Mixed race people are people of more than one
race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethnic'', ''
Métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which deri ...
'', ''
Muwallad'', ''
Colored
''Colored'' (or ''coloured'') is a racial descriptor historically used in the United States during the Jim Crow Era to refer to an African American. In many places, it may be considered a slur, though it has taken on a special meaning in South ...
'', ''
Dougla'', ''
half-caste'', ''
ʻafakasi'', ''
mestizo
(; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...
'', ''
Melungeon'', ''
quadroon'', ''octoroon'', ''
sambo/zambo'', ''
Eurasian
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...
'', ''
hapa'', ''
hāfu'', ''
Garifuna
The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and indigenous American ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language, and Vincentian C ...
'', ''
pardo'' and ''
Guran''. A number of these terms are now considered offensive, in addition to those that were initially coined for pejorative use.
Individuals of mixed-race backgrounds make up a significant portion of the population in many parts of the world. In
North America, studies have found that the mixed race population is continuing to grow. In many countries of
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
,
mestizo
(; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...
s make up the majority of the population and in some others also
mulatto
(, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese ...
es. In the Caribbean, mixed race people officially make up the majority of the population in the Dominican Republic (73%), Aruba (68%), and Cuba (51%).
Definitions
While defining race is controversial, ''race'' remains a commonly used term for classification, often related to visible physical characteristics or known community. In so far as race is defined differently in different cultures, perceptions of mixed race are subjective.
According to U.S. sociologist
Troy Duster and ethicist Pilar Ossorio:
In the United States:
Related terms
In the
English-speaking world
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest languag ...
, many terms for mixed race people exist, some of which are pejorative or are no longer used. ''
Mulato'', ''
zambo
Zambo ( or ) or Sambu is a racial term historically used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed Indigenous and African ancestry. Occasionally in the 21st century, the term is used in the Americas to refer to persons who are of mixe ...
'' and ''
mestizo
(; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...
'' are used in
Spanish, ''
mulato'', ''
caboclo'', ''cafuzo'', ''ainoko'' (from
Japanese) and ''
mestiço'' in Portuguese, and ''mulâtre'' and ''
métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which deri ...
'' in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
. These terms are also in certain contexts used in the English-speaking world. In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
, the
Métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which deri ...
are a recognized ethnic group of mixed European and
Indigenous American descent, who have status in the law similar to that of
First Nations.
Terms such as ''mulatto'' for people of partially African descent and ''mestizo'' for people of partially Native American descent are still used by English-speaking people of the Western Hemisphere but mostly to refer to the past or to the demography of
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
and its diasporic population. ''
Half-breed'' is a historic term that referred to people of partial Native American ancestry; it is now considered pejorative and discouraged from use. ''Mestee'', once widely used, is now used mostly for members of historically mixed-race groups, such as Louisiana Creoles,
Melungeons,
Redbones,
Brass Ankles and
Mayles.
In South Africa and much of English-speaking southern Africa, the term ''Coloured'' was used to describe both mixed-race persons of African and European descent, and those Asians not of African descent. While the term is socially accepted, it is becoming outdated because of its association with the
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
era.
In Latin America, populations became triracial after the introduction of African slavery. A panoply of terms developed during the Spanish and Portuguese colonial periods, including terms such as ''
zambo
Zambo ( or ) or Sambu is a racial term historically used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed Indigenous and African ancestry. Occasionally in the 21st century, the term is used in the Americas to refer to persons who are of mixe ...
'' for persons of Amerindian and African descent. Charts and diagrams intended to explain the classifications were common. The well-known ''
Casta'' paintings in Mexico and, to some extent, Peru, were illustrations of the different classifications.
At one time, Latin American census categories have used such classifications. In Brazilian censuses since the
Imperial times, for example, most persons of mixed heritage, except
Asian Brazilians with some
European descent
White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view.
Description of populations as ...
(or any other to the extent it is not clearly perceptible) and vice versa, tend to be thrown into the single category of "
pardo". But
racial boundaries in Brazil are related less to ancestry than to phenotype. A westernized Amerindian with
copper-colored skin may also be classified as a "pardo", a ''caboclo'' in this case, despite not being mixed race. A European-looking person, even with one or more African or Indigenous ancestors, is not classified as "pardo" but as "branco", a
white Brazilian
White Brazilians ( pt, brasileiros brancos ) refers to Brazilians, Brazilian citizens who are considered or self-identify as "white", typically because of Ethnic groups in Europe, European or Levant, Levantine descent.
