Colombians

Colombians () are people identified with the country of Colombia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Colombians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''Colombian''.

Colombia is considered to be one of the most multiethnic societies in the world, home to people of various ethnic, religious and national origins. Many Colombians have varying degrees of European, Indigenous and African ancestry.

The majority of the Colombian population is Mestizo, being descendants of Indigenous peoples and Europeans, especially Iberians. Following the initial period of Spanish conquest and immigration, different waves of immigration and settlement of Nonindigenous peoples took place over the course of nearly six centuries and continue today. Elements of Native American and more recent immigrant customs, languages and religions have combined to form the culture of Colombia and thus a modern Colombian identity.

Ethnic groups

European Colombians

Most of Colombia's population descends from European immigration in the mid 16th to late 20th centuries. The greatest waves of European immigration to Colombia can generally be divided into three time periods: the 1820s-1850's, which brought hundreds of immigrants mainly from Spain, Italy, Germany (including Ashkenazi Jewish); the 1880s-to 1910s, which brought many immigrants from France, Portugal, Belgium, Astro-Hungary, Denmark, Croatia, and Switzerland; and the 1920s-1960s, the last great wave of European immigration to Colombia, which brought many British (including Irish) immigrants, as well as other European groups such as the Dutch, Polish, Russian, Scandinavian, and other Eastern European immigrants who primarily settled in Colombia's great urban centers. These immigrants came to Colombia attracted by the country's growing population and business opportunities. In addition to these waves of immigration, a great number of Jews fled to Colombia during and after the Second World War, seeking to escape violence in Europe. Immigrants went mostly to the Caribbean and Andean regions. There are smaller numbers of Dutch, Swiss, Austrians, Danish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Belgian, Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Czech, Greek and Croatian communities that immigrated during the Second World War and the Cold War.

Mestizo Colombians

Estimates of the Mestizo population, people of mixed European (mostly Spanish) and Indigenous, ancestry in Colombia vary as the national census does not include Mestizo as an ethnic option. According to the 2018 census, the population of people who did not identify with any ethnic group, being mostly White or Mestizo, made up 87% of the Colombian population, while an estimated 40% of Colombians were Mestizo or mixed race. A study by Rojas et al reported an average ancestry of 47% Indigenous, 42% European, and 11% African for Mestizo Colombians.

Indigenous Colombians

Originally, Colombia's territory was inhabited entirely by Indigenous groups. Colombia's indigenous cultures evolved from three main groups—the Quimbaya, who inhabited the western slopes of the Cordillera Central; the Chibcha; and the Kalina. The Muisca culture, a subset of the larger Chibcha ethnic group, were famous for their use of gold and responsible for the legend of El Dorado. Today, Indigenous people comprise roughly around 10% of the population in Colombia. More than fifty different indigenous ethnic groups inhabit Colombia. Most of them speak languages belonging to the Chibchan and Cariban language families.

Historically, there are 567 reserves (''resguardos'') established for Indigenous peoples which are inhabited by more than 800,000 people. The 1991 constitution established that their native languages are official in their territories, and most of them have bilingual education systems, teaching both native languages and Spanish. Some of the largest indigenous groups in Colombia are the Wayuu, Zenú, Pastos, Embera, and Páez. The departments with the biggest indigenous populations are Cauca, La Guajira, Nariño, Córdoba and Sucre.

Afro-Colombians

Also known as "Afro", or "Afro-colombianos" (in Spanish). According to the 2018 census, they are 5.34% of country population, while genetic studies have obtained between 6.6%, 9.2, and 11% of African DNA in the Colombian population. Also the percentage and numbers of Afro Colombians can vary depending on the region, being the majority population in the Pacific Region, frequently found in the Caribbean Region but a minority in the Andean Region, Orinoquia Region and Amazon Region. Colombia has the fourth-largest African diaspora on the planet after the Brazil, the United States, and Haiti.

Asian Colombians

Arab Colombians

Jewish Colombians

There are about 8,000 Colombians of Jewish origin who practice Judaism, most of them live in Bogotá. Colombia's Jewish community includes Sephardi Jews from countries such as Syria and Turkey also immigrated to the country and run their independent religious organizations. The Confederación de Comunidades Judías de Colombia coordinates Jews and institutions that practice the religion.

