians, Indians, Xhosa and Zulu. Zimbabwean Coloureds are descended from Shona or Ndebele mixing with British and Afrikaner settlers. Griqua, on the other hand, are descendants of Khoisan and Afrikaner Trekboers. Despite these major differences, their ancestry from more than one naturalised racial group means that they are coloured in the South African context. Such people did not necessarily self-identify this way; some preferred to call themselves black or Khoisan or just South African.

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Wikipedia