The main ancestry of curre ...
. The same applies to "negros",
Afro-Brazilians whose European or Amerindian ancestors are not visible in their appearance. According to genetic research, most Brazilians of all racial groups (except Asian-Brazilians and natives) are, to some extent, mixed-race.
In English, the terms ''
miscegenation
Miscegenation ( ) is the interbreeding of people who are considered to be members of different Race (human categorization), races. The word, now usually considered pejorative, is derived from a combination of the Latin terms ''miscere'' ("to m ...
'' and ''amalgamation'' were used for unions between whites, blacks, and other ethnic groups. Those terms are now often considered offensive and are becoming obsolete. The terms ''mixed-race'', ''biracial'' or ''multiracial'' are becoming generally accepted. In other languages, terms for miscegenation are not necessarily considered offensive.
Regions with significant mixed race populations
Africa
In
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the histori ...
, specifically
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...
,
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
and
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
(including portions of the
East African Community
The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republics of Kenya, Buru ...
), people of mixed raced are called
Half-castes (in English) or ''chotara'' (singular, in
Swahili
Swahili may refer to:
* Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes
* Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa
* Swahili culture
Swahili culture is the culture of ...
),'' wachotara'' (plural in Swahili).
North Africa
In North Africa, numerous mixed race communities can be found, reflecting a history of both extensive Mediterranean trade around the region and later colonization and migration by African groups. Among these are the
Haratin, oasis-dwellers of Saharan southern
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...
,
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, religi ...
, and
Mauritania. They are believed to be an ethnicity composed of
Sub-Saharan African
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African ...
s and
Berber ancestry. They constitute a socially and ethnically distinct group.
[Bridget Anderson, ''World Directory of Minorities'' (Minority Rights Group International: 1997), p. 435.]
For centuries
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
slave traders sold sub-Saharan Africans as slaves in cumulatively large numbers throughout the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...
,
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The r ...
,
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...
and the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
. Communities descended from these slaves and local peoples can be found throughout these regions.
[Gwyn Campbell, ''The Structure of Slavery in Indian Ocean Africa and Asia'', 1 edition, (Routledge: 2003), p.ix] Barbary pirates were known to attack European and British ships and take Europeans into slavery as well. So many were taken, that the memoirs of survivors are considered a literary genre known as
captivity narratives. When English and other European colonists were taken captive by Native Americans, they had models for recounting their trials.
According to a recent genetic study in 2019, North African populations are composed of admixture of extensive gene flow from four different geographical regions (North Africa (
Iberomaurusian
The Iberomaurusian is a backed bladelet lithic industry found near the coasts of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. It is also known from a single major site in Libya, the Haua Fteah, where the industry is locally known as the Eastern Oranian.The " ...
), Europe, West Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa) and temporal sources (Palaeolithic migrations, Neolithization, Arabization, and recent migrations).
Madagascar
Almost the entire population of Madagascar is an about equal admixture of South East Asian (Indonesian), primarily from
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...
, and Bantu-speaking settlers primarily from the mainland at
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Mala ...
.
["On the Origins and Admixture of Malagasy: New Evidence from High-Resolution Analyses of Paternal and Maternal Lineages"](_blank)
Oxford Journals: "The present population, known by the general term "Malagasy", is considered an admixed population as it shows a combination of morphological and cultural traits typical of Bantu and Austronesian speakers ... r results confirmed that admixture in Malagasy was due to the encounter of people surfing the extreme edges of two of the broadest historical waves of language expansion: the Austronesian and Bantu expansions. In fact, all Madagascaran living groups show a mixture of uniparental lineages typical of present African and South East Asian populations with only a minor contribution of Y lineages with different origins." Years of intermarriages created the
Malagasy people
The Malagasy (french: Malgache) are an Austronesian-speaking African ethnic group native to the island country of Madagascar. Traditionally, the population have been divided by subgroups (tribes or ethnicities). Examples include "Highlander" ...
, who primarily speak
Malagasy, an
Austronesian
Austronesian may refer to:
*The Austronesian languages
*The historical Austronesian peoples
The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, M ...
language with
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
*Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for Nationali ...
influences.
