Mestizo

Mestizo (meh-STEE-tzo) is a Spanish term for a person who is of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry.

Mestizo

A casta painting of a Spanish man and an Indigenous woman with a Mestizo child
Regions with significant populations
Latin America, United States, Spain, Philippines, Micronesia
Languages
Spanish (mainly), Indigenous languages of the Americas, and Austronesian languages
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic; religious minorities include Protestants and syncretism with Indigenous beliefs
Related ethnic groups
Spaniards Indigenous peoples of the Americas Métis[1][2][3][4]

Mestizos have existed since Spain controlled much of what is now Latin America. A mestizo was usually the son of a Spanish father and a Native American mother. Mestizos form the largest part of the population in some Latin American nations. A large minority of mestizos makes up most of the population in Mexico, the Spanish-speaking nation with the largest population in the world.

During the colonial era, many Native Americans converted to Roman Catholicism and began using Spanish instead of their traditional language. That was because of the racial hierarchy that existed in the Spanish colonies, which gave Spaniards a higher social class than Native Americans and Africans. That has made many Native Americans gain a better social status by calling themselves "mestizos" instead of "Indios."