Hispanicity

Hispanicity ( _es. Hispanidad) is the community formed by all the people and countries that share a common hispanic-heritage and cultural pattern.

The 23 nations that are included are all Spanish-speaking, the community can be classified into four geographic areas: "Hispanic Europe" (Spain), Hispanic America (Spanish-speaking America), "Hispanic Africa" (Spanish-African territories, Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea) and "Hispanic Asia-Pacific" (culturally and linguistically influenced nations of the Philippines, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands).

Every October 12 in Spain " _es. Día de la Hispanidad" ("Day of Hispanicity" or "Hispanic Day") is celebrated as the national holiday. In the other nations of the community except the Philippines, the day is also celebrated as a commemoration of the date in 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered America, marking the beginning of the diffusion of Spanish language and culture, its lasting impact on the world.

History

"Hispanidad" or Spanish linguistic and cultural diffusion began on 12 October 1492 when Christopher Columbus initiated its European colonization of the Americas in the name of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. The kingdom of Castile (Castilla) built a global empire, spreading its culture and language in the Americas and biologically and culturally mixing with the indigenous peoples, altering the composition of the hemisphere. The penetration and reach of Spain at this time also extended into other European nations.

In 1713 the Real Academia Española was established to regulate written and spoken Spanish language throughout the empire so that it could be understood by all Hispanics. At the beginning of the 19th century, the American colonies' dissatisfaction with the Spanish government and Napoleon's invasion of Spain created an opportunity for revolution in America. All of the Spanish colonies obtained independence at this time, except Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Asian possession of the Philippines. These three countries obtained independence from Spain when the United States intervened in the Spanish-American War.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Hispanicity was moribund. Zacarías de Vizarra, Faustino Rodríguez-San Pedro and Ramiro de Maeztu revived interest in the concept in Spain and the Americas, changing its name to Dia de la Raza or "Day of the [New] Race". This was already a national celebration in many Hispanic countries, in honor of the meeting of Europeans and Amerindians, their mixing and the emergence of the mestizo race. Shortly thereafter, the first pan-Hispanic organizations such as the Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española began. With the restoration of democracy in Spain, all the Hispanic nations began to converge with, for example, the creation of the Cumbre Iberoamericana in 1991. Since then, the number of Hispano-American, Ibero-American, Pan-Latin American organizations has increased.

Currently, Hispanicity is a cooperative venture. Spain has created a base of support for Hispanic America and is the country that invests the most in this zone. Latinos or Hispanic choose to immigrate to Spain, due to its cultural and linguistic affinity.

Hispanics in the world

Spanish, as a mother tongue, is spoken by more than 333 million people, second only to Chinese). The total number of Spanish speakers is more than 395 million people.

Europe

In Europe, Hispanics reside primarily in Spain as it is the origin of Hispanicity, although there are small communities spread throughout Europe. The native-born population is more than 44 million, plus a large immigrant Hispanic community from Hispanic America and Equatorial Guinea.

Americas

The majority of Hispanics live in Hispanic America, coinciding with recognized international borders. The number surpasses 300 million. Countries with a majority Hispanic population include Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico (U.S. territory), and Venezuela.

The United States and Belize, while not officially counted as Hispanic nations, do each have a large Hispanic population. The United States has more than 40 million Hispanic residents, or about 14% of its total population. [cite web |url=http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/NC-EST2007-srh.html |title=Annual Estimates of the Population by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin for the United States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007 (NC-EST2007-03) |accessdate=2008-09-05 |work=national population estimates – characteristics |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau ] 43% of Belizeans commonly speak Spanish at home. [cite web |url= http://celade.cepal.org/cgibin/RpWebEngine.exe/PortalAction?&MODE=MAIN&BASE=CPVBLZ2000&MAIN=WebServerMain.inl
title= Belize 2000 Housing and Population Census |accessdate=2008-09-09 |year=2000 |publisher= Belize Central Statistical Office ]

Africa

Hispanics in the African continent are concentrated in overseas territories of Spain--Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, and Plazas de Soberanía)--and in Equatorial Guinea, which has Spanish as its official government language, although the people speak their respective native languages. In Morocco and Western Sahara, some people maintain Hispanic characteristics, although these countries are more so influenced by Arab and/or Berber languages and cultures. Altogether in Africa, two million speak Spanish.

Asia-Pacific

The Philippines is the only Asian country which retains Hispanic influence in its culture and native languages. This is largely due to the fact that Spain ruled the country through Mexico for more than 300 years. Spanish has made contributions to Philippine languages such as Tagalog, Cebuano, and other indigenous Philippine languages. One of the 170 languages in the Philippines is a Spanish-based creole called Chavacano.

Other countries, largely Spanish colonies, in the Asia-Pacific region which also exhibit Hispanic influence:
*Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, where Chamorro, a Spanish-influenced Austronesian language, is spoken.
*Caroline Islands, which nowadays are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part and Palau, where a Spanish-based creole language is spoken, and the local languages have Spanish influence.

*Easter Island, now an overseas territory of Chile. Spanish is the official language of the island.

ee also

*Hispanic
*List of hispanophones

References