South Africa
In
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
, the
Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 prohibited marriage between Whites (people of European descent) and non-Whites (being classified as Black, Asian and Coloured). But this followed centuries of interaction and unions resulting in mixed race children, especially among whites, Africans (black), and coloured. This law was repealed in 1985.
Mixed race South Africans are commonly referred to as ''
Coloured
Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. Sout ...
s''. According to the 2016 South African Census,
they are the second-largest ethnic group (8.8%), behind
Black Africans, or Bantu peoples, who constitute (80.8%) of the current population.
White South Africans
White South Africans generally refers to South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original settl ...
make up 8.1%.
Asia
Central Asia
Today, many Central Asian populations are an amalgamation of various peoples such as Mongols, Turkics, and Iranians. The Mongol invasion of Central Asia in 13th century resulted in the massacre of the population of Iranians and other
Indo-European peoples, as well as a large degree of unions and assimilation. Genetic studies shows that Central Asian Turkic people and Hazara are a mixture of Northeast Asians and Indo-European people. Caucasian ancestry is prevalent in almost all central Asian Turkic people. Kazakhs, Hazara, Karakalpaks, Crimean Tatars have more European MtDNA than European Y-DNA. Kyrgyz have mostly European Y-DNA, with substantial European MtDNA. Other Turkic people, such as Uyghurs and Uzbeks, have mostly European Y-DNA but also a significantly higher percentage of European MtDNA. Turkmen have predominantly European DNA in both paternal and maternal lines.
India
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, a radical thinker and educator, was of Indian and European background.
Prior to colonization, the peoples of India had a long history of trade and other interaction with other peoples. More recently a Eurasian mix developed during the Colonial period, beginning with the French, Dutch, Portuguese and other European traders and merchants, including British. Such interaction continued during the
British Rule in India, although it lessened as British families settled in the country. The estimated population of Anglo-Indians, the term for these Eurasians, is 600,000 worldwide, with the majority living in India and the UK.
Article 366(2) of the
Indian Constitution defines Anglo-Indian as:
(2) an Anglo-Indian means a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent but who is domiciled within the territory of India and is or was born within such territory of parents habitually resident therein and not established there for temporary purposes only;
Goans
Goans ( kok, गोंयकार, Romi Konkani: , pt, Goeses) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, a ...
are an assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Eurasian, and Luso-Asian ancestries. Many have Portuguese ancestors, as they had considerable influence in Goa for over 450 years. Many Goans have traced family trees to find Portuguese ancestors from hundreds of years ago. Some Goans today identify as Portuguese-Goan as they have much Portuguese ancestry and Portuguese surnames.
Myanmar (Burma)
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
(formerly Burma) was a British colony from 1826 until 1948. Other European nationals were active in the country before the British arrived. Intermarriage and relationships took place among such settlers and merchants with the local Burmese population, and subsequently between British colonists and the Burmese. The local Eurasian population is known as the
Anglo-Burmese. This group dominated colonial society and through the early years of independence. After Burma gained independence in 1948, many
Anglo-Burmese left the country; the diaspora resides primarily in
Australia,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
and the
UK. An estimated 52,000 Anglo-Burmese live in Burma.
Philippines
The
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
was a
Spanish colony for almost four centuries, or 333 years. The United States took it over after the Spanish-American War, ruling for 46 years. Many Filipinos are of mixed
Spanish Filipino and Philippine-American descent.
After the defeat of Spain during the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (cl ...
in 1898, the Philippines and other remaining
Spanish colonies
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predec ...
were ceded to the United States in the
Treaty of Paris. The Philippines was under U.S.
sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
until 1946, though occupied by Japan during World War II. In 1946, in the
Treaty of Manila, the U.S. recognized the Republic of the Philippines as an independent nation. Even after 1946, the U.S. maintained a strong military presence in the Philippines, with as many as 21 U.S. military bases and 100,000 U.S. military personnel stationed there as defense in Asia and during the Vietnam War.
After the bases closed in 1992, American troops left, often abandoning partners and their
Amerasian
An Amerasian may refer to a person born in Asia to an Asian mother and a U.S. military father. Other terms used include War babies or G.I. babies. There are also those who may have mothers in the U.S. military or have Amerasian ancestry through the ...
children.
