Mestizo Writers
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed
European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
and Indigenous ancestry in the former
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
. In certain regions such as
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though their ancestors were Indigenous American or
Austronesian Austronesian may refer to: *The Austronesian languages *The historical Austronesian peoples The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Sout ...
. The term was used as an ethno-racial exonym for mixed-race that evolved during the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
. It was a formal label for individuals in official documents, such as
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
es, parish registers,
Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...
trials, and others. Priests and royal officials might have classified persons as mestizos, but individuals also used the term in self-identification. With the Bourbon reforms and the independence of the Americas, the
caste system A caste is a fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (endogamy), foll ...
disappeared and terms like "mestizo" fell in popularity. The noun , derived from the adjective , is a term for racial mixing that did not come into usage until the 20th century; it was not a colonial-era term.Rappaport, Joanne. ''The Disappearing Mestizo'', p. 247. In the modern era, ''mestizaje'' is used by scholars such as
Gloria Anzaldúa Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa (September 26, 1942 – May 15, 2004) was an American scholar of Chicana feminism, cultural theory, and queer theory. She loosely based her best-known book, '' Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza'' (1987), on h ...
as a synonym for
miscegenation Miscegenation ( ) is marriage or admixture between people who are members of different races or ethnicities. It has occurred many times throughout history, in many places. It has occasionally been controversial or illegal. Adjectives describin ...
, but with positive connotations. In the modern era, particularly in Latin America, has become more of a cultural term, with the term ''indio'' being reserved exclusively for people who have maintained a separate Indigenous ethnic and cultural identity,
language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...
,
tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
affiliation, community engagement, etc. In late 19th- and early 20th-century
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, for instance, ''mestizaje'' denoted those peoples with evidence of Euro-Indigenous ethno-racial "descent" and accessusually monetary access, but not alwaysto secondary educational institutions. Similarly, well before the 20th century, Euramerican "descent" did not necessarily denote
Spanish American Spanish Americans (, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in the modern United States, with a ...
ancestry (distinct Portuguese administrative classification: ''
mestiço ''Mestiço'' is a Portuguese term that referred to persons of mixed European and Indigenous non-European ancestry in the former Portuguese Empire. Mestiço community in Brazil In Colonial Brazil, it was initially used to refer to , persons b ...
''), especially in Andean regions re-infrastructured by United States and European "modernities" and buffeted by mining labor practices. This conception changed by the 1920s, especially after the national advancement and
cultural economics Cultural economics is the branch of economics that studies the relation of culture to economic outcomes. Here, 'culture' is defined by shared beliefs and preferences of respective groups. Programmatic issues include whether and how much culture m ...
of . To avoid confusion with the original usage of the term , mixed people started to be referred to collectively as . In some Latin American countries, such as
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, the concept of the Mestizo became central to the formation of a new independent identity that was neither wholly Spanish nor wholly Indigenous. The word acquired another meaning in the 1930 census, being used by the government to refer to all Mexicans who did not speak
Indigenous languages An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by its indigenous peoples. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages but they can be; for example, Aymara is both an indigeno ...
regardless of ancestry. In 20th- and 21st-century Peru, the nationalization of
Quechuan languages Quechua (, ), also called (, 'people's language') in Southern Quechua, is an indigenous language family that originated in central Peru and thereafter spread to other countries of the Andes. Derived from a common ancestral " Proto-Quechua" ...
and
Aymaran languages Aymaran (also Jaqi or Aru) is one of the two dominant language families in the central Andes alongside Quechuan. The family consists of Aymara, widely spoken in Bolivia, and the endangered Jaqaru and Kawki languages of Peru. Hardman (1978) p ...
as "official languages of the State...wherever they predominate" has increasingly severed these languages from ''mestizaje'' as an exonym (and, in certain cases, ''indio''), with Indigenous languages tied to linguistic areas as well as topographical and geographical contexts. ''La sierra'' from the
Altiplano The Altiplano (Spanish language, Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechuan languages, Quechua and Aymara language, Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla people, Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extens ...
to
Huascarán Huascarán (), ( Quechua: Waskaran), Nevado Huascarán or Mataraju is a mountain located in Yungay Province, Department of Ancash, Peru. It is situated in the Cordillera Blanca range of the western Andes. The southern summit of Huascarán (Huasc ...
, for instance, is more commonly connected to language families in both urban and rural vernacular. During the colonial era of Mexico, the category Mestizo was used rather flexibly to register births in local parishes and its use did not follow any strict genealogical pattern. With Mexican independence, in academic circles created by the "''mestizaje''" or "
Cosmic Race is a spaceship-themed racing video game for the PlayStation. It was developed by Neorex (the company's only game) and was released exclusively in Japan in January 1995 as one of the console's first titles. ''Cosmic Race'' is notable for its lar ...
" ideology, scholars asserted that Mestizos are the result of the mixing of all the races. After the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
the government, in its attempts to create an unified Mexican identity with no racial distinctions, adopted and actively promoted the "mestizaje" ideology.


Etymology

The Spanish word is from
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, meaning . Its usage was documented as early as 1275, to refer to the offspring of an Egyptian/Afro Hamite and a Semite/Afro Asiatic. This term was first documented in English in 1582.


Cognates and related terms

( ), ( ), (), (), (), (), (), (), and ''mixed'' are all
cognates In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the soun ...
of the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
word . The Portuguese
cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
, , historically referred to any mixture of Portuguese and local populations in the
Portuguese colonies The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...
. In
colonial Brazil Colonial Brazil (), sometimes referred to as Portuguese America, comprises the period from 1500, with the Discovery of Brazil, arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves ...
, most of the non-enslaved population was initially , i.e. mixed Portuguese and
Native Brazilian Indigenous peoples in Brazil or Native Brazilians () are the peoples who lived in Brazil before European contact around 1500 and their descendants. Indigenous peoples once comprised an estimated 2,000 district tribes and nations inhabiting what ...
. There was no descent-based casta system, and children of upper-class Portuguese landlord males and enslaved females enjoyed privileges higher than those given to the lower classes, such as formal education. Such cases were not so common and the children of enslaved women tended not to be allowed to inherit property. This right of inheritance was generally given to children of free women, who tended to be legitimate offspring in cases of concubinage (this was a common practice in certain Indigenous American and African cultures). In the Portuguese-speaking world, the contemporary sense has been the closest to the historical usage from the Middle Ages. Because of important linguistic and historical differences, (mixed, mixed-ethnicity, miscegenation, etc.) is separated altogether from (which refers to any kind of brown people) and (brown people originally of European–Indigenous American admixture, or assimilated Indigenous American). The term can also refer to fully African or East Asian in their full definition (thus not brown). One does not need to be a to be classified as pardo or caboclo. In Brazil specifically, at least in modern times, all non-Indigenous people are considered to be a single ethnicity (. Lines between ethnic groups are historically fluid); since the earliest years of the Brazilian colony, the group has been the most numerous among the free people. As explained above, the concept of should not be confused with ''mestizo'' as used in either the Spanish-speaking world or the English-speaking one. It does not relate to being of Indigenous American ancestry, and is not used interchangeably with , literally "brown people". (There are among all major groups of the country: Indigenous, Asian, , and African, and they likely constitute the majority in the three latter groups.) In English-speaking Canada, Canadian Métis (capitalized), as a loanword from French, refers to persons of mixed French or European and Indigenous ancestry, who were part of a particular ethnic group. French-speaking Canadians, when using the word ''métis'', are referring to Canadian Métis ethnicity, and all persons of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry. Many were involved in the fur trade with Canadian
First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
peoples (especially
Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...
and
Anishinaabeg The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They in ...
). Over generations, they developed a separate culture of hunters and trappers, and were concentrated in the
Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...
and speak the
Michif language Michif (also Mitchif, Mechif, Michif-Cree, Métif, Métchif, French Cree) is one of the languages of the Métis people of Canada and the United States, who are the descendants of First Nations (mainly Cree, Nakota, and Ojibwe) and fur trade wo ...
.


