–

Ancestry refers to the lineage or descent of a person, family, or group, tracing back through generations to identify their origins, heritage, and familial connections. It encompasses the genetic, cultural, and historical ties that link individuals to their forebears, shaping their identity and sense of belonging. Ancestry is a multifaceted concept, intertwining biology, genealogy, history, and culture, and it plays a significant role in how people understand themselves and their place in the world.

At its core, ancestry is rooted in genetics. Each individual inherits a unique combination of DNA from their parents, who in turn inherited their DNA from their own ancestors. This genetic material carries information about physical traits, predispositions to certain health conditions, and even behavioral tendencies. Advances in genetic testing, such as DNA analysis, have made it possible for individuals to trace their biological ancestry with remarkable precision. Companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA offer services that analyze genetic markers to provide insights into a person's ethnic composition and geographic origins, often revealing surprising connections to distant relatives or previously unknown heritage.

Beyond genetics, ancestry is deeply tied to genealogy, the study of family history and lineage. Genealogical research involves constructing family trees, documenting relationships, and uncovering historical records such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, census data, and immigration documents. This process often reveals stories of migration, resilience, and adaptation, offering a window into the lives of ancestors and the challenges they faced. For many, genealogy is a way to honor their forebears and preserve their legacy for future generations.

Cultural ancestry is another critical dimension, encompassing the traditions, languages, customs, and values passed down through generations. It connects individuals to their ethnic or national heritage, shaping their cultural identity and worldview. For example, someone with Irish ancestry might celebrate St. Patrick's Day, learn traditional Irish dance, or explore the Gaelic language, while someone with Japanese ancestry might practice tea ceremonies, study calligraphy, or observe Obon festivals. Cultural ancestry fosters a sense of continuity and belonging, linking individuals to a broader community with shared experiences and values.

Historical ancestry delves into the broader context of a family's or group's past, including significant events, social conditions, and historical movements that shaped their lives. For instance, the transatlantic slave trade, the Irish Potato Famine, or the Jewish diaspora have profoundly influenced the ancestry of millions of people, leaving lasting imprints on their descendants' identities. Understanding historical ancestry often involves grappling with complex narratives of triumph and tragedy, resilience and oppression, and the interplay of individual and collective experiences.

Ancestry also has a deeply personal and emotional dimension. For many, exploring their ancestry is a journey of self-discovery, offering insights into who they are and where they come from. It can foster a sense of pride, connection, and continuity, as well as a deeper appreciation for the struggles and achievements of those who came before. At the same time, it can raise questions about identity, belonging, and the complexities of heritage, particularly for individuals with mixed or multicultural backgrounds.

In a globalized world, ancestry serves as a bridge between the past and the present, connecting individuals to their roots while also highlighting the interconnectedness of human history. It underscores the diversity and richness of human experience, reminding us that every person's story is part of a larger tapestry woven over centuries. Whether through genetic testing, genealogical research, cultural practices, or historical exploration, ancestry offers a profound way to understand ourselves and our place in the world.

A diversification score measures the diversity of ancestries in the county. As the value appoaches 100, ancestry diversity decreases and therefore increasing the risk of a lack of cultural diversity. The ancestry diversification score for this county is:

Most common ancestry not including "Unknown" is:

Ancestry Report Part I
Description	Total Population	American	Native American	Hawaiian	Caribbean (Latino)	Mexican	Central American	South American	Other Hispanic	African American	Sub- Saharan	Caribbean (Black)

Bent County	5,794	179	112	0	10	1,232	0	0	593	155	43	43
Colorado (in 000's)	6,016	160	33	9	65	991	53	50	159	141	58	31
National (in 000's)	343,251	13,890	2,213	626	11,327	38,879	6,181	4,644	3,687	25,893	7,852	7,174
Otero County	18,176	577	124	26	14	5,833	43	98	1,470	102	31	19
Las Animas County	14,683	318	130	10	56	3,250	9	3	2,397	142	15	18
Prowers County	12,070	554	102	4	2	3,953	10	197	593	74	3	2
Baca County	3,380	267	27	0	0	304	0	0	36	15	0	0
Kiowa County	1,400	82	0	1	0	110	0	0	7	1	1	0

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Bent County	14.89	3.09	1.93	0.00	0.17	21.26	0.00	0.00	10.23	2.68	0.74	0.74
Colorado	9.73	2.65	0.55	0.15	1.08	16.47	0.87	0.83	2.65	2.34	0.97	0.52
National	7.83	4.05	0.64	0.18	3.30	11.33	1.80	1.35	1.07	7.54	2.29	2.09
Otero County	17.13	3.17	0.68	0.14	0.08	32.09	0.24	0.54	8.09	0.56	0.17	0.10
Las Animas County	13.15	2.17	0.89	0.07	0.38	22.13	0.06	0.02	16.33	0.97	0.10	0.12
Prowers County	18.44	4.59	0.85	0.03	0.02	32.75	0.08	1.63	4.91	0.61	0.02	0.02
Baca County	15.56	7.90	0.80	0.00	0.00	8.99	0.00	0.00	1.07	0.44	0.00	0.00
Kiowa County	15.07	5.86	0.00	0.07	0.00	7.86	0.00	0.00	0.50	0.07	0.07	0.00

