THC Science

Hispanic (Castilian Hispano, Portuguese Hispânico, Catalan: Hispà, from Latin Hispānus, adjective from Hispānia, the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula) is a term that historically denoted relation to the ancient Hispania and its peoples. However, when the modern day country of Spain was created in the 15th century, it inherited the term, and thus, since then, Hispanic is also related to Spain, its people and its culture. In this process, Portugal was excluded from the term, despite the fact that the territory that it nowadays covers was also in the former Hispania^[1]. Instead of Hispanic, Portugal adopted the word Lusitanic for the same purposes (in reference to the former Roman province of Lusitania, which was a part Hispania; ultimately, pertaining to the Lusitanians, one of the first Indo-European tribes to settle Europe). With the expansion of the Spanish Empire, the peoples from Spain spread all over the world, creating new colonies and giving rise to the Hispanophone. This expansion was mainly concentrated in the Americas, especially in what is called Hispanic America, which comprises all those countries from the Americas that once belonged to the Spanish Empire and where the Spanish influence is still present (Brazil not being included since when it was settled by the Portuguese, the separation between the terms Hispanic pertaining to Spain and Lusitanic to Portugal was already effective). These countries, inherited the cultural and ancestral legacy of the Spaniards, and in consequence, their peoples and their cultures are also considered as Hispanic. Nowadays, the peoples from Hispanic America who live in the United States have developed their own identity with an unquestionable Hispanic substrate, and they are also considered Hispanics^[2]^[3].

The term Hispanic

Etymology

Etymologically, the term Hispano/Hispanic is derived from Hispania (whose meaning and derivation is uncertain), the name given by the Romans to the entire Iberian Peninsula — modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar — during the period of the Roman Republic. In the modern era, however, Hispanic/Hispano has usually only been applied to Spain and things related to it. Although some pepole also use the term "Hispanic" in relation to Portugal and its people (including Brazil and Portuguese-speaking Brazilians), this usage is not appropriate and may cause irritation. When speaking of these peoples, the correct term is Luso/Lusophone.

In Spanish, the word "Hispano" is also used as the first element of compounds referring to Spain and the Spanish, rather like the way Anglo is used in compounds referring to England and the English. Thus, the Spanish-American War in Spanish is known as Guerra Hispano-Estadounidense, the "Spanish-German Treaty" is Tratado Hispano-Alemán, and "Spanish America" is Hispanoamérica.

The usage of Hispanic as an ethnic indicator in the United States is believed to have come into mainstream prominence following its inclusion in a question in the 1980 U.S. Census, which asked people to voluntarily identify if they were of "Spanish/Hispanic origin or descent".^[4]

Synonyms and antonyms

Often the term "Hispanic" is used synonymously with the word "Latino", and frequently with "Latin" as well, as they are used in the U.S. Even though the terms may sometimes overlap in meaning, they are not completely synonymous.

"Hispanic" specifically refers to Spain, and to the Spanish-speaking nations of the Americas, as cultural and demographic extensions of Spain. It should be further noted that in a U.S. context, a Hispanic population consists of the people of Spain and everyone with origins in any of Spanish-speaking nations of the Americas, regardless of ancestry of the latter (including Amerindians). In the context of Spain and Latin America, a Hispanic population may consist of the people of Spain, and when regarding the inhabitants of the Hispanic America, includes only criollos, mestizos, mulatos, and others with Spanish ancestry, to the exclusion of indigenous Amerindians, unmixed descendants of black Africans and whites or other peoples from later migrations without any Spanish lineage. This distinction was established in the Spanish Empire in the 17th century, as an institutionalized system of racial and social stratification and segregation (Sistema de Castas) based on the person's heritage. However, when talking of Hispanic in a cultural and linguistic sense, the term refers to even peoples without Spanish ancestry but living in the Hispanic America who have Spanish as mother tongue or as vehicular language.

In regards to the term Latin, in this context it refers to the conception of "Latin America" as a region, a concept which was introduced by the French in the 1860s when they dreamed of building an empire based in Mexico. See French intervention in Mexico. This concept of a "Latin" America was closely connected to the introduction of French positivism into the region's intellectual circles. ^[5] The French understood "Latin" to include themselves and other continental European Romance speaking nations, to the exclusion of their "Anglo-Saxon" colonial rivals the United States (in the Americas) and the United Kingdom, as well as, the Germanic and Scandinavian peoples (in Europe).

Latinos, meanwhile, is a contraction of "Latinoamericanos", and refers commonly to those from Spanish or Portuguese-speaking countries of Latin America, regardless of ancestry in all contexts. Those from French Canada and Haiti are rarely included, although technically (even more so in Haiti's case) they are Latin Americans.

The confusion that arises is due to a missuse in English of the words Latino and Latin, and between the concept of Hispanic and Latino. Latino (in English) is a shortened version of the noun Latinoamericano (Latin American). In the Spanish language "Latín" (Latin) is the name of the language of the Romans, and Latino the name of the people who spoke the language or speak a modern derivative. This means that latino in Spanish is not confined solely to Hispanics and Latin Americans, but has always included such European peoples as the Italians, French, Romanians, Portuguese, etc. In Italian however, Latino refers to both the language and the people who spoke Latin.

Thus, of a group consisting of a Brazilian, a Colombian, a Mexican, a Spaniard, a Frenchman and a Romanian, all would be, properly speaking, Latinos; Conversely, the Colombian, Mexican and Spaniard would all be Hispanics, but not the Romanian or the Frenchman.

It should be noted that the categories of "Latino" and "Hispanic" are used primarily in the United States to socially differentiate people. As social categories they are not mutually exclusive and without ambiguities and cannot be seen as independent of social discrimination (socioeconomic, ethnic or racial).

Besides "Hispanic", "Latino", and "Latin", other terms are used for more specific subsets of the Hispanic population. These terms often relate to specific countries of origin, such as "Mexican", "Mexican-American", "Cuban", "Puerto Rican" or "Dominican", etc. Other terms signify distinct cultural patterns among Hispanics which have emerged in what is now the United States, including "Chicano", "Tejano", "Nuyorican", etc.

