of Ecuadorians was around 390,000. Colombian population amounted to around 300,000. There are also a significant number of British (359,076 as of 2011, but more than one million are estimated to live permanently in Spain) and German (195,842) citizens, mainly in Alicante, Málaga provinces, Balearic Islands and Canary Islands. The largest Asian immigrant group, the Chinese, number slightly over 166,000. Immigrants from several sub-Saharan African countries have also settled in Spain as contract workers, representing 4.08% of all the foreign residents in the country. Foreign population As of 2018, the region had a foreign population of 4,734,691. The largest groups of foreigners were those of Moroccan, Romanian, British, Chinese and Italian citizenship. Meanwhile, Spain had a foreign-born population of 6,742,948, being those born in the Americas the largest group, and Europe being the second most common continent of origin after South America. Religions The Reconquista was the long process by which the Catholics reconquered Spain from Islamic rule by 1492. The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478 to complete the religious orthodoxy of the Iberian Peninsula. In the centuries that followed, Spain saw itself as the bulwark of Catholicism and doctrinal purity; since then, Catholicism has been the main religion in Spain. Spanish missionaries carried Catholicism to the Americas and the Philippines, establishing various missions in the newly colonized lands. The missions served as a base for both administering colonies as well as spreading Christianity. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 abolished Catholicism as the official state religion, but recognizing the role it plays in Spanish society. From the end of the Francoist dictatorship to the present day, a secularization process has taken place that has meant a progressive decrease in religious practice, in the attendance at the different religious rites (baptisms, communions and Catholic marriages) and in the percentage of Spaniards who identify as Catholic, Consequently, a majority of Spaniards today ignore Catholic doctrines on matters such as pre-marital sex, homosexuality and contraception. Despite the drop, Catholic identity nevertheless remains an important part of Spain's culture. , 68.5% of the population define themselves as Catholic, 26.4% as non-believers or atheists, and 2.6% other religions according to the official Spanish Center for Sociological Research. Among believers, 59% assert they almost never go to any religious service, by contrast, 16.3% attend one or more religious service almost every week. A study made by the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain demonstrated that