Ethnicities around the world (beta)

Humans are thought to have first arrived in the Americas about 10,000 years ago via a land bridge between Asia and modern-day Alaska and Canada. Native Americans descend from the pre-Columbian populations that subsequently settled in the Americas. Most Native American people were hunter-gatherers living in socially and culturally complex communities with strongly animistic and shamanistic religious traditions. European colonial expansion into the Americas starting in the 1500s brought Native Americans into contact with Europeans, and resulted in decimation and displacement of many Native American groups due to unfamiliar diseases (such as smallpox) and land disputes that often escalated to warfare. While many Native American tribes and cultures have survived to modern times — some of them now organized into semi-autonomous nations — many tribes experienced widespread devastation. People of Native American descent today can often trace their heritage to a number of different Native American tribes and bands and many Native Americans are also of mixed ethnicity with some European or African American background. The legacy of Native American cultures continues to reverberate across the continent, with many place names originating in various Native American languages. New World crops introduced to Europeans by Native Americans — such as potatoes, tomatoes, and corn — are now widely consumed across the globe.