Historical usage of the term

Spain is not a uniform country; various ethnicities peacefully coexist in its territories, and each one has its own culture, traditions, idiosyncracies, and some of them even have their own language. The term Hispanic, however, often refers only to cultural or ancestral background related to Castilian-speaking Spain, but not to other parts of Spain, such as Catalan-speaking Spain or Basque-speaking Spain. The existence of multiple distinct cultures in Spain allows an analogy to be drawn between itself and the United Kingdom. Using the term Hispanic for someone of Spaniard descent would then be expected to be equivalent to using Briton to describe someone descending from part of the United Kingdom. Cultures within the United Kingdom, such as Anglo, Scottish and Welsh, would then correspond in this analogy to cultures within Spain such as Castilian, Catalan and Basque. It is a subtle, yet important, distinction. In other countries, this distinction between the sub-nations that compose the country (for instance, English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Cornish, etc.) and the supra-nation that engloves them (the United Kingdom) has been clear. In Spain, however, the dominant nation (Castile) has often been taken to be equivalent to the supra-nation (Spain). The result of this confusion is that unlike the case of Great Britain, where there is a general awareness of the cultures comprising the supra-nation, Hispanic is taken by many to be not only a synonym for that which is related to the whole of Spain, but also of the cultural identity of the Castilian region within Spain. This, in turn, has the effect of subordinating the role of other cultures within Spain in constituting the national identity of Spain.

In fact, the Spanish exploration and settlement of the New World was marked by a blurring of the distinction between the nation and a constituent culture. The Spaniards identified themselves not as being of Castilian cultural heritage, but instead as people of Hispanic heritage. In using Hispanic as a synonym for the Castilian-speaking world, non-Castilian culture in Spain was obscured.

In the modern times, the Castilian-speaking peoples of the New World have also adopted other cultural labels to identify themselves. The most important of these labels is the term Latino, which stems from a contraction of latinoamericano (Latin American)^[6]. But the term Latino already has a meaning in Castilian, which is, literally, Latin^[7], and it is used to refer to all the Latin peoples, both from Europe and the Americas. Therefore, using Latino as a contraction of latinoamericano results in a corruption of the Castilian word of the same name. However, the new meaning has rapidly gained popularity, and nowadays it is widely used as a cultural label to identify the peoples of Castilian cultural or ancestral heritage in the Americas. Thus, many of the people to whom the term Latino originally applied would no longer be identified as such under its present usage.

The evolution of the terms Hispanic and Latino has been especially apparent in the United States of America. In the latter parts of the 20th century, the terms went from being cultural labels to being ethnic labels, further confusing the meanings of the terms. The use of the terms in this context groups the Castilian speaking Spaniards together with the large Castilian speaking population in the Americas, which is of predominantly Amerindian ethnicity. As a result, cultural and linguistic issues related to Spaniards are often confused with those of Mexicans or other Hispanic American peoples. While some are conscious of this issue, many of the people to whom the labels Latino or Hispanic are applied are not aware of it. As such, they often help perpetuate further usage of these terms as ethnic labels instead of cultural ones, to the point that it excludes the Hispanics and Latinos to whom the labels originally applied.

The Hispanics from Hispania

As said above, Spain is not an uniform country but a land of contrasts and the home to a wide range of ethnicities and nationalities, each one of which has its own culture, traditions, idiosyncrasy, and some of them have their own language. Historically, due to the historical mistake mentioned above, there has been a confusion regarding to the real meaning of Hispanic, which has been used for centuries as a synonym for all that related to the Castilian-speaking world, marginalizing the rest of cultures that developed from the old Hispania.

Historically, this has not affected the Portugueses because, instead, the modern day Portugal is in what anciently was known as Hispania (in part of the Roman provinces of Lusitania and Gallaecia), it has been a separate country from Spain for centuries and has fully developed its national identity. Therefore, while the word Hispanic has always been used to describe all that related to Spain, the word Luso or Lusitanic has played the same role for Portugal. But, on the contrary, this situation of Castilian supremacy has really affected those nationalities that, from inside Spain have played a crucial role in the construction of the country and the Hispanophone from the stereotype of Hispanic, when while they were in fact from Spain and the old Hispania, they were not of Castilian heritage or language.

This section aims to clarify the lack of information existing on this subject through doing a brief review on the history of Hispania and the peoples that inhabit Spain nowadays.

History of Hispania

Early history

The earliest record of hominids living in Europe has been found in the cave of Atapuerca, in the Spanish province of Burgos, and it has become a key site for world palaeontology. Fossils found there are dated to roughly 1,000,000 years ago. The most conspicuous sign of prehistoric human settlements are the famous paintings in the cave of Altamira, in Cantabria, Spain, which were done ca. 15,000 BC and are regarded, along with those in Lascaux, France, as paramount instances of cave art.

Modern humans in the form of Cro-Magnons began arriving in the Iberian Peninsula from north of the Pyrenees some 35,000 years ago. This genetically homogenous wave of population (characterized by the M173 mutation in the Y chromosome), developed the M343 mutation, giving rise to the R1b Haplogroup, which still dominant in modern Portuguese and Spanish populations (especially in the Basques). Meanwhile the Neanderthals became extinct; their last refuge was today's Portugal or Gibraltar around 28,000 BC. Far later, some 12,000 years ago, an interstadial deglaciation called the Allerød Oscillation occurred, weakening the rigorous conditions of the last ice age. This also ended the Upper Palaeolithic period, beginning the Mesolithic. The populations sheltered in Iberia, descendants of the Cro-Magnon, given the deglaciation, migrated and recolonized all of Western Europe, thus spreading the R1b Haplogroup populations (still dominat, in variant degrees, from Iberia to Scandinavia). Due to this fact, nowadays the genetical origins of most Europeans can be traced back to the Iberian Peninsula.

Pre-Roman times

The earliest urban culture documented in the Iberian Peninsula, is that of the semi-mythical southern city of Tartessos, which dates back to much before the 1,100 BC. However, the Tartessians were not the only ones: apart from them, the whole of the Iberian Peninsula was inhabited by other non-Indo-European peoples (Aquitanians and other Proto-Basques, Iberians, Turdetani, Cynetes or Conii and others), by Indo-European peoples (Proto-Celtics, Celtics and Lusitanians, mainly) and by a mix of both (Celtiberians, a mix of Celts and Iberians).

Far later, the seafaring Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians began to settle along the Mediterranean coast. Around 1,100 BC, Phoenician merchants founded the trading colony of Gadir or Gades (modern day Cádiz) near Tartessos. In the 9th century BC the first Greek colonies, such as Emporion (modern Empúries, in Catalonia), were founded along the Mediterranean coast on the East of the Peninsula, leaving the southern coast to the Phoenicians. The Greeks are responsible for the name Iberia, apparently after the river Iber (Ebro in Castilian). In the 6th century BC the Carthaginians arrived in Iberia while struggling first with the Greeks and shortly after with the Romans for control of the Western Mediterranean. Their most important colony was Carthago Nova (Latin name of modern day Cartagena).

