The Coloured community, a unique group

Besides the extensive combining of these diverse heritages in the Western Cape,  in which a distinctive 'Cape Coloured' and affiliated Cape Malay culture developed - in other parts of Southern Africa, their development has usually been the result of the meeting of two distinct groups.

Genetic studies suggest the group has the highest levels of mixed ancestry in the world.  However, the maternal (female) contribution to the Coloured population, measured by mitochondrial DNA studies, was found to come mostly from the Khoisan population.