Spanish people

{{Infobox Ethnic group |group =Spanish peopleEspañoles |image = |caption = 1^st row: Isabella I of Castile • Ferdinand II of Aragon • Hernán Cortés • Ignatius Loyola • Charles I • Teresa of Ávila 2^nd row: Cervantes • Francisco Goya • José María de Pereda • Rosalía de Castro • Pérez Galdós • Leopoldo Alas 3^rd row: Gaudí • Picasso • Dalí • Juan Carlos I of Spain • Antonio Banderas • Rafael Nadal |poptime= Spanish 42,534,950Spanish population abroad1,574,123 (2010)Hispanosphere 360,000,000 |genealogy = |popplace = Spain 41,242,592 (2010) Spanish nationals abroad60.1% Americas - 36.9% Europe - 3% other |region2 = |pop2 = 183,277 |ref2 = |region6 = |pop6 = 77,069 |ref6 = |region9 = |pop9 = 60,368 |ref9 = |region13 = |pop13 = 18,000 |ref13 = |region14 = |pop14 = 13,880 |ref14 = |region17 = |pop17 = 2,100 |ref17 =

The Roman Republic conquered Iberia during the 2nd and 1st centuries 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 the Vulgar 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 is now known in most countries as Spanish. Hispania emerged as an important part of the Roman Empire and produced notable historical figures such as Trajan, Hadrian, Seneca and Quintilian.

The Germanic Vandals and their subordinates the Iranic Alans arrived around 409 AD. The Vandals may have given their name to the region of Andalusia, which according to one of several theories of its etymology which would be the source of Al-Andalus — the Arabic name of Iberian Peninsula. The Vandals 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 three centuries. 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.

Middle Ages

After two centuries of domination by the Visigothic kingdom, the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by Muslim armies in 711. These armies consisted mainly of Berbers with prominent Arab tribal leaders amongst them and were commonly known as the Moors. They conquered nearly all of the peninsula except for the Christian Kingdom of Asturias in the far north. Muslim controlled areas of Iberia became known as Al-Andalus. The duration of Muslim rule varied greatly, from as little as twenty two years in the northwest of the peninsula to 781 years in the far south. For the first three centuries of Muslim rule, the peninsula's Christian kingdoms in the north were very much on the defensive, but eventually after the break-up of Muslim unity in the 11th century, the Muslims were driven south in a long process that historians term the Reconquista, which ended with their final capitulation in 1492.

In the first two centuries of Al-Andalus, Muslims formed a ruling minority. Another minority, present since Roman times, were the Jews. In the 10th century a massive conversion of the population from Christianity to Islam took place, so that muladies comprised the majority of the population by the century's end. However, the process began to reverse as the Christian reconquest gathered pace. Ultimately, Jews and Muslims either converted to Catholicism or were expelled from Spain in 1492 and 1502, following the completion of the reconquista. Between 1609 and 1614, approximately 300,000 Moriscos—new Christians forcibly converted from Islam who continued to speak, write, and dress like Muslims—were expelled.

In 842, another group of Germanic tribe, Vikings or Norsemen, invaded the peninsula. They attacked Cadiz in 844. These Vikings were Hispanized in all Christian kingdoms, while they kept their ethnic identity and culture in Al-Andalus.

The union of the Christian Kingdoms of Castille and Aragon and the conquest of Granada led to the formation of the Spanish state as we know it today and thus to the development of Spanish identity in the form of one people. The Canary Islands had an Indigenous population called the Guanches whose origin is still the subject of discussion among historians and linguists.

Colonialism and Emigration

In the 16th century, following the military conquest of most of the new continent, perhaps 240,000 Spaniards entered American ports. They were joined by 450,000 in the next century. Since the conquest of Mexico and Peru these two regions became the principal destinations of Spanish colonial settlers in the 16th century. In the period 1850-1950, 3.5 million Spanish left for the Americas, particularly Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, and Cuba. 94,000 Spaniards chose to go to Algeria in the last years of the 19th century, and 250,000 Spaniards lived in Morocco at the beginning of the 20th century. From 1961 to 1974, at the height of the guest worker in Western Europe, about 100,000 Spaniards emigrated each year.

Ethnicities and regions

Spain's regions and nationalities

n girls in historical costumes.]] Spain itself consists of various regional populations including the Castilians, the Catalans, Valencians and Balearics (speakers of Catalan, a distinct Romance language in eastern Spain), the Basques (people inhabiting the Basque country), Basque language speakers, and the Galicians, who speak Galician. Regional diversity is important to many Spaniards, and some regions also have strong local identities and dialects such as Asturias, Aragon related to south navarrese and Spanish people from La Rioja, the Canary Islands, León, and Andalusia.

The Roma

Spain is home to around 200,000 Spanish-Roma (Gitanos). Roma are a formerly-nomadic group, which spread across Western Asia, North Africa, and Europe, first 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 ethnicity constituting one of the populations native to Spain. Gitanos play an important role in particularly Andalusian folklore, music, and culture. There are no official statistics on the Gitano population in Spain. Estimates range from 600,000 to 700,000, 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.

Modern immigration

The population of Spain is becoming increasingly diverse due to recent immigration. Spain now has among the highest per capita immigration rates in the world and the second highest absolute net migration in the World (after the USA) and immigrants now make up about 10% of the population. Since 2000, Spain has absorbed more than 3 million immigrants, with thousands more arriving each year. Immigrant population now tops over 4.5 million. They come mainly from Europe, Latin America, China, the Philippines, North Africa, and West Africa. (see Immigration to Spain).