The Pearl S. Buck International foundation estimates there are 52,000 Amerasians in the Philippines, with 5,000 in the Clark area of
Angeles City. An academic research paper presented in 2012 in the U.S. by an Angeles, Pampanga, Philippines Amerasian college research study unit suggests that the number could be much higher.
In the United States, intermarriage between Filipinos and other ethnicities is common. They have the highest number of
interracial marriage
Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different races or racialized ethnicities.
In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United States, Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa as miscegenation. In ...
s among Asian immigrant groups, as documented in California. Some 21.8% of Philippine-Americans are of mixed ancestry.
Singapore and Malaysia
According to government statistics, the population of
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
as of September 2007 was 4.68 million. Mixed race people, including
Chindians and
Eurasians, formed 2.4%.
In Singapore and
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, the majority of inter-ethnic marriages are between
Chinese and
Indians
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
. The offspring of such marriages are informally known as "
Chindian". The Malaysian government classifies them only by their father's ethnicity. As the majority of these intermarriages usually involve an Indian groom and Chinese bride, the majority of Chindians in Malaysia are usually classified as "
Indian" by the government. As for the
Malays
Malays may refer to:
* Malay race, a racial category encompassing peoples of Southeast Asia and sometimes the Pacific Islands
** Overseas Malays, people of Malay race ancestry living outside Malay archipelago home areas
** Cape Malays, a communit ...
, who are predominantly
Muslim, legal restrictions in Malaysia make it uncommon for them to intermarry with either the Indians, who are predominantly
Hindu, or the Chinese, who are predominantly
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
and
Taoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...
. But Muslims and
Arabs in Singapore
The majority of the Arabs in Singapore are Hadhramis tracing their ancestry from the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula called Hadhramaut, Yemen. Some of the people living there are known as “Hadhramis”. The land there is mostly desert r ...
and Malaysia often take local Malay wives, because of their common
Islamic faith.
The
Chitty people, in Singapore and the
Malacca
Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site s ...
state of Malaysia, are
Tamils
The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Dravi ...
with considerable Malay ancestry. The early Tamil settlers took local wives, as they had not brought their own women at that time.
In the East Malaysian states of
Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...
and
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
, intermarriage has been common between
Chinese and native tribespeople, such as the
Murut and
Dusun in Sabah, and the
Iban and
Bisaya in Sarawak. A mixture of cultures has resulted in both states. The offspring of these marriages are called "Sino-(name of tribe)", e.g. Sino-Dusun. Normally, children are strongly affected by the father's ethnicity and culture, being raised in his culture. These Sino-natives usually become fluent in both
Malay and
English. A smaller number are able to speak Chinese dialects and
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
, especially those who have received education in vernacular Chinese schools.
Sri Lanka
Due to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean, the island of
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
has been a confluence for settlers from various parts of the world. There are several mixed-race ethnicities in the Island. The most notable mixed-race group are the
Sri Lankan Moors, who trace their ancestry to Arab traders who settled on the island and intermarried with local women. Today, the Sri Lankan Moors live primarily in urban communities. They preserve Arab-Islamic cultural heritage while adopting many Southern Asian customs.
The
Burghers are a Eurasian ethnic group. They are descendants through paternal lines of European colonists from the 16th to 20th centuries (mostly Portuguese, Dutch, German and British) and with maternal ancestry among local women. Other European minorities in such admixtures include Swedish, Norwegian, French and Irish.
The
Sri Lanka Kaffirs are an ethnic group partially descended from 16th-century Portuguese traders and their enslaved Africans. The Kaffirs spoke a distinctive creole based on Portuguese, the Sri Lanka Kaffir language, which is now extinct. Their cultural heritage includes the dance styles Kaffringna and Manja, as well as the Portuguese Sinhalese, Creole, Afro-Sinhalese varieties.
Taiwan
During the 1662
Siege of Fort Zeelandia
The siege of Fort Zeelandia () of 1661–1662 ended the Dutch East India Company's rule over Taiwan and began the Kingdom of Tungning's rule over the island.