Roman Hispania

In 218 BC, the Romans disembarked in Emporion due to the break out of the Second Punic War, which confronted Rome and Carthage, and thus started the Conquest of Hispania, which would end in 17 BC. However, the Roman control of Hispania would last much longer, until the beginnings of the 5th century, when Germanic tribes from the Northern Europe began to invade the Peninsula.

Barbarian invasions and Visigothic Kingdom

At the beginnings of the 5th century, the Visigoths, the Suevi (Quadi and Marcomanni) and the Buri, invaded the Peninsula and settled permanently. Others, like the Vandals (Silingi and Hasdingi), were also present, before moving on to North Africa. Many words of Germanic origin entered into the Vulgar Latin that was spoken in Hispania by those times, and were then transmitted to the Romance Languages that originated in the Peninsula during the Dark Ages, such as the Castilian, the Portuguese or the Catalan, and many more entered through other avenues (often French) in the ensuing centuries^[8]. The Visigoths established a Christian Kingdom that lasted until the arrival of the moors at the beginnings of the 8th century.

Muslim Occupation

The Umayyad conquest of Hispania (711–718) commenced when an army of the Umayyad Caliphate consisting largely of Moors, the Muslim inhabitants of Northwest Africa, invaded Visigothic Christian Hispania (Portugal and Spain) in the year 711. Under the authority of the Umayyad caliph at Damascus, and led by the Berber general Tariq ibn Ziyad, they landed at Gibraltar on April 30 and worked their way northward. Tariq's forces were joined the next year by those of his superior, the Emir Musa ibn Nusair. During the eight-year campaign, most of the Iberian Peninsula was brought under Muslim occupation save for small areas in the northwest (Galicia and Asturias) and largely Basque regions in the Pyrenees. The conquered territory, under the Arabic name al-Andalus, became part of the expanding Umayyad empire. The invaders subsequently moved northeast across the Pyrenees, but were defeated by the Frank Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in 732. Muslim control of French territory was intermittent and ended in 975. Meanwhile, the Christian Reconquista, or reconquest, of the Iberian Peninsula began with Pelayo of Asturias' victory at the Battle of Covadonga in 722.

Reconquista and the New World

The Reconquista (English: Reconquest) was the seven and a half century long process by which the Christian kingdoms of northern Hispania (modern Portugal and Spain) conquered the Iberian peninsula from the Muslim Moorish states of Al-Andalus. The Umayyad conquest of Hispania from the Visigoths occurred during the early 8th century. Almost immediately, in 718, Pelayo of Asturias, a noble Visigoth, leads the fight against the Moors in the Asturias and establishes the Kingdom of Asturias. In 722, King Pelayo defeats a large force sent by Emir Munuza to annihilate him at the Battle of Covadonga. He then leads an alliance of Asturian and Cantabrian mountaineers in the counter-offensive against the Muslims beginning what will be called La Reconquista.

In 1236 the last Muslim stronghold of Granada under Mohammed ibn Alhamar was subjugated by Ferdinand III of Castile, and Granada became a vassal state of the Christian kingdom for the next 250 years. On January 2 1492, the last Muslim ruler, Abu 'abd Allah Muhammad XII (also known as Boabdil of Granada), surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic Monarchs. This resulted in the creation of united Roman Catholic nation encompassing most of modern day Spain. Navarre remained separate until 1512. The Portuguese Reconquista had already culminated in 1249 with the subjugation of Algarve by Afonso III.

In 1492, the same year that Boabdil of Granada surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs and the Jews were expelled from Spain, Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, inaugurating an age of Spanish conquest and colonization of the continent, a process that would last for centuries and from which the new Hispanics would appear. Notice that the Portuguese colonial expansion, which would give rise to the Portuguese Empire (namely Brazil), had began in 1415. The last muslims and crypto-muslims were expelled in 1609-10.

Modern day peoples of Hispania

Historically, the modern country of Spain was formed by the accretion of several independent Iberian realms through dynastic inheritance, conquest and the will of the local elites. These realms had their own personalities and borders. Portugal, an independent country since the 12th century, was the only of the Iberian realms not to be absorbed into the Spanish kingdom.

Since the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, there has been a process of uniformization by the central authorities. Simultaneously, this uniformization has been repelled by some of the local elites that formed their own national consciences based on traditional, historical, linguistic and cultural traits.

The dynamics between centralization and decentralization is one of the forces in the history of the latest centuries. 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 in order to achieve full independence in some cases and to get their own autonomous community in others.

It is a fact that it does not exist something so straightforward as just one Spanish nationality for the whole country nowadays. Many Spanish citizens feel no conflict in having several national identities at the same time.

This section aims to describe the different peoples that exist nowadays in Spain and that have systematically and historically been forgotten by the Castilian-speaking Spain, to the detriment of the cultural richness of the country and the term Hispanic, but that have still played a crucial role in the composition of the Hispanophone, though at expenses, in many cases, of their national identity.

Andalusians

The Andalusians are an ethnic group or nation living in the historical region of Andalusia. Due to the fact that the Reconquista of Andalusia was carried out by the Crown of Castile, whose dominant language was the Castilian (in front of other languages that were also spoken in the Crown like the Astur-Leonese), the peoples who settled in the new conquered lands were native speakers of the Castilian language. Therefore, the natural language of the region after the Reconquista, and the language that still speak today the modern Andalusians is Castilian.

Aragonese

The Aragonese are an ethnic group or nation living in the historical region of Aragon, in the northeastern Spain. The language of the region is the Aragonese, although it is mainly spoken in the northern province of Uesca, in the Pyrenees.

Aranese

The Valley of Aran (Aranese: Val d'Aran, Catalan: Vall d'Aran) is a small shire (620.47 km²) in the northwestern part of Catalonia. It is the source of the Garonne, and one of the highest valleys of the Pyrenees. Most of the valley constitutes the only Catalan territory on the north face of the Pyrenees, hence the only part of Catalonia whose waters drain into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is characterized by an Atlantic climate, due to its peculiar orientation, which is different from other valleys in the area.

The Valley of Aran has 7,130 inhabitants (as of 1996), which constitute a separate group from the Catalans. About 5,000 of them speak the Aranese language (aranés in Occitan/Gascon/Aranese), a variety of the Pyrenean Gascon (a dialect of the Occitan language). The Aranese is one of the three co-official languages of the Valley of Aran, along with the Catalan and the Castilian.

Asturians

The Asturians are an ethnic group or nation living in the historical region of the Principality of Asturias, in the north of Spain. The language of the region is the Asturian, as well as the Eonavian in the border region with Galicia.

