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Mestizo Colombians are the Colombian descendants of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry. 49% of the population is Mestizo. They constitute the largest ethnic group in the country with a share of 49% or 58% of the whole country.
Miscegenation in Colombia began shortly after the establishment of the first settlers in the territory. It is a direct result of the shortage of European women in some sectors of the kingdom during the conquest, because during the colonial period most European immigrants were male. The Spanish then joined mainly with native women of different ethnic groups. Mestizos are found almost everywhere in the country and is the largest population in Colombia, European contribution being almost exclusively on the paternal side (with indigenous contribution being mostly on the maternal side), since more than 80% of Mestizo Colombians descended from a European paternally while 85% of Mestizo Colombians come from an Indigenous maternally.
Numbers and distribution
Mestizo Colombians make up 49% (+23 million) of the Colombian population.
The various racial groups exist in differing concentrations throughout the nation, in a pattern that to some extent goes back to colonial origins. However, they can be found throughout the country, mainly in the Caribbean coast, Orinoquia region, Andean region, and intermediate cities.