Hispanophone
Encyclopedia
Hispanophone or Hispanosphere denotes Spanish language
speakers and the Spanish-speaking world. The word derives from the Latin political name of the Iberian Peninsula
, Hispania
, which comprised basically the territory of the modern states of Spain
and Portugal
.
Hispanophones are estimated at between 450 and 500 million globally, making Spanish the second most spoken language in terms of native speakers. Around 360 million live in Hispanic America
and 40 million in Spain
. There are a large number of Spanish speakers in the United States
, comprising more than 34 million. There are also smaller Hispanophone groups in Canada
, northern Morocco
, Equatorial Guinea
, Western Sahara
the Philippines
and Brazil
as well as in many other places around the world, particularly large cities in Western Europe
, and Australia
.
In a cultural, rather than merely linguistic sense, the notion of "Hispanophone" goes further than the above definition. The Hispanic culture is the legacy of the Spanish colonial empire
, and so the term can refer to people whose cultural background is primarily associated with Spain, regardless of ethnic or geographical differences. In a cultural sense, the whole of Hispanophones are sometimes called the Hispanidad.
. The Spaniards brought with them their language and culture,
and integrated within the society they had settled, creating a large empire
that stretched all over the world and producing several multiracial populations. Their influences are found in the following continents and countries that were originally colonized by the Spaniards.
The modern day people that live in the region of ancient Hispania
are the Portuguese
, Spanish
, Andorra
and Gibraltar
people. Historically
, the modern country of Spain was formed by the accretion of several independent Iberian
kingdoms through dynastic inheritance, conquest and the will of the local elites. These kingdoms had their own nationalistic loyalties and political borders.
Today, there is no single Castilian-Spanish identity for the whole country. Many Spanish citizens feel no conflict in recognizing their several Spanish identities at the same time. Spain is a culturally heterogeneous country, home to a wide range of subcultures, each one with its own customs and tradition
s. Some such subcultures have their own language
. Since the beginning of the transition to democracy in Spain, after the Francisco Franco
dictatorship, there have been many movements towards more autonomy in certain regions of the country, some with the aim of achieving full independence and others with the goal of autonomous community.
Spain's various subcultures coexist in Spain's provinces, and each one has its own traditions and idiosyncrasies. Some even have their own language
, all of them along the dialectal continuum of Romance languages, with the exception of the Basque language
. This resulted from the former dictator Francisco Franco's attempts to remove any signs of the sub-nations that today comprise Spain.
The existence of multiple distinct cultures in Spain allows an analogy to be drawn to the United Kingdom
. Using the term Spanish for someone of Spanish descent would then be expected to be equivalent to using Briton
to describe someone descending from some part of the United Kingdom. Cultures within the United Kingdom, such as English
, Irish
, Scottish
, and Welsh
, would then correspond in this analogy to cultures within Spain such as Castilian
, Catalan
, Galician
and Basque
among others. In contrast with Spain, because of centuries of gradual and mutual consolidation across the Iberian peninsula, such distinctions tend to be blurred. It is a subtle, yet important, distinction.
In Spain, as in the United Kingdom, the economically dominant territories (Castile
and England
) spread their language for mutual communication. However, the political dominance in the UK tends to be sharper compared to Spain, where the medieval territories don't exist anymore. For example, people never refer to King Juan Carlos I of Spain as "the King of Castile," whereas the British sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, is sometimes referred to colloquially as "the Queen of England."
Hispanic Americans are citizens of the United States
whose ancestry or national origin is of any of the nations composing the Hispanosphere. A Hispanic person's status is independent from whether or not he or she speaks the Spanish language, for not all Hispanic Americans speak Spanish. A Hispanic person may be of any race (White, Amerindian, Black, Asian or Pacific islander). As of July 1, 2004, Hispanics accounted for 14.1% of the population, around 41.3 million people. The Hispanic growth rate over the July 1, 2003 to July 1, 2004 period was 3.6% — higher than any other ancestral group in the United States — and more than three times the rate of the nation's total population (at 1.0%). The projected Hispanic population of the United States for July 1, 2050, is 105.6 million people. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 25% of the nation’s total population by the year 2050.
Historically, a continuous Hispanic presence in the territory of the United States has existed since the 16th century, earlier than any other group after the Native Americans
. Spaniards pioneered the present-day United States. The first confirmed European landing on the continent was that of Juan Ponce de León
, who landed in 1513 on the shore he christened La Florida
. Within three decades of Ponce de León's landing, the Spanish became the first Europeans to reach the Appalachian Mountains
, the Mississippi River
, the Grand Canyon
, and the Great Plains
. Spanish ships sailed along the East Coast
, penetrating to present-day Bangor, Maine
, and up the Pacific Coast
as far as Oregon
. From 1528 to 1536, four castaways from a Spanish expedition, including a "black Moor
," journeyed all the way from Florida to the Gulf of California
, 267 years before the Lewis and Clark Expedition
.
In 1540 Hernando de Soto
undertook an extensive exploration of the present US. In the same year Francisco Vázquez de Coronado led 2,000 Spaniards and Mexican Indians across today's Arizona
-Mexico
border and traveled as far as central Kansas
, close to the exact geographic center of what is now the continental United States. Other Spanish explorers of the US make up a long list that includes, among others, Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón
, Pánfilo de Narváez
, Sebastián Vizcaíno
, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
, Gaspar de Portolà
, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
, Tristán de Luna y Arellano
, and Juan de Oñate
. In all, Spaniards probed half of today's lower 48 states before the first English colonization attempt at Roanoke Island
in 1585.