Basques

The Territory of the Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria, Spanish: País Vasco or Vascongadas) is a cultural region in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain, extending down to the coast of the Bay of Biscay. It corresponds more or less with the homeland of the Basque people and language. In Spain, the Basque Country is an autonomous community with the status of historical region, the capital of which is Vitoria-Gasteiz (Vitoria is the Castilian name, while Gasteiz is Basque). It is part of the larger Basque speaking lands mentioned above.

The Basques (Basque: Euskaldunak, Spanish: Vascos) are the people who inhabit the Basque Country. The name Basque derives from Medieval French and ultimately from the ancient tribe of the Vascones,^[9] described by Strabo as living south of the western Pyrenees and north of the Ebro River, in modern day Navarre and northern Aragon. This tribal name, of unknown etymology, was extended in late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages to cover all Basque-speaking people on either side of the Pyrenees.

The Basque language is spoken by about 1,000,000 people along the Territory of the Basque Country. It is an isolate language, which means that it is different to any other known language, and it has been spoken by the inhabitants of the region for thousands of years.

Canary Islanders

The Canarians are an ethnic group or nation living in the archipelago of the Canary Islands (an autonomous community of Spain), near the coast of Western Africa. The language of the region is the habla canaria (Castilian for Canary speech) or the dialecto canario (Castilian for Canarian dialect), a distinctive dialect of Castilian spoken in the islands.

The islands were conquered by Castilians at the beginnings of the 15th century, who subdued the native Guanche population. After subsequent settlement by Spaniards and other European peoples, mainly Portuguese, the remaining Guanches were gradually absorbed by the settlers and their culture almost totally disappeared.

Historically, the Canary Islands have been a connection point between Spain and the Americas, and therefore, large groups of Canary islanders have emigrated and settled all over the New World as early as the 15th century, mainly in Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Uruguay, as well as in parts of what today is the United States when those lands were still a little part of the Spanish Empire. For example, settlers from the Canary Islands founded San Antonio, Texas in 1731, when it was a Spanish colony (see Spanish Texas), one hundred years before the first Anglo-Saxon immigrants arrived to the region, fleeing the religious prosecution in Europe and looking for a better life. Louisiana was also settled by large groups of Canary Islanders, and nowadays, their descendants still live in the region. They are called Isleños (Spanish for Islanders), and they have kept the traditional culture of the Canary Islands and still speak the Canarian dialect^[10].

Castilians

Castile is a historical region of Spain that comprises the territories of the former Crown of Castile (the conjunction of the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of León) at the north, and the new territories that were conquered to the Moors during the Reconquista at the south. Castile's name means land or region of castles, in reference to the castles built in the area to consolidate the Christian Reconquista from the Moors.

In the definition of the historical region of Castile, the provinces of León, Salamanca and Zamora, which correspond to the former Kingdom of León, may or may not be included (see the Leonese below).

The Castilian people are the inhabitants of the historical region of Castile. Through the Reconquista, they spread outside historical region of Castile all over the Iberian Peninsula, especially in the southern Spanish regions of Extremadura, Andalusia, Murcia and the Canary Islands. After this, since the 15th century, through the Spanish conquest of the Americas, they also spread over the New World, bringing with them not only their language but also their culture, traditions and idiosyncracy.

The Castilian language is the native language of the Castilians. It originated in the Cordillera Cantábrica, in northern Spain, during the 8th and 9th centuries AD. After the Reconquista, the Castilian was brought to the south and almost entirely replaced the languages that were spoken in the Moorish zone, such as the Arabic and the Mozárabe. However, in this process the Castilian also acquired strong influences from these languages that gradually absorved. During the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the Castilian was the dominant language in Spain, and therefore was the language that was transmitted to the New World by the Conquistadores. Due to this gradual process, the Hispanophone was created, and nowadays the Castilian is spoken by about 44,000,000 people in Spain and 412,000,000 people in the rest of the World^[11].

Catalans, Valencians and Balearic Islanders

The homeland of the Catalans is Catalonia, or the Principality of Catalonia (Catalan: Catalunya, or Principat de Catalunya), which is a historical region in southern Europe, embracing a territory situated in the north-east of Spain and an adjoining portion of southern France. It is divided between the autonomous communities of Catalonia and Aragon (in an borderland called La Franja) in Spain, and the Northern Catalonia in France (due to the Treaty of the Pyrenees of 1659). In addition, there are other adjacent and nearby Mediterranean areas which are home to the Catalans. These areas include: Andorra, a small historical country in the Pyrenees, the Land of Valencia and the Balearic Islands in Spain as a result of the Reconquista and the city of L'Alguer in the Italian island of Sardinia due to the Catalan rule of the Mediterranean during the ages of the Crown of Aragon. All these territories make up what is known as the Catalan Countries.

The Catalans are an ethnic group or nation native from the former Principality of Catalonia, but that are now extended among all the Catalan Countries. An important part of the Catalans from Catalonia refuse to be identified as Hispanic, mainly because they have Catalan as mother tongue instead of Castilian, and as explained above, the modern definition of Hispanic has historically excluded those peoples of Spain who did not have Castilian as mother tongue. However, like the rest of the country, they have also played a crucial role in the development of the History of Spain and significantly participated Spanish colonization of the Americas, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego (see, for example, important figures such as Gaspar de Portolà, or pioneer expeditions of Catalan volunteers to the Pacific coast of North America, [2]).

The Catalan is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Land of Valencia (under the name of Valencian) and the Balearic Islands in Spain, and in the city of L'Alguer in the Italian island of Sardinia. It is also spoken, although with no official recognition, in the autonomous communities of Aragon (in La Franja) and Murcia (in El Carxe) in Spain, and in the Northern Catalonia, a historical region in the southern France, which is more or less equivalent to the French Région of the Pyrénées-Orientales. It is spoken by about 10 million people across the Catalan Countries.

Galicians

The Galicians are an ethnic group or nation living in the historical region of Galicia. The language of the region is the Galician language, as well as the Eonavian in the border region with Asturias.

Leonese

In the western part of what today is the autonomous community of Castile and León (the provinces of León, Salamanca and Zamora), which corresponds to the historical land of the former Kingdom of Leon, there are still some people who refuse the annexation of the Kingdom of Leon with the Kingdom of Castile, and defend the separation of both regions. They speak the Leonese and they refuse to be identified with the Castilian people.

The Hispanics from outside Hispania

Due to the expansion of the Spanish Empire and the consequent creation of the Hispanophone, the Hispanics are now spread all over the World. This section aims to describe the different places of the world that have, or have had, significant populations of Hispanic origin, or that have received strong influences from the Spanish culture and language.