Prelude
From 1623 to 1624 the Dutch had been at war with Ming China over the Pescado ...
in which Chinese
Ming loyalist forces commanded by
Koxinga
Zheng Chenggong, Prince of Yanping (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), better known internationally as Koxinga (), was a Ming loyalist general who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century, fighting them on China's southeastern ...
besieged and defeated the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock c ...
and conquered Taiwan, the Chinese took Dutch women and child prisoners. The Dutch missionary
Antonius Hambroek, two of his daughters, and his wife were among the Dutch prisoners of war with
Koxinga
Zheng Chenggong, Prince of Yanping (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), better known internationally as Koxinga (), was a Ming loyalist general who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century, fighting them on China's southeastern ...
. Koxinga sent Hambroek to Fort Zeelandia demanding Hambroek persuade them to surrender or else he would be killed when he returned. Hambroek returned to the Fort where two of his other daughters were. He urged the Fort not to surrender, and returned to Koxinga's camp. He was then executed by decapitation. In addition to this, a rumor was spreading among the Chinese that the Dutch were encouraging native Taiwan aboriginals to kill the Chinese, so Koxinga ordered the mass execution of Dutch male prisoners in retaliation, in addition to a few women and children also being killed. The surviving Dutch women and children were then turned into slaves. Koxinga took Hambroek's teenage daughter as a concubine, and Dutch women were sold to Chinese soldiers to become their wives. The daily journal of the Dutch fort recorded that "the best were preserved for the use of the commanders, and then sold to the common soldiers. Happy was she that fell to the lot of an unmarried man, being thereby freed from vexations by the Chinese women, who are very jealous of their husbands." In 1684 some of these Dutch wives were still captives of the Chinese.
Some Dutch physical traits like auburn and red hair among people in regions of south Taiwan are a consequence of this episode of Dutch women becoming concubines to the Chinese commanders. The Chinese took Dutch women as slave concubines and wives who were never freed: in 1684 some were reported to be living. In Quemoy a Dutch merchant was contacted with an arrangement to release the prisoners, proposed by a son of Koxinga's, but it came to nothing. The Chinese officers used the Dutch women they received as concubines. The Dutch women were used for sexual pleasure by Koxinga's commanders. This event of Dutch women being distributed to the Chinese soldiers and commanders was recorded in the daily journal of the fort.
A teenage daughter of the Dutch missionary Anthonius Hambroek became a concubine to Koxinga. She was described by the Dutch commander Caeuw as "a very sweet and pleasing maiden".
Dutch language accounts record this incident of Chinese taking Dutch women as concubines and the date of Hambroek's daughter.
Vietnam
Under terms of the
Geneva Accords of 1954
The Geneva Conference, intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War, was a conference involving several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 April to 20 July 1954. The part ...
, departing French troops took thousands of Vietnamese wives and children with them after the
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh ( Democratic Republic of ...
. Some Eurasians stayed in Vietnam, after independence from French rule.
China
West Asia
Ottoman slave traders sold slaves in cumulatively large numbers over the centuries throughout the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...
,
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The r ...
,
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...
and the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
and communities descended from these slaves can be found throughout these regions.
Europe
United Kingdom
In 1991 an analysis of the census showed that 50% of Black/Mixed Caribbean men born in the UK have white partners, and the 2011 BBC documentary ''Mixed Britannia'' noted that 1 in 10 British children are growing up in mixed households.
In 2000, ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...
'' reported that "Britain has the highest rate of interracial relationships in the world" and certainly the UK has the highest rate in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...
. The 2001 census showed the population of England to be 1.4% mixed-race, compared with 2.7% in Canada and 1.4% in the U.S. (estimate from 2002), although this U.S. figure did not include mixed-race people who had a black parent. Both the US and UK have fewer people identifying as mixed race, however, than Canada.
In the United Kingdom, many mixed race people have
Caribbean,
African or
Asian heritage. For example, supermodel
Naomi Campbell
Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...
, who has
Jamaican,
African and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...
n roots. Some, like 2008
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship ...
World Champion,
Lewis Hamilton
Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mic ...
, are referred to or describe themselves as '
mixed'.
The
2001 UK Census
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.
The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...
included a section entitled 'Mixed' to which 1.4% (1.6% by 2005 estimates) of people responded, which was split further into ''White and Black Caribbean, White and Asian, White and Black African'' and ''Other Mixed''. In the 2011 census, 2.2% chose 'Mixed' for the question on ethnicity.