Mestizo as a colonial-era category

In the Spanish colonial period, the Spanish developed a complex set of racial terms and ways to describe difference. Although this has been conceived of as a "system," and often called the ''sistema de castas'' or ''sociedad de castas'', archival research shows that racial labels were not fixed throughout a person's life. Artwork created mainly in eighteenth-century Mexico, "
casta paintings () is a term which means " lineage" in Spanish and Portuguese and has historically been used as a racial and social identifier. In the context of the Spanish Empire in the Americas, the term also refers to a theoretical framework which post ...
," show groupings of racial types in hierarchical order, which has influenced the way that modern scholars have conceived of social difference in Spanish America.Rappaport, Joanne, ''The Disappearing Mestizo: Configuring Difference in the Colonial New Kingdom of Granada''. Durham: Duke University Press 2014, pp.208-09. During the initial period of colonization of the Americas by the Spanish, there were three chief categories of ethnicities: Spaniard (''español''), American Indian (''indio''), and African (''negro''). Throughout the territories of the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
in the Americas, ways of differentiating individuals in a racial hierarchy, often called in the modern era the ''sistema de castas'' or the ''sociedad de castas'', developed where society was divided based on color, ''calidad'' (status), and other factors. The main divisions were as follows: # ''Español'' (fem. española), i.e.
Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...
– person of Spanish ancestry; a blanket term, subdivided into ''Peninsulares'' and ''Criollos'' #*''
Peninsular A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . ...
'' – a person of Spanish descent born in Spain who later settled in the Americas; #* ''
Criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish colonial system. Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South America. * Criollo cattle, a group of cattle bre ...
'' (fem. criolla) – a person of Spanish descent born in the Americas; # ''
Castizo ''Castizo''Pronunciation in Latin American Spanish: (fem. ''Castiza'') was a racial category used in 18th-century Spanish America to refer to people who were three-quarters Spanish by descent and one-quarter Amerindian. The category of ''casti ...
'' (fem. castiza) – a person with primarily Spanish and some American Indian ancestry born into a mixed family. # ''Mestizo'' (fem. mestiza) – a person of extended mixed Spanish and American Indian ancestry; # ''
Indio Indio may refer to: Places * Indio, Bovey Tracey, an historic estate in Devon, England * Indio, California, a city in Riverside County, California, United States People with the name * Indio (musician), Canadian musician Gordon Peterson * Índi ...
'' (fem. India) – a person of pure American Indian ancestry; # ''
Pardo In the former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas, ''pardos'' (feminine ''pardas'') are triracial descendants of Europeans, Indigenous Americans and Africans. History In some places they were defined as neither exclusively ...
'' (fem. parda) – a person of mixed Spanish, Amerindian and African ancestry; sometimes a polite term for a black person; # ''
Mulato ( , ) is a racial classification that refers to people of mixed African and European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the word is (). The use of this term began in the United States shortly ...
'' (fem. mulata) – a person of mixed Spanish and African ancestry; # ''
Zambo Zambo ( or ) or Sambu is a racial term historically used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed Amerindian, Indigenous Amerindian and West African people, African ancestry. Occasionally in the 21st century, the term is used in the ...
'' – a person of mixed African and American Indian ancestry; # ''
Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...
'' (fem. negra) – a person of African descent, primarily former enslaved Africans and their descendants. In theory, and as depicted in some eighteenth-century Mexican casta paintings, the offspring of a castizo/a ixed Spanish - Mestizoand an Español/a could be considered Español/a, or "returned" to that status. Racial labels in a set of eighteenth-century Mexican casta paintings by
Miguel Cabrera José Miguel Cabrera Torres (born April 18, 1983), nicknamed Miggy, is a Venezuelan former professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins a ...
: *De Español e India, nace Mestiza *De Español y Mestiza, nace Castiza *De Castizo y Española, nace Española *De Español y Negra, nace Mulata *De Español y Mulata, nace Morisca *De Español y Morisca, nace Albino *De Español y Albina, nace
Torna atrás ''Torna atrás'' () or ''tornatrás'' is a term used in 18th century ''Casta'' paintings to portray a ''mestizo'' or mixed-race person who showed phenotypic characteristics of only one of the "original races", such as European or Amerindian ances ...
*De Español y Torna atrás, "Tente en el ayre" *De Negro y India, Chino Cambuja *De Chino Cambujo y India, Loba *De Lobo y India, Albarazado *De Albarazado y Mestiza, Barcino *De Indio y Barcina, Zambaiga *De Castizo y Mestiza, Chamizo *Indios Gentiles (Barbarian Meco Indians) In the early colonial period, the children of Spaniards and American Indians were raised either in the Hispanic world, if the father recognized the offspring as his natural child; or the child was raised in the Indigenous world of the mother if he did not. As early as 1533,
Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...
mandated the high court ( Audiencia) to take the children of Spanish men and Indigenous women from their mothers and educate them in the Spanish sphere.Mörner, ''Race Mixture'', p. 55. This mixed group born out of Christian wedlock increased in numbers, generally living in their mother's Indigenous communities. Mestizos were the first group in the colonial era to be designated as a separate category from the Spanish (Españoles) and enslaved African blacks (''Negros'') and were included in the designation of "vagabonds" (''vagabundos'') in 1543 in Mexico. Although Mestizos were often classified as ''castas'', they had a higher standing than any mixed-race person since they did not have to pay tribute, the men could be ordained as priests, and they could be licensed to carry weapons, in contrast to ''negros'', mulattoes, and other castas. Unlike Blacks and mulattoes, Mestizos had no African ancestors. Intermarriage between Españoles and Mestizos resulted in offspring designated ''
Castizo ''Castizo''Pronunciation in Latin American Spanish: (fem. ''Castiza'') was a racial category used in 18th-century Spanish America to refer to people who were three-quarters Spanish by descent and one-quarter Amerindian. The category of ''casti ...
s'' ("three-quarters white"), and the marriage of a castizo/a to an Español/a resulted in the restoration of Español/a status to the offspring. Don Alonso O’Crouley observed in Mexico (1774), "If the mixed-blood is the offspring of a Spaniard and an Indian, the stigma f race mixturedisappears at the third step in descent because it is held as systematic that a Spaniard and an Indian produce a ''mestizo''; a ''mestizo'' and a Spaniard, a ''castizo''; and a ''castizo'' and a Spaniard, a Spaniard. The admixture of Indian blood should not indeed be regarded as a blemish, since the provisions of law give the Indian all that he could wish for, and Philip II granted to ''mestizos'' the privilege of becoming priests. On this consideration is based the common estimation of descent from a union of Indian and European or creole Spaniard."  O’Crouley states that the same process of restoration of racial purity does not occur over generations for European-African offspring marrying whites. "From the union of a Spaniard and a Negro the mixed-blood retains the stigma for generations without losing the original quality of a mulato." The Spanish colonial regime divided groups into two basic legal categories, the Republic of Indians (''República de Indios'') and the Republic of Spaniards (''República de Españoles'') comprised the Spanish (Españoles) and all other non-Indian peoples. Indians were free vassals of the crown, whose commoners paid tribute while Indigenous elites were considered nobles and tribute exempt, as were Mestizos. Indians were nominally protected by the crown, with non-Indians (Mestizos, blacks, and mulattoes) forbidden to live in Indigenous communities. Mestizos and Indians in Mexico habitually held each other in mutual antipathy. This was particularly the case with commoner American Indians against Mestizos, some of whom infiltrated their communities and became part of the ruling elite. Spanish authorities turned a blind eye to the Mestizos' presence, since they collected commoners' tribute for the crown and came to hold offices. They were useful intermediaries for the colonial state between the Republic of Spaniards and the Republic of Indians. A person's legal racial classification in colonial Spanish America was closely tied to social status, wealth, culture, and language use. Wealthy people paid to change or obscure their actual ancestry. Many Indigenous people left their traditional villages and sought to be counted as Mestizos to avoid tribute payments to the Spanish. Many Indigenous people, and sometimes those with partial African descent, were classified as Mestizo if they spoke Spanish and lived as Mestizos. In colonial
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
, was more commonly used instead of . means being mixed without specifying which mixture; it was used to describe anyone born in the Americas whose ancestry was a mixture of European, Native American, and African. When the
First Mexican Republic The First Mexican Republic, known also as the First Federal Republic (), existed from 1824 to 1835. It was a Federal republic, federated republic, established by the 1824 Constitution of Mexico, Constitution of 1824, the first constitution of ...
was established in 1824, legal racial categories ceased to exist. The production of
casta () is a term which means "Lineage (anthropology), lineage" in Spanish and Portuguese and has historically been used as a racial and social identifier. In the context of the Spanish America, Spanish Empire in the Americas, the term also refer ...
paintings in
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...
ceased at the same juncture, after almost a century as a genre. Because the term had taken on a myriad of meanings, the designation "Mestizo" was actively removed from census counts in Mexico and is no longer in official nor governmental use.