Hispanics in Africa

Equatorial Guinea

The Portuguese explorer, Fernão do Pó, seeking a route to India, is credited with having discovered the island of Bioko in 1472. He called it Formosa (Portuguese for Beautiful), but it quickly took on the name of its European discoverer. The islands of Fernando Póo and Annobón were colonized by Portugal in 1474. The Portuguese retained control until 1778, when the island, adjacent islets, and commercial rights to the mainland between the Niger and Ogooué Rivers were ceded to Spain in exchange for territory in the American continent (Treaty of El Pardo, between Queen Maria I of Portugal and King Charles III of Spain). From 1827 to 1843, Britain established a base on the island to combat the slave trade. The mainland portion, Río Muni, became a protectorate in 1885 and a colony in 1900. Conflicting claims to the mainland were settled in 1900 by the Treaty of Paris, and periodically, the mainland territories were united administratively under Spanish rule. Between 1926 and 1959 they were united as the colony of Spanish Guinea. In March 1968, under pressure from Equatoguinean nationalists and the United Nations, Spain announced that it would grant independence to Equatorial Guinea. A constitutional convention produced an electoral law and draft constitution. In the presence of a UN observer team, a referendum was held on August 11, 1968, and 63% of the electorate voted in favor of the constitution, which provided for a government with a General Assembly and a Supreme Court with judges appointed by the president. Although there has never been much immigration of Spaniards, a great number of missionaries, explorers, adventurers and entrepreneurs explored and settled the region, and brought the Spanish language, that now is official in Equatorial Guinea.

Morocco

Spanish is still present in Morocco due to the former Spanish colony in Morocco. The country counts with 360,706 Spanish speakers and an important number of Spanish expatriates^[12]. Historically, in Morocco, Spanish has seen its importance as colonial language eclipsed due to the presence of the French, but it has always been present, especially in the nearby area to the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and in the late times, its importance is growing in the country due to the influx of immigrants.

Plazas de Soberanía

Since the Reconquista, the Spanish have held numerous emplacements in North Africa.Many of them, such as Oran, have been lost, and nowadays, with an approximate population of 143,000 people, only the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, which constitute the two Plazas de Soberanía Mayores (or Large Places of Sovereignty), 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 Lesser Sovereignty Places), still forming part of the Spain.

Western Sahara

Since the times of the former colony of the Spanish Sahara, the colonial language in the region has been Spanish. Due to the strong relations that the country keeps with Spain, who has historically supported its right to the independence from Morocco, and to the strong presence of Spanish NGOs in the region, nowadays Spanish is still spoken by 37,132 people, the 13.04% of the population, being the second in importance of the country after the Arabic^[13].

Hispanics in Asia-Pacific

Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands

The Mariana Islands are an island group in the northernmost Micronesia, a larger island group of the Pacific side of Southeast Asia. They are composed of the Northern Mariana Islands in the south (which include, mainly, the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota), a Commonwealth of the United States, and Guam in the north, a United States territory. They were discovered by Ferdinand Magellan on 6 March 1521, and were called Islas de los Ladrones (Spanish for Islands of the Thieves). In 1667 Spain formally claimed them, established a regular colony there, and gave the islands the official title of Las Marianas in honor of Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria, widow of Philip IV of Spain. They then had a population of 40-60,000 inhabitants, but the Chamorros were almost exterminated by the diseases brought by the Spaniards. The islands were used as a connection point between the Philippines and Mexico, and remained as a possession of the Spanish Empire until the Spanish-American war. Nowadays, the islands still have a small minority of Hispanic population (mainly mixed Spanish and Austronesian) that are mostly descended from Chamorros, the indigenous peoples that lived in the islands before the arrival of the Spaniards. They speak the Chamorro language, which is an Austronesian language with a large number of Spanish loanwords.

The Philippines

Europeans first arrived in the Philippine Islands with the Spanish expedition around the world led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 March 16 (March 17, 1521 in real date; Magellan did not realize that they had crossed the International Date Line). Magellan landed on the island of Cebu, claiming the lands for Spain and naming them Islas de San Lázaro^[14]. Over the next several decades, other Spanish expeditions were dispatched to the islands. In 1543, Ruy López de Villalobos led an expedition to the islands and gave the name Las Islas Felipinas (after Philip II of Spain) to the islands of Samar and Leyte.^[15] The name would later be given to the entire archipelago. In 1565 an expedition led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi sailing from New Spain (Mexico) landed in Cebu where the first Spanish settlement was created. Legazpi later went on to found Manila in 1571, which later became the capital of the Spanish colony, and the entire Spanish East Indies. During the following four centuries the Philippines remained as a part of the Spanish Empire and territory of New Spain. Consequently, the indigenous culture and Languages of the Philippines received a great influence from Spain and from other parts of the Empire, mainly Mexico. Although the Spanish language was not adopted as the mother tongue by the majority of the population, there is an important group of the population, composed mainly of Spaniards and Filipino mestizos (who include, among others, Filipinos of Spanish descent and Filipinos of Mexican descent), who speaks it. In 1863 free public education was introduced by Spain in all her territories including the Philippines, giving access to many native Filipinos to free schooling in Spanish. At its peak, Spanish was the first language of 10-15% of the population at the end of the 19th century. Spanish remained as the official language until 1987, when it lost its status with the imposition of the English by the U.S. authorities in the Filipino government system and education. Other Philippine languages, such as Tagalog, were not entirely replaced, but received strong influences from the Spanish language. New languages also originated, such as the Chavacano, a Spanish-based creole language, or the Filipino, a standardized version of Tagalog that serves as the national language in the country.

Australia

Australian people of Hispanic descent or immigrants who came from Spain or Latin America to live in and/or to work in Australia, represent a relatively small community. According to the 2001 Australian census, there are 60,000 Latino Australians, the largest being of Chilean (See Chilean Australian) and Salvadoran ancestries. The Spanish Australian population is around 50,000. Hispanic Australians comprise of about under one percent of people living in Australia.

Hispanics in the Americas

The Spanish colonization of the Americas began with the arrival in the Western Hemisphere of Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón) in 1492. From early small settlements in the Caribbean, the Spanish gradually expanded their range over four centuries to include Central America, most of South America, Mexico, the South of what today is Southern United States, the Western part of what today is Central United States, the Southwestern part of what today is British Columbia in Canada, and even reaching Alaska^[16], eventually ending with a series of independence movements in the Nineteenth Century, including ultimately Cuba's independence and the U.S. colonization of Puerto Rico in 1898 as part of the Spanish-American War.