North America
Canada
Mixed race Canadians in 2006 officially totaled 1.5% of the population, up from 1.2% in 2001. The official mixed race population grew by 25% since the previous census. Of these, the most frequent combinations were ''multiple visible minorities'' (for example, people of mixed black and South Asian heritage form the majority, specifically in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
), followed closely by ''white-black'', ''white-Chinese'', ''white-Arab'' and many other smaller mixes.
During the time of
slavery in the United States
The legal institution of human Slavery#Chattel slavery, chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States, United States of America ...
, a very large but unknown number of African American slaves escaped to Canada, where
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
was made illegal in 1834, via the
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...
. Many of these people married in with European Canadian and Native Canadian populations, although their precise numbers and the numbers of their descendants, are not known.
Another 1.2% of Canadians officially are
Métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which deri ...
(descendants of a historical population who were partially
Aboriginal
Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to:
*Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology
* Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area
*One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
—also called "Indian" or "Native"—and
European, particularly
English,
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
,
Irish and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
ethnic groups). Although the term "Métis" stems from the Latin verb , "to mix", the Métis people are a distinct ethnic group within Canada.
United States
In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, the 2000 census was the first in the history of the country to offer respondents the option of identifying themselves as belonging to more than one race. This mixed race option was considered a necessary adaptation to the demographic and cultural changes that the United States has been experiencing.
Mixed race
Americans
Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Amer ...
officially numbered 6.1 million in 2006, or 2.0% of the population.
There is considerable evidence that an accurate number would be much higher. Prior to the mid-20th century, many people hid their mixed race heritage. The development of
binary thinking about race meant that African Americans, a high proportion of whom have also had European ancestry, were classified as black. Some are now reclaiming additional ancestries. Many Americans today are multi-racial without knowing it. According to the Census Bureau, as of 2002, over 75% of all
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
s had mixed ancestries usually European and Native American.
In 2010, the number of Americans who checked both "black" and "white" on their census forms was 134 percent higher than it had been a decade earlier. In 2012, those choosing 'Two or more races' on the census was 2.4% of the total.
According to
James P. Allen and Eugene Turner, by some calculations in the 2000 Census, the mixed race population that is part white is as follows:
*White/Native American and
Alaskan Native: 7,015,017
*White/African American: 737,492
*White/Asian: 727,197 and
*White/Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander: 125,628.
The stigma of a mixed race heritage, associated with racial discrimination among numerous racial groups, has decreased significantly in the United States. People of mixed-race heritage can identify themselves now in the U.S. Census by any combination of races, whereas before Americans were required to select from only one category. For example, in 2010, they were offered choices of one or more racial categories from the following list:
*White
*Black, African Am. or Negro
*American Indian or Alaska Native
*Asian Indian
*Chinese
*Filipino
*Japanese
*Korean
*Vietnamese
*Native Hawaiian
*Guamanian or Chamorro
*Samoan
*Other Asian
pecify*Other Pacific Islander
pecify*Some Other Race
pecify
Adult film actress is of mixed Irish, Puerto Rico">Puerto Rican, and Dominican Republic">Dominican descent.">Ireland">Irish, Puerto Rico">Puerto Rican, and Dominican Republic">Dominican descent.
The US has a growing mixed race identity movement, reflective of a desire by people to claim their full identities. Interracial marriage, most notably between whites and blacks, was historically deemed immoral and illegal in most states in the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th century because of its long association of blacks with the slave caste.
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
and the
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
had similar laws to prohibit European-Asian marriages, which was associated with discrimination against Chinese and Japanese on the West Coast. Many states eventually repealed such laws and a 1967 decision by the US Supreme Court (''
Loving v. Virginia'') overturned all remaining US
anti-miscegenation laws
Anti-miscegenation laws or miscegenation laws are laws that enforce racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalizing interracial marriage and sometimes also sex between members of different races. Anti-misc ...
.
The United States is one of the most racially diverse countries in the world. Americans are mostly mixed ethnic descendants of various immigrant nationalities culturally distinct in their former countries.
Assimilation
Assimilation may refer to:
Culture
*Cultural assimilation, the process whereby a minority group gradually adapts to the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture and customs
**Language shift, also known as language assimilation, the progre ...
and
integration
Integration may refer to:
Biology
* Multisensory integration
* Path integration
* Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome
*DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technolo ...
took place, unevenly at different periods of history, depending on the American region. The "Americanization" of foreign ethnic groups and the inter-racial diversity of millions of Americans has been a fundamental part of its history, especially on frontiers where different groups of people came together.