The Spanish created the first permanent European settlement in the continental United States, at St. Augustine, Florida
, in 1565. Santa Fe, New Mexico
also predates Jamestown, Virginia
(founded in 1607) and Plymouth Colony
(of Mayflower
and Pilgrims
fame, founded in 1620). Later came Spanish settlements in San Antonio, Tucson, San Diego, Los Angeles
, and San Francisco, to name just a few. The Spanish even established a Jesuit mission in Virginia
's Chesapeake Bay
37 years before the founding of Jamestown.
Two iconic American stories have Spanish antecedents, too. Almost 80 years before John Smith
's alleged rescue by Pocahontas
, a man by the name of Juan Ortiz
told of his remarkably similar rescue from execution by an Indian girl. Spaniards also held a thanksgiving
— 56 years before the famous Pilgrims festival
— when they feasted near St. Augustine with Florida Indians, probably on stewed pork and garbanzo beans. As late as 1783, at the end of the American Revolutionary War
, Spain held claim to roughly half of today's continental United States; in 1775, Spanish ships even reached Alaska
. From 1819 to 1848, the United States and its army increased the nation's area by roughly a third at Spanish and Mexican expense, including three of today's four most populous states: California
, Texas
, and Florida
. Hispanics became the first American citizens in the newly acquired Southwest
territory and remained the ancestral majority in several states until the 20th century. (See also New Spain
.)
Hispanic Americans have fought in all the wars of the United States and have earned some of the highest distinctions awarded to U.S. soldiers (http://www4.army.mil/otf/speech.php?story_id_key=9575 http://www.senate.gov/~pryor/newsroom/details.cfm?id=263773& http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/memorial.html http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/17.3.pdf List of Hispanic Medal of Honor recipients). Historic figures in the United States have been Hispanic from early times. Some recent famous people include actress Rita Hayworth
and baseball legends Lefty Gomez
and Ted Williams
.
The National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated in the USA from September 15 to October 15.
and Central American cuisine. Mexican cuisine is composed of Spanish and indigenous american influences.
The cuisine of Spain has many regional varieties, with Mediterranean flavors based on olive oil
, garlic, and tomato
es, and a great selection of fish and seafood
due to its long Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, while in the Castilian interior, there is a great culture of cured pork meats, as well as roasts and stews, based on beef, pork, lamb, and poultry. The European and Arab heritage of Spain is reflected in its food, along with cosmopolitan influences beginning in the many new ingredients brought in from the New World since the 16th century, e.g. tomatoes, potatoes, or chocolate, and the more modern tastes introduced from Europe since the 19th century, especially French and Italian dishes. It is only in the last ten years that Latin American dishes have been introduced in Spain. Whereas in the US, the number of "Spanish" restaurants is in a growing trend, following the "Tapas" fashion that spread in the 90's.
Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican cuisines, on the other hand, tend to use a lot of pork
and can depend heavily on starchy root vegetable
s, plantain
, and rice
. The most prominent influences on their Spanish culinary traditions were introduced by African slaves, and to a lesser degree, French influence from Haiti and later Chinese immigrants. Hot, spicy foods are practically unknown in traditional Spanish-Caribbean dishes. The cuisine of Haiti, a Latin American country (with, however, a Francophone
majority), is very similar to its regional neighbors in terms of influences and ingredients used.
The Argentine diet is heavily influenced by the country's position as one of the world's largest beef
and wine
producers, and by the impact that European
immigration had on its national culture. Grilled meats are a staple of most meals as are pasta
s, potatoes, rice, paella
and a variety of vegetables (Argentina is a huge exporter of agricultural products). Italian influence is also seen in the form of pizza
and ice cream
, both of which are integral components of national cuisine. Chilean cuisine is similar to that of Argentina, though seafood is much more dominant in this coastal nation. As another one of the world's largest producers, wine is as much a staple drink to Chileans as beer is to Germans.
In Colombia
, Ecuador
and Peru
, potato dishes are typical since the potato is originally from this region. Beef and chicken
are common sources of meat. In the Highlands is the cuy
, a South American name for guinea pig
, a common meat. Given the coastal location, both countries have extensive fishing fleets, which provide a wealth of seafood options, including the signature South American dish, ceviche
. While potato is an important ingredient in the Highlands, Rice is the main side dish on the coast.
This diversity in staples and cuisine is also evident in the differing regional cuisines within the national borders of the individual countries.
In the United States, with its growing Hispanic population, food staples from the Mexican cuisine
and other Latin countries have become widely available as have unique American forms such as the Tex-Mex cuisine
. This cuisine, which originated in Texas, is based on maize products, heavily spiced ground beefs, cheese and tomato sauces with chilies. This cuisine is widely available not just in the U.S. but across other countries, where American exports are found. In Florida, Cuban food is widely available. All of these "Hispanic" foods in the U.S. have evolved in character as they are commercially Americanized by large restaurant chains and food companies.
In the mass media as well as popular culture, "Hispanic" is often incorrectly used to describe a subject's race or physical appearance
. In general, Hispanics are assumed to have traits such as dark hair and eyes, and brown skin. Many others are viewed as physically intermediate between whites, blacks
and/or Amerindians
.
Hispanics with mostly Caucasoid or Negroid features may not be recognized as such in spite of the ethnic and racial diversity of most Latin American populations. Hispanics who do not look like the stereotypical Hispanic may have their ancestral status questioned or even challenged by others. Actors Martin Sheen
and Cameron Diaz
, for example, are Hispanic even though they may be presumed not to be so because, being white, they do not fit the stereotype.
A great proportion of Hispanics identify as half-caste
(mixed European and Amerindian) regardless of national origin. This is largely because most Hispanics have their origins in majority half-caste Latin American countries. El Salvador
, Paraguay
, and Mexico
are examples of mostly half-caste populations, with 90% of Salvadorans, 95% of Paraguayans, and 70% of Mexicans identifying as mestizo, with Mexico having the largest total mestizo population at over 66 million.
