origin of 'Caucasians'?

[inbochum]

Hello,

it just popped into my mind what i'd been wondering for quite some time:

Why are white people in the US referred to as 'Caucasians'?

Is there a specific reasoon for this?

[inbochum]

Found something.
There's a wikipedia entry on this topic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race