Total population | |
---|---|
(2,825,100) 75.8% of the total population (2010 Census) |
|
Regions with significant populations | |
All regions of Puerto Rico | |
Languages | |
Prediminantly Puerto Rican Spanish & English | |
Religion | |
Christianity, Catholicism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
White Latin American, White Hispanic and Latino Americans, Puerto Rican American, White Mexican, White Dominican |
White Puerto Ricans are Puerto Ricans whose ancestry is of predominant European or other white descent, most notably from Spain (especially the Canary Islands).
As of 2010 US census, people who self-identified as white constituted the majority in Puerto Rico, making up 75.8% of the population. People who identified themselves as being of mixed race origin, predominantly of West African and European ancestry, constitute an additional 11.1% of the population.
Lesser influences came from France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Ireland, Malta and the Netherlands.
An early Census on the island was conducted by Governor Lieutenant General Francisco Manuel de Landó in 1530. An exhaustive 1765 census was taken by Lieutenant General Alexander O'Reilly which (according to some sources) showed 17,572 whites out of a total population of 44,883. The censuses from 1765 to 1887 were taken by the Spanish government who conducted at irregular intervals. The 1899 census was taken by the War Ministry of the United States. Since 1910 Puerto Rico has been included in every decennial census taken by the United States.
Puerto Rico was a Spanish Overseas Province for nearly 400 years. The bulk of Puerto Ricans' European ancestry is from Spain. In 1899, one year after the U.S invaded and took control of the island, 61.8% of people were identified as White. In the 2010 United States Census the total of Puerto Ricans that identified as White was 75.8%. The European heritage of Puerto Ricans comes primarily from one source: Spaniards (including Canarians, Catalans, Castilians, Galicians, Asturians, and Andalusians) and Basques. Though, the Canary Islands of Spain has had the most influence on Puerto Rico, and is where most Puerto Ricans can trace their ancestry. It is estimated up to 82% of persons in certain parts of Puerto Rico descend in part from Canarian people. The table shows that in the twentieth century, the foreign-born made up a very small percentage of the total population of the Island. However, in 1910 people born in Europe composed 75.3% of the total foreign-born population, with Spain alone making up 60.9%.