Colombians descend mainly from three racial groups—Europeans, Amerindians, and Africans—that have mixed throughout the last 500 years of Colombia's history. Some demographers describe Colombia as one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the Western Hemisphere and in the World, with 900 different ethnic groups. Most Colombians identify themselves and others according to ancestry, physical appearance, and sociocultural status. Social relations reflect the importance attached to certain characteristics associated with a given racial group. Although these characteristics no longer accurately differentiate social categories, they still contribute to one's rank in the social hierarchy. A study from DNA Tribes in 2012 determined that the average Colombian has a mixture of 56.7% Caucasian, 26.2% Amerindian, 8.5% Arab, 8.0% African, and 0.6% Asian.DNA Tribes. (2012, August 1). DNA Tribes® SNP Admixture Results by Population. Internet Archive Wayback Machine. https://archive.org These proportions also vary widely among ethnicities.
Racial/ethnic groups and their frequency
Colombia officially acknowledges three ethnic minority groups: the Afro-Colombian, indigenous, and Romani populations. The Afro-Colombian population consists mainly of the African diaspora, mulattoes, raizales, palenqueros, and zambos (a term used since colonial times for individuals of mixed Amerindian and African ancestry). A 1999 resolution of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice acknowledged the Romani population as a Colombian ethnic group, although Romani people were not recognized in the 1991 constitution (unlike the Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations). Estimates vary widely, but the 2018 census found that the ethnic minority populations had increased significantly since the 1993 census, possibly owing to the methodology used. Specifically, it reported that the Afro-Colombian population accounted for 6.68 percent of the national population; the Amerindian population, for 4.31 percent; and the others like Romani for 0.06 percent The 2018 census reported that the "non-ethnic population", consisting of whites and mestizos, constituted 87 percent of the national population. A study by Latinobarómetro in 2023 estimates that 50.3% of the population are Mestizo or around 26 million people, 26.4% are White, 9.5% are Indigenous or around 5 million people, 9.0% are Black, 4.4% are Mulatto, and 0.4% are Asian, however estimates of each vary between sources. Therefore, it can be estimated that 26 million people are Mestizos (being the largest ethnic group in the country), 14 million people are White (includes castizos and euro-descendants), 5 million people are Indigenous, 5 million people are Black (excluding mulattos), 2 million people are Mulatto, and 200 thousand people are Asian, showcasing the diversity of Colombia as a nation.
Genetic composition
Regions
(Yunis, 1993), from the National University of Colombia, analyzed eight genetic systems in 30,259 individuals and determined that regional ancestry was distributed as follows:
RegionDepartmentsCaucasian contributionIndigenous contributionBlack contributionAmazoniaCaquetá, Putumayo, Guainía, Amazonas64%–67%29%–32%3%–4%AndeanCundinamarca, Boyacá, Valle del Cauca, Antioquia, Nariño, Tolima, Caldas, Santander, Huila, Cauca, Risaralda, Norte de Santander, Quindío, Cesar, Bolívar64%–66%27%–29%7%CaribbeanAtlántico, Bolívar, Magdalena, Sucre, Cesar, La Guajira, Córdoba, Urabá53%–58%17%–24%23%–25%InsularSan Andrés and Providencia41%–44%0%–2%56%–57%OrinoquíaMeta, Casanare, Arauca, Vichada66%–68%28%–31%3%–4%PacificChocó, Nariño, Valle del Cauca, Cauca28%–30%16%–19%53%–54%Colombia61%–63%26%–29%10%–11% The same study found that at the subregional level, genetic