Percentage and genetic admixture by country in the Americas

}
, , 71% , , 10% , , 19% , - , , , 44% , , 57% , , 38% , , 2% , - , , , 40%–90%, , 45% , , 50% , , 5% , - , , , 26.6%, , 71% , , 8% , , 21% , - , , , 24.5%, , 49% , , 31% , , 20% , - , , , 11.4% , , 78% , , 20% , , 2% , - , , , 10.2% , , 79% , , 7% , , 14% , - , , , 2.4% , , 83% , , 8% , , 9%


Spanish-speaking North America


Mexico

Around 40–90% of Mexicans can be classified as "mestizos", meaning in modern Mexican usage that they identify fully neither with any European heritage nor with an Indigenous ethnic group, but rather identify as having cultural traits incorporating both European and Indigenous elements. In Mexico, mestizo has become a blanket term that not only refers to mixed Mexicans but includes all Mexican citizens who do not speak
Indigenous languages An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by its indigenous peoples. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages but they can be; for example, Aymara is both an indigeno ...
Sometimes, particularly outside of Mexico, the word "mestizo" is used with the meaning of Mexican persons with mixed Indigenous and European blood. This usage does not conform to the Mexican social reality where a person of pure Indigenous ancestry would be considered mestizo either by rejecting his Indigenous culture or by not speaking an Indigenous language, and a person with none or very low Indigenous ancestry would be considered Indigenous either by speaking an Indigenous language or by identifying with a particular Indigenous cultural heritage. In the
Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...
, the word mestizo has a different meaning to the one used in the rest of Mexico, being used to refer to the
Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...
-speaking populations living in traditional communities, because during the
Caste War of Yucatán The Caste War of Yucatán or ''ba'atabil kichkelem Yúum'' (1847–1915) began with the revolt of Indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous Maya peoples, Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula against Hispanic populations, called ''Yucatecos''. Th ...
of the late 19th century those Maya who did not join the rebellion were classified as mestizos. In Chiapas, the term ''Ladino'' is used instead of Mestizo. Due to the extensiveness of the modern definition of mestizo, various publications offer different estimations of this group, some try to use a biological, racial perspective and calculate the mestizo population in contemporary Mexico as being around a half and two-thirds of the population, while others use the culture-based definition, and estimate the percentage of mestizos as high as 90% of the Mexican population, several others mix-up both due lack of knowledge in regards to the modern definition and assert that mixed ethnicity Mexicans are as much as 93% of Mexico's population. Paradoxically to its wide definition, the word mestizo has long been dropped off popular Mexican vocabulary, with the word sometimes having pejorative connotations, which further complicates attempts to quantify mestizos via self-identification. While for most of its history the concept of mestizo and mestizaje has been lauded by Mexico's intellectual circles, in recent times the concept has been a target of criticism, with its detractors claiming that it delegitimizes the importance of ethnicity in Mexico under the idea of "(racism) not existing here (in Mexico), as everybody is mestizo." Anthropologist Federico Navarrete concludes that reintroducing racial classification, and accepting itself as a multicultural country, as opposed to a monolithic mestizo country, would bring benefits to Mexican society as a whole.


Genetic studies

A 2020 study published in ''Human Immunology'' analyzed the genetic diversity of the Mexican population through the HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) system, a set of genes involved in immune response. The findings confirm that the genetic composition of mestizos varies significantly across different regions of Mexico, reflecting the admixture patterns observed in previous studies. Specifically: * Indigenous American ancestry is predominant in the southern region * European ancestry is higher in the northern and western regions * A low but significant African ancestry is present in certain areas The study also highlights that genetic variation among Mexican populations has medical implications, affecting susceptibility to autoimmune and infectious diseases. The biological diversity observed in contemporary Latin American populations reflects the region's complex demographic history, shaped by extensive geographic movements and social stratification among ancestral human groups. Previous studies have demonstrated that the geographic variation in admixture proportions reveals significant population structure, highlighting the lasting influence of historical demographic processes on the genomic diversity of Latin America. A 2012 study published by the
Journal of Human Genetics The ''Journal of Human Genetics'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of human genetics and genomics. It was established in 1956 as the ''Japanese Journal of Human Genetics'' and was independently published by the Ja ...
found that the Y-chromosome (paternal) ancestry of the average Mexican mestizo was predominantly European (64.9%), followed by Indigenous American (30.8%), and African (4.2%). The European ancestry was more prevalent in the north and west (66.7–95%) and Indigenous American ancestry increased in the centre and south-east (37–50%), the African ancestry was low and relatively homogeneous (0–8.8%). The states that participated in this study were Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Guerrero, Jalisco, Oaxaca, Sinaloa, Veracruz and Yucatán. An older study of 104 mestizos from Sonora, Yucatán, Guerrero, Zacatecas, Veracruz, and Guanajuato by Mexico's National Institute of Genomic Medicine, using “Asian” ancestry as a proxy for Indigenous American admixture, reported that mestizo Mexicans are 58.96% European, 31.05% “Asian” (Indigenous American), and 10.03% African.
Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...
shows the highest European contribution (70.63%) and
Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...
the lowest (51.98%) which also has the highest “Asian” contribution (37.17%). African contribution ranges from 2.8% in Sonora to 11.13% in
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
. 80% of the Mexican population was classed as mestizo (defined as "being racially mixed in some degree"). In May 2009, the same institution (Mexico's National Institute of Genomic Medicine) issued an updated report on a genomic study of 300 mestizos from those same states, this time using Indigenous American samples to represent Indigenous admixture, rather than an East Asian proxy population. The study found that the mestizo population of these Mexican states were on average 55% of Indigenous ancestry followed by 41.8% of European, 1.8% of African, and 1.2% of East Asian ancestry. The study also noted that whereas mestizo individuals from the southern state of Guerrero showed on average 66% of Indigenous ancestry, those from the northern state of Sonora displayed about 61.6% European ancestry. The study found that there was an increase in Indigenous ancestry as one traveled towards to the Southern states in Mexico, while the Indigenous ancestry declined as one traveled to the Northern states in the country, such as Sonora.