Hispanics in Hispanic America

The total Hispanic population in Hispanic America numbers 367,307,000 million people. Hispanic America is composed by the following countries:

Argentina 40,747,000

Bolivia 9,182,000

Chile 16,295,000

Colombia 45,600,000

Costa Rica 4,401,000

Cuba 11,269,000

Dominican Republic 8,895,000

Ecuador 13,228,000

El Salvador 6,881,000

Guatemala 12,599,000

Honduras 7,205,000

Mexico 107,029,000

Nicaragua 5,487,000

Panama 3,232,000

Paraguay 6,158,000

Peru 27,968,000

Puerto Rico (US) 10,783,000

Uruguay 3,463,000

Venezuela 26,749,000

Hispanics in the United States

The Hispanics in the United States or Hispanic Americans are an ethnic group in the United States with Hispanic heritage. They constitute the largest minority group, by place of origin. A Hispanic person may be of any race (Amerindian, Mixed Amerindian and white, white, black, and Asian). 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 ethnic group in the United States, and in fact 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 of 105.6 million people. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 25% of the nation’s total population on that date.^[17]

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 in the continental US was by Juan Ponce de León, who landed in 1513 at a lush 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, and 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 a majority in several states until the 20th century. (See also New Spain.)

Hispanic soldiers have fought in all the wars of the United States, and have earned the highest distinction of any US ethnic group.([3], [4], [5], [6], List of Hispanic Medal of Honor recipients)

Hispanics in Europe

Spain is one of the 20 Hispanic countries in the world, and the source of many other Hispanic populations worldwide. However it is the only Hispanic country in Europe.

Hispanics in the United Kingdom

The Hispanic population of the UK is relatively low compared to the USA, however is one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the country. London has the largest hispanic population of any British city at well over 50,000. The Hispanic population (inc. Ancestry) stands at around 200,000 (0.2% of UK total population). The UK also has large Brazilian and Portuguese populations, despite these groups having traces of Hispanic ancestry they are not included in the Hispanic population of the country.

Hispanic Group	Actual Population	Significant Regions/Notes
Spanish Briton	54,105 (+ 90,000 with Spanish Ancestry)	42% live in London
Colombian Briton	50,000 (inc. Ancestry)	London - Especially in Elephant and Castle in Southwark
Argentine Briton	10,000+	Around 100,000 Anglo-Argentines are the descendants of English immigrants to Argentina
Cuban Briton	5,000	The vast majority of Cuban Britons live in London

Hispanics in Germany

The Hispanic population in Germany also has a strong presence, especially in such cities as Cologne and Hamburg. However the actual Hispanic American population is not as large as that of the United Kingdom. The German Hispanic population currently stands at around 300,000 (0.4% of German total population)^{[citation needed]}.

	Hispanic Group	Actual Population
	Spaniards	108,300

About Hispanics

Racial diversity

The racial diversity to be 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 US definition of Hispanic, the term encompasses a very racially 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.^{[citation needed]} In general, Hispanics are assumed to have traits such as dark hair and eyes, and tan or brown skin, similar to that of Arabs or the Roma People. 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 ethnic status questioned or even challenged by others. Actors Cameron Diaz and Alfonso Ribeiro, for example, are both Hispanic, even though they may be presumed not to be so because they do not fit the stereotype, the former being white and the latter predominantly black.

A great proportion of Hispanics identify as mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian), regardless of national origin.^{[citation needed]} This is largely because most Hispanics have their origins in majority mestizo Latin American countries. El Salvador and Paraguay are examples of mostly mestizo populations, with 90% of Salvadorans identified as mestizos and over 80% of Paraguayans.

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, Peru—where they constitute a majority or plurality of the population—and a considerable proportion from Mexico.^{[citation needed]}

Many Hispanics born in or with descent from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Colombia or Cuba 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), Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) or unmixed black African.

81% of the Puerto Rican and 65% of the Cuban populations are white, of mostly Spanish origin. ^[18]^[19]

Besides Spaniards of pure European stock, many people from the countries of Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Cuba, Uruguay,Colombia, and many regions in Mexico, are un-mixed European descent. Many of them, though labeled "Hispanic" by the U.S. definition, actually trace their ancestries to European countries other than Spain, which. Alternate European ancestries in these countries include German, Irish, French, Polish, Welsh, and many others. Nevertheless, in most cases, many do possess some Spanish ancestry, as the waves of European immigrants to these two countries tended to quickly assimilate, intermarrying with the country's local population, which initially was composed primarily of Spanish-descended people: criollos, mestizos, and mulattoes.^[20]^[21]^[22]

The population before the beginning of the immigration waves was only 400,000 persons in Argentina ^[23] and even less in Uruguay. By the 1910s, half of Buenos Aires population was foreign-born. With immigration ^[24], the total population of Argentina rose from 4 million in 1895 to 7.9 million in 1914, and to 15.8 million in 1947; during this time the country was settled by 1.5 million Italians and 1.4 million Spaniards, as well as Poles, Russians, French, Germans, Austrians and Swiss, Portuguese, Ukrainians, Yugoslavians, Czechs, Irish, Dutch, Scandinavians, etc.^[25]^[26] Argentines and Uruguayans of full or partial Italian ancestry alone account for at least one third of their countries' populations, with up to half of all Argentines today believed to be eligible for Italian passports. Minority groups consist of Native Americans and Asians in Argentina, blacks in Uruguay and people of mixed ancestries. Also, minority groups constitute about 5% of the Argentinian population and 10% of the Uruguayan population.^[27]

In the case of Argentina illegal immigration has been a relatively important population factor in recent demographics. Most illegal immigrants come from Bolivia and Paraguay, countries which border Argentina to the north. Smaller numbers arrive from Peru, Ecuador, Romania, and the People's Republic of China. The number of stowaways inside incoming ships from West Africa has increased in recent times. Estimates suggest that over one million people reside in Argentina illegally.^[28]

Likewise, a percentage of Hispanics as defined by the U.S. government trace their ancestries to the Middle East, for example Colombians, Ecuadorians, and Mexicans of Lebanese ancestry. Many Hispanics are of East Asian ancestry, as in the case of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Argentinians, and Panamanians of Chinese ancestry or Peruvians of Japanese ancestry. If they were to migrate to the United States, the definition most frequently advocated would consider them Hispanic. See also: Asian Latin American.

On occasion the demographics of certain nations may not mirror the demographics of their communities in the United States. This is the case with Cuban Americans. Most Cuban Americans are of relatively unmixed Spanish ancestry, despite Cuba being a mulatto/black majority country, according to most estimates. The racial disparity between Cubans on the U.S. mainland and those on the island is caused largely by the fact that most of the emigrants who fled in the early days of communist Cuba belong to the upper and middle classes, classes which have traditionally been predominantly white in that country as in other parts of Latin America and United States.

The presence of these mentioned races and race-mixes 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, there is a slowly 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 ^[29]. 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.)