ancestry was as follows: SubregionCaucasian contributionIndigenous contributionBlack contributionAntioquia65.0%–73.0%14.0%–20.0%14.5%Boyacá62.0%–71.0%26.0%–35.0%2.5%Caribbean (without Urabá)49.0%–56.0%19.0%–26.0%26.0%Cauca33.0%–40.0%34.0%–41.3%26.0%Chocó14.0%–16.5%7.5%–10.6%76.0%Cundinamarca62.0%–71.0%25.0%–34.0%3.5%Nariño43.0%–52.0%40.0%–49.0%7.8%Eastern (Amazonia and Orinoquía)60.0%–69.0%27.5%–36.0%3.9%Pacific (with Urabá)32.0%–35.0%14.0%–15.0%51.0%Paisa (Antioquia and Viejo Caldas)64.0%–71.0%17.0%–24.0%11.7%Santanderes65.0%–73.0%21.0%–29.0%5.9%Tolima Grande59.0%–67.0%26.0%–34.0%6.8%Valle del Cauca50.0%–57.0%22.0%–29.0%21.0%Viejo Caldas65.0%–73.0%19.0%–26.0%8.8%
According to (Ossa et al., 2016), in a study carried out across the five Natural regions of Colombia, the genetic composition is as follows:
RegionDepartmentsSamplesAfrican contributionEuropean contributionNative American contributionAmazoniaAmazonas, Guainía, Caquetá, Putumayo367.66%27.14%65.20%AndesAntioquia, Boyacá, Caldas, Cundinamarca, Huila, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, Quindío, Risaralda, Santander, Tolima, Valle del Cauca5307.40%57.99%34.61%CaribbeanAtlántico, Bolívar, Cesar, Córdoba, La Guajira, Magdalena, Sucre7822.98%55.01%22.01%OrinoquíaArauca, Casanare, Meta3410.98%53.00%36.02%PacificChocó8363.27%22.72%14.01% In the same study, the Andean region was divided into six subregions, whose genetic composition was as follows: SubregionDepartmentsNumber of samplesAfrican contributionEuropean contributionNative American contributionCentral-EastBoyacá, Cundinamarca1435.10%58.86%36.04%Central-WestAntioquia, Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda597.87%66.91%25.22%NortheastNorte de Santander, Santander1506.93%58.10%34.97%WestValle del Cauca4414.04%55.43%30.54%SoutheastHuila, Tolima1188.12%54.54%37.34%SouthwestNariño, Putumayo167.07%48.65%44.28% Rojas et al. (2010) measured the genetic mixture for fourteen Colombian departments: DepartmentAmerindian contributionEuropean contributionAfrican contribution Antioquia 26% 63.5% 10.3% Antioquia (Peque) 62.2% 31.1% 5.8% Bolívar 32.9% 23.3% 43.8% Caldas 36.4% 59.6% 4.3% Casanare 74.7% 24.5% 0.8% Cauca 56.9% 19.6% 23.5% Chocó (Afro Colombians) 10.8% 21.1% 68.1% Chocó (Mestizos) 44.8% 46.6% 8.6% Cundinamarca 51.6% 45.4% 3% Huila 60.8% 39.6% 0% Magdalena 21.8% 50% 28.2% Nariño 65.2% 32.1% 2.7% Norte de Santander 53% 42.2% 4.7% Quindío 38.3% 57.3% 4.4% Santander 42.4% 56.2% 1.4% Valle del Cauca 39.3% 39.2% 21.5% Colombia 47% 42% 11%
Distribution of racial/ethnic groups geographically
The various groups exist in differing concentrations throughout the nation, in a pattern that to some extent goes back to colonial origins. The Whites tend to live mainly in the urban centers like Bogotá or Medellín. The populations of the major cities are primarily mestizo and white. The large Mestizo population includes most campesinos (people living in rural areas) of the Andean highlands, where some Spanish conquerors mixed with the women of Amerindian chiefdoms. Mestizos had always lived in the cities as well, as artisans and small tradesmen, and they have played a major part in the urban expansion of recent decades. According to the 2005 census, the heaviest concentration of the indigenous population (22 to 61 percent) is located in the departments of Amazonas, La Guajira, Guainía, Vaupés, and Vichada. The secondary concentrations of 6 to 21 percent are located in the departments of Sucre, Córdoba, Chocó, Cauca and Nariño. Amerindian communities have legal autonomy to enforce their own traditional laws and customs. Despite being around 4-10% of the population, the indigenous population has managed to regain nearly a quarter of the country's land titles under the 1991 constitution.
