Latin America

SPANISH SPEAKERS IN THE WORLD

The majority of Spanish speakers are in Latin America and Spain and it is the largest minority group in the United States. Spanish, as a mother tongue, is the second most spoken language in the world after Mandarin Chinese. 7.6% of the world's population is now Spanish-speaking. Spanish is the official language in 21 countries.

EUROPE'S INFLUENCE ON LATIN AMERICAN CULTURE

From the discovery of America in 1492 by Christopher Columbus to the conquest and colonization of the Spanish, Portuguese Empire, and from the beginning of the 17th century the British Empire (1608), France (1609) and the Netherlands (1625), there has been a great European influence in the New World. Likewise, the economic or forced migrations of Europeans fleeing from wars have had a strong effect and impact on the current Latin American culture.  

Latin-rest

The most relevant contributions were made in the following aspects:

 
Religion:
Religion has had a great impact on customs and rites. The indigenous people of the time went from being polytheists to a monotheistic religion, Christianity. This pre-Hispanic mixture with the European imposition created a new order in what are now the native traditions of each country.
 
Gastronomy:
The exchange of food between America, Europe and the rest of the world transformed the culinary life of many nations. America offered the European world a variety of previously unknown products and, in turn, received species that did not exist in the new world. Hispanic gastronomy is very diverse and it is the combination of so many different cultures and cooking styles that developed a new peculiar taste.
 
Traditional costumes
Sustainable fashion, craftsmanship and manual work in today's traditional costumes are the result of worldwide and especially Spanish (European) influence on pre-Hispanic civilizations. They reflect the cultural history and traditions of the groups that wear them through the fusion of historical facts and different factors that determine the final result.
 
Music:
Latin music, with its current rhythms and styles, emerged from the mixture of pre-Columbian, European and African music, among many others. There is a strong Pre-Columbian influence in it, which mixes the native sounds of civilisations such as the Mayans and the Andean with those of African slaves. The guitar as a fundamental instrument is Spanish heritage.
 
Literature:
The baroque style of Spain, called "culteralismo", also transcended in the reading and writing of Latin America. Poetry has also been a great Spanish heritage, not only in literature but also in song texts.
 
In this world of constant change and at the same time more globalised, it is worthwhile to get to know the different Spanish-speaking cultures. One of the reasons why I have started this project is to make the culture known country by country.