White people facts for kids

A white married couple

White people are generally described as people with light skin. Most white people have their family roots in Europe, but you can find them in many other parts of the world too. The word "Caucasian" is often used to mean the same thing as "white people." However, sometimes "Caucasian" specifically refers to people from the Caucasus Mountains region.

Before modern times, people in Europe did not think of themselves as "white." Instead, they identified themselves by their nationality, like being Greek or Roman. The idea of a single "white race" started to become common in the 17th century or even later.

The Idea of a "White Race"

The idea of a "white race" is a concept that developed over time. For a long time, people in Europe saw themselves as belonging to different groups based on their country or family history, not by their skin color.

When the Idea Changed

The concept of a unified "white race" began to appear in the 1600s. This was a time when people started to group others more by their physical appearance, especially skin color.

Different Views on Race

Even in the 20th century, some groups in Europe, like those in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, had very specific and often harmful ideas about race. They sometimes considered other European groups, such as Slavs, to be different from themselves, even though they might also have light skin. This shows that the idea of "white" has not always been simple or agreed upon.

Related pages

• Black people

Images for kids

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  1820 drawing of a Book of Gates fresco from the tomb of Seti I, showing four groups of people: four Libyans, a Nubian, an Asiatic, and an Egyptian.

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  The Alexander Mosaic, from Roman Pompeii, around 100 BC, showing Macedonian and Greek cavalry of Alexander the Great fighting Achaemenid Persians under Darius III at the Battle of Issus.

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  Henry Strickland Constable's drawing from the 19th century, which claimed to show a similarity between "Irish Iberian" and "Negro" features, contrasting them with "Anglo-Teutonic" features.

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  The Georgian female skull Johann Friedrich Blumenbach found in 1795. He used it to suggest that Europeans came from the Caucasus.

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  Argentine José de San Martín helped free several South American countries.

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  Chris Hemsworth, an Australian actor.

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  Gisele Bündchen, a Brazilian fashion model and actress.

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  Stephen Amell, a Canadian actor.

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  Bernardo O'Higgins, a main founding father of the Republic of Chile, had Basque and Irish family roots.

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  Juanes at the Zelt Musik Festival 2015 in Germany.

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  Nueva Trova and Latin Protest music icon, Cuban musician Silvio Rodríguez.

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  Saúl Álvarez is a Mexican professional boxer.

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  Lucy Lawless, a New Zealand actress.

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  South African author, anti-war activist, and thinker Olive Schreiner.

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  English writer and poet William Shakespeare.

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  James Cook, an explorer, navigator, mapmaker, and captain in the Royal Navy.

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  The first President of the United States, George Washington.

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  The most decorated Olympian ever, American swimmer Michael Phelps.

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  Alberto Arvelo Torrealba, who wrote Florentino y El Diablo, a very important work in Venezuelan traditional stories after independence.

See also

In Spanish: Blanco (persona) para niños