Central America

The
Ladino people The Ladino people are a mix of mestizo or Hispanicized peoplesLadino' en el Diccionario de la Real Academia Española (DRAE) in Latin America, principally in Central America. The demonym ''Ladino'' is a Spanish word that is related to '' Lati ...
are a mix of Mestizo or
Hispanicized Hispanicization () refers to the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by Hispanic culture or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-Hispanic becomes Hispanic. Hispanicization is illustrated by spoken ...
peoples
Ladino
' en el Diccionario de la Real Academia Española (DRAE)
in
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
, principally in
Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
. The
demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...
''Ladino'' is a
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
word that derives from '' Latino''. ''Ladino'' is an
exonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...
dating to the
colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...
to refer to those Spanish-speakers who were not colonial elites (
Peninsulares In the context of the Spanish Empire, a ''peninsular'' (, pl. ''peninsulares'') was a Spaniard born in Spain residing in the New World, Spanish East Indies, or Spanish Guinea. In the context of the Portuguese Empire, ''reinóis'' (singular ''r ...
and
Criollos In Hispanic America, criollo () is a term used originally to describe people of full Spanish descent born in the viceroyalties. In different Latin American countries, the word has come to have different meanings, mostly referring to the local ...
), or Indigenous peoples.


Costa Rica

, most Costa Ricans are primarily of Spanish or mestizo ancestry with minorities of German, Italian, Jamaican, and Greek ancestry. European migrants used Costa Rica to get across the isthmus of Central America as well to reach the U.S. West Coast (
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
) in the late 19th century and until the 1910s (before the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
opened). Other ethnic groups known to live in Costa Rica include Nicaraguan, Colombians, Venezuelans, Peruvian, Brazilians, Portuguese,
Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...
, Caribbeans, Turks, Armenians, and Georgians. Costa Rica has four small minority groups:
Mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...
s,
Afro The afro is a hair style created by combing out natural growth of afro-textured hair, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair.Garland, Phyl"Is The Afro On Its Way Out?" '' Ebo ...
, Indigenous Costa Ricas, and
Asians "Asian people" (sometimes "Asiatic people")United States National Library of Medicine. Medical Subject Headings. 2004. November 17, 200Nlm.nih.gov: ''Asian Continental Ancestry Group'' is also used for categorical purposes. is an umbrella term ...
. About 8% of the population is of African descent or mulatto (mix of European and African) who are called Afro-Costa Ricans, English-speaking descendants of 19th century Afro-
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
n immigrant workers. By the late 20th century, allusions in textbooks and political discourse to "whiteness," or to Spain as the "mother country" of all Costa Ricans, were diminishing, replaced with a recognition of the multiplicity of peoples that make up the nation.


El Salvador

In
Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
, intermarriage by European men with Indigenous women, typically of
Lenca The Lenca,are an Indigenous people from present day southwest Honduras and eastern El Salvador in Central America. They historically spoke various dialects of the Lencan languages such as Chilanga, Putun (Potón), and Kotik, but today are nat ...
,
Cacaopera Cacaopera is a municipality in the Morazán department of El Salvador. According to UNESCO:Caca ...
and
Pipil Pipil may refer to: *Pipil people, Nahua people of western El Salvador *Pipil language (Nawat) **Pipil grammar **Pipil language (typological overview) {{Disambig ...
backgrounds in what is now
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
happened almost immediately after the arrival of the
Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...
led by
Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, ''conquistador'', ''adelantado,'' governor and Captaincy General of Guatemala, captain general of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the c ...
. Other Indigenous groups in the country such as
Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...
Poqomam people The Poqomam are a Maya people in Guatemala and El Salvador. Their indigenous language is also called Poqomam and is closely related to Poqomchiʼ. Notable Poqomam settlements are located in Chinautla ( Guatemala (department)), Palín ( Escuintl ...
,
Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...
Ch'orti' people Ch'orti' (or Chorti) may refer to: * Ch'orti' people - one of the indigenous Maya peoples of southeastern Guatemala and western Honduras * Ch’orti’ language - a Mayan language, spoken by the Ch'orti' people See also * Chorti, Iran {{disamb ...
, Alaguilac,
Xinca people The Xinka, or Xinca, are a non-Mayan Indigenous people of Mesoamerica, with communities in the southern portion of Guatemala, near its border with El Salvador, and in the mountainous region to the north. Their languages (the Xincan languages) are ...
,
Mixe Mixe may refer to: * Mixe people, an ethnic group of Oaxaca, Mexica * Mixe languages, the group of languages spoken by them * Sierra Mixe The Sierra Mixe or Mixes District is a district in the east of the Sierra Norte Region of the Mexican sta ...
and
Mangue language Mangue, also known as Chorotega,Daniel G. Brinton. 1886. Notes on the Mangue; An Extinct Dialect Formerly Spoken in Nicaragua Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society , Vol. 23, No. 122 (Apr., 1886), pp. 238-257 is an extinct Oto-Manguea ...
people became culturally extinct due to the mestizo process or diseases brought by the Spaniards. Mestizo culture quickly became the most successful and dominant culture in El Salvador. The majority of Salvadorans in modern El Salvador identify themselves as 86.3% Mestizo roots. Historical evidence and census supports the explanation of "strong sexual asymmetry", as a result of a strong bias favoring children born to European man and Indigenous women, and to the important Indigenous male mortality during the conquest. The genetics thus suggests the Native men were sharply reduced in numbers due to the war and disease. Large numbers of Spaniard men settled in the region and married or forced themselves with the local women. The Natives were forced to adopt Spanish names, language, and religion, and in this way, the Lencas and Pipil women and children were Hispanicized. This has made El Salvador one of the world's most highly mixed race nations. In 1932, ruthless dictator
Maximiliano Hernández Martínez Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (21 October 1882 – 15 May 1966) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who served as president of El Salvador from 4 December 1931 to 28 August 1934 in a provisional capacity and again in an offi ...
was responsible for La Matanza ("The Slaughter"), known as the
1932 Salvadoran peasant massacre (Spanish for 'The Massacre') refers to a communist- Indigenous rebellion that took place in El Salvador between 22 and 25 January 1932. After the revolt was suppressed, it was followed by large-scale government killings in western El Salva ...
in which the Indigenous people were murdered in an effort to wipe out the Indigenous people in El Salvador during the 1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising. Indigenous peoples, mostly of Lenca, Cacaopera, and Pipil descent are still present in El Salvador in several communities, conserving their languages, customs, and traditions. There is a significant Arab population (of about 100,000), mostly from
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
(especially from the area of Bethlehem), but also from Lebanon. Salvadorans of Palestinian descent numbered around 70,000 individuals, while Salvadorans of Lebanese descent is around 27,000. There is also a small community of Jews who came to El Salvador from France, Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey. Many of these Arab groups naturally mixed and contributed into the modern Salvadoran Mestizo population.
Pardo In the former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas, ''pardos'' (feminine ''pardas'') are triracial descendants of Europeans, Indigenous Americans and Africans. History In some places they were defined as neither exclusively ...
is the term that was used in colonial El Salvador to describe a person of tri-racial or Indigenous, European, and African descent. El Salvador is the only country in Central America that does not have a significant African population due to many factors including El Salvador not having a Caribbean coast, and because of president
Maximiliano Hernández Martínez Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (21 October 1882 – 15 May 1966) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who served as president of El Salvador from 4 December 1931 to 28 August 1934 in a provisional capacity and again in an offi ...
, who passed racial laws to keep people of African descent and others out of El Salvador, though Salvadorans with African ancestry, called Pardos, were already present in El Salvador, the majority are tri-racial Pardo Salvadorans who largely cluster with the Mestizo population. They have been mixed into and were naturally bred out by the general Mestizo population, which is a combination of a Mestizo majority and the minority of Pardo people, both of whom are racially mixed populations. A total of only 10,000 enslaved Africans were brought to El Salvador over the span of 75 years, starting around 1548, about 25 years after El Salvador's colonization. The enslaved Africans that were brought to El Salvador during the colonial times, eventually came to mix and merged into the much larger and vaster Mestizo mixed European Spanish/Native Indigenous population creating Pardo or Afromestizos who cluster with Mestizo people, contributing into the modern day Mestizo population in El Salvador, thus, there remains no significant extremes of African physiognomy among Salvadorans like there is in the other countries of Central America. Today, many Salvadorans identify themselves as being culturally part of the majority Salvadoran mestizo population, even if they are racially European (especially Mediterranean), as well as Indigenous people in El Salvador who do not speak Indigenous languages nor have an Indigenous culture, and tri-racial/pardo Salvadorans or Arab Salvadorans.


