White (race)

Map of regions with prevalent populations of European descent.
Total population
(480,000,000 + 6.5% of the total world population (world population of 7.4 billion). (not counting partial European descent))
Regions with significant populations
United States	223,553,265
Russia	125,000,000
Brazil	92,636,000
Germany	81,000,000
France	66,000,000
United Kingdom	65,000,000
Italy	60,000,000
Spain	46,000,000
Ukraine	42,000,000
Argentina	38,900,000
Languages
Languages of Europe (mostly English, Spanish, minoritily Portuguese and French)
Religion
Majority Christianity (mostly Catholic and Protestant, some Orthodox) Irreligion  · Other Religions
Related ethnic groups
Europeans

White people is a racial classification specifier, used for people of Europid ancestry, with the exact implications dependent on context. The contemporary usage of "white people" or a "white race" as a large group of (mainly European) populations contrasting with "black", American Indian (sometimes called red), "colored" or non-white originated in the 17th century.

It is today particularly used as a racial classifier in multiracial societies, such as North Africa, the United States (White American), the United Kingdom (White British), Brazil (White Brazilian), South Africa (White South African) and the Middle East. Various social constructions of whiteness have been significant to national identity, public policy, religion, population statistics, racial segregation, affirmative action, white privilege, eugenics, racial marginalization and racial quotas.