Uruguayan ethnography

Most of Uruguay's population is of European descent (98%), mostly Spanish and Italian (the remaining 2% are of African origin). These migrations occurred mostly during the 19th and 20th centuries. French, German and Portuguese immigration collaborated in the configuration of a relatively homogeneous population. Within the group of European descendants there are 9% of Basque descendants (French and, above all, Spanish).^{[citation required]}

Ethnic groups

Nearly a third of the total population of Uruguay is mestizo (31%), a mixture of indigenous and European people. There are also descendants of slaves from Africa during the colonial period, many of them mulattoes. Most of them are in Montevideo and in rural areas of the country. According to data from the National Statistics Institute's Continuous Household Survey, Afro-descendant and black people represent 5% of the country's population.

In 1996-1997, the Household Survey requested the self-declaration of “race”, and in 2006, that of ancestry. The first shows that 5.9% of the population considered themselves “black or black and their mixtures”, and 0.4%, “indigenous and their mixtures”, while that for ancestry the values amounted to 9.1% and 4.5% respectively. Regarding the survey of the nineties, 0.4% of Uruguayans declared themselves to be “yellow race”, on the next occasion those who defined themselves within said “race” reached 0.5% of the total population.

During the 1990s, genetic studies made it possible to estimate the magnitude of the African and indigenous contribution to the population of present-day Uruguay, in addition to determining differences between the different regions of the country.For example, the indigenous contribution was estimated at 20 % in Tacuarembó, in the northeast of the country, but barely 1% in Montevideo, with areas of intermediate values such as Cerro Largo (8%) also in the northeast of the country. The only study made in a sample that represents the entire country, based on the study of several nuclear DNA loci, was carried out in 2005 and revealed an indigenous contribution of 10%.

In contrast, the African contribution turned out to be more homogeneous in the different regions; the aforementioned studies determined a contribution of 15% in Tacuarembó, 10% in Cerro Largo, and 7% in Montevideo, while for the country as a whole it was estimated at 6 percent.

In the case of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that is transmitted exclusively through the mother, the results showed the highest indigenous contribution in Tacuarembó with 62%, intermediate values in Cerro Largo (30%), and a minimum in Montevideo (20%), the national average was 31%.

In the case of the Y chromosome, which can only be transmitted through the father, it is much scarcer. In Montevideo, the number of people with African ancestors through the male line was estimated between 4 and 10%, and a value between 2 and 10% was determined. 4% for indigenous ancestry; in Tacuarembó, a prevalence of approximately 8 and 13% was detected, respectively. indigenous.

Biological studies

Several genetic studies have been carried out to define the ancestral profile of the Uruguayan individual:

General

• 84.1 % European; 10.4 % Amerindium; 5.6 % African; (Hidalgo et al. 2005): Genetic admixture estimate in the Uruguayan population based on the loci LDLR, GYPA, HBGG, GC and D7S8, source: International Journal of Human Genetics.
• 83.0 % European; 5.0 % Amerindium; 12.5 % African; (Hidalgo et al. 2014): Questioning the melting pot: Analysis of Alu inserts in three population samples from Uruguay, source: Human Biology.
• 77.1 % European; 13.2 % American; 9.8 % African; (Bonilla et al, 2015): Breast cancer risk genetic and ancestry: a case–control study in Uruguay, source: BMC Womens Health.

Regional

• 82.0 % European; 8.0 % Amerindium; 10.0 % African; in Cerro Largo (Sans et al. 2006): Population structure and admixture in Cerro Largo, Uruguay, based on blood markers and mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms, source: American Journal of Human Biology.
• 65.0 % European; 31.5 % Amerindium; in Tacuarembó (Bertoni et al. 2004): Substantial Native American female contribution to the population of Tacuarembó, Uruguay, reveals past episodes of sex-biased gene flow, source: American Journal of Human Biology.

By line of inheritance

• 49.0 % European; 30.0 % Amerindium; 21.0 % African; by motherline (ADN-mt) in Cerro Largo (Sans et al. 2006): Population structure and admixture in Cerro Largo, Uruguay, based on blood markers and mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms, source: American Journal of Human Biology.
• 62.0 % American; by motherline (ADN-mt) in Tacuarembó (Bertoni et al., 2004): Substantial Native American female contribution to the population of Tacuarembó, Uruguay, reveals past episodes of sex-biased gene flow, source: American Journal of Human Biology.

Fonts

• CIA - The World Factbook - Uruguay Archived on June 12, 2007 at Wayback Machine.