Guatemala

The Ladino population in
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
is officially recognized as a distinct ethnic group, and the Ministry of Education of Guatemala uses the following definition:
"The Ladino population has been characterized as a heterogeneous population which expresses itself in the Spanish language as a maternal language, which possesses specific cultural traits of Hispanic origin mixed with Indigenous cultural elements, and dresses in a style commonly considered as western."


Spanish-speaking South America


Argentina and Uruguay

Initially colonial
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
had a predominantly mestizo population like the rest of the Spanish colonies, but due to a flood of continuous European migration waves in the 19th and early 20th centuries and the repeated intermarriage with Europeans, most of them coming from
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, this intensified the European influence on culture and society in Argentina and Uruguay. As a result, the Mestizo population became a so-called
Castizo ''Castizo''Pronunciation in Latin American Spanish: (fem. ''Castiza'') was a racial category used in 18th-century Spanish America to refer to people who were three-quarters Spanish by descent and one-quarter Amerindian. The category of ''casti ...
population. As a result, the term Mestizo has seen a decrease in use. Nevertheless, the cultural practice of the region is commonly centred on the figure of the
Gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, the southern part of Bolivia, and the south of Chilean Patago ...
, which intrinsically mixes European and native traditions.
Argentine Northwest The Argentine Northwest (, NOA) is a geographic and historical region of Argentina comprising the provinces of Catamarca Province, Catamarca, Jujuy Province, Jujuy, La Rioja Province, Argentina, La Rioja, Salta Province, Salta, Santiago del Estero ...
still has an important mestizo population, especially in the provinces of
Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...
and
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...
. Aside from that, the Mestizo component of Argentina has seen a resurge following the arrival of Mestizo immigrants primarly coming from Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru since the late 20th and early 21st century and their descendants living in the capital Buenos Aires, the Province of Buenos Aires or throughout the country, with important concentrations on the border regions with Bolivia and Paraguay.


Chile

In Chile, from the time the Spanish soldiers with
Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and the first royal governor of Chile. After having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in ...
entered northern Chile, a process of 'mestizaje' began where Spaniards began to intermarry and reproduce with the local bellicose
Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...
population of Indigenous Chileans to produce an overwhelmingly mestizo population during the first generation in all of the cities they founded. In Southern Chile, the Mapuche, were one of the only Indigenous tribes in the Americas that were in continuous conflict with the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
and did not submit to a European power. But because Southern Chile was settled by German settlers in 1848, many mestizos include descendants of Mapuche and German settlers. A public health book from the
University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.
states that 60% of the population is of only European origin; mestizos are estimated to amount to a total of 35%, while Indigenous peoples comprise the remaining 5%. A genetic study by the same university showed that the average Chilean's genes in the Mestizo segment are 60% European and 40% Indigenous American. As
Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...
is a territory of Chile and the native settlers are
Rapa Nui Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...
, descendants of intermarriages of European Chileans (mostly Spanish) and Rapa Nui are even considered by Chilean law as mestizos.


Colombia

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
, whose land was named after
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
, is the product of the interacting and mixing of the European
conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
s and colonist with the different
Indigenous peoples of Colombia Indigenous Colombians (), also known as Native Colombians (), are the ethnic groups who have inhabited Colombia before the Spanish colonization of Colombia, in the early 16th century. Estimates on the percentage of Colombians who are indigenou ...
. With the arrival of Europeans came the arrival of the enslaved Africans, whose cultural element was mostly introduced into the coastal areas of Colombia. To this day,
Afro-Colombians Afro-Colombians (), also known as Black Colombians (), are Colombians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Colombia has one of the largest  Afro-descendant populations in South America, with government estimates being ...
form a majority in several coastal regions of the country. Over time Colombia has become a primarily Mestizo country due to limited immigration from Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, with minorities of
mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...
es and
pardo In the former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas, ''pardos'' (feminine ''pardas'') are triracial descendants of Europeans, Indigenous Americans and Africans. History In some places they were defined as neither exclusively ...
s, both mixed race groups of significant partial African ancestry who live primarily in coastal regions among other Afro-Colombians; and pockets of Indigenous peoples living around the rural areas and the Amazonian Basin regions of the country. Estimates of the Mestizo population in Colombia vary, as Colombia's national census does not include
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
or Mestizo as ethnic options. According to the 2018 census, approximately 87% of the Colombian population listed no ethnic affiliation, being mostly White or Mestizo, while an estimated 49–60% of Colombians are of mixed race. A 2010 study by Rojas et al. reported an average ethnic composition of 47% Indigenous, 42% European, and 11% African. A 2023 genetic study conducted by Criollo et al. estimated that the average admixture for
Mestizo Colombians Mestizo Colombians () are Colombians of mixed European (mostly Spanish) and Indigenous ancestry. Numbers and distribution The 2018 census reported that 87% of the population did not consider themselves part of a listed ethnic group, instead bein ...
is 50.8% European, 40.7% Indigenous, and 8.5% African ancestry, however this varies significantly across regions of the country.


