White Bolivians
Bolivianos blancos (Spanish) | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| White ancestry predominates c. 1,700,000 5–15% of the Bolivian population. | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mainly in Santa Cruz, La Paz and to a lesser extent the rest of the Media Luna Region | |
| Languages | |
| Bolivian Spanish German (Plautdietsch, Standard German) Bolivian Sign Language | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism, Anabaptism, Evangelicalism, Judaism, Irreligion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Spaniards • Europeans |
White Bolivians (Spanish: Bolivianos blancos), also known as Caucasian Bolivians (Spanish: Bolivianos caucásicos), are Bolivians of total or predominantly European or West Asian ancestry (formerly called criollos or castizos in the viceregal era), most notably from Spain, and to a lesser extent, Germany, Italy and Croatia.
Bolivian people of European ancestry mostly descend from people who arrived over the centuries from Spain, beginning five hundred years ago.
European Bolivians are a minority ethnic group in Bolivia, accounting for 5% of the country's population, according to the CIA World Factbook's self-perception survey. The majority of white Bolivians are the descendants of Criollos of Spanish descent as well as the Europeans from Germany, Italy, and Croatia. White Bolivians mainly live in the largest cities and major towns in Bolivia like Santa Cruz and La Paz. An additional 68% of the population is mestizo, having mixed European (predominantly Spaniard) and indigenous ancestry.
Other sources indicate that the Castizos and Caucasian Bolivians represent between 10% and 15% of the total population.