Hispanophone

Hispanophone (Spanish: hispanohablantes, hispanoparlantes or hispanófono; also castellanohablantes, castellanoparlantes, or castellanófonos) or Hispanosphere denotes Spanish language speakers and the Spanish-speaking world. The term derives from the Latin political name of the Iberian Peninsula, Hispania.

Geographic distribution

The present map has colored the Hispanosphere, composed of the currently Hispanophone (Spanish speaking) geographic areas.

  Countries where Spanish is the sole official national language.

  Countries and regions where the Spanish language is co-official.

Hispanophones are estimated at between 500^[1] and 550 million^[2][3] globally, making Spanish the second most spoken language in terms of native speakers. Around 360 million live in Hispanic America and 50 million in Spain or 70 million in Europe . There are a large number of Spanish speakers in the United States, comprising more than 34 million.^[4] There are also smaller Hispanophone groups in Canada, northern Morocco, Equatorial Guinea, Western Sahara^[5] 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 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.

Hispanosphere

During the Spanish period between 1492 to 1898, many people from Spain migrated to the new lands they had conquered. The Spaniards took 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.

List of countries with Spanish-speaking populations

Rank	Country/territory	Population	Source	Secondary also	Area (km²)	Area (sq mi)
1	Mexico	112,336,538	CONAPO 2010	110,651,490	1,970,552	761,606
2	Colombia	47,598,005	Official Colombian Population clock	47,463,052	1,141,748	440,831
3	Spain	46,987,819	Official INE estimate 1/1/2011	46,585,009	504,030	195,364
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[6]	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	Cuba	11,268,000	UN 2009 estimate
11	Guatemala	11,204,000	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	Equatorial Guinea	507,000	UN estimate
23	Philippines	439,000	[7]
24	Western Sahara	430.000	UN estimate
25	Belize	180,000 (Census of Belize (2000))	Censo de Belice (2000)[8]

Europe

Spain

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 traditions. 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.

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 United Kingdom tends to be sharper compared to Spain, where the medieval territories don't exist anymore. For example, people never refer to King Felipe VI 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."

Americas

Hispanic America

Spanish is the official language in a great part of the Americas.

United States

Hispanic and Latino Americans
National origin groups Argentine Americans Bolivian Americans Chilean Americans Colombian Americans Costa Rican Americans Cuban Americans Dominican Americans Ecuadorian Americans Guatemalan Americans Honduran Americans Mexican Americans Nicaraguan Americans Panamanian Americans Paraguayan Americans Peruvian Americans Puerto Ricans (stateside) Salvadoran Americans Spanish Americans Uruguayan Americans Venezuelan Americans
History History of Hispanic and Latino Americans History of Mexican Americans
Colonial casta system castizo cholo criollo mestizo mulato pardo/moreno zambo
Political movements Chicano Movement Hispanic and Latino American politics
Organizations Association of Hispanic Arts Congressional Hispanic Caucus Congressional Hispanic Conference LULAC MALDEF MEChA NALEO NALFO National Council of La Raza National Hispanic Institute RNHA SHPE UFW USHCC
Culture Literature Music Religion Studies
Related national groups Belizean Americans Brazilian Americans Filipino Americans Guyanese Americans Haitian Americans Portuguese Americans Surinamese Americans
Languages English Spanglish Spanish United States New Mexican Puerto Rican
Ethnic groups Californio Chicano Hispano Isleño Nuevomexicano Nuyorican Tejano
Lists Communities with Hispanic majority Hispanic and Latino Americans Puerto Rico Related topics

Origins and demography

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, mixed, 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.^[9]

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 Amerindians. 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 United States. In the same year Francisco Vásquez 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 United States 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 today's three 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 ( ^[10][11][12] 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.

National Hispanic Heritage Month

The National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated in the United States from September 15 to October 15.^[13]

Cuisine

"Hispanic cuisine" as the term is applied in the Western Hemisphere, is a misnomer. What is usually considered 'Hispanic' cuisine in the United States is mostly Mexican and Central American cuisine. Mexican cuisine is composed of mainly indigenous -Aztec and Mayan- and Spanish influences.

Mexican cuisine is considered intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO and can be found all over the United States.

In the United States, with its growing Hispanic population, food staples from Mexican cuisine and the cuisine from other Hispanic countries have become widely available. Over the years, the blending of these cuisines has produced unique American forms such as Tex-Mex cuisine. This cuisine, which originated in Texas, is based on maize products, heavily spiced ground beef, cheese and tomato sauces with chilies. This cuisine is widely available not just in the United States but across other countries, where American exports are found. In Florida, Cuban food is widely available. All of these "Hispanic" foods in the United States have evolved in character as they have been commercially americanized by large restaurant chains and food companies.

The cuisine of Spain has many regional varieties, with Mediterranean flavors based on olive oil, garlic, and tomatoes and due to its long Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, has been graced with a great variety and availability of seafood. In the inland regions of Spain, there is a long tradition of cured meat of different kinds, in addition to an abundance of dishes such 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 through French and Italian dishes. It is only in the last ten years that Hispanic American dishes have been introduced in Spain. In the United States and Canada, the number of "Spanish" restaurants has become a growing trend, following the "tapas style restaurants" fashion that first appeared in North America in the 1990s.

Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican cuisines, on the other hand, tend to use a lot of pork and can depend heavily on starchy root vegetables, 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. The use of spicy chile peppers of varying degrees of strength used as flavour enhancers in Mexican tradition is practically unknown in traditional Spanish-Caribbean dishes. The cuisine of Haiti, a country with 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 pastas, 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.

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. In general, Hispanics are assumed to have traits such as dark hair and eyes, and brown or olive 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 Hispanic 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, Alexis Bledel 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. If Hispanics with mostly Caucasoid features are to be considered Hispanic, they have stereotypical Southern European appearance.

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 Hispanic American countries. El Salvador, Paraguay, and Mexico are examples of mostly half-caste populations, with 90% of Salvadorans, 95% of Paraguayans, and 70% ^[14] of Mexicans identifying as mestizo, with Mexico having the largest total mestizo population at over 66 million.^[15]

Many individuals identified as "Hispanics" (based on the U.S. definition) are of unmixed Amerindian 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, or Puerto Rico, there was a process of miscegenation, which resulted in many people having both indigenous and European origins. 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 Colombians, Ecuadorians, Chileans, and Mexicans of Lebanese or Palestinian ancestry. Many Hispanics are of East Asian ancestry, as in the case of Cubans, Mexicans, Panamanians and Peruvians. If they were to migrate to the United States, the definition most frequently advocated would consider them Hispanic. See also: Asian Hispanic 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 Hispanic 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 mulattoes 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.^[16] 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." ^[17]

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.^[18] 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.^[19]

Africa

Angola

The former Portuguese colony has a community of Afro-Cubans known as Amparos. They descend from Afro-Cuban soldiers brought to the country in 1975 as a result of the Cuban involvement in the Cold War. Fidel Castro deployed thousands of troops to the country during the Angolan Civil War. As a result of this era, there exists a small Spanish-speaking community in Angola of Afro-Cubans numbering about 100,000.

Equatorial Guinea

In the former Spanish province of Equatorial Guinea, 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 Morocco, 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.

Nigeria

The small Amaro population are descendants of repatriated Afro-Cuban indentured servants.

Plazas de soberanía

Since the Reconquista, 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 Spain.

Western Sahara

In the former Spanish province of Western Sahara, Spanish is de facto official (However, in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, one of the claimants to the territory, it is de jure co-official).^[20]

Asia-Pacific

Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and the Philippines

Spanish is the official language of Easter Island, a territorial possession of Chile in Polynesia.

In the former Spanish province of the Philippines, a portion of the population possesses Spanish or Hispanic American ancestry (especially from Mexico), or both. The exact number of Filipinos of Hispanic descent is unknown because the Spanish government did not keep comprehensive records, while successive governments disregarded race in collating population statistics. Ostensibly Spanish-speaking families emigrating to Spain, Hispanic America, and the United States after the 1945 Allied bombing of Intramuros during the Second World War, while many people of Hispanic descent also left during the authoritarian rule of President Ferdinand Marcos.

Section 7, Article XIV of the 1987 Philippine Constitution specifies Spanish (along with Arabic) as a language to "be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis", while the Philippine Academy of the Spanish Language (Spanish: Academia Filipina de la Lengua Española) remains the state regulating body for the language. Castellano is the sole dialectical standard taught in schools, while Philippine Spanish currently has a few thousand native speakers left.

Despite its rapid decline in the 20th century, there has been a revival of interest in the Spanish language in the first decade of the 21st century. Since the rule of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (herself a fluent speaker), Spanish is slowly being re-introduced into the educational system, with a revival of Spanish-language media including Filipinas Ahora Mismo (Tagalog: Filipinas Ora Mismo), a radio programme broadcast on Radio Manila FM.

Many Philippine languages including Filipino notably contain numerous loanwords of Spanish origin, while several Spanish-based creoles, loosely grouped under the term Chavacano, are still spoken by over a million Filipinos.

Mariana Islands

The Mariana Islands (today split between the United States territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) were formerly governed as a part of the Spanish East Indies, and thus many Chamorros possess some degree of Spanish admixture.

While most people living on these islands no longer speak Spanish, the native Chamorro language exhibits a noticeable Spanish influence in its vocabulary. Many Chamorros have also preserved Hispanic cultural elements such as fiestas, cockfighting, and the Catholic faith despite having integrated with the American way of life.

Spanish surnames are still prevalent on Guam, and the custom of women keeping their maiden names after marriage is a both byproduct of Spanish culture on these islands as well as the matrilineal structure of indigenous Chamorro culture.

See also

• Flag of the Hispanic People
• Hispanic
• Hispanicity
• List of hispanophones
• Panhispanism
• Sprachraum
• World language
• Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone, the corresponding words relating to use of the English, French, and Portuguese languages, respectively

References

Language speaker -phone terms Anglophone Arabophone Francophone Hispanophone Lusophone Russophone Sinophone

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