Many individuals identified as "Hispanics" (based on the U.S. definition) are of unmixed Native American
ancestry. For example, many of those from Bolivia
, Guatemala
, and Peru
constitute a majority or plurality of the population as do a considerable proportion in Mexico
.
Many Hispanics born in or with descent from the Dominican Republic
, Venezuela
, Puerto Rico
, Colombia
, Cuba
, Uruguay
, and other countries may be of African descent, be it mulatto
(mixed European and black African), zambo
(mixed Amerindian and black African), triracial
(specifically European, black African, and Amerindian), or unmixed black African.
The majority of people in Argentina
and Uruguay
are largely of European descent; not only of Spanish Europeans, but Italian
, Portuguese
, German, Polish, Irish
, etc. In countries like Mexico
, Chile
, Cuba
or Puerto Rico
, people of European
descent comprise an important minority of the population. Many white Mexicans, though labeled "Hispanic" by the U.S. definition because of their assimilated culture and country of birth, trace their ancestries to European countries other than Spain, and some to non-European countries (see next paragraph). Nevertheless, in most cases, they have some Spanish ancestry, as the waves of European immigrants to these countries tended to quickly assimilate, intermarrying with the country's local population.
Likewise, a percentage of Hispanics as defined by the U.S. government trace their ancestries to the Middle East
, for example Colombia
ns, Ecuador
ians, Chile
ans, and Mexican
s of Lebanese
or Palestinian
ancestry. Many Hispanics are of East Asia
n ancestry, as in the case of Cubans
, Mexicans, and Peru
vians. If they were to migrate to the United States, the definition most frequently advocated would consider them Hispanic. See also: Asian Latin American and Asian Hispanic and Latino Americans
.
The presence of these mentioned ethnic groups are not country-specific, since they can be found in every Latin American country, whether as larger of smaller proportions of their respective populations. Even in Spain, the European motherland of Hispanicity, recent decades has seen a growing population of mestizos and mulattos due to the reversal of the historic Old World
-to-New World
migration pattern.
Of the over 35 million Hispanics counted in the Federal 2000 Census
, 47.9% identified as white (termed "white Hispanic
" by the Census Bureau); 42.2% "Some other race"; 6.3% Two or more races; 2% Black or African American; 1.2% American Indian and Alaska Native; 0.3% Asian; and 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. Note that even among those Hispanics who reported one race only, most would also possess at least some ancestral lineage from one or more other races, despite the fact that only 6.3% reported as such. (This is also applicable to the Non-Hispanics counted in the U.S. Census, although maybe in less proportion.)
According to one study (Stephens et al. 2001), "From the genetic perspective, Hispanics generally represent a differential mixture of European, Native American, and African ancestry, with the proportionate mix typically depending on country of origin." http://shrn.stanford.edu/workshops/revisitingrace/Risch_confound.pdf
The populations of Iberia (both Spain and Portugal), like all European populations, have received multiple other influences, even though they are still largely descended from the prehistoric European populations, and to a greater degree than any other major group. The ancestry of Iberians has thus received many, (limited and often very localized) influences from the many people who settled on its territory throughout history, including Phoenicians, Greeks
, Romans
, Punics
, Celts, Vandals
, Suebi
, Buri
, Visigoths, Alans
, Byzantines
, Slavs
(saqaliba
), Berbers
, Arabs, Magyars, Jews
, and—particularly in Andalusia—Roma.
, the majority of the population speak Spanish, there is a small minority of African people who possessed Spanish and other European ancestry. These individuals form less than 1% of the population.
, Spanish speakers are present in small numbers, located in the northern coastal region of the country. However the majority of Moroccan people are predominantly Muslims of Berber
and African ancestry.
, the Spanish
have held numerous emplacements in North Africa
. Most of them were promptly lost, but to date, with an approximate population of 143,000 people, the Autonomous Cities
of Ceuta
and Melilla
, which constitute the two Plazas de Soberanía Mayores (or Major Places of Sovereignty) remained Spanish, and the Islas Chafarinas
, the Peñón de Alhucemas
and the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera
, which constitute the three Plazas de Soberanía Menores (or Minor Sovereignty Places), still forming part of the Spain.
, Spanish speakers are present in small numbers and Spanish is de facto official there; however, most people in the country speak Arabic as their first language and also practice Arab culture.
, a part of the population possess Spanish or Latin American ancestry (esp. from Mexico), or both. The size of this population is unknown due to emigration to Spain, Latin America, and the United States, following the bombing of Intramuros, home to thousands of Spanish-speaking families. Many emigrated also during the Ferdinand Marcos
regime. After its decline in the 20th century there has been a revival of interest in Spanish in the first decade of the 21st century plus during the Arroyo Macapagal administration the instruction of Spanish was re-introduced into the education system and there are also radio programmes on Radio Manila, entitled "Filipinas Ahora Mismo" (Spanish), "Filipinas Ora Mismo" (Tagalog).
way of life. The people living on these islands while the majority no longer speaking Spanish (though there are still Spanish-speakers) do partake of certain Spanish-influenced activities like fiestas. Also, the native Chamorro language has a noticeable Spanish influence.
Spanish surnames are prevalent in Guam and the custom of the women keeping their maiden name after marrying is a by-product of Spanish culture on these islands.