Genetic composition

Immigrant groups

Because of its strategic location, Colombia has received several immigration waves during its history. Most of these immigrants have settled in the Caribbean Coast; Barranquilla (the largest city in the Colombian Caribbean Coast) and other Caribbean cities have the largest population of Lebanese, German, British, French, Italian, Irish and Romani descendants. There are also important communities of American and Chinese descendants in the Andean Region and Caribbean Coast especially in Medellin, Bogota, Cali, Barranquilla and Cartagena. Most immigrants are Venezuelans, they are evenly distributed throughout the country.

Languages

There are 101 languages listed for Colombia in the Ethnologue database, of which 80 are spoken today as living languages. There are currently more than 850,000 speakers of native languages.

Education

The educational experience of many Colombian children begins with attendance at a preschool academy until age five (''Educación preescolar''). Basic education (''Educación básica'') is compulsory by law. It has two stages: Primary basic education (''Educación básica primaria'') which goes from first to fifth grade – children from six to ten years old, and Secondary basic education (''Educación básica secundaria''), which goes from sixth to ninth grade. Basic education is followed by Middle vocational education (''Educación media vocacional'') that comprises the tenth and eleventh grades. It may have different vocational training modalities or specialties (academic, technical, business, and so on.) according to the curriculum adopted by each school.

After the successful completion of all the basic and middle education years, a high-school diploma is awarded. The high-school graduate is known as a ''bachiller'', because secondary basic school and middle education are traditionally considered together as a unit called ''bachillerato'' (sixth to eleventh grade). Students in their final year of middle education take the ICFES test (now renamed Saber 11) in order to gain access to higher education (''Educación superior''). This higher education includes undergraduate professional studies, technical, technological and intermediate professional education, and post-graduate studies.

''Bachilleres'' (high-school graduates) may enter into a professional undergraduate career program offered by a university; these programs last up to five years (or less for technical, technological and intermediate professional education, and post-graduate studies), even as much to six to seven years for some careers, such as medicine. In Colombia, there is not an institution such as college; students go directly into a career program at a university or any other educational institution to obtain a professional, technical or technological title. Once graduated from the university, people are granted a (professional, technical or technological) diploma and licensed (if required) to practice the career they have chosen. For some professional career programs, students are required to take the Saber-Pro test, in their final year of undergraduate academic education.

Public spending on education as a proportion of gross domestic product in 2012 was 4.4%. This represented 15.8% of total government expenditure. In 2012, the primary and secondary gross enrolment ratios stood at 106.9% and 92.8% respectively. School-life expectancy was 13.2 years. A total of 93.6% of the population aged 15 and older were recorded as literate, including 98.2% of those aged 15–24.

Religion

The National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) does not collect religious statistics, and accurate reports are difficult to obtain. However, based on various studies and a survey, about 90% of the population adheres to Christianity, the majority of which (70.9%) are Roman Catholic, while a significant minority (16.7%) adhere to Protestantism (primarily Evangelicalism). Some 4.7% of the population is atheist or agnostic, while 3.5% claim to believe in God but do not follow a specific religion. 1.8% of Colombians adhere to Jehovah's Witnesses and Adventism and less than 1% adhere to other religions, such as Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Mormonism, Hinduism, Hare Krishna movement, Rastafari movement, Eastern Orthodox Church, and spiritual studies. The remaining people either did not respond or replied that they did not know. In addition to the above statistics, 35.9% of Colombians reported that they did not practice their faith actively. 1,519,562 people in Colombia, or around 3% of the population reported following an Indigenous religion.

While Colombia remains a mostly Roman Catholic country by baptism numbers, the 1991 Colombian constitution guarantees freedom and equality of religion.Colombian Constitution of 1991 (Title II – Concerning rights, guarantees, and duties – Chapter I – Concerning fundamental rights – Article 19)

See also

* List of Colombians
* Emigration from Colombia
* Culture of Colombia
* Colombia in popular culture

References

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people
South American people by nationality