Ecuador

During the colonial era, the majority of Ecuadorians were Amerindians and the minorities were the Spanish
conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
s, who came with
Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...
and
Sebastián de Belalcázar Sebastián Moyano y Cabrera, best known as Sebastián de Belalcázar (; c. 1490 – April 28, 1551) was a Spanish conquistador. Belalcázar, also written as Benalcázar. He is known as the founder of important early virreinal cities in the northw ...
. With the passage of time these Spanish conquerors and succeeding Spanish colonists sired offspring, largely nonconsensually, with the local Amerindian population, since Spanish immigration did not initially include many European females to the colonies. In a couple of generations a predominantly Mestizo population emerged in Ecuador with a drastically declining Amerindian population due to European diseases and wars.
Afro-Ecuadorians Afro-Ecuadorians (), also known as Black Ecuadorians (), are Ecuadorians of predominantly Sub-Saharan African descent. History and background Most Afro-Ecuadorians are the descendants of enslaved Africans who were transported by predominantly ...
, (including
zambos Zambo ( or ) or Sambu is a racial term historically used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed Amerindian, Indigenous Amerindian and West African people, African ancestry. Occasionally in the 21st century, the term is used in the ...
and
mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...
es), are a significant minority in the country, and can be found mostly in the
Esmeraldas Province Esmeraldas () is a northwestern coastal province of Ecuador. The capital and largest city is Esmeraldas. Esmeraldas is one of the three provinces of Ecuador that borders Colombia, and it is the most northern province in the country. The provin ...
and in the
Valle del Chota The upper valley of the Mira River (Ecuador and Colombia), Mira River, called the Chota River in its upstream portion, in northern Ecuador, and the small villages in it are usually referred to as 'El Chota', and it runs east–west between the t ...
of the
Imbabura Province Imbabura () is a Provinces of Ecuador, province located in the Andes of northern Ecuador. The capital is Ibarra, Ecuador, Ibarra. The people of the province speak Spanish, and a large portion of the population also speak the Imbaburan Kichwa va ...
. They form a majority in both of those regions. There are also small communities of Afro-Ecuadorians living along the coastal areas outside of the Esmeraldas province. However, significant numbers of Afro-Ecuadorians can be found in the countries' largest cities of
Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...
and
Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...
, where they have been migrating to from their ancestral regions in search of better opportunities. Mestizos are the largest of all the ethnic groups, and comprise 70% of the current population. The next 30% of the population is comprised by four ethnic groups with about 7.5% each, the
Montubio Montubio is the term used to describe the Mestizos in Ecuador, mestizo people of the countryside of coastal Ecuador. The Montubio make up 7.4% of the country's population and were recognized as a distinct ethnicity by the government in the sprin ...
(a term for Mestizos from the inland countryside of coastal Ecuador - who are culturally distinct from Mestizos from the rest of the country), Afro-Ecuadorian, Amerindians, and Europeans.


Paraguay

During the reign of
José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia y Velasco () (6 January 1766 – 20 September 1840), also known as Doctor Francia or to Paraguayans of his time as Karai Guasu (in Guaraní, means "Great Lord"), was a Paraguayan lawyer, politician, stat ...
, the first consul of
Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
from 1811 to 1840, he imposed a law that no Spaniard may intermarry with another Spaniard, and that they may only wed mestizos or Amerindians.Paraguay, a history lesson in racial equality, Juan Manuel Casal, 2 Dec, 2016. https://theconversation.com/from-paraguay-a-history-lesson-on-racial-equality-68655. This was introduced to eliminate any sense of racial superiority, and also to end the predominantly Spanish influence in Paraguay. De Francia himself was not a Mestizo (although his paternal grandfather was
Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians (; ), also known as Black Brazilians (), are Brazilians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Most multiracial Brazilians also have a range of degree of African ancestry. Brazilians whose African features are mo ...
), but feared that racial superiority would create
class division Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...
which would threaten his absolute rule. As a result of this, today 70% of Paraguay's population is mestizo, and the main language is the native
Guaraní Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to Ethnography * Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) * Guarani language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay * G ...
, spoken by 60% of the population as a first language, with Spanish spoken as a first language by 40% of the population, and fluently spoken by 75%, making Paraguay one of the most bilingual countries in the world. After the tremendous decline of male population as a result of the
War of the Triple Alliance The Paraguayan War (, , ), also known as the War of the Triple Alliance (, , ), was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It wa ...
, European male worker émigrés mixed with the female Mestizo population to create a middle-class of largely Mestizo background.


Peru

According to Alberto Flores Galindo, "By the 1940 census, the last that utilized racial categories, Mestizos were grouped with white, and the two constituted more than 53% of the population. Mestizos likely outnumbered Indians and were the largest population group."


Venezuela

Mestizos are the majority in Venezuela, accounting for 51.6% of the country's population. According to D'Ambrosio 57.1% of Mestizos have mostly European characteristics, 28.5% have mostly African characteristics and 14.2% have mostly Amerindian characteristics.


Spanish East Indies


Guam and Northern Mariana Islands

In
Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
and
Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territory and Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States consistin ...
, which were administered from the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
under the
Spanish East Indies The Spanish East Indies were the colonies of the Spanish Empire in Asia-Pacific, Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1901, governed through the Captaincy General of the Philippines, captaincy general in Manila for the Monarchy of Spain, Spanish Crown, i ...
, the term ''mestizo'' referred to people of mixed Chamorro (''indio'') or Filipino and Spanish ancestry. In the administrative racial hierarchy, they were ranked below the full-blooded Spaniards (''
peninsulares In the context of the Spanish Empire, a ''peninsular'' (, pl. ''peninsulares'') was a Spaniard born in Spain residing in the New World, Spanish East Indies, or Spanish Guinea. In the context of the Portuguese Empire, ''reinóis'' (singular ''r ...
'' and ''
criollos In Hispanic America, criollo () is a term used originally to describe people of full Spanish descent born in the viceroyalties. In different Latin American countries, the word has come to have different meanings, mostly referring to the local ...
''), but ranked higher than full-blooded Indigenous Filipinos and Chamorro. The term ''indio'' originally applied to both Filipinos and Indigenous Chamorro, but they were later separately designated in Spanish censuses in Guam. Like in the Philippines, this caste system was legally mandated and determined what taxes a person must pay. Both full-blooded Spaniards and ''mestizos'' were exempt from paying tribute as specified in the
Laws of the Indies The Laws of the Indies () are the entire body of laws issued by the Spanish Crown in 1573 for the American and the Asian possessions of its empire. They regulated social, political, religious, and economic life in these areas. The laws are com ...
. In modern Guam, the Chamorro term ''mestisu'' (feminine ''mestisa'') refers to a person of mixed Chamorro and any foreign ancestry. It can be heritage-specific, such as ''mestisan CHamoru yan Tagalu'' ("female of mixed Chamorro and Filipino descent") or ''mestison CHamoru yan Amerikanu'' ("male of mixed Chamorro and
White American White Americans (sometimes also called Caucasian Americans) are Americans who identify as white people. In a more official sense, the United States Census Bureau, which collects demographic data on Americans, defines "white" as " person having ...
descent").


