White Bolivians

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.^{[citation needed]}

White Bolivians

Bolivianos blancos (Spanish)
Total population
White ancestry predominates c. 1,696,893[1] 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 [citation needed]
Languages
Bolivian Spanish German (Plautdietsch, Standard German) Bolivian Sign Language
Religion
Roman Catholicism, Anabaptism, Evangelicalism, Judaism, Irreligion[citation needed]
Related ethnic groups
Spaniards • Europeans

Bolivian people of European ancestry mostly descend from people who arrived over the centuries from Spain, beginning five hundred years ago.^[2]

European Bolivians are a minority ethnic group in Bolivia, accounting for 5% of the country's population. 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.^[3] An additional 68% of the population is mestizo, having mixed European (predominantly Spaniard) and indigenous ancestry.^[4]

Other sources indicate that the Castizos and Caucasian Bolivians represent between 10% and 15% of the total population.^[5]

History

Compared to the Indigenous population, considerably fewer white and mestizo Bolivians live in poverty.^[6] Conceptions of racial boundaries in Bolivia may be fluid and perceptions of race may be tied to socioeconomic status, with the possibility of a person achieving "whitening" via economic advancement. Differences in language, educational status, and employment status may also reinforce perceptions of what constitutes a person as "white", "mestizo", or "Indigenous".^[6]

Spaniards arrived in the country looking for gold and riches in the 1500s.^[7]

Numbers

Census data

In the official census in 1900, people who self-identified as "Blanco" (white) composed 12.72% or 231,088 of the total population. This was the last time data on race was collected. There were 529 Italians, 420 Spaniards, 295 Germans, 279 French, 177 Austrians, 141 English and 23 Belgians living in Bolivia.^[8]

Surveys

According to a 2014 survey by Ipsos, 3 percent of people questioned said they were white.^[9]

Geographic distribution

Geographically, the white and mixed-race populations of Bolivia tend to be centered in the country's eastern lowlands. The white and mixed-race Bolivians in this region are relatively affluent compared to poorer, predominantly Indigenous regions of Bolivia.^[6]

Census data

According to the 1900 official Bolivian census, a person who self-identified as “Blanca” white was a descendant of a foreigner, principally a Spaniard. This was the last census to ask a more detailed question about ethnic background.^[10] Overall there are Italians, Spanish, Germans and French. In total, they represented 12.7 percent of the total population with large populations in Cochabamba (60,605) and Santa Cruz de la Sierra (59,470) representing 36.8 percent combined.^[11]

Departments	Men	Women	Total[12]	%
Beni	2,981	2,132	5,113	15.88
Chuquisaca	15,413	16,354	31,767	15.53
Cochabamba	28,938	31,667	60,605	18.46
La Paz	18,340	17,915	36,255	8.13
Oruro	3,996	3,778	7,774	9.03
National territory	202	5	207	0.64
Potosí	11,229	10,484	21,713	6.66
Santa Cruz	29,672	29,798	59,470	18.37[13]
Tarija	4,368	3,816	8,184	7.95
Republic of Bolivia	115,139	115,949	231,088	12.72

Mennonite boy in Santa Cruz Department

Mennonites

Main article: Mennonites in Bolivia

In 1995, there were a total of 25 Mennonite colonies in Bolivia with a total population of 28,567. The most populous ones were Riva Palacios (5,488), Swift Current (2,602), Nueva Esperanza (2,455), Valle Esperanza (2,214) and Santa Rita (1,748).^[14] In 2002 there were 40 Mennonite colonies with a population of about 38,000 people. An outreach of Conservative Mennonites can be found at La Estrella, with others in progress.

The total population was estimated at 60,000 by Lisa Wiltse in 2010.^[15][16] In 2012 there were 23,818 church members in congregations of Russian Mennonites, indicating a total population of about 70,000. Another 1,170 Mennonites were in Spanish-speaking congregations.^[17] The number of colonies was 57 in 2011. In the Santa Cruz Department there is an important colony (70.000 inhabitants) of German-speaking Mennonites.^[18]

Culture

Caporales

Main article: Caporales

Caporales dancers in modernity from Bolivia. (2016)

Caporales is a dance popular in the Andean region of Bolivia. It gained popularity in 1969 by the Estrada Pacheco brothers, inspired by the character of the 'Caporal' or "overseer" of which, historically black slaves, usually mixed race, wore boots and held a whip, the dance originates from the region of the Yungas in Bolivia. The dance has European elements especially with the costumes.^[19]

Notable White Bolivians

• Claudia Arce - model of Spanish and Italian descent
• Romina Rocamonje - Bolivian model
• Ronald Rivero - Bolivian football central defender
• Fernando Saucedo - Bolivian footballer
• Carlos Lampe - Bolivian footballer
• Alvaro Garcia Linera - Bolivian politician
• Samuel Doria Medina - Bolivian politician
• Jimena Antelo - Bolivian journalist
• Chris Syler - Bolivian singer-songwriter
• Lidia Gueiler Tejada - Bolivian politician
• Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada - Politician
• Sara Ugarte de Salamanca - poet

See also

• Europe portal
• Bolivia portal

• Caporales
• Croatian Bolivians
• German Bolivians
• Indigenous peoples in Bolivia
• Italian Bolivians
• Mennonites in Bolivia
• Mestizos in Bolívia
• History of the Jews in Bolivia

References and footnotes

1. "Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI". UAEMEX (in Spanish). 2005. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
2. "Bolivia is Burning". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
3. Ethnic Groups Of Bolivia
4. "The World Factbook: Bolivia". CIA. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
5. "Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI". UAEMEX (in Spanish). 2005. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
6. "Bolivia's Regional Elections 2010" (PDF). Political Studies Association. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
7. Morales, Waltraud Q. (14 May 2014). A Brief History of Bolivia. Infobase. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-4381-0820-9.
8. "Censo National De La Poblacion de la Republica 1900 "Segunda parte"" (PDF). 1900. pp. 25–32. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
9. "El 52% de la población se identifica como mestiza". El Día [es] (in Spanish). 27 January 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
10. "CEPAL RECOMIENDA NO USAR CATEGORÍAS COMO MESTIZO EN IDENTIFICACIÓN DE PUEBLOS". Instituto Nacional de Estadística (in Spanish). 18 April 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
11. "Censo general de la población de la Republica de Bolivia 1900" (PDF) (in Spanish). p. 25. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
12. "Censo general de la población de la Republica de Bolivia 1900" (PDF) (in Spanish). p. 32. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
13. Census has incorrect percentage of 28.37%.
14. Schroeder, William; Huebert, Helmut (1996). Mennonite historical atlas. Kindred Productions. pp. 144–145. ISBN 978-0-920643-05-1. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
15. Wiltse, Lisa (2010). "The Mennonites of Manitoba, Bolivia". Burn. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
16. "Plautdietsch". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
17. "Bolivia". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
18. "Bolivian Reforms Raise Anxiety on Mennonite Frontier". The New York Times. 21 December 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
19. "Danzas autóctonas de Bolivia". 2012-02-22. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2021-07-28.