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Bent County		116.48	350.98	0.00	15.91	129.09	0.00	0.00	386.84	114.16	76.82	142.60
Colorado		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		152.57	117.07	122.83	304.21	68.76	205.89	163.63	40.60	321.91	236.79	401.61
Otero County		119.69	123.87	96.29	7.10	194.83	27.05	65.21	305.69	23.95	17.66	20.09
Las Animas County		81.66	160.76	45.84	35.16	134.38	7.01	2.47	617.04	41.27	10.58	23.56
Prowers County		173.05	153.44	22.31	1.53	198.83	9.47	197.39	185.70	26.16	2.57	3.18
Baca County		297.83	145.04	0.00	0.00	54.60	0.00	0.00	40.26	18.94	0.00	0.00
Kiowa County		220.83	0.00	48.08	0.00	47.70	0.00	0.00	18.90	3.05	7.39	0.00

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Bent County		76.34	299.79	0.00	5.23	187.73	0.00	0.00	952.89	35.46	32.44	35.51
Colorado		65.54	85.42	81.41	32.87	145.43	48.57	61.11	246.32	31.06	42.23	24.90
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Otero County		78.45	105.80	78.39	2.33	283.33	13.14	39.85	752.98	7.44	7.46	5.00
Las Animas County		53.52	137.31	37.32	11.56	195.42	3.40	1.51	1,519.91	12.82	4.47	5.87
Prowers County		113.42	131.06	18.16	0.50	289.15	4.60	120.64	457.42	8.13	1.09	0.79
Baca County		195.21	123.89	0.00	0.00	79.41	0.00	0.00	99.16	5.88	0.00	0.00
Kiowa County		144.74	0.00	39.14	0.00	69.37	0.00	0.00	46.55	0.95	3.12	0.00

Ancestry Report Part II
Description	Total Population	Canadian	British	Dutch	French	German	Italian	Polish	Scandinavian	Scotish/ Irish	Spanish	Other European

Bent County	5,794	0	214	14	19	290	52	5	53	214	69	49
Colorado (in 000's)	6,016	20	406	42	68	579	144	70	179	419	85	217
National (in 000's)	343,251	1,350	18,069	1,828	3,642	24,708	9,027	4,667	5,969	20,625	1,140	9,563
Otero County	18,176	15	786	86	111	1,264	220	35	210	792	219	167
Las Animas County	14,683	43	539	38	123	653	659	132	145	581	823	161
Prowers County	12,070	17	547	51	29	805	114	23	211	337	79	115
Baca County	3,380	0	265	30	26	301	26	3	53	249	14	68
Kiowa County	1,400	2	129	12	14	333	12	4	30	143	25	28

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Bent County	14.89	0.00	3.69	0.24	0.33	5.01	0.90	0.09	0.91	3.69	1.19	0.85
Colorado	9.73	0.33	6.75	0.70	1.13	9.62	2.40	1.16	2.98	6.97	1.41	3.61
National	7.83	0.39	5.26	0.53	1.06	7.20	2.63	1.36	1.74	6.01	0.33	2.79
Otero County	17.13	0.08	4.32	0.47	0.61	6.95	1.21	0.19	1.16	4.36	1.20	0.92
Las Animas County	13.15	0.29	3.67	0.26	0.84	4.45	4.49	0.90	0.99	3.96	5.61	1.10
Prowers County	18.44	0.14	4.53	0.42	0.24	6.67	0.94	0.19	1.75	2.79	0.65	0.95
Baca County	15.56	0.00	7.84	0.89	0.77	8.91	0.77	0.09	1.57	7.37	0.41	2.01
Kiowa County	15.07	0.14	9.21	0.86	1.00	23.79	0.86	0.29	2.14	10.21	1.79	2.00

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Bent County		0.00	54.75	34.43	28.97	52.03	37.46	7.45	30.74	53.01	84.75	23.42
Colorado		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		119.50	78.04	75.89	93.74	74.83	109.76	117.42	58.43	86.23	23.64	77.16
Otero County		25.07	64.11	67.43	53.96	72.30	50.52	16.63	38.83	62.53	85.74	25.45
Las Animas County		88.97	54.42	36.88	74.02	46.23	187.32	77.64	33.19	56.79	398.88	30.37
Prowers County		42.79	67.18	60.21	21.23	69.34	39.42	16.46	58.75	40.07	46.58	26.39
Baca County		0.00	116.23	126.48	67.97	92.58	32.10	7.67	52.69	105.72	29.48	55.72
Kiowa County		43.40	136.60	122.14	88.36	247.28	35.77	24.68	72.01	146.59	127.08	55.39