Philippines

In the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, the term ''mestizo'' was used to refer to a person with mixed native (''
indio Indio may refer to: Places * Indio, Bovey Tracey, an historic estate in Devon, England * Indio, California, a city in Riverside County, California, United States People with the name * Indio (musician), Canadian musician Gordon Peterson * Índi ...
'') and either Spanish or Chinese ancestry during the Spanish colonial period (1565–1898). It was a legal classification and played an important part in the colonial taxation system as well as social status. The term most commonly applied to ''mestizos de español'' ("Spanish mestizos"), most of whom were descendants of intermarriage between Spanish settlers and the pre-colonial ruling families (''caciques''). They were part of the land-owning aristocratic class known as the '' Principalia''. Like people of full Spanish ancestry (''blanco'', the ''
peninsulares In the context of the Spanish Empire, a ''peninsular'' (, pl. ''peninsulares'') was a Spaniard born in Spain residing in the New World, Spanish East Indies, or Spanish Guinea. In the context of the Portuguese Empire, ''reinóis'' (singular ''r ...
'' and '' insulares''), ''mestizos de español'' were not required to pay the "tribute" (a personal tax) levied on natives specified in the
Laws of the Indies The Laws of the Indies () are the entire body of laws issued by the Spanish Crown in 1573 for the American and the Asian possessions of its empire. They regulated social, political, religious, and economic life in these areas. The laws are com ...
. The ''mestizo'' classification was also applied to people of mixed native and Chinese ancestry who converted to
Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, of which there was a much larger population. They were differentiated from the Spanish mestizos as '' mestizos de sangley'' ("Chinese mestizos"), most of whom were merchants and traders. They paid about twice the amount of taxes than natives, but less taxes than someone of full Chinese ancestry (the ''
sangley Sangley (English plural: ''Sangleys''; Spanish plural: ''Sangleyes'') and Mestizo de Sangley (Sangley mestizo, ''mestisong Sangley'', ''chino mestizo'' or Chinese mestizo) are archaic terms used in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial ...
es''). Both ''mestizos de español'' and ''mestizos de sangley'' were often from wealthy families and thus part of the educated class in the late 19th century (the ''
ilustrados The Ilustrados (, "erudite", "learned" or "enlightened ones") constituted the Filipino people, Filipino intelligentsia (Education in the Philippines, educated class) during the History of the Philippines (1521–1898), Spanish colonial period i ...
''). Along with children from wealthy native families, they played a prominent part in the Propaganda Movement (1880–1895), which called for reforms in the colonial government of the Philippines. ''Mestizos'' were a key demographic in the development of
Filipino nationalism Filipino nationalism refers to the establishment and support of a political identity associated with the modern nation-state of the Philippines, leading to a wide-ranging campaign for political, social, and economic freedom in the Philippines. ...
. During the 1700s, mixed
Spanish Filipino Spanish Filipino or Hispanic Filipino ( Spanish: Español Filipino, Hispano Filipino, Tagalog: Kastílang Pilipino, Cebuano: Katsílà) are people of Spanish and Filipino heritage. The term may also include Filipino mestizos of Spanish ances ...
Mestizos formed about 5% of the total tribute paying populationESTADISMO DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS TOMO SEGUNDO By Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga (Original Spanish)
/ref> whereas mixed
Chinese Filipino Chinese Filipinos (sometimes referred as Filipino Chinese or Chinoy/Tsinoy in the Philippines) are Filipinos of Chinese descent with ancestry mainly from Fujian, but are typically born and raised in the Philippines. Chinese Filipinos are one ...
Mestizos formed 20% of the population. During the
American occupation of the Philippines American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
(1898–1946), the term expanded to include people of mixed native Filipino and American ancestry. In the modern
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, the
Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...
term '' mestiso'' (feminine ''mestisa'') refers to anyone who has the fair-skinned appearance of mixed native and European ancestry, often used as a compliment. It is commonly shortened to ''" tisoy"'' (feminine ''"tisay"'') in colloquial usage. ''Mestizo'' is also considered one of the archetypal beauty standards in the Philippines, the others being ''moreno'' (brown-skinned native appearance) and ''chinito'' (lighter-skinned
East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
n appearance).


Elsewhere in the Americas


Belize


United States

In the United States, a number of
Latino Americans Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spaniards, Spanish or Latin Americans, Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino (demonym), ...
of Mexican or Central American or South American descent have family histories bound to categories such as ''mestizaje''. The term ''mestizo'' is not used for official purposes, with
Mexican Americans Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...
being classed in roughly equal proportions as "white" or "some other ethnicity". A 2015 report by the
Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It ...
showed that "When asked if they identify as "mestizo," "mulatto" or some other mixed-race combination, one-third of U.S. Hispanics say they do". These were more likely to be U.S. born, non-Mexican, and have a higher education attainment than those who do not so identify.


''Mestizaje'' in Latin America

' () is a term that came into usage in twentieth-century Latin America for racial mixing, not a colonial-era term. In the modern era, it is used to denote the positive unity of race mixtures in modern Latin America. This ideological stance is in contrast to the term ''
miscegenation Miscegenation ( ) is marriage or admixture between people who are members of different races or ethnicities. It has occurred many times throughout history, in many places. It has occasionally been controversial or illegal. Adjectives describin ...
'', which usually has negative connotations. The main ideological advocate of ''mestizaje'' was
José Vasconcelos José Vasconcelos Calderón (28 February 1882 – 30 June 1959), called the "cultural " of the Mexican Revolution, was an important Mexicans, Mexican writer, philosopher, and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial pers ...
(1882–1959), the Mexican Minister of Education in the 1920s. The term was in circulation in Mexico in the late nineteenth century, along with similar terms, ''cruzamiento'' ("crossing") and ''mestización'' (process of "mestizo-izing"). In Spanish America, the colonial-era system of castas sought to differentiate between individuals and groups on the basis of a hierarchical classification by ancestry, skin color, and status (''calidad''), giving separate labels to the perceived categorical differences and privileging whiteness. In contrast, the idea of modern ''mestizaje'' is the positive unity of a nation's citizenry based on racial mixture. "Mestizaje placed greater emphasis
han the casta system Han may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Han", a fifth season episode of ''The West Wing'' * Han (musician), born Han Ji-sung, a South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer, member of Stray Kids * Han Lue, a character ...
on commonality and hybridity to engineer order and unity... toperated within the context of the nation-state and sought to derive meaning from Latin America's own internal experiences rather than the dictates and necessities of empire... ultimately tembraced racial mixture."


In post-revolution Mexico

At independence in Mexico, the casta classifications were abolished, but discrimination based on skin color and socioeconomic status continued. Liberal intellectuals grappled with the "Indian Problem", that is, the Amerindians' lack of cultural assimilation to Mexican national life as citizens of the nation, rather than members of their Indigenous communities. Urban elites spurned mixed-race urban plebeians and Amerindians along with their traditional popular culture. In the late nineteenth century during the rule of Porfirio Díaz, elites sought to be, act, and look like modern Europeans, that is, different from the majority of the Mexican population. Díaz was mixed-race himself, but powdered his dark skin to hide his Mixtec Indigenous ancestry. At the end of the nineteenth century, however, as social and economic tensions increased in Mexico, two major works by Mexican intellectuals sought to rehabilitate the assessment of the mestizo. Díaz's Minister of Education,
Justo Sierra Justo Sierra Méndez (January 26, 1848 – September 13, 1912), was a Mexican prominent liberal writer, historian, journalist, poet and political figure during the Porfiriato, in the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth ...
published ''The Political Evolution of the Mexican People'' (1902), which situated Mexican identity in the mixing of European whites and Amerindians. Mexicans are "the sons of two peoples, of two races.
his fact His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, i ...
dominates our whole history; to this we owe our soul." Intellectual
Andrés Molina Enríquez Andrés Molina Enríquez (November 30, 1868, Jilotepec de Abasolo, State of Mexico – 1940) was a Mexican revolutionary intellectual, author of ''The Great National Problems '' (1909) which drew on his experiences as a notary and Justice of th ...
also took a revisionist stance on Mestizos in his work ''Los grandes problemas nacionales'' (The Great National Problems) (1909). The Mexican state after the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
(1910–20) embraced the ideology of mestizaje as a nation-building tool, aimed at integrating Amerindians culturally and politically in the construction of national identity. As such it has meant a systematic effort to eliminate Indigenous culture, in the name of integrating them into a supposedly inclusive mestizo identity. For
Afro-Mexicans Afro-Mexicans (), also known as Black Mexicans (), are Mexicans of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. As a single population, Afro-Mexicans include individuals descended from both free and enslaved Africans who arrived to Mexi ...
, the ideology has denied their historical contributions to Mexico and their current place in Mexican political life. Mexican politicians and reformers such as José Vasconcelos and
Manuel Gamio Manuel Gamio (1883–1960) was a Mexican anthropologist, archaeologist, sociologist, and a leader of the '' indigenismo'' movement. Although he rejected full sovereignty for indigenous communities in Mexico, he argued that their self-governing or ...
were instrumental in building a Mexican national identity on the concept of "mestizaje" (the process of ethnic homogenization). Cultural policies in early post-revolutionary Mexico were paternalistic towards the Indigenous people, with efforts designed to "help" Indigenous peoples achieve the same level of progress as the mestizo society, eventually assimilating Indigenous peoples completely to mainstream Mexican culture, working toward the goal of eventually solving the "Indian problem" by transforming Indigenous communities into mestizo communities. In recent years, Mestizos' sole claim to Mexican national identity has begun to erode, at least rhetorically." A constitutional changes to Article 4 that now says that the "Mexican Nation has a pluricultural composition, originally based on its Indigenous peoples. The law will protect and promote the development of their languages, cultures, uses, customs, resources, and specific forms of social organization and will guarantee their members effective access to the jurisdiction of the State."


