The population of Coast Rica is primarily of Spanish descent, with a small mestizo (mixed white and native or Amerindian) minority (about 7 percent). The remainder are blacks (3 percent), East Asians (2 percent), and Amerindians (1 percent).
In 1502, Christopher Columbus became the first European to arrive in what is now Costa Rica, on his fourth and last voyage. Although they named the region "rich coast," it was never a source of great wealth for the Spanish.
The people of Côte d'Ivoire are known as Ivoirians. There are many ethnic groups, but accurate statistics on the numbers in each group are not available.
The people of Croatia are called Croats. People from Yugoslavia, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, and other European countries also live in Croatia.
The people of Cuba are called Cubans, and almost everyone living there was born in Cuba. Whites of Spanish descent make up almost 70 percent of the total; blacks are about 10 percent; and mulattoes (mixed race) are just under 20 percent.
RELIGION: Discouraged by the communist government, but Roman Catholicism and Santeria are practiced.
Cyprus is presently divided in two, with ethnic Greeks living on one side of the island and ethnic Turks on the other. However, the Greek Cypriots outnumber the Turks by more than four-to-one.
The name Cyprus comes from the Greek word for copper (kypros). The island's rich copper deposits first appealed to the foreign powers from the eastern Mediterranean coast.
The people of thc Czech Republic are called Czechs. Slovaks from neighboring Slovakia make up about 3 percent of the population.
The Czech Republic (formerly known as Czechoslovakia) is very young. On January 1, 1993 it decided to end its union with Slovakia after more than three-quarters of a century.
The people of Denmark are called Danes. They are almost all northern Europeans; the Danes are among the most homogeneous peoples of Europe.
The people of Djibouti are called Djiboutians. There are several ethnic groups in Djibouti.
Djibouti (also spelled Jibouti) is the name of both a small country and its seaport capital. About the size of New Jersey and sandwiched between Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea on the east coast of Africa, tiny Djibouti was the last French colony on the African continent.
The people of Dominica are called Dominicans. The majority are black, with about 6 percent of the population of mixed descent, and less than 1 percent of European descent.
The people of the Dominican Republic are called Dominicans. The population is about 16 percent white, 11 percent black, and 70 percent mulatto (mixed black and white).
The people of Ecuador are called Ecuadorans. The population includes about 40 percent mestizo (mixed native or Amerindian and white), about 40 percent native people (Amerindians), about 10 percent white, and 5 percent black.
Ecuador is located in northwestern South America. It straddles the equator and is named for it.
The Jivaro are a tribe of people from the Andes mountains. The name "Jivaro" was given to this group of people by Spanish conquerors.
The people of Egypt are known as Egyptians. They trace their origin to the intermarriages of ancient Egyptians with invaders over many centuries from Asia and Africa.
Throughout Egypt's 6,000-year history, it was the focus of ambitions of foreign nations. Conquerors from many countries have ruled Egypt.
The people of El Salvador are called Salvadorans. The population is just under 90 percent mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian), 10 percent Amerindian (native people, mainly the Pipil tribes), and less than 1 percent white.
El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. When the Spanish arrived in 1524, the Pipil Indians (Amerindians) were living there.
The people of Equatorial Guinea are called Equatorial Guineans. A number of distinct ethnic groups or tribes share the country.
The people of Eritrea, called Eritreans, are classified into nine language groups. The three largest groups are estimated to be the Tigrinya, Tigre, and Afar.
The people of Estonia are called Estonians. Ethnic groups include Russians (30 percent); Ukrainians (3 percent); Belarusans (2 percent); and Finns, (1 percent).
The Estonian people have a long history of residing along the coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Europe. In 1940, the country was officially annexed to the Soviet Union.
The people of Ethiopia are called Ethiopians. There are more than seventy ethnic groups.
Ethiopia's history reaches back to the dawn of human existence. In 1974 in Ethiopia, Donald Johanson (1943–) of Cleveland, Ohio, made an important discovery.
Among the many ethnic groups in Ethiopia, the Amhara are the most populous, representing about one-fourth of the population. Their language, Amharic, is the official language of Ethiopia.
Although Oromos have their own unique culture, history, language, and civilization, they are culturally related to Afars, Somalis, Sidamas, Agaws, Bilens, Bejas, Kunamas, and other groups. In the past, Oromos had an egalitarian social system known as gada.
The people of Fiji are called Fijians. The population is estimated to be 49 percent native Fijian.
The word "Fijians" refers to any of the inhabitants of the chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean called the Republic of Fiji. The islands became completely independent from Great Britain in October 1987.
Most Indo-Fijians are the descendants of indentured laborers brought to Fiji during the nineteenth century by the British. In the system of indentured labor, workers (who had been moved to a new country against their will) were forced to perform a job for little or no pay until they earned enough money to buy their freedom.
The people of Finland are called Finns. The population includes a Swedish-speaking minority of about 250,000.
The people of France are called French. Two ethnic groups, the Bretons (people who live in Brittany) and the French Guianans (residents of the South American territory, French Guiana) are also profiled in this chapter.
Bretons live in Brittany, a region located in the northwestern corner of France. The Bretons arrived in their current homeland in the fifth and sixth centuries AD, fleeing the Anglo-Saxons in their native Britain.
In 1604 French explorer Daniel de la Ravardière became the first European to arrive in what is today French Guiana. Many hardships awaited the explorers and settlers.
The people of Gabon are called the Gabonese. There are at least forty distinct tribal groups in Gabon.
Gabon's stability keeps it in the shadows. As an African country that is not troubled by wars, drought, or repeated uprisings, it tends to receive little publicity.
People of The Gambia are called Gambians. Among the ethnic groups, the Malinké (Mandingo) make up an estimated 42 percent of the population; the Fulani, who predominate in the eastern part of the country, make up 16 percent; and the Wolof represent 15 percent.
The Gambia is a country of about 4,000 square miles (10,000 square kilometers) occupying both banks of the River Gambia for a distance of about 200 miles (320 kilometers). "The" is part of the country's name.
The people of Georgia are called Georgians; about 70 percent of the population trace their ancestry to Georgia. Minorities include Armenians, 8 percent; Russians, 6 percent; Azerbaijanis, 6 percent; Ossetians, 3 percent; and Greeks, 2 percent.
Until the early 1990s, the Abkhazians were best known for leading unusually long and active lives. After the Soviet Union was dissolved in September 1991, the Abkhazians were involved in an armed conflict with the Georgians, a neighboring ethnic group.
The Adjarians (also called Adzharians or Ajarians) are seldom mentioned outside their native land. Their history has contributed to ethnic conflict between them and neighboring ethnic groups in the Republic of Georgia (in the former Soviet Union).