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
speakers and the Spanish-speaking world. The word derives from the Latin political name of the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
, Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
, which comprised basically the territory of the modern states of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
Hispanophones are estimated at between 450 and 500 million globally, making Spanish the second most spoken language in terms of native speakers. Around 360 million live in Hispanic America
Hispanic America
Hispanic America or Spanish America is the region comprising the American countries inhabited by Spanish-speaking populations.These countries have significant commonalities with each other and with Spain, whose colonies they formerly were...
and 40 million in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. There are a large number of Spanish speakers in the United States
Spanish in the United States
Spanish is the second most used language in the United States. There are more Spanish speakers in the United States than there are speakers of Chinese, French, Italian, Hawaiian, and the Native American languages combined. According to the 2009 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S...
, comprising more than 34 million. There are also smaller Hispanophone groups in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, northern Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...
, Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
as well as in many other places around the world, particularly large cities in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
In a cultural, rather than merely linguistic sense, the notion of "Hispanophone" goes further than the above definition. The Hispanic culture is the legacy of the Spanish colonial empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
, and so the term can refer to people whose cultural background is primarily associated with Spain, regardless of ethnic or geographical differences. In a cultural sense, the whole of Hispanophones are sometimes called the Hispanidad.
Hispanosphere
During the Spanish colonial period between 1492 to 1898, many people from Spain migrated to the new lands they had conqueredSpanish colonization of the Americas
Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
. The Spaniards brought with them their language and culture,
and integrated within the society they had settled, creating a large empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
that stretched all over the world and producing several multiracial populations. Their influences are found in the following continents and countries that were originally colonized by the Spaniards.
List of countries with Spanish-speaking populations
| Rank | Country/territory/entity | Population | Source | Secondary also | Area (km) | Area (mi) |
| 1 |  Mexico |
112,336,538 | CONAPO 2010 | 110,651,490 | 1,970,552 | 761,606 |
| 2 |  Spain |
47,150,819 | Official INE estimate 1/1/2011 | 46,585,009 | 504,030 | 195,364 |
| 3 |  Colombia |
46,000,000 | Official Colombian Population clock | 45,632,000 | 1,141,748 | 440,831 |
| 4 |  Argentina |
40,900,496 | Official INDEC estimate | 40,655,093 | 2,766,880 | 1,068,302 |
| 5 |  United States |
35,468,501 | U.S. Census Bureau | 50,000,000 | ||
| 6 |  Peru |
29,797,694 | Official INEI estimate | 25,804,803 | 1,285,216 | 496,225 |
| 7 |  Venezuela |
29,210,000 | Official Venezuelan Population clock | 28,859,480 | 916,445 | 353,841 |
| 8 |  Chile |
17,248,450 | Official INE projection | 17,127,711 | 756,950 | 292,183 |
| 9 |  Ecuador |
14,170,000 | Official Ecuador Population clock | 13,851,720 | 283,561 | 109,415 |
| 10 |  Guatemala |
11,204,000 | UN 2009 estimate | |||
| 11 |  Cuba |
11,268,000 | UN 2009 estimate | |||
| 12 |  Bolivia |
10,426,154 | Official INE projection (2010) | |||
| 13 |  Dominican Republic |
10,090,000 | UN 2009 estimate | |||
| 14 |  Honduras |
7,876,197 | Official INE projection (2010) | |||
| 15 |  El Salvador |
6,857,000 | UN estimate | |||
| 16 |  Paraguay |
6,127,000 | UN estimate | |||
| 17 |  Nicaragua |
5,603,000 | UN estimate | |||
| 18 |  Costa Rica |
4,468,000 | UN estimate | |||
| 19 |  Puerto Rico |
3,991,000 | UN estimate | |||
| 20 |  Panama |
3,343,000 | UN estimate | |||
| 21 |  Uruguay |
3,340,000 | UN estimate | |||
| 22 |  Philippines |
3,016,773 | UN estimate | |||
| 23 |  Equatorial Guinea |
507,000 | UN estimate |
- Secondary or primary language per Ethnologue http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size
Brazil 12,445,005. Also see Brazilian bilingualism.
Spain
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
are the Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
, Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
, Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
and Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
people. Historically
History of Spain
The history of Spain involves all the other peoples and nations within the Iberian peninsula formerly known as Hispania, and includes still today the nations of Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain...
, the modern country of Spain was formed by the accretion of several independent Iberian
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
kingdoms through dynastic inheritance, conquest and the will of the local elites. These kingdoms had their own nationalistic loyalties and political borders.
Today, there is no single Castilian-Spanish identity for the whole country. Many Spanish citizens feel no conflict in recognizing their several Spanish identities at the same time. Spain is a culturally heterogeneous country, home to a wide range of subcultures, each one with its own customs and tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
s. Some such subcultures have their own language
Languages of Spain
The languages of Spain are the languages spoken or once spoken in Spain. Romance languages are the most widely spoken in Spain, of which Spanish is the country's official language...
. Since the beginning of the transition to democracy in Spain, after the Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
dictatorship, there have been many movements towards more autonomy in certain regions of the country, some with the aim of achieving full independence and others with the goal of autonomous community.
Spain's various subcultures coexist in Spain's provinces, and each one has its own traditions and idiosyncrasies. Some even have their own language
Languages of Spain
The languages of Spain are the languages spoken or once spoken in Spain. Romance languages are the most widely spoken in Spain, of which Spanish is the country's official language...
, all of them along the dialectal continuum of Romance languages, with the exception of the Basque language
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
. This resulted from the former dictator Francisco Franco's attempts to remove any signs of the sub-nations that today comprise Spain.
The existence of multiple distinct cultures in Spain allows an analogy to be drawn to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Using the term Spanish for someone of Spanish descent would then be expected to be equivalent to using Briton
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
to describe someone descending from some part of the United Kingdom. Cultures within the United Kingdom, such as English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
, and Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
, would then correspond in this analogy to cultures within Spain such as Castilian
Castilian people
The Castilian people are the inhabitants of those regions in Spain where most people identify themselves as Castilian. They include Castile-La Mancha, Madrid, and the major part of Castile and León. However, not all regions of the medieval Kingdom of Castile think of themselves as Castilian...
, Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
, Galician
Galician people
The Galicians are an ethnic group, a nationality whose historical homeland is Galicia in north-western Spain. Most Galicians are bilingual, speaking both their historic language, Galician, and Castilian Spanish.-Political and administrative divisions:...
and Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
among others. In contrast with Spain, because of centuries of gradual and mutual consolidation across the Iberian peninsula, such distinctions tend to be blurred. It is a subtle, yet important, distinction.
In Spain, as in the United Kingdom, the economically dominant territories (Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) spread their language for mutual communication. However, the political dominance in the UK tends to be sharper compared to Spain, where the medieval territories don't exist anymore. For example, people never refer to King Juan Carlos I of Spain as "the King of Castile," whereas the British sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, is sometimes referred to colloquially as "the Queen of England."
Hispanic America
Spanish is the official language in a great part of the Americas.United States
Origins and demography
Hispanic Americans are citizens of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
whose ancestry or national origin is of any of the nations composing the Hispanosphere. A Hispanic person's status is independent from whether or not he or she speaks the Spanish language, for not all Hispanic Americans speak Spanish. A Hispanic person may be of any race (White, Amerindian, Black, Asian or Pacific islander). As of July 1, 2004, Hispanics accounted for 14.1% of the population, around 41.3 million people. The Hispanic growth rate over the July 1, 2003 to July 1, 2004 period was 3.6% — higher than any other ancestral group in the United States — and more than three times the rate of the nation's total population (at 1.0%). The projected Hispanic population of the United States for July 1, 2050, is 105.6 million people. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 25% of the nation’s total population by the year 2050.
Historically, a continuous Hispanic presence in the territory of the United States has existed since the 16th century, earlier than any other group after the Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. Spaniards pioneered the present-day United States. The first confirmed European landing on the continent was that of Juan Ponce de León
Juan Ponce de León
Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. He led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named...
, who landed in 1513 on the shore he christened La Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Within three decades of Ponce de León's landing, the Spanish became the first Europeans to reach the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
, the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
, and the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
. Spanish ships sailed along the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
, penetrating to present-day Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
, and up the Pacific Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
as far as Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. From 1528 to 1536, four castaways from a Spanish expedition, including a "black Moor
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
," journeyed all the way from Florida to the Gulf of California
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...
, 267 years before the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
.
In 1540 Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (explorer)
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who, while leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, was the first European documented to have crossed the Mississippi River....
undertook an extensive exploration of the present US. In the same year Francisco Vázquez de Coronado led 2,000 Spaniards and Mexican Indians across today's Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
-Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
border and traveled as far as central Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, close to the exact geographic center of what is now the continental United States. Other Spanish explorers of the US make up a long list that includes, among others, Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón
Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón
Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón was a Spanish explorer who in 1526 established the short-lived San Miguel de Gualdape colony, the first European attempt at a settlement in what is now the continental United States...
, Pánfilo de Narváez
Pánfilo de Narváez
Pánfilo de Narváez was a Spanish conqueror and soldier in the Americas. He is most remembered as the leader of two expeditions, one to Mexico in 1520 to oppose Hernán Cortés, and the disastrous Narváez expedition to Florida in 1527....
, Sebastián Vizcaíno
Sebastián Vizcaíno
Sebastián Vizcaíno was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Philippines, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Japan.-Early career:...
, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese explorer noted for his exploration of the west coast of North America on behalf of Spain. Cabrillo was the first European explorer to navigate the coast of present day California in the United States...
, Gaspar de Portolà
Gaspar de Portolà
Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira was a soldier, governor of Baja and Alta California , explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey. He was born in Os de Balaguer, province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain, of Catalan nobility. Don Gaspar served as a soldier in the Spanish army in Italy and Portugal...
, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was a Spanish admiral and explorer, best remembered for founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. This was the first successful Spanish foothold in La Florida and remained the most significant city in the region for several hundred years. St...
, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer of the New World, one of four survivors of the Narváez expedition...
, Tristán de Luna y Arellano
Tristán de Luna y Arellano
Tristán de Luna y Arellano was a Spanish Conquistador of the 16th century. Born in Borobia, Spain, he came to New Spain in about 1530, and was sent on an expedition to conquer Florida in 1559...
, and Juan de Oñate
Juan de Oñate
Don Juan de Oñate y Salazar was a Spanish explorer, colonial governor of the New Spain province of New Mexico, and founder of various settlements in the present day Southwest of the United States.-Biography:...
. In all, Spaniards probed half of today's lower 48 states before the first English colonization attempt at Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English exploration....
in 1585.
The Spanish created the first permanent European settlement in the continental United States, at St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
, in 1565. Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
also predates Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
(founded in 1607) and Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
(of Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
and Pilgrims
Pilgrims
Pilgrims , or Pilgrim Fathers , is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States...
fame, founded in 1620). Later came Spanish settlements in San Antonio, Tucson, San Diego, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and San Francisco, to name just a few. The Spanish even established a Jesuit mission in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
's Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
37 years before the founding of Jamestown.
Two iconic American stories have Spanish antecedents, too. Almost 80 years before John Smith
John Smith of Jamestown
Captain John Smith Admiral of New England was an English soldier, explorer, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania and friend Mózes Székely...