A further contribution that contradicts the popular conception of Hispanic as a race, and especially as a race genetically different from white or at least Anglo-Saxons, lies in the recent discoveries by population genetics.

A research team at University of Oxford has found that the majority of Britons share a common genetic heritage with the Iberians who may have come to Britain largely during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic. The proportion of the native population that share Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups with Iberia is 73 percent in Scotland, 64 percent in England, 83 percent in Wales and 89-95 percent in Ireland.

In fact, Dr. Bryan Sykes has stated that the genetic fingerprint of the populations tested in the British Isles and Spain is almost identical and Stephen Oppenheimer comes to similar conclusions. Like most of their genetic relatives in Iberia the British adopted Celtic culture and language from south France during the Bronze age. Under the Roman Empire a Romano-British culture developed, which was in turn superseded by the Germanic Anglo-Saxon culture and language in what became England during the Migration Period. Iberia, though, maintained its Roman culture and language. However, because of their common genetic heritage, native Britons and their American descendants still share many of the same genetic markers with Spaniards and many Hispanics.^[30]^[31]^[32]^[33]

Nevertheless, the recent development of methodologies for defining population structure using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism markers has led a 2006 study of 681 European individuals to conclude that there is a consistent and reproducible distinction between “northern” and “southern” European population groups, strongly suggesting the later Mediterranean (Neolithic) origin of Spaniards, Greeks, Portuguese and Italians. On the other hand, all European populations north of the Alps and the Pyrenees (except for Ashkenazi Jews) seem to fall squarely into the "Northern" population group. [7] Still, the findings of a similar 2007 study claims; "The Spanish and Basque groups are the furthest away from other continental groups, which is consistent with the suggestions that the Iberian peninsula holds the most ancient European genetic ancestry". The same study also found "several significant axes of stratification, most prominently in a North-Southeastern trend but also along an East-West axis." It also said: "there is low apparent diversity in Europe with the entire continent-wide samples only marginally more dispersed than single population samples elsewhere in the world." ^[34]

The Spanish, like all European populations, have received multiple other influences. The possibility of Neolithic population movements into Iberia from North Africa is also suggested by geneticist Arnaiz-Villena, using HLA and MtDNA markers together with archaeological and linguistic evidence. [8] This could explain the puzzling fact that out of the 19 lineages of Mtdna Haplogroup U6 found in Iberia, only 9 are currently found in North Africa, pointing to a prehistoric (as well as modern) northward expansion into Iberia, probably during the Capsian diffusion. [9]

There exists a number of studies which focus on the genetic impact of the eight centuries of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula on the genetic make up of the Iberian population. Recent studies agree that there is a genetic relationship between (particularly southern) Iberia and North Africa as a result of this period of history. Iberia is the only region in Europe with a significant presence of the typically North West African Y-chromosome haplotypes E-M81 [10][11] and Haplotype V [12] as well as the Mtdna Haplotype U6. It is also the region in Europe with the highest frequency of Subsaharan Mtdna haplogroup L, probably as a result of Islamic colonisation as well as the slave trade which flourished in the 16th century. [13] [14] Evidently, the North African element in modern day Iberians' ancestry is minor when compared to the pre-Islamic elements.

The inhabitants of the Canary Islands, hold a gene pool that is halfway between the Iberians and the ancient native population, the Guanches (a proto-berber population), although with a major Iberian contribution. Guanche genetic markers have also been found, at low frequencies, in peninsular Spain, probably as a result of slavery and/or later immigration from the Canary Islands. [15]

The ancestry of Iberians has thus received influences from the many people which have settled on its territory throughout history including Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Punics, Celts, Vandals, Suevi, Visigoths, Alans, Byzantines, Berbers, Arabs, Slavs, Jews and, particularly in Andalusia, the Roma.

Furthermore, the Spanish population is becoming increasingly diverse due to recent immigration, as a result of the country's strong economic growth. Immigrants now make up about 10% of the population and come mainly from Morocco, Ecuador, Romania, Colombia and other countries in Africa, Europe and Latin America. [16].

Religious diversity

With regard to religious affiliation among Hispanics, Christianity — specifically Roman Catholicism — is usually the first religious tradition that comes to mind. Indeed, the Spaniards took the Roman Catholic faith to Latin America, and Roman Catholicism continues to be the overwhelmingly predominant, but not the only, religious denomination amongst most Hispanics. A small number of Hispanics are also Protestant.

There are also Hispanic Jews, of which most are the descendants of Ashkenazi Jews who migrated from Europe (German Jews, Russian Jews, Polish Jews, etc.) to Latin America, particularly Argentina (Argentina is host to the largest Jewish population in the Western Hemisphere outside of the United States)^[28] in the 19th century and during and following World War II. Some Hispanic Jews may also originate from the small communities of reconverted descendants of anusim — those whose Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi Jewish ancestors long ago hid their Jewish ancestry and beliefs in fear of persecution by the Spanish Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition in the Iberian peninsula and Latin America. There are also the now Catholic-professing descendants of marranos and the Hispano crypto-Jews believed to exist in the once Spanish-held Southwestern United States and scattered through Latin America. Additionally, there are Sephardic Jews who are descendants of those Jews who fled Spain to Turkey, Syria, and North Africa, some of who have now migrated to Latin America, holding on to some Spanish/Sephardic customs, such as the Ladino language. (See also History of the Jews in Latin America and List of Latin American Jews.)

Among the Hispanic Catholics, most communities celebrate their homeland's patron saint, dedicating a day for this purpose with festivals and religious services. Some Hispanics syncretize Roman Catholicism and African or Native American rituals and beliefs. Such is the case of Santería, popular with Cuban Americans and which combines old African beliefs in the form of Roman Catholic saints and rituals; or Guadalupism (the devotion towards Our Lady of Guadalupe) among Mexican American Roman Catholics. This latter hybridizes Catholic rites for the Virgin Mary with those venerating the Aztec goddess Tonantzin (earth goddess, mother of the gods and protector of humanity) and has all her attributes also endowed to the Lady of Guadalupe, whose Catholic shrine stands on the same sacred Aztec site that had previously been dedicated to Tonatzín, on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico. Other syncretistic beliefs include Spiritism and Curanderismo.

While a tiny minority, there are some Hispanic Muslims in Latin America and the US.

