Caribbean region and Brazil. Today, people identified as "black" are most numerous in Brazil (more than 10 million) and in Haiti (more than 7 million). Significant populations are also found in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama and Colombia. Latin Americans of mixed black and white ancestry, called mulattoes, are far more numerous than blacks. Native Americans. The indigenous population of Latin America arrived during the Lithic stage. In post-Columbian times, they experienced tremendous population decline, particularly in the early decades of colonization. They have since recovered in numbers, surpassing sixty million (by some estimates), though, with the growth of the other groups, they now comprise a majority only in Bolivia and Peru. In Guatemala, native Americans are a large minority that comprises 41% of the population. Mexico's 21% (9.8% in the official 2005 census) is the next largest ratio, and one of the largest indigenous population in the Americas in absolute numbers. Most of the remaining countries have native American minorities, in every case making up less than one-tenth of the respective country's population. In many countries, people of mixed indigenous and European ancestry, known as mestizos, make up the majority of the population. Mestizos. Intermixing between Europeans and native Americans began early in the colonial period and was extensive. The resulting people, known as mestizos, make up the majority of the population in half of the countries of Latin America. Additionally, mestizos comprise large minorities in nearly all the other mainland countries. Mulattoes. Mulattoes are people of mixed European and African ancestry, mostly descended from Spanish or Portuguese settlers on one side and African slaves on the other, during the colonial period. Brazil is home to Latin America's largest mulatto population. Mulattoes form a majority in the Dominican Republic, and are also numerous in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador. Smaller populations of mulattoes are found in other Latin American countries. Whites. Beginning in the late 15th century, large numbers of Iberian colonists settled in what became Latin America (Portuguese in Brazil and Spaniards elsewhere in the region), and at present most white Latin Americans are of Spanish, Portuguese or Italian ancestry. Iberians brought the Spanish and Portuguese languages, the Catholic faith, and many Iberian traditions. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela contain the largest numbers of Europeans in Latin America in pure numbers. They make up the majority of the population of Argentina, Costa Rica,