Spanish people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Spaniards (Españoles)
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| Total population |
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approx. 135 million (>350 mill1) (estimates include non-Castilian identified Spanish ethnic groups) |
| Regions with significant populations |
 Spain:40 million (est.)
Elsewhere: 8 - 10 million |
| Languages |
| Castilian and other Spanish languages and dialects. |
| Religions |
| Predominantly Catholic, with a minority of atheists, agnostics, Islam, and other religions. |
| Related ethnic groups |
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• other Latins • Hispanics |
The Spanish people or Spaniards are a nation native to Spain, in the Iberian Peninsula of southwestern Europe. Due to the complexity of regional identities in the Spanish state, being "Spanish" has come to mean either 1) being a citizen of the kingdom of Spain or 2) identifying with such a state and its "people". In the second sense, Spanishness is more of a political choice rather than an objective ethnicity.
Substantial populations descended from Spanish colonists and immigrants also exist in other parts of the world, most notably in Latin America. A more orthodox analysis would be used to class these groups as Spanish, based on common language, culture and a sense of shared ancestry.
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[edit] Historical background
Spaniards are a South-Western European population, predominantly Mediterranean and Atlantic European. The earliest modern humans inhabiting Spain are believed to have been Paleolithic peoples that may have arrived in the Iberian Peninsula as early as 35,000-40,000 years ago. In more recent times the Iberians are believed to have arrived or developed in the region between the 4th millennium BC and the 3rd millennium BC, initially settling along the Mediterranean coast.
Celtic tribes arrived in Iberia between the 9th century BC and the 6th century BC. The Celts merged with the Iberians in central Spain, creating a local hybrid culture known as Celtiberian. In addition, a group known as the Tartessians and later Turdetanians inhabited southwestern Spain and who are believed to have developed a separate civilization of Phoenician influence. The seafaring Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians successively settled along the Mediterranean coast and founded trading colonies there over a period of several centuries. The Second Punic War between the Carthaginians and Romans was fought mainly in what is now Spain and Portugal.[6]
The Roman Republic annexed Iberia during the 2nd century BC and transformed most of the region into a series of Latin-speaking provinces. As a result of Roman colonization, the majority of local languages, with the exception of Basque, stem from a type of vulgarized Latin that was spoken in Hispania (Roman Iberia), which evolved into the modern languages of the Iberian peninsula, including Castilian, which became the unifying language of Spain, and now known in many countries as Spanish. Hispania (including Spain, but also Portugal) emerged as an important part of the Roman Empire and produced notable historical figures such as Trajan, Hadrian and Seneca.
The Germanic Vandals and their subordinates the Iranic Alans arrived around 409 AD, but were displaced to North Africa by another Germanic tribe, the Visigoths who conquered the region around 415 AD and became the dominant power in Iberia for a time. Iberian-Roman culture eventually romanized the Visigoths and other tribes. Another Germanic tribe, the Suebi (including the Buri), who arrived at roughly the same time as the Vandals, became established in the old North western Roman province of Gallaecia a kingdom which survived until late 6th century when it too was integrated by the Visigoths.
In 711, the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by Muslim Arab-Berbers, popularly known as the Moors, who conquered nearly all the peninsula except the Kingdom of Asturias in the very northern part and subsequently ruled part of the region as Al-Andalus, but were driven south during their reign, ruling areas from between three to nearly eight centuries, ending with their defeat in 1492. These Muslim invaders were mainly of Berber origin with prominent Arab tribal leaders mixed in and they converted many locals to Islam to the point that at certain points in time Muslims may have outnumbered Christians. Muslims of Hispanic origin were generally know as Muladis (or Muwalladin in Arabic), "those born of foreign parentage". Muslim Iberia was known as Al-Andalus. Ultimately, Muslims and Sephardic Jews were forcibly converted to Catholicism or were expelled after the Christian reconquest (Reconquista).
[edit] Ethnicities and regions
Spain itself consists of various regional sub-nationalities and ethnicities including the Castilians (a large culturally-dominant minority [7] who most strongly identify with a Spanish identity), the Catalans, Valencians and Balearics (speakers of a distinct yet related Romance language in eastern Spain), the Basques (a distinct people inhabiting the Basque country), and the Galicians, who speak a language which is very close to Portuguese. Regional diversity is important to many Spaniards and some regions (other than the ones associated with the different nationalities) have strong local identities and dialects, such as Asturias, Aragon, the Canary Islands, and Andalusia.