's alleged rescue by Pocahontas
Pocahontas
Pocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
, a man by the name of Juan Ortiz
Juan Ortiz de Zárate
Juan Ortiz de Zárate Juan Ortiz de Zárate Juan Ortiz de Zárate (c. 1521 Orduña, Biscay (Spain) – 1575 Asunción, (Paraguay). was a Spanish Basque explorer and conquistador. He journeyed to the Americas as a teenager, where he took part in the conquest of Peru under Diego de Almagro....
told of his remarkably similar rescue from execution by an Indian girl. Spaniards also held a thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
— 56 years before the famous Pilgrims festival
Harvest festival
A Harvest Festival is an annual celebration which occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times throughout the world...
— when they feasted near St. Augustine with Florida Indians, probably on stewed pork and garbanzo beans. As late as 1783, at the end of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, Spain held claim to roughly half of today's continental United States; in 1775, Spanish ships even reached Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. From 1819 to 1848, the United States and its army increased the nation's area by roughly a third at Spanish and Mexican expense, including three of today's four most populous states: California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Hispanics became the first American citizens in the newly acquired Southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
territory and remained the ancestral majority in several states until the 20th century. (See also New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
.)
Hispanic Americans have fought in all the wars of the United States and have earned some of the highest distinctions awarded to U.S. soldiers (http://www4.army.mil/otf/speech.php?story_id_key=9575 http://www.senate.gov/~pryor/newsroom/details.cfm?id=263773& http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/memorial.html http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/17.3.pdf List of Hispanic Medal of Honor recipients). Historic figures in the United States have been Hispanic from early times. Some recent famous people include actress Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
and baseball legends Lefty Gomez
Lefty Gómez
Vernon Louis "Lefty" Gomez was an American left-handed major league pitcher who played in the American League for the New York Yankees between 1930 and 1942. Considered one of the great pitchers of the day, Gomez was a seven-time All-Star and a five-time World Series Champion with the Yankees...
and Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
.
National Hispanic Heritage Month
The National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated in the USA from September 15 to October 15.
Cuisine
"Hispanic cuisine" as the term is applied in the Western Hemisphere, is a misnomer. What's usually understood as 'Hispanic' cuisine in the United States is mostly MexicanMexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine, a style of food that originates in Mexico, is known for its varied flavors, colourful decoration and variety of spices and ingredients, most of which are native to the country. The cuisine of Mexico has evolved through thousands of years of blending indigenous cultures, with later...
and Central American cuisine. Mexican cuisine is composed of Spanish and indigenous american influences.
The cuisine of Spain has many regional varieties, with Mediterranean flavors based on olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
, garlic, and tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
es, and a great selection of fish and seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
due to its long Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, while in the Castilian interior, there is a great culture of cured pork meats, as well as roasts and stews, based on beef, pork, lamb, and poultry. The European and Arab heritage of Spain is reflected in its food, along with cosmopolitan influences beginning in the many new ingredients brought in from the New World since the 16th century, e.g. tomatoes, potatoes, or chocolate, and the more modern tastes introduced from Europe since the 19th century, especially French and Italian dishes. It is only in the last ten years that Latin American dishes have been introduced in Spain. Whereas in the US, the number of "Spanish" restaurants is in a growing trend, following the "Tapas" fashion that spread in the 90's.
Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican cuisines, on the other hand, tend to use a lot of pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
and can depend heavily on starchy root vegetable
Root vegetable
Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. Here "root" means any underground part of a plant.Root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They differ in the concentration and the balance between sugars, starches, and other types of...
s, plantain
Plantain
Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...
, and rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
. The most prominent influences on their Spanish culinary traditions were introduced by African slaves, and to a lesser degree, French influence from Haiti and later Chinese immigrants. Hot, spicy foods are practically unknown in traditional Spanish-Caribbean dishes. The cuisine of Haiti, a Latin American country (with, however, a Francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
majority), is very similar to its regional neighbors in terms of influences and ingredients used.
The Argentine diet is heavily influenced by the country's position as one of the world's largest beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
and wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
producers, and by the impact that European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
immigration had on its national culture. Grilled meats are a staple of most meals as are pasta
Pasta
Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, now of worldwide renown. It takes the form of unleavened dough, made in Italy, mostly of durum wheat , water and sometimes eggs. Pasta comes in a variety of different shapes that serve for both decoration and to act as a carrier for the...
s, potatoes, rice, paella
Paella
Paella is a Valencian rice dish that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century near lake Albufera, a lagoon in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain. Many non-Spaniards view paella as Spain's national dish, but most Spaniards consider it to be a regional Valencian dish...
and a variety of vegetables (Argentina is a huge exporter of agricultural products). Italian influence is also seen in the form of pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
and ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
, both of which are integral components of national cuisine. Chilean cuisine is similar to that of Argentina, though seafood is much more dominant in this coastal nation. As another one of the world's largest producers, wine is as much a staple drink to Chileans as beer is to Germans.
In Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
and Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, potato dishes are typical since the potato is originally from this region. Beef and chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
are common sources of meat. In the Highlands is the cuy
Cuy
Cuy may refer to:* the animal and the meat of a guinea pig in the Andean regions of South America, a traditional food of Peruvian, Colombian, and Ecuadorian Andean people.Cuy is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:...
, a South American name for guinea pig
Guinea pig
The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...
, a common meat. Given the coastal location, both countries have extensive fishing fleets, which provide a wealth of seafood options, including the signature South American dish, ceviche
Ceviche
Ceviche is a seafood dish popular in the coastal regions of the Americas, especially Central and South America. The dish is typically made from fresh raw fish marinated in citrus juices such as lemon or lime and spiced with chilli peppers. Additional seasonings such as onion, salt,...
. While potato is an important ingredient in the Highlands, Rice is the main side dish on the coast.
This diversity in staples and cuisine is also evident in the differing regional cuisines within the national borders of the individual countries.