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Bent County		0.00	70.16	45.37	30.91	69.53	34.13	6.35	52.61	61.47	358.50	30.35
Colorado		83.68	128.14	131.77	106.68	133.63	91.11	85.17	171.14	115.97	423.01	129.59
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Otero County		20.98	82.15	88.85	57.56	96.61	46.02	14.16	66.44	72.52	362.71	32.98
Las Animas County		74.45	69.74	48.60	78.96	61.78	170.66	66.12	56.79	65.85	1,687.33	39.36
Prowers County		35.81	86.09	79.34	22.65	92.65	35.91	14.02	100.53	46.47	197.03	34.20
Baca County		0.00	148.94	166.66	72.50	123.71	29.25	6.53	90.18	122.60	124.69	72.21
Kiowa County		36.32	175.04	160.95	94.25	330.44	32.59	21.01	123.23	169.99	537.56	71.78

Ancestry Report Part III
Description	Total Population	Chinese	Filipino	Japanese	Korean	Vietnamese	South Central Asian	South East Asian	Other Asian	Middle Eastern	Other Ancestry	Unknown

Bent County	5,794	0	7	4	0	3	0	1	30	21	1,312	1,070
Colorado (in 000's)	6,016	36	21	12	23	27	44	19	17	23	872	945
National (in 000's)	343,251	4,461	3,010	793	1,541	1,913	5,452	1,643	1,229	1,931	47,322	51,000
Otero County	18,176	3	19	19	20	26	10	0	12	49	3,278	2,498
Las Animas County	14,683	12	51	2	9	0	30	40	4	15	2,645	1,630
Prowers County	12,070	6	16	1	16	0	6	0	5	0	2,630	1,568
Baca County	3,380	0	17	0	0	26	0	0	0	0	751	902
Kiowa County	1,400	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	132	329

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Bent County	14.89	0.00	0.12	0.07	0.00	0.05	0.00	0.02	0.52	0.36	22.64	18.47
Colorado	9.73	0.59	0.34	0.20	0.38	0.45	0.73	0.31	0.29	0.38	14.50	15.70
National	7.83	1.30	0.88	0.23	0.45	0.56	1.59	0.48	0.36	0.56	13.79	14.86
Otero County	17.13	0.02	0.10	0.10	0.11	0.14	0.06	0.00	0.07	0.27	18.03	13.74
Las Animas County	13.15	0.08	0.35	0.01	0.06	0.00	0.20	0.27	0.03	0.10	18.01	11.10
Prowers County	18.44	0.05	0.13	0.01	0.13	0.00	0.05	0.00	0.04	0.00	21.79	12.99
Baca County	15.56	0.00	0.50	0.00	0.00	0.77	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	22.22	26.69
Kiowa County	15.07	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.36	0.00	9.43	23.50

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Bent County		0.00	35.35	33.86	0.00	11.55	0.00	5.54	178.84	94.93	156.18	117.61
Colorado		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		219.60	256.63	113.28	118.98	124.27	218.57	153.69	123.71	147.32	95.09	94.62
Otero County		2.79	30.59	51.27	29.16	31.90	7.57	0.00	22.80	70.61	124.39	87.52
Las Animas County		13.81	101.64	6.68	16.24	0.00	28.12	87.48	9.41	26.76	124.25	70.70
Prowers County		8.40	38.79	4.06	35.12	0.00	6.84	0.00	14.31	0.00	150.29	82.73
Baca County		0.00	147.17	0.00	0.00	171.54	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	153.25	169.95
Kiowa County		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	123.36	0.00	65.03	149.66

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Bent County		0.00	13.78	29.89	0.00	9.29	0.00	3.61	144.56	64.44	164.25	124.29
Colorado		45.54	38.97	88.28	84.05	80.47	45.75	65.07	80.83	67.88	105.16	105.68
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Otero County		1.27	11.92	45.26	24.50	25.67	3.46	0.00	18.43	47.93	130.82	92.50
Las Animas County		6.29	39.60	5.90	13.65	0.00	12.86	56.92	7.61	18.16	130.66	74.72
Prowers County		3.82	15.11	3.59	29.52	0.00	3.13	0.00	11.57	0.00	158.05	87.43
Baca County		0.00	57.35	0.00	0.00	138.03	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	161.17	179.61
Kiowa County		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	99.71	0.00	68.39	158.16

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

Advertisers