Elsewhere in Latin America

There has been considerable academic work on race and race mixture in various parts of Latin America in recent years. Including South America; Venezuela Brazil, Peru and Colombia.


Mestizos migrating to Europe

Martín Cortés, son of the
Spanish conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish and Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing beyond the Iberian Peninsula, the ...
Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...
and of the
Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...
Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...
Indigenous Mexican interpreter
Malinche Marina () or Malintzin (; 1500 – 1529), more popularly known as La Malinche (), was a Nahua woman from the Mexican Gulf Coast, who became known for contributing to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519–1521), by acting as an inte ...
, was one of the first documented mestizos to arrive in Spain. His first trip occurred in 1528, when he accompanied his father who sought to have him legitimized by
Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate of ...
, from 1523 to 1534. There is also verified evidence of the grandchildren of Moctezuma II,
Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...
emperor, whose royal descent the Spanish Crown acknowledged, willingly having set foot on European soil. Among these descendants are the Counts of Miravalle, and the Duke of Moctezuma de Tultengo, Dukes of Moctezuma de Tultengo, who became part of the Spanish peerage and left many descendants in Europe. The Counts of Miravalle, residing in Andalusia, Andalucía, Spain, demanded in 2003 that the government of Mexico recommence payment of the so-called "Moctezuma pensions" it had cancelled in 1934. The mestizo historian Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, son of Spanish conquistador Sebastián Garcilaso de la Vega and of the Inca Empire, Inca princess Isabel Chimpo Oclloun, arrived in Spain from Peru. He lived in the town of Montilla, Andalucía, where he died in 1616.


See also

* African diaspora in the Americas * Arab-Berber * Brown (racial classification) * Bronze (racial classification) * Casta *
Castizo ''Castizo''Pronunciation in Latin American Spanish: (fem. ''Castiza'') was a racial category used in 18th-century Spanish America to refer to people who were three-quarters Spanish by descent and one-quarter Amerindian. The category of ''casti ...
*
Zambo Zambo ( or ) or Sambu is a racial term historically used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed Amerindian, Indigenous Amerindian and West African people, African ancestry. Occasionally in the 21st century, the term is used in the ...
* European colonization of the Americas * Indigenous peoples of the Americas * Indo people * Melting pot * Mestizo art * Métis * Mischling * Mixed-blood *
Mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...
* Spanish colonization of the Americas * Decree of November 8, 1928


References


Further reading

*Ades Queija, Berta. "Mestizos en hábito de indios: Estraegias transgresoras o identidades difusas?" ''Pasar as fronteiras: Actas do II Colóqyui Internacional sobre Mediadores Culturais, séculos XV a XVIII'' (Lagos-Outubro 1997). Ed. Rui Manuel Loureiro and Serge Gruzinski, 122–46. Lagos, Nigeria: Centro de Estudios Gil Eanes 1999. * * *Bonil Gómez, Katherine. ''Gobierno y calidad en el orden colonial: Las categorías del mestizaje en la provincia de Mariquita en la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII''. Bogotá: Ediciones Uniandes 2011. *Chance, John K. ''Race and Class in Colonial Oaxaca''. Stanford: Stanford University Press 1978. *Cope, R. Douglas. ''The Limits of Racial Domination: Plebeian Society in Col-515.onial Mexico City, 1660-1720''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1994. * *de la Cadena, Marisol. ''Indigenous Mestizos: The Politics of Race and Culture in Cuzco, Peru 1919-1991''. Durham: Duke University Press 2000. * *Fisher, Andrew B. and Matthew O'Hara, eds. ''Imperial Subjects: Race and Identity in Colonial Latin America''. Durham: Duke University Press 2009. *Frederick, Jake. "Without Impediment: Crossing Racial Boundaries in Colonial Mexico." The Americas 67. 4 (2011): 495–515. * *Gruzinski, Serge. ''The Mestizo Mind: The Intellectual Dynamics of Colonization and Globalization''. Trans. Deke Dusinberre. Longon: Routledge 2002. *Hill, ruth. "Casta as Culture and the ''Sociedad de Castas'' as Literature." ''Interpreting Colonialism''. Ed. Philip Stueward and byron Wells, 231–59. Oxford: Voltaire Foundation 2004. *Katzew, Ilona. ''Casta Painting: Images of Race in Eighteenth-Century Mexico''. New Haven: Yale University Press 2004. *Leibsohn, Dana, and Barbara E. Mundy, "Reckoning with Mestizaje," ''Vistas: Visual Culture in Spanish America, 1520-1820'' (2015)
http://www.fordham.edu/vistas
*Lewis, Laura. ''Hall of Mirrors: Power, Witchcraft, and Caste in Colonial Mexico''. Durham: Duke University Press 2003. *Martinez, Maria Elena. "Interrogating Blood Lines: "Purity of Blood," the Inquisition, and ''Casta'' categories." in ''Religion in New Spain''. ed. Susan Schroeder and Stafford Poole, 196–217. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2007. *Mörner, Magnus. ''Race Mixture in the History of Latin America''. Boston: Little, Brown 1967, *Rappaport, Joanne. ''The Disappearing Mestizo: Configuring Difference in the Colonial Kingdom of Granada''. Durham: Duke University Press 2014. * * *Vinson, Ben III. ''Before Mestizaje: The Frontiers of Race and Caste in Colonial Mexico''. New York: Cambridge University Press 2018. *


External links


The 1921 Mexican Census


*
Copy of the Mestizo Day law - City of ManausCopy of the Mestizo Day law - State of Amazon

Copy of the Mestizo Day law - State of Roraima

Mestizo Nation MovementLegislative Assembly pays tribute to the caboclos and all Mestizos
{{Authority control Mestizo, Ethnic groups in Argentina Ethnic groups in Belize Ethnic groups in Bolivia Ethnic groups in Central America Ethnic groups in Chile Ethnic groups in Colombia Ethnic groups in Costa Rica Ethnic groups in Ecuador Ethnic groups in El Salvador Ethnic groups in Guatemala Ethnic groups in Honduras Ethnic groups in Mexico Ethnic groups in Nicaragua Ethnic groups in Panama Ethnic groups in Paraguay Ethnic groups in Peru Ethnic groups in the United States Ethnic groups in Venezuela Latin American caste system Multiracial affairs in the Americas Spanish words and phrases