Languages

[[Image:Spain languages.PNG|thumb|right|300px|The vernacular languages of Spain (simplified) {| style="width:100%; background:none;" | align=top | | align=top | |}]] Languages spoken in Spain include Spanish (castellano or español) (74%), Catalan (català, called valencià in the Valencian Community) (17%), Galician (galego) (7%), and Basque (euskara) (2%). Other languages are Asturian (asturianu), Aranese Gascon (aranés), Aragonese (aragonés), and Leonese, each with their own various dialects. Spanish is the official state language, although the other languages are co-official in a number of autonomous communities.

Peninsular Spanish is largely considered to be divided into two main dialects: Castilian Spanish (spoken in the northern half of the country) and Andalusian Spanish (spoken mainly in Andalusia). However, a large part of Spain, including Madrid, Extremadura, Murcia, and Castilla-la Mancha, speak local dialects known as "transitional dialects" between Andalusian and Castilian Spanish. The Canary Islands also have a distinct dialect of Castilian Spanish which is very close to Caribbean Spanish. Linguistically, the Spanish language is a Romance language and is one of the aspects (including laws and general "ways of life") that causes Spaniards to be labelled a Latin people. The strong Arabic influence on the language (nearly 4,000 words are of Arabic origin, many nouns and few verbs) and the independent evolution of the language itself through history, most notably the Basque influence at the formative stage of Castilian Romance, partially explain its difference from other Romance languages. The Basque language left a strong imprint on Spanish 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 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 due to over three centuries of Spanish colonial rule 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 and Argentina. A variety of the language, known as Judaeo-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, a Spanish creole language known as Chabacano is spoken by less than 1 million people in the Philippines, which developed from the mix of Spanish and native Tagalog and Cebuano languages during Spain's rule of the country through Mexico from 1565 to 1898.

In Russia, the Spaniards (anti-Franco political dissidents) who moved there during World War II speak a mix of Russian and Spanish, while some speak Catalan and Basque. In Montreal, Quebec, Canada, many Spanish-speaking immigrants relocated in the city adapted a mixed language Franspanol, while they're able to speak French and in addition, English. The Spanish language is also found in small communities of Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Religion

According to several sources (Spanish official polls and others, www.ine.es), about 76% self-identify as Christian Catholics, about 2% with another religious faith, and about 19% identify as atheists.

Spanish diaspora

Genetic studies, both autosomal and of haplogroup markers, show clearly that Spaniards are closely related to the rest of Europe, and in particular with the population groups of the Atlantic littoral: France, Britain, Ireland, and its Iberian neighbour, Portugal. As a western nation, Spain shares strong cultural relationships with the rest of the western world that extends back to the common medieval and Roman inheritances; but it has especially strong cultural relations with Latin America and the countries of Latin Europe, especially Italy, Portugal, and France.

Outside of Europe, Latin America has the largest population of people with Spanish ancestry. These include people of full or partial Spanish ancestry.

Other regions of the world with small Spanish descended populations include the Philippines and Marianas Islands.

People with presumed Spanish ancestry

The listings above shows the ten largest Spanish-descendant populations, although Spanish Chilean of Chile and Spanish Uruguayan of Uruguay could be included by percentage (each at above 40%) instead of numeral size. The Italian community in Uruguay and the part-European/Amerindian mestizo majority in Chile outnumbers "pure" Spaniards.

See also

Genetic history of the Iberian Peninsula

Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain

Nationalities and regions of Spain

Spanish regional identities

*Andalusian people

*Aragonese people

*Asturian people

*Balearic people

*Basque people

*Canarian people

*Cantabrian people

*Castilian people

*Catalan people

*Extremaduran people

*Galician people

*Leonese people

*Valencian people

Languages of Spain

*Spanish (see also dialects and varieties)

*Catalan/Valencian

*Basque

*Galician

*Aranese

*Aragonese

*Asturian

*Judaeo-Spanish

*Leonese

*Murcian language

Ancient Spanish peoples

*Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula

**Aquitanians and Vascones

**Celtiberians

**Gallaeci

**Iberians

**Lusitanians

**Tartessians

**Vettones

*Greeks and Punics (Phoenicians and Carthaginians)

*Guanches (in the Canary Islands)

*Romans

*Suevi

*Vandals and Alans

*Visigoths

*Moors of the Al-Andalus (Arabs/Berbers)

*Jews

Peoples with Spanish ancestry

*Criollos

*Latin Americans

*Spanish Americans

*Spanish Argentines

*Brazilians of Spanish descent

*Spanish Chileans

*Spanish Mexicans

*Spanish Puerto Ricans

*Spanish Peruvians

*Spanish Uruguayans

*Ethnic groups in Central America

*White Latin Americans

*Isleños

*Louisiana Creole people

*Spanish Britons

*Spanish Australians

*Spanish Canadians

*Spanish Equatoguineans

*Los Fernandinos of Equatorial Guinea

*Emancipados of Equatorial Guinea

*Filipinos of Spanish descent

Footnotes

References

Castro, Americo. Willard F. King and Selma Margaretten, trans. The Spaniards: An Introduction to Their History. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1980. ISBN 0520041771.

Chapman, Robert. Emerging Complexity: The Later Pre-History of South-East Spain, Iberia, and the West Mediterranean. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. ISBN 0521232074.

Goodwin, Godfrey. Islamic Spain. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1990. ISBN 0877016925.

Harrison, Richard. Spain at the Dawn of History: Iberians, Phoenicians, and Greeks. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1988. ISBN 0500021112.

James, Edward (ed.). Visigothic Spain: New Approaches. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980. ISBN 0198225431.

Thomas, Hugh. The Slave Trade: The History of the Atlantic Slave Trade 1440–1870. London: Picador, 1997. ISBN 033035437X.

Category:Ethnic groups in Europe Category:Romance peoples Category:People of Spanish descent