Race mixtures

Colombia a Multiethnic Country

In Colombia we can find different racial groups; each one of them has different cultural
characteristics, customs, and ethnics. They are located in different places around the
country.

If you walk through a Colombian city you will see people with different skin tones and
physical appearances. This is due to the miscegenation, which is the process by which two
different ethnic groups mix together, combining their cultural and biological
characteristics.

Kinds of miscegenation in Colombia

In Colombia the miscegenation occurred principally between indigenous people, the

Spanish, and Africans.

The indigenous:

They are the descendants of the communities that

lived in our territory before the Spanish conquest.
Today, approximately 3.2% of the population
recognizes that they are indigenous in our country.

African descendant:

They descend from the Africans brought to

Colombia by the Spanish. They represent the 10. 7%
of the Colombia’s population and live spread out the
country but principally in the Caribbean and pacific
region.

White: The Spanish who came to our territory used to

consider themselves white but the reality is that they
came from ethnic mixtures from Europe. Today we call
white to the colombians that have a clear skin tone, and
they represent the 37% of the population.

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 Mestizos (white-Spanish + indigenous) they are
those people who turned out from the mix
between indigenous and Spanish. They represent
approximately the half of Colombia’s population,
and they are located around the country. It’s
sometimes difficult to distinguish the mestizos
from the whites or from the other ethnic groups
like mulattoes (black+ white mix) or zambos
(black+ indigenous mix)

Let’s reflect!

1. What is the meaning of miscegenation? ___________________________________

miscegenation is when you have a child with a person
__________________________________________________________________
who is not your race so what you are doing is another race.
__________________________________________________________________

2. What make a racial group different from the others? what

_______________________
sets it apart is its skin color and culture.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3. What are the different kind of miscegenation in Colombia? The

____________________
mestizo,zambos and mulattoes.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

4. Fill the blanks. Use answers from questions 4.

 The __________________
africans descended the Africans brought to Colombia by the
Spanish.
 The ___________________descended
indigenous of the communities that lived in our
territory before the Spanish conquest.
 The ___________________
white descended from the Spanish that came to our
territory.
 The ____________________descended
mestizos from the mix between Spanish and
indigenous.

5. What is the largest ethnic group in Colombia?

__________________________________________________________________
The largest ethnic group is the mestizos

__________________________________________________________________

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6. Complete the chart

Kinds of miscegenation in Colombia

indigenous africandes white mestizos

Percentage of population

37% 50%
3.2% 10.7%

The Colombia’s team is an example that Colombia is a multiethnic country, because

in this picture we can see the different kinds of ethnic groups.

7. Look and write. What are the different ethnic groups presented in the picture
above?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________