In the United States some 70% of U.S. Hispanics report themselves Catholic, and 23% Protestant, with 6% having no affiliation.^[35] A minority among the Roman Catholics, about one in five, are charismatics. Among the Protestant, 85% are "Born-again Christians" and belong to Evangelical or Pentecostal churches. Among the smallest groups, less than 4%, are U.S. Hispanic Jews and U.S. Hispanic Muslims. Most U.S. Hispanic Muslims are recent converts. ^{[citation needed]}

Music

Folk and popular dance and music also varies greatly among Hispanics. For instance, the music from Spain is a lot different from the Hispanic American, although there is a high grade of exchange between both continents. In addition, due to the high national development of the diverse identities of Spain, there is a lot of music in the different languages the Peninsula (Catalan and Basque, mainly). See, for instance, Music of Catalonia or Rock català.

On the other side, Latin America is home to a wide variety of music, instead it's usual to speak about "Latin" music as a single genre. Hispanic Caribbean music tends to favor complex polyrhythms of African origin. Mexican music shows combined influences of mostly Spanish and Native American origin, while traditional Northern Mexican music — norteño and banda — is more influenced by country-and-western music and the polka, brought by Central European settlers to Mexico. The music of Hispanic Americans — such as tejano music — has influences in rock, jazz, R&B, pop, and country music as well as traditional Mexican music such as Mariachi. Meanwhile, native Andean sounds and melodies are the backbone of Peruvian and Bolivian music, but also play a significant role in the popular music of most South American countries and are heavily incorporated into the folk music of Ecuador and Chile and the tunes of Colombia, and again in Chile where they play a fundamental role in the form of the greatly followed nueva canción. In US communities of immigrants from these countries it is common to hear these styles. Latin pop, Rock en Español, Latin hip-hop and Reggaeton styles tend to appeal to the broader Hispanic population, and varieties of Cuban music are popular with many Hispanics of all backgrounds.

Literature

There is a huge variety of literature from US Hispanics and the Hispanic countries. Of the most recognized writers are Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Gabriel García Márquez, Rubén Darío, and Mario Vargas Llosa, Julio Cortázar, Pablo Neruda amongst others.

Cuisine

"Hispanic cuisine" as the term is applied in the Western Hemisphere, is a misnomer. The vast majority of foods in "Latin America" are of Native American origins, and not of Spain. The cuisine of Spain often mirrors the cuisines of its Mediterranean neighbors, and in addition to the abundance of olives, olive oil, tomatoes, seafood and meats, foreign influences, such as the use of saffron, were introduced during the spice trade.

Traditional Mexican, Salvadoran, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Spanish, Argentine, and Peruvian cooking, for example, all vary greatly from each other, and take on new forms in the United States. While Mexican cuisine is the most familiar variety of "Hispanic food" in most of the United States, it is not representative of the cuisine of most other Hispanic peoples, in that it is heavily representative of indigenous ("Indian") foods.

The cuisines of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and other Central American countries are still heavily dependent and greatly indebted to staples of the cuisine and diet of the Aztec and Maya, including maize, beans, chile peppers. After 1492 these tradition came to be melded with those from Spain to form the modern cuisines of that region. Among the more popular and well known dishes of this region are tacos, enchiladas, tamales, rice and beans, horchata, and pupusas.

Cuban and Puerto Rican cuisines, on the other hand, tend to use a lot of pork and can be heavily dependent on starchy root vegetables, plantain and rice, and the most prominent incluences on their Spanish culinary traditions are those which 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 (however not Hispanic majority), is very similar to its regional neighbors in terms of influences and ingredients used.

The Argentine diet is heavily influenced by Argentina's position as one of the world's largest beef and wine producers. Grilled meats are a staple of most meals as are pastas, potatoes, rice, and a variety of vegetables (Argentina is a huge exporter of agricultural products). As one of the world's largest producers, wine is as much a staple drink to Argentines as beer is to Germans.

In Ecuador and Peru, potato dishes are typical since the potato is originally from this region. Beef and chicken are common sources of meat as is the cuy, a South American relative of the guinea pig. Given the coastal location, both countries have extensive fishing fleets, which provide a wealth of seafood options, including the signature South American dish, ceviche. Rice also plays an important role in Peruvian cuisine.

This diversity in staples and cuisine is also evident in the differing regional cuisines within the national borders of the individual countries. Most groceries in heavily Hispanic areas carry a wide array of specialty Latin American products, in addition to the widely available brands of tortillas and Mexican style salsa.

Symbols

Flag

While relatively unknown, there is a flag representing the countries of Hispanic America, its people, history and shared cultural legacy.

It was created in October of 1933 by Ángel Camblor, captain of the Uruguayan army. It was adopted by all the states of Latin America during La Conferencia Panamericana (The Pan-American Conference) held that same year in Montevideo, Uruguay.^[36]

The white background stands for peace, the Inti sun god in Inca mythology symbolizes the light shining on the American continent, and the three crosses represent Christopher Columbus' caravels, the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María used in his first voyage from Spain to the New World in 1492. The lilac color of the crosses evokes the Castilian banner.

Hymn

The hymn of the Americas was composed by R. Sciamarella in conmemoration of the Day of the Americas (Día de las Américas) which commemorates the foundation of the Union of the American Republics (Unión de Repúblicas Americanas, predecessor of the Organization of American States). Therefore it is not a hymn for all the Hispanics but just for those from the America.

Himno de las Américas

(R. Sciamarella)

Un canto de amistad, de buena vecindad,

unidos nos tendrá eternamente.

Por nuestra libertad, por nuestra lealtad

debemos de vivir gloriosamente.

Un símbolo de paz alumbrará el vivir

de todo el Continente Americano.

Fuerza de Optimismo, fuerza de la hermandad

será este canto de buena vecindad.

Argentina, Brasil y Bolivia,

Colombia, Chile y Ecuador,

Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela,

Guatemala y El Salvador,

Costa Rica, Haití y Nicaragua,

Honduras y Panamá,

Norteamérica, México y Perú,

Cuba y Canadá:

¡Son hermanos soberanos de la libertad!

Hymn of the Americas

(translation)

A song of friendship, of good neighborhood,

will unite us eternally.

For our liberty, for our loyalty,

we must live gloriously.

A symbol of peace will illuminate the life

of all the American Continent.

A force of Optimism, a force of brotherhood

shall be this song of good neighborhood.

Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia,

Colombia, Chile and Ecuador,

Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela,

Guatemala and El Salvador,

Costa Rica, Haiti and Nicaragua,

Honduras and Panama,

North America, Mexico and Peru,

Cuba and Canada:

They are sovereign brothers of freedom!

In this version, "Haiti" refers to both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as the name Haiti is one of the names of the island of Hispaniola, where both nations are located. Furthermore, from 1822 to 1844 the Republic of Haiti included the entire island. In an alternate version, the countries are re-arranged, "Canadá" is removed (as the already mentioned "Norteamérica" implies both the United States and Canada), and "Santo Domingo" (i.e. Dominican Republic) is added instead.