Ethnic groups in Latin America
The inhabitants of Latin America are from a variety of ancestries, ethnic groups and races, making the region one of the most diverse in the world. The specific composition of the group varies from country to country. Many have a predominance of European-Amerindian or Mestizo population; in others, Amerindians are a majority; some are dominated by inhabitants of European ancestry; and some countries' populations have large African or Mulatto populations.
In addition to the foregoing groups, Latin America also has millions of tri-racial peoples of African, Native American, and European ancestry. Most are found in Dominican Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Peru with a much smaller presence in other countries.
The following table shows the different racial groups and their percentages for all Latin American countries and territories, according to information provided by The World Factbook.
1May include one or more of the other groups (Mostly Asians).
The following table contains information based on a 2014 non-genetic work entitled "Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI" ("Ethnic Composition of the Three Cultural Areas of the American Continent at the Beginning of the 21st Century") by National Autonomous University of Mexico professor Francisco Lizcano Fernández.
Fernández compiled his estimation of groups based on a criteria of cultural patterns, not on genotypes nor even phenotype. In these estimations, therefore, "whites" encompasses all those whose practiced culture is predominantly Iberian-derived, while "mestizos" encompasses those whose practiced culture noticeably mixes Iberian and Amerindian cultural traditions, and "Amerindians" only those whose practiced culture is predominantly indigenous American.
The resulting effect of employing this criteria, therefore, skews the figure of said groups if they had been based on genetic factors, or even based on phenotypic factors. Thus, for instance, the estimate of "whites" given for Chile would include mostly genetic mestizos, while the estimate of "mestizos" in Mexico would include not only a significant proportion of genetic Amerindians, but also many genetic whites, and so on for other countries.
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