In the United States, with its growing Hispanic population, food staples from the Mexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine, a style of food that originates in Mexico, is known for its varied flavors, colourful decoration and variety of spices and ingredients, most of which are native to the country. The cuisine of Mexico has evolved through thousands of years of blending indigenous cultures, with later...
and other Latin countries have become widely available as have unique American forms such as the Tex-Mex cuisine
Tex-Mex cuisine
"Tex-Mex" is a term used to describe a regional American cuisine that blends food products available in the United States and the culinary creations of Mexican-Americans influenced by the cuisines of Mexico. The cuisine has spread from border states such as Texas and those in the Southwestern...
. This cuisine, which originated in Texas, is based on maize products, heavily spiced ground beefs, cheese and tomato sauces with chilies. This cuisine is widely available not just in the U.S. but across other countries, where American exports are found. In Florida, Cuban food is widely available. All of these "Hispanic" foods in the U.S. have evolved in character as they are commercially Americanized by large restaurant chains and food companies.
Racial diversity
The term "Hispanic" is cultural and not racial. The racial diversity found among Hispanics stems from the fact that Hispanic America has always been, since 1492, an area of immigration until late in the 20th century, when the region has increasingly become an area of emigration. Even outside the broad U.S. definition of Hispanic, the term encompasses a very racially and ethnically diverse population. While in the United States, Hispanics are often treated as a group apart from whites, blacks or other races, they actually include people who may identify with any or all of those racial groups.In the mass media as well as popular culture, "Hispanic" is often incorrectly used to describe a subject's race or physical appearance
Human physical appearance
Human physical appearance refers to the outward phenotype or look of human beings. There are infinite variations in human phenotypes, though society reduces the variability to distinct categories...
. In general, Hispanics are assumed to have traits such as dark hair and eyes, and brown skin. Many others are viewed as physically intermediate between whites, blacks
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
and/or Amerindians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
.
Hispanics with mostly Caucasoid or Negroid features may not be recognized as such in spite of the ethnic and racial diversity of most Latin American populations. Hispanics who do not look like the stereotypical Hispanic may have their ancestral status questioned or even challenged by others. Actors Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen
Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...
and Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz
Cameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...
, for example, are Hispanic even though they may be presumed not to be so because, being white, they do not fit the stereotype.
A great proportion of Hispanics identify as half-caste
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
(mixed European and Amerindian) regardless of national origin. This is largely because most Hispanics have their origins in majority half-caste Latin American countries. El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
are examples of mostly half-caste populations, with 90% of Salvadorans, 95% of Paraguayans, and 70% of Mexicans identifying as mestizo, with Mexico having the largest total mestizo population at over 66 million.
Many individuals identified as "Hispanics" (based on the U.S. definition) are of unmixed Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
ancestry. For example, many of those from Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, and Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
constitute a majority or plurality of the population as do a considerable proportion in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Many Hispanics born in or with descent from the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, and other countries may be of African descent, be it mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
(mixed European and black African), zambo
Zambo
Zambo or Cafuzo are racial terms used in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires and occasionally today to identify individuals in the Americas who are of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry...
(mixed Amerindian and black African), triracial
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
(specifically European, black African, and Amerindian), or unmixed black African.
The majority of people in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
are largely of European descent; not only of Spanish Europeans, but Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
, Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
, German, Polish, Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, etc. In countries like Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
or Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, people of European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
descent comprise an important minority of the population. Many white Mexicans, though labeled "Hispanic" by the U.S. definition because of their assimilated culture and country of birth, trace their ancestries to European countries other than Spain, and some to non-European countries (see next paragraph). Nevertheless, in most cases, they have some Spanish ancestry, as the waves of European immigrants to these countries tended to quickly assimilate, intermarrying with the country's local population.
Likewise, a percentage of Hispanics as defined by the U.S. government trace their ancestries to the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, for example Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
ns, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
ians, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
ans, and Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
s of Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
or Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
ancestry. Many Hispanics are of East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
n ancestry, as in the case of Cubans
Cubans
Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
, Mexicans, and Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vians. If they were to migrate to the United States, the definition most frequently advocated would consider them Hispanic. See also: Asian Latin American and Asian Hispanic and Latino Americans
Asian Hispanic and Latino Americans
For the Asian population of Latin America, see Asian Latin American.Asian Hispanic and Latino Americans is a term for Hispanic and Latino Americans having Asian blood and for those Hispanics who consider themselves or were officially classified by the United States Census Bureau, Office of...
.
The presence of these mentioned ethnic groups are not country-specific, since they can be found in every Latin American country, whether as larger of smaller proportions of their respective populations. Even in Spain, the European motherland of Hispanicity, recent decades has seen a growing population of mestizos and mulattos due to the reversal of the historic Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
-to-New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
migration pattern.
Of the over 35 million Hispanics counted in the Federal 2000 Census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
, 47.9% identified as white (termed "white Hispanic
White Hispanic and Latino Americans
White Hispanic and Latino Americans are citizens and residents of the United States who are racially White and ethnically Hispanic or Latino.White American, itself an official U.S...
" by the Census Bureau); 42.2% "Some other race"; 6.3% Two or more races; 2% Black or African American; 1.2% American Indian and Alaska Native; 0.3% Asian; and 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. Note that even among those Hispanics who reported one race only, most would also possess at least some ancestral lineage from one or more other races, despite the fact that only 6.3% reported as such. (This is also applicable to the Non-Hispanics counted in the U.S. Census, although maybe in less proportion.)
