White people
Country Continent or region % of total population Population in ( thousands & millions ) Year
Europe N/D N/D -
Ireland 92.4% 4.33 2016 Census
United Kingdom 87.2% 55.0 2011 Census
France 89.8% 55.8 2008 INED
North America N/D 279.6m
Costa Rica 82.7% 3.8 Lizcano
Canada 76.7% 26.9 2011 Census
Puerto Rico ( US ) 75.8% 2.8 2010 Census
United States 72.4% 223.5 2010 Census
Cuba 64.1% 7.2 2012 Census
Bermuda ( UK ) 30.52% 19,466 2016 Census
Guatemala 18.0% 2.4 INE 2010
Nicaragua 17.0% 1 WFB
Dominican Republic 13.6% or 16.0% 2.0 1960 Census , 2006
US Virgin Islands ( US ) 15.6% 16,646 2010 Census
Panama 6.7% est - 2010 WFB
Mexico 9.0% to 47.0% 10.8 or 56.0 WFB , Lizcano 2010
El Salvador 12.7% 0.7 2007 Census
Turks and Caicos ( UK ) 7.9% 1,562 2001 Census
Virgin Islands ( UK ) 5.4% 1,511 2010 Census
Census and social definitions in different regions
White peopleRegions with significant populations United States243,832,540 [ 45 ] Russia111,016,896 [ 46 ] Brazil91,051,646 [ 47 ] France67,119,000 [ 48 ] Germany62,482,000 [ 49 ] Italy55,551,000 [ 50 ] United Kingdom51,736,290 [ 51 ] [ 52 ] [ 53 ] Spain41,539,400 [ 54 ] Mexico16,000,000-59,000,000 [ 55 ] [ 56 ] [ 57 ] [ 58 ] Poland38,080,000 [ 59 ] [ citation needed ] Ukraine37,541,693 [ 60 ] Argentina31,477,582 [ 61 ] [ 62 ] [ 63 ] [ 64 ] [ 65 ] [ 66 ] LanguagesLanguages of Europe ( English , French , German , Italian , Portuguese , Russian , and Spanish among other minority European languages ) Religion Majority Christianity ( Catholic , Protestant and Orthodox ) Irreligion · Other ReligionsRelated ethnic groupsEuropeans Race Race ( biology ) Race ( categorization ) Genetics and differences Race and genetics Human genetic variation Society Historical concepts Race and ethnicityin Brazilin the United States Racismin the United States Scientific racism Racial inequality in the U.S . Racial wage gap in the U.S . Racial profiling Racial bias in criminal news Race and ... society crime ( in the United Kingdom ) ( in the United States ) health ( in the United States ) intelligence ( history of ) sports video games Related topics Ethnic group Eugenics Genetics Human evolution Index Categoryvte Definitions of white have changed over the years , including the official definitions used in many countries , such as the United States and Brazil . [ 67 ] Through the mid to late 20th century , numerous countries had formal legal standards or procedures defining racial categories ( see cleanliness of blood , casta , apartheid in South Africa , hypodescent ) . Below are some census definitions of white , which may differ from the social definition of white within the same country . The social definition has also been added where possible .
White people is a racial classification specifier, used mostly and often exclusively for people of European descent; depending on context, nationality, and point of view. The term has at times been expanded to encompass persons of Middle Eastern and North African descent (for example, in the US Census definition), persons who are often considered non-white in other contexts. The usage of white people or a white race for a large group of mainly or exclusively European populations, defined by their light skin, among other physical characteristics, and contrasting with black people, Amerindians, and other colored people or persons of color, originated in the 17th century. It was only during the 19th century that this vague category was transformed in a quasi-scientific system of race and skin color relations. The concept of a unified white race did not achieve universal acceptance in Europe when it first came into use in the 17th century, or in the centuries afterward. Nazi Germany regarded some European peoples such as Slavs as racially distinct from themselves. Prior to the modern age, no European peoples regarded themselves as white, but rather defined their race, ancestry, or ethnicity in terms of their nationality. Moreover, there is no accepted standard for determining the geographic barrier between white and non-white people. Contemporary anthropologists and other scientists, while recognizing the reality of biological variation between different human populations, regard the concept of a unified, distinguishable white race as socially constructed. As a group with several different potential boundaries, it is an example of a fuzzy concept. The concept of whiteness has particular resonance in racially diverse countries with large majority or minority populations of more or less mixed European ancestry: e.g., in the United States (White Americans), Canada (white Canadians), Australia (white Australians), New Zealand (white New Zealanders), the United Kingdom (white British), and South Africa (white South Africans). In much of the rest of Europe, the distinction between race and nationality is more blurred; when people are asked to describe their race or ancestry, they often describe it in terms of their nationality.