Cuba and Uruguay and roughly half of Brazil's, Chile's and Venezuela's population. Of the millions of immigrants since most of Latin America gained independence in the 1810s–1820s, Italians formed the largest group, and next were Spaniards and Portuguese. Many others arrived, such as French, Germans, Greeks, Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Croats, Serbs, Latvians, Lithuanians, English, Jews, Irish and Welsh. Most Latin Americans have some degree of European ancestry, when talking into account those of either mixed or full European descent. Zambos: Intermixing between blacks and native Americans was especially prevalent in Colombia and Brazil, often due to slaves running away (becoming cimarrones'': maroons) and being taken in by indigenous villagers. In Spanish-speaking nations, people of this mixed ancestry are known as zambos, and they are also known as cafuzos in Brazil. Multi-ethnic/Multi-racials: In addition to the foregoing groups, Latin America also has millions of peoples who belong to multiracial backgrounds. Racial groups according to self-identification The Latinobarómetro surveys have asked respondents in 18 Latin American countries what race they considered themselves to belong to. The figures shown below are averages for 2007 through 2011. 1 Don't know/No response. 2 Weighted using 2011 population. Language Spanish and Portuguese are the predominant languages of Latin America. Spanish is the official language of most of the countries on the Latin American mainland, as well as in Puerto Rico (where it is co-official with English), Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Portuguese is spoken only in Brazil, the biggest and most populous country in the region. French is spoken in Haiti, as well as in the French overseas departments of French Guiana in South America and Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean. Dutch is the official language of some Caribbean islands and in Suriname on the continent; however, as Dutch is a Germanic language, these territories are not considered part of Latin America. Indigenous languages are widely spoken in Peru, Guatemala, Bolivia and Paraguay, and, to a lesser degree, in Mexico, Chile and Ecuador. In Latin American countries not named above, the population of speakers of indigenous languages is small or non-existent. In Peru, Quechua is an official language, alongside Spanish and any other indigenous language in the areas where they predominate. In Ecuador, while holding no official status, the closely related Quichua is a recognized language of the indigenous people under the country's constitution; however, it is only spoken by a few groups in the