Peruvians of European descent, also known as White Peruvians, according to international reliable references, currently make up about 20% of the total population of Peru—about 12,860,000 people. Traditionally, this group has been more dominant in the political, commercial, and diplomatic sectors of Peruvian society. Many people from European backgrounds mixed with the Amerindians or Asians creating an entirely new demographic group called "mestizos, which compose around 60% of the population". European Peruvians live primarily in Lima, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura, Cajamarca and Arequipa, mainly in the Peruvian coast.[1] The following are the ethnic backgrounds of the majority of European-descended Peruvians: Spanish, Italian, German (includes Poles due to Partitions of Poland), French, British, Croatian and Irish. Peru is also home to some 42,000 Jews whose ancestors came mainly from Germany, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldova and Russia, among others.