On January 20, 2009,
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
was sworn in as America's first mixed race president,
as he is the son of a
European American mother and a
Luo father from Kenya. He acknowledges both parents. His official
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...
biography describes him as
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
. In Hawai'i, the U.S. state in which he was born, he would be called "
hapa", which is the
Hawaiian word for "mixed race".
Oceania
Fiji
Fiji has long been a multi-ethnic country, with a vast majority of people being mixed race even if they do not self-identify in that manner. The indigenous Fijians are of mixed Melanesian and Polynesian ancestry, resulting from years of migration of islanders from various places mixing with each other. Fiji Islanders from the Lau group have intermarried with
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
ns and other Polynesians over the years. The overwhelming majority of the rest of the indigenous Fijians, though, can be genetically traced to having mixed Polynesian/Melanesian ancestry.
The Indo-Fijian population is also a hodge-podge of South Asian immigrants (called Girmits in Fiji), who came as indentured labourers beginning in 1879. While a few of these labourers managed to bring wives, many of them either took or were given wives once they arrived in Fiji. The Girmits, who are classified as simply "Indians" to this day, came from many parts of the Indian subcontinent of present-day
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and to a lesser degree
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
and
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
. It is easy to recognize the Indian mixtures present in Fiji and see obvious traces of Southern and Northern Indians and other groups who have been categorised together. To some degree, even more of this phenomenon would have likely happened if the religious groups represented (primarily Hindu, Muslim and
Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ' ...
) had not resisted to some degree marriage between religious groups, which tended to be from more similar parts of the Indian subcontinent.
Over the years, particularly in the
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stal ...
-growing regions of Western
Viti Levu
Viti Levu (pronounced ) is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. It is the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population.
Geology
Fiji lies in a tectonically complex area between the Australia ...
and parts of Vanua Levu, Indo-Fijians and Indigenous Fijians have mixed. Others have Chinese/Fijian ancestry, Indo-Fijian/Samoan or Rotuman ancestry and European/Fijian ancestry (often called "part Fijians"). The latter are often descendants of shipwrecked sailors and settlers who came during the colonial period. Migration from a dozen or more different Pacific countries (Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa and Wallis and Futuna being the most prevalent) have added to the various ethnicities and intermarriages.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Mestizo is the common word used to describe mixed race people in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
, especially people with Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American and Spaniards, Spanish or other European ancestry. Mestizos make up a large portion of Latin Americans, comprising a majority in many countries.
In Latin America, racial mixture was officially acknowledged from colonial times. There was official nomenclature for every conceivable mixture present in the various countries. Initially, this classification was used as a type of caste system, where rights and privileges were accorded depending on one's official racial classification. Official caste distinctions were abolished in many countries of the
Spanish-speaking Americas as they became independent of Spain. Several terms have remained in common usage.
Race and racial mixture have played a significant role in the politics of many Latin American countries. In most countries, for example Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Panama, a majority of the population can be described as biracial or mixed race (depending on the country). In Demographics of Mexico#"Mestizo" as the default national identity, Mexico, over 80% of the population is
mestizo
(; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...
in some degree or another.
[[Silva-Zolezzi I., Hidalgo-Miranda A., Estrada-Gil J., Fernandez-Lopez J.C., Uribe-Figueroa L., Contreras A., Balam-Ortiz E., del Bosque-Plata L., Velazquez Fernandez D., Lara C., Goya R., Hernandez-Lemus E., Davila C., Barrientos E., March S., Jimenez-Sanchez G. Analysis of genomic diversity in Mexican Mestizo populations to develop genomic medicine in Mexico. ''Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A''. 2009 May 26;106(21):8611-6.]]
The Mexican philosopher and educator José Vasconcelos authored an essay on the subject, ''La Raza Cósmica'', celebrating racial mixture. Venezuelan ex-president Hugo Chávez, himself of Spanish, indigenous and African ancestry, made positive references to the mixed race ancestry of most Latin Americans from time to time.
Colonialism throughout the West Indies has created diverse populations on many islands, including people of mixed race identities. Of note is the mixture of Afro-Caribbean people, West African communities, most brought to the region as slaves and Indo-Caribbeans, East Indian settlers most of whom came as indentured labor after the abolition of slavery. Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname claim the highest populations of such mixtures, known locally as ''douglas''. In addition to such mixtures, many inhabitants of the West Indies can also have any combination of Amerindian, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latino, White, European, Chinese people, Chinese, Arabs, Arab and Jews, Jewish heritage.