According to one study (Stephens et al. 2001), "From the genetic perspective, Hispanics generally represent a differential mixture of European, Native American, and African ancestry, with the proportionate mix typically depending on country of origin." http://shrn.stanford.edu/workshops/revisitingrace/Risch_confound.pdf
The populations of Iberia (both Spain and Portugal), like all European populations, have received multiple other influences, even though they are still largely descended from the prehistoric European populations, and to a greater degree than any other major group. The ancestry of Iberians has thus received many, (limited and often very localized) influences from the many people who settled on its territory throughout history, including Phoenicians, Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
, Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, Punics
Punics
The Punics were a group of western Semitic-speaking peoples from Carthage in North Africa who traced their origins to a group of Phoenician and Cypriot settlers, but also to North African Berbers . Punics were probably a mix of Berbers and Phoenicians in terms of culture and ancestry...
, Celts, Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
, Suebi
Suebi
The Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c...
, Buri
Buri (Germanic tribe)
The Buri were a Germanic tribe mentioned in the Germania of Tacitus, where they initially "close the back" of the Marcomanni and Quadi of Bohemia and Moravia. It is said that their speech and customs were like those of the Suebi...
, Visigoths, Alans
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
, Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, Slavs
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
(saqaliba
Saqaliba
Saqaliba refers to the Slavs, particularly Slavic slaves and mercenaries in the medieval Arab world, in the Middle East, North Africa, Sicily and Al-Andalus. It is generally thought that the Arabic term is a Byzantine loanword: saqlab, siklab, saqlabi etc. is a corruption of Greek Sklavinoi for...
), Berbers
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
, Arabs, Magyars, Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, and—particularly in Andalusia—Roma.
Equatorial Guinea
In the former Spanish colony of Equatorial GuineaEquatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...
, the majority of the population speak Spanish, there is a small minority of African people who possessed Spanish and other European ancestry. These individuals form less than 1% of the population.
Morocco
In the former Spanish protectorate of MoroccoMorocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Spanish speakers are present in small numbers, located in the northern coastal region of the country. However the majority of Moroccan people are predominantly Muslims of Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
and African ancestry.
Plazas de Soberanía
Since the ReconquistaReconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
, the Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
have held numerous emplacements in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
. Most of them were promptly lost, but to date, with an approximate population of 143,000 people, the Autonomous Cities
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
of Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
and Melilla
Melilla
Melilla is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa...
, which constitute the two Plazas de Soberanía Mayores (or Major Places of Sovereignty) remained Spanish, and the Islas Chafarinas
Islas Chafarinas
The Chafarinas Islands , also spelled Zafarin, Djaferin, Zafarani, is a Spanish archipelago. A group of three small islets located in the Alboran Sea off the coast of Morocco with an aggregate area of 0.525 km², 45 km to the east of Melilla and 3.3 km off the Moroccan town of Ra'su l-Ma'...
, the Peñón de Alhucemas
Peñón de Alhucemas
Peñón de Alhucemas , or "Lavender Rock", is one of the Spanish plazas de soberanía just off the Moroccan coast in the Alboran Sea. It is also one of several Peñones, or rock-fortresses, on the coast of Northern Africa....
and the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera
Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera
Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera , in ancient times Badis or Bades, is a Spanish rock in North Africa off the Moroccan coast . It is part of several Peñones, or rock-fortresses on the coast of Northern Africa. Vélez de la Gomera is administered from Melilla...
, which constitute the three Plazas de Soberanía Menores (or Minor Sovereignty Places), still forming part of the Spain.
Western Sahara
In the former Spanish colony of Western SaharaWestern Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
, Spanish speakers are present in small numbers and Spanish is de facto official there; however, most people in the country speak Arabic as their first language and also practice Arab culture.
Philippines
In the former Spanish colony of the PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, a part of the population possess Spanish or Latin American ancestry (esp. from Mexico), or both. The size of this population is unknown due to emigration to Spain, Latin America, and the United States, following the bombing of Intramuros, home to thousands of Spanish-speaking families. Many emigrated also during the Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
regime. After its decline in the 20th century there has been a revival of interest in Spanish in the first decade of the 21st century plus during the Arroyo Macapagal administration the instruction of Spanish was re-introduced into the education system and there are also radio programmes on Radio Manila, entitled "Filipinas Ahora Mismo" (Spanish), "Filipinas Ora Mismo" (Tagalog).
Guam and Mariana Islands
In the former Spanish colonies of Guam and Mariana Islands there is a small minority of people who possess Spanish ancestry. However they have since integrated with the AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
way of life. The people living on these islands while the majority no longer speaking Spanish (though there are still Spanish-speakers) do partake of certain Spanish-influenced activities like fiestas. Also, the native Chamorro language has a noticeable Spanish influence.
Spanish surnames are prevalent in Guam and the custom of the women keeping their maiden name after marrying is a by-product of Spanish culture on these islands.
Map of Hispanophone
See also
- HispanicHispanicHispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
- HispanicityHispanicityThe Hispanidad is the community formed by all the people and countries that share a common Hispanic heritage and cultural pattern. The 20 nations that are included are all Spanish-speaking countries, including the Philippines which may not have Spanish as the language of the majority, but also...
- PanhispanismPanhispanismPanhispanism is a political trend aimed to achieve social, economic, and political cooperation of the Spanish speaking countries, principally those of Latin America, due to the distance between Spain or Equatorial Guinea and the Americas. It focuses principally on the former Spanish Empire's...
- Flag of the Hispanic PeopleFlag of the Hispanic PeopleThe Flag of the Hispanic People or Hispanic flag , is a flag sometimes used to represent the Hispanic people or Hispanic community.-Symbolism:...
- List of hispanophones
- SprachraumSprachraumSprachraum is a linguistic term used to designate a geographical region/district where a language, dialect, group or family of languages is spoken. The German word Sprachraum literally means "language area"....
- World languageWorld languageA world language is a language spoken internationally which is learned by many people as a second language. A world language is not only characterized by the number of its speakers , but also by its geographical distribution, and its use in international organizations and in diplomatic relations...