The 1991 National Constitution of Colombia defined Territorial Entities (Entidades Territoriales) as departments, districts, municipalities and indigenous territories. Within an Indigenous Territory Entity (ETI) the people have autonomy in managing their interests, and within the limits of the constitution have the right to manage resources and define taxes required to perform their duties. ETIs are to be defined by the government in conformance with the Organic Law on Land Management. However, this law has yet to be sanctioned so in practice the territories are unregulated.
The Black, Zambo and Mulatto populations have largely remained in the lowland areas on the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, its islands, and along the Cauca and Magdalena Rivers. The Afro descendent Colombian population is concentrated primarily (21% to 80% of their departments) in the departments of Chocó, San Andrés, Bolívar and in the lowland parts of Cauca (communities such as Lopez de Micay, Guapi, and Timbiqui), and Valle del Cauca departments (in areas like the largest city on the Pacific coast, Buenaventura, and large concentration in Cali), with secondary concentrations (10 to 18 percent of the departments) in Atlántico, Córdoba, Magdalena, Nariño (communities like El Charco, Tumaco and Barbacoas), Antioquia (mostly in Uraba region), La Guajira, Cesar, and Sucre departments. Chocó is the department with the largest concentration of African-descendants in Colombia.
The population of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, which Colombia inherited from Spain after the Spanish had overcome an initial British settlement, is mostly Afro-Colombian, including several thousand raizal blacks. Despite the length of time during which Colombia has had jurisdiction over them, most raizales on these Caribbean islands have retained their Protestant religion, have continued to speak an English-based creole language as well as English, and have regarded themselves as a group distinct from mainland residents. A minute percentage of the insular population originated in Scotland and Syria.Bushnell & Hudson, p. 88. +Ethnic groups according to self identification. Data from the 2018 Colombian Census.DepartmentTotal population (2018)Indigenous%Afro-Colombian%Other (most being Mestizo or White)%66,05638,13057.74860.7327,44041.55,974,78837,6280.60312,1125.225,625,04894.1239,5036,5732.7010,0584.19222,87293.02,342,26539,0611.70140,1425.982,163,06292.37,181,46919,0630.3066,9340.937,095,47298.81,909,4605,2040.30319,39616.71,584,86083.01,135,6987,1510.604,2470.371,124,30098.9923,47255,8016.0014,7161.59852,95592.3359,6028,8252.505,0871.41345,69096.1379,8926,8931.806,1301.61366,86996.51,243,503308,45524.8245,36219.7689,68655.41,098,57751,2334.70142,43612.9904,90882.3457,41268,41515.0337,69673.851,30111.21,555,596202,62113.0102,4956.581,250,48080.42,792,8779,9490.4013,0920.462,769,83699.144,43133,28074.94601.0310,69124.073,0816,8569.402,9914.0963,23486.51,009,54812,1941.205,0990.50992,25598.3825,365394,68347.860,4757.32370,20744.81,263,78820,9381.70106,3188.411,136,53289.9919,12920,5282.208,8360.96889,76596.81,335,521206,45515.5233,06217.45896,00467.11,346,8064,5450.605,4700.401,336,79199.2283,19750,69417.910,2623.62222,24178.4509,6402,8830.606,0601.18500,69798.2839,59729,9093.6016,7331.99792,95594.448,299200.0026,87355.621,40644.32,008,8411,2620.1022,7591.131,984,82098.8864,036104,89012.1102,83611.9656,31075.91,228,76345,2693.705,2070.421,178,28795.83,789,87430,8440.80647,52617.03,111,50482.137,69030,78781.72880.766,61517.576,64244,57858.25800.7531,48441.0
Social status of racial/ethnic minorities