Brazil
According to the 2010 official census, 43.13% of Brazilians identified themselves as
pardo skin color.
That option is normally marked by Brazil#Ethnicity, people that consider themselves mixed race (''mestiço''). The Mixed Race Day or Mestizo Day (Dia do Mestiço), on 27 June, is official event in States of Amazonas, Roraima e Paraíba and a holiday in two cities. The term ''pardo'' is formally used in the official census but is not used by the population. In Brazilian society, most people who are mixed race call themselves ''moreno'': light-''moreno'' or dark-''moreno''. Those terms are not considered offensive and focus more on skin color than on ethnicity (it is considered more like other human characteristics such as being short or tall).
The most common mixed race groups are between European and African (''
mulatto
(, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese ...
'') and Amerindian and European (''
caboclo'' or ''mameluco''). But there are also African and Amerindian (''cafuzo'') and East Asian (mostly Japanese) and European/other (''ainoko'' or more recently, ''
hāfu''). All groups are more or less found throughout the whole country. Brazilian mixed race people with the following three origins, Amerindian, European and African, make up the majority. It is said today that 89% or even more of the "Pardo" population in Brazil has at least one Amerindian ancestor (most of ''brancos'' or White Brazilian population have some Amerindian or African ancestry too despite nearly half of the country's population self-labeling as "Caucasian" in the censuses. In Brazil, it is very common for mixed race people to claim that they have no Amerindian ancestry, but studies have found that if a Brazilian mixed race people can trace their ancestry back to nearly eight to nine generations, they will have at least one Amerindian ancestor from their maternal side of the family.
Since mixed race relations in Brazilian society have occurred for many generations, some people find it difficult to trace their own ethnic ancestry. Today a majority of mixed-race Brazilians do not really know their ethnic ancestry. Their unique features make them Brazilian-looking in skin color, lips and nose shape or hair texture, but they are aware only that their ancestors were probably Portuguese, African or Amerindian. Also, there was a very large number of other Europeans (counted in the millions) who contributed to the Brazilian racial make up, Japanese (the largest Japanese population outside Japan), Italian (the largest Italian population outside Italy) Lebanese (the largest population of Lebanese outside Lebanon), Germans, Poles and Russians. There is also a high percentage of Brazilians of Jewish descent, perhaps hundreds of thousands, mostly found in the northeast of the country who cannot be sure of their ancestry as they descend from the so-called "Crypto-Jews" (Jews who practiced Judaism in secret but outwardly pretended to be Catholics), also called Marranos or New Christians, often considered Portuguese. According to some sources, one third of families arrived from Portugal during colonization were of Jewish origin.
There is a high level of integration between all groups but also a great social and economic difference between European descendants (more common in upper and middle classes) and African, Amerindian and mixed race descendants (more common tin lower classes), which is called Social apartheid in Brazil, Brazilian apartheid.
See also
* Amalgamation (history)
* Interracial marriage
*
Half-caste
* Melting pot
* Miscegenation
* Mixed Race Day
* Race (human classification)
* Race and genetics
* Multiethnic society
* One-drop rule
* Origins of Tutsi and Hutu
* Passing (racial identity)
* Plaçage
* Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact hypotheses
* Race and society
* Race traitor
* William Loren Katz
*
Guran
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
External links
The Multiracial Activist an online activist publication registered with the Library of Congress, focused on multiracial individuals and interracial families since 1997
ProjectRACE an organization leading the movement for a multiracial classification
;Advocacy groups
Association of MultiEthnic Americans, Inc. US
Blended People of America US-based nonprofit organization representing the interests of the mixed-race community
Brazilian Multiracial Movement Brazilian mixed-race organization
The Hafu Project a study of half-Japanese people, London-, Munich-, Tokyo-based nonprofit organisation
MAVIN Foundation an organization advocating for mixed-heritage people and families
Mixed Race UK, UK-based nonprofit organization representing the interests of the mixed-race community
Mosaic UK a UK-based organisation for mixed-race families
People in Harmony UKSwirl US-based mixed community
{{DEFAULTSORT:Multiracial
Multiracial affairs
Race (human categorization)