The Roma
Spain is home to around 700,000 Spanish-Roma (Gitanos). Roma are a formerly-nomadic group, originating in Northern India, which spread across Western Asia, North Africa and Europe, reaching Spain in the 15th century. Gitanos, for a number of historical and cultural reasons are not considered a separate or "foreign" population in Spain, but a distinct sub-ethnicity which overlaps with the wider Spanish ethnicity. This is not generally the case in other European countries. Indeed, Spanish culture, language and identity is generally retained by Gitano communities in Southern France and North Africa. There are no official statistics on the Gitano population in Spain. Estimates range from 600 000 to 800 000, making Spain, together with Romania and Bulgaria, home to one of the largest Roma communities in Europe. Over 40% of Gitanos live in the region of Andalusia, where they have traditionally enjoyed a higher degree of integration than in the rest of the country. A number of Spanish Gitanos also live in Southern France, especially in the region of Perpignan. Gitanos play an important role in Spanish (particularly Andalusian) folklore, music and culture.
[edit] Ancestry
Modern day Iberians (Spaniards and Portuguese) are predominantly a Atlantic European and Mediterranean people originating in South-Western Europe. Genetically, they are similar to other Southern and Western European populations.
Differences between regions
Genetic differences between Spanish regions do exist [8][9], particularly with regards to the Basque country [10][11][12] but also with regards to Andalusia and Catalonia [13][14][15][16] as well as Galicia [17]. However, these differences should not be exaggerated, particularly in the light of migrations which occurred during the period of the reconquest [18] [19]PDF (231 KiB).Mass migrations also occurred throughout the second half of the 20th century during the period of industrialization from poorer rural areas (fundamentally Andalusia and Extremadura) to industrial regions in Madrid, Catalonia, Valencia and the Basque country. In any case all Iberians are genetically similar and fall into the cluster of European based genetic diversity. [20] [21][22][23]PDF (386 KiB).
The Paleolithic basis of Iberian ancestry
Modern-day Spaniards largely trace their ancestry to the paleolithic peoples which began arriving to the continent between the end of the last glaciation around 45,000 years ago.
Northern Iberia is believed to have been a major Ice-age refuge from which Paleolithic humans later colonized Europe. Indeed, the findings of a 2007 study of the human genome has lent support to the suggestions that the Iberian peninsula holds the most ancient European genetic ancestry. [24] Migrations from what is now Northern Spain during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic, links modern Iberians to the populations of much of Western Europe and particularly the British Isles. Recent books published by geneticists Bryan Sykes, Stephen Oppenheimer and Spencer Wells have confirmed the large Paleolithic and Mesolithic Iberian influence in the modern day British gene-pool.
Paleolithic haplogroup R1b (of Paleolithic origin) is the most common haplogroup in practically all of the Iberian peninsula but is particularly dominant in the Basque region where it reaches frequencies of 95%. The possibility of pre-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.[25]
The Neolithic colonisation of Europe from Western Asia and the Middle East around 10,000 years ago reached the Iberian peninsula, as most of the rest of the continent, although, consistently with the demic diffusion model, its impact being less than in the Eastern half of the European continent [26][27]. Arnaiz Villena's findings possibly offer an alternative to the demic diffusion from Anatolia and the Near East in explaining cultural innovations in Iberia during the Neolithic.[28]
The genetic legacy of Muslim rule
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 Spanish population. Recent studies seem to agree that there is a genetic relationship between (particularly southern) Iberia and North Africa as a result of this period of history. Iberia seems to be the only region in Europe with a significant presence of the typically North West African Y-chromosome haplotypes E-M81 [29] and Haplotype V [30] 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.[31] Evidently, the North African element in modern day Iberians is minor when compared to the dominant Paleolithic component.
The Canary Islands
The inhabitants of the Canary Islands, hold a gene pool that is halfway between the Iberians and the ancient native population, the Guanches, probably of Northwest African origins, although with a major Iberian contribution (62-78%). [32]
Other Influences
The ancestry of Iberians has 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, Rumania, Colombia and other countries in Africa, Europe and Latin America. [33].
[edit] Language
Languages spoken in Spain include Castilian (Castellano), Catalan (Català), Valencian (Valencià), Galician (Galego), Basque (Euskara), Asturian (Asturianu), Aranese Gascon (Aranés) and Aragonese (Aragonés), each with their own various dialects. Although Castilian is but one of the many languages of Spain, it is this language which is commonly known as being the "Spanish language" since it is the official state language, although minority languages are co-official in a number of autonomous communities.
