Ethnic groups in Ecuador

Ecuadorians
"Ecuatorianos"

Flag of Ecuador; symbol of Ecuadorian unity
Total population
c. 17 million (Ecadurian citizenship and ancestry worldwide)
Regions with significant populations
Ecuador 16.14 million (2015 est.)
United States	564,631
Spain	359,076
Canada	20,120
Chile	16,357
Colombia	11,404
United Kingdom	9,422
Germany	4,907
Languages
Spanish, and several indigenous linguistic groups of Amerindian languages
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic; Protestant
Related ethnic groups
Other Latin Americans, Amerindians

The majority of Ecuadorians trace their origins to one or more of three geographical sources of human migrations: the pre-Hispanic indigenous populations who settled the region over 15,000 years ago, the Europeans (principally Spaniards) who arrived over five centuries ago, and ultimately the black sub-Saharan Africans whom they imported as slave labor during the same period. The mixing of two or more of these three groups established other mixed ethnic groups.

Mestizos, the multiracial group of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry, are by far the largest of all the ethnic groups and comprise around 71.9% of the current population. Whites are estimated at 6.1% and consist largely of those of unmixed or predominant European descent. Most white Ecuadorians are of colonial-era Spanish origin, also known as criollos (literally meaning "local-born Spaniards", as opposed to "Peninsulares", which were Spaniards born in the Iberian Peninsula in Spain. They also include descendants of immigrants from Italy, Germany, and France, as well as other countries. The third most numerous group are the indigenous Amerindians, who account for approximately 7% of the population. Afro-Ecuadorians make up most of the balance of the percentage and include mulattos (mixed European and sub-Saharan African) and zambos (mixed indigenous and sub-Saharan African).

The Ecuadorian census is conducted by the governmental institution known as INEC, Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas y Censos (National Institute of Statistics and Census). The census in Ecuador is conducted every 10 years, and its objective is to obtain the number of people residing within its borders. The current census now includes household information.