The Coloured community is predominantly descended from numerous interracial sexual unions, primarily between Western European men and Khoisan or mixed-race women in the Cape Colony from the 17th century onwards.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the Coloured possess a diverse heritage including British, Irish, German, Mauritian, Saint Helenian, Indian, Xhosa and Zulu.

Zimbabwean Coloured are descended from Shona or Ndebele, British and Afrikaner settlers, as well as Arab and Asian people.
Griqua, on the other hand, are descendants of Khoisan women and Afrikaner Trekboers.
Despite these major differences, as both groups have ancestry from more than one naturalised racial group, they are classified as coloured in the South African context.
Such mixed-race people did not necessarily self-identify this way; some preferred to call themselves black or Khoisan or just South African.

The Griqua were subjected to an ambiguity of other creole people within Southern African social order.
According to Nurse and Jenkins (1975), the leader of this “mixed” group, Adam Kok I, was a former slave of the Dutch governor who was manumitted and provided land outside Cape Town in the eighteenth century (Nurse 1975:71).
With territories beyond the Dutch East India Company’s administration, Kok provided refuge to deserting soldiers, runaway slaves, and remaining members of various Khoikhoi tribes.
In South Africa and neighbouring countries, the white minority governments historically segregated Africans from Europeans after settlement had progressed.
They classified all such mixed race people together in one class, despite their numerous ethnic and national differences in ancestry.
The imperial and apartheid governments categorized them as Coloured.
In addition, other distinctly homogeneous ethnic groups also traditionally viewed the mixed-race populations as a separate group.

During the apartheid era in South Africa of the second half of the 20th century, the government used the term "Coloured" to describe one of the four main racial groups it defined by law.
This was an effort to impose white supremacy and maintain racial divisions.
Individuals were classified as white South Africans (formally classified as "European"), black South Africans (formally classified as "Native", "Bantu", or simply "African", and comprising the majority of the population), Coloureds (mixed-race), and Indians (formally classified as "Asian").

Coloured people may have ethnic ancestry from Indonesia, mixed-race, and Khoisan ancestry.
The Apartheid government treated them as one people, despite their differences. '
Cape Muslims' were also classified as 'coloured.'
They generally have Indonesian and black ancestry, as many Indonesian slaves had children with African partners.
Many Griqua began to self-identify as Coloureds during the apartheid era, because of the benefits of such classification.
For example, Coloureds did not have to carry a dompas (an identity document designed to limit the movements of the non-white populace), while the Griqua, who were seen as an indigenous African group, did.

In the 21st century, Coloured people constitute a plurality of the population in the provinces of Western Cape (48.8%), and a large minority in the Northern Cape (40.3%), both areas of centuries of mixing among the populations.
In the Eastern Cape, they make up 8.3% of the population.
Most speak Afrikaans, as they were generally descendants of Dutch and Afrikaner men and grew up in their society.
About twenty percent of the Coloured speak English as their mother tongue, mostly those of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Virtually all Cape Town Coloured are bilingual.
The Coloured community is predominantly descended from numerous interracial sexual unions, primarily between Western European men and Khoisan or mixed-race women in the Cape Colony from the 17th century onwards.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the Coloured possess a diverse heritage including British, Irish, German, Mauritian, Saint Helenian, Indian, Xhosa and Zulu.
Zimbabwean Coloured are descended from Shona or Ndebele, British and Afrikaner settlers, as well as Arab and Asian people. Griqua, on the other hand, are descendants of Khoisan women and Afrikaner Trekboers. Despite these major differences, as both groups have ancestry from more than one naturalised racial group, they are classified as coloured in the South African context. Such mixed-race people did not necessarily self-identify this way; some preferred to call themselves black or Khoisan or just South African.
The Griqua were subjected to an ambiguity of other creole people within Southern African social order. According to Nurse and Jenkins (1975), the leader of this “mixed” group, Adam Kok I, was a former slave of the Dutch governor who was manumitted and provided land outside Cape Town in the eighteenth century (Nurse 1975:71). With territories beyond the Dutch East India Company’s administration, Kok provided refuge to deserting soldiers, runaway slaves, and remaining members of various Khoikhoi tribes. In South Africa and neighbouring countries, the white minority governments historically segregated Africans from Europeans after settlement had progressed. They classified all such mixed race people together in one class, despite their numerous ethnic and national differences in ancestry. The imperial and apartheid governments categorized them as Coloured. In addition, other distinctly homogeneous ethnic groups also traditionally viewed the mixed-race populations as a separate group.
During the apartheid era in South Africa of the second half of the 20th century, the government used the term "Coloured" to describe one of the four main racial groups it defined by law. This was an effort to impose white supremacy and maintain racial divisions. Individuals were classified as white South Africans (formally classified as "European"), black South Africans (formally classified as "Native", "Bantu", or simply "African", and comprising the majority of the population), Coloureds (mixed-race), and Indians (formally classified as "Asian").
Coloured people may have ethnic ancestry from Indonesia, mixed-race, and Khoisan ancestry. The Apartheid government treated them as one people, despite their differences. 'Cape Muslims' were also classified as 'coloured.' They generally have Indonesian and black ancestry, as many Indonesian slaves had children with African partners. Many Griqua began to self-identify as Coloureds during the apartheid era, because of the benefits of such classification. For example, Coloureds did not have to carry a dompas (an identity document designed to limit the movements of the non-white populace), while the Griqua, who were seen as an indigenous African group, did.
In the 21st century, Coloured people constitute a plurality of the population in the provinces of Western Cape (48.8%), and a large minority in the Northern Cape (40.3%), both areas of centuries of mixing among the populations. In the Eastern Cape, they make up 8.3% of the population. Most speak Afrikaans, as they were generally descendants of Dutch and Afrikaner men and grew up in their society. About twenty percent of the Coloured speak English as their mother tongue, mostly those of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Virtually all Cape Town Coloured are bilingual.
Coloureds