On the peninsula, Castilian Spanish is divided in two dialects: The northern dialect spoken in the Castilla y Leon, and the northern half of the country more generally, and the southern dialect, spoken in Andalusia, most of Castilla la Mancha, Murcia and Extremadura. The southern dialect is further differentiated in Andalusia by phonetical peculiarities such as the "ceceo" and "seseo".[34] The Canary Islands also have a distinct dialect of Castilian Spanish which is very close to Cuban and Venezuelan Spanish. Linguistically, the Spanish language is a Romance language and therefore Spaniards are considered a Latin people. The strong Arabic influence on the language (nearly 4000 words are of Arabic origin) and the independent evolution of the language itself through history partially explain its difference from other Romance languages. The Basque language has also left a strong imprint on the language both linguistically and phonetically. Other changes in Spanish have come from borrowings from English and French, although English influence is stronger in Latin America than in Spain.
The number of speakers of Castilian Spanish, as a mother tongue, is roughly 35.6 million, while the vast majority of other groups in Spain such as the Galicians, Catalans and Basques also speak Spanish as a first or second language, which boosts the number of Spanish speakers to the overwhelming majority of Spain's population of 45.9 million.
Spanish was exported to the Americas over three centuries of Spanish colonial rule in that continent, starting with the arrival of Christopher Columbus to Santo Domingo in 1492. Spanish is spoken natively by over 400 million people, and spans across most countries of the Americas; from the Southwestern United States in North America down to Tierra del Fuego, the most southernly region of South America in Chile. Mexico has the largest Spanish-speaking population in the World, with approximately 100 million speakers.[35] A variety of the language, known as Judæo-Spanish or Ladino (or Haketia in Morocco), is still spoken by descendants of Sephardim (Spanish and Portuguese Jews) who fled Spain following a decree of expulsion of Moors and Jews in 1492. Also, in Asia, a Spanish creole language known as Chabacano is spoken by nearly 1 million people in the Philippines, and developed from the mix of Spanish with native Tagalog and Cebuano languages during Spain's rule of the country through Mexico from 1565 to 1898.
[edit] Religion
According to several sources (Spanish official polls and others, www.ine.es), about 76% self-identify as Catholics, about 2% with another religious faith, and about 19% identify as non-believers or atheists.
[edit] Other related peoples
The Spanish are globally related to other Latin peoples of Europe, mainly the Portuguese (also in the Iberian Peninsula).
Tens of millions of Spanish descendants can be found throughout the Hispanic countries of Latin America in the form of criollos (predominantly Spaniards born in the Americas), mestizos (mixed Spanish/Amerindian), mulattos (mixed Spanish/African) or triracial (Spanish/African/Amerindian). In the United States, the number of Mexican-Americans represent a significant portion of the Spanish descended population, as the majority -over 70% of the population of Mexico- have Spanish ancestry, though most are also have Amerindian ancestry. [36].
On a smaller scale, in addition to approximately 17,000 Spanish citizens in the Philippines, there is also a small but important minority of Spanish Filipinos (mixed Spanish / Indigenous Filipino ancestry). According to recent genetic studiesPDF (806 KiB) by Stanford University, 3.6% of Filipinos have Spanish, Mexican or European ancestry, from either Hispanic or American colonization.
[edit] Footnotes
- Including those of mixed Spanish and other European ancestry, mestizos and/or mulattos.
- Including mestizos and/or mulattos.
- Including other Hispanics of direct Spanish descent, and Spanish-descended mestizos and mulattos.
- Including Brazilians of mixed Spanish and other European ancestry, and Spanish-descended mestizos and/or mulattos.
- Including Spanish Filipinos.
[edit] References
[edit] Offline references
- Castro, Americo. The Spaniards: An Introduction to Their History (Univ. of Calif. Press 1980).
- Chapman, Robert. Emerging Complexity: The Later Pre-History of South-East Spain, Iberia, and the West Mediterranean (Cambridge 1990).
- Goodwin, Godfrey. Islamic Spain (Chronicle Books 1990).
- Harrison, Richard. Spain at the Dawn of History (Thames & Hudson 1988).
- James, Edward. Visigothic Spain (Oxford 1980).
