Hispanic America ( or ), historically known as Spanish America () or Castilian America (), consists of the Spanish-speaking countries and territories of the Americas. In all of these countries, Spanish is the main language—sometimes sharing official status with one or more indigenous languages (such as Guaraní, Quechua, Aymara or Mayan) or English (in Puerto Rico), and Latin Catholicism is the predominant religion.
Hispanic America is sometimes grouped together with Brazil under the term Ibero-America, meaning those countries in the Americas with cultural roots in the Iberian Peninsula. Hispanic America also contrasts with Latin America, which includes not only Hispanic America, but also Brazil (the former Portuguese America), and by few definitions, the former French colonies in the Western Hemisphere (areas that are now in either the United States or Canada are usually excluded).
History
The Spanish conquest of the Americas began in 1492, up until 1531, during the reign of the catholic crown King Fernando V and Queen Isabella. Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean islands during one of his expeditions with the Spanish crew looking for Asia. Once established in the "New World" the desire of the Spaniards to acquire wealth quickly developed into conquest, the idea of goods and wealth drew more Spaniards' attention to the new land. Conquerors like Hernan Cortes motivated the Spanish to conquer lands and establish their living in this 'New World' and ultimately was part of a larger historical process of world discovery, through which various European powers colonized a considerable amount of territory and peoples in the Americas, Asia, and Africa between the 15th and 20th centuries. Hispanic America became the main part of the vast Spanish Empire. Napoleon's intervention in Spain in 1808 and the consequent chaos initiated the dismemberment of the Spanish Empire, as the Hispanic American territories began their struggle for emancipation. By 1830, the only remaining Spanish American territories were the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, until the 1898 Spanish–American War.
Impact
thumb|right|This image shows a 'Mestiza' child as she is a mixture of a European man and an Amerindian woman.
In general, Spanish colonies allowed mostly flexibility as long as people followed specific obligations and respected hierarchies and within these limits, Hispanic Americans were able to negotiate certain aspects of their living. In the early 1540s, once most of the territories were conquered, a lot of Spanish established themselves there for a living, and they also brought with them many African slaves and even free Africans to build on the economy of the 'New World'. They created two separate Republics; Republica de Españoles and Republica de Indios. One was composed of the Spanish and their African slaves, and the other was composed of indigenous peoples.
There are theories that there were various Republics, others say there were none, however, these two existed and inside the Republica de Indios there were lots of villages that created their own too.
! Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
! GDP (nominal [USD, billions])
! GDP (nominal) per capita
! GDP (PPP)
! GDP (PPP) per capita
|-
| Argentina
| style="text-align: right" |46,376,763
| style="text-align: right" | 2,780,400
| style="text-align: right" |604.15
| style="text-align: right" |12,812.56
| style="text-align: right" |12,45.01
| style="text-align: right" |26,390.44
|-
| Bolivia
| style="text-align: right" |11,673,029
| style="text-align: right" | 1,098,581
| style="text-align: right" |46.71
| style="text-align: right" |3,857.15
| style="text-align: right" |125.06
| style="text-align: right" |10,340.32
|-
| Chile
| style="text-align: right" |19,116,209
| style="text-align: right" | 756,102
| style="text-align: right" |344.94
| style="text-align: right" |17,253.13
| style="text-align: right" |517.53
| style="text-align: right" |29,928.25
|-
| Colombia
| style="text-align: right" |52,882,884
| style="text-align: right" | 1,141,748
| style="text-align: right" |386.61
| style="text-align: right" |7,352.67
| style="text-align: right" |1042.26
| style="text-align: right" |19,770.18
|-
| Costa Rica
| style="text-align: right" |5,094,114
| style="text-align: right" | 51,180
| style="text-align: right" |85.18
| style="text-align: right" |16,213.84
| style="text-align: right" |141.09
| style="text-align: right" |26,866.67
|-
| Cuba
| style="text-align: right" |11,326,616
| style="text-align: right" | 110,860
| style="text-align: right" | 147.79
| style="text-align: right" |13,270.00
| style="text-align: right" |254.80
| style="text-align: right" |22,300.00
|-
| Dominican Republic
| style="text-align: right" |11,847,904
| style="text-align: right" |48,670
| style="text-align: right" |128.92
| style="text-align: right" |11,825.35
| style="text-align: right" |294.96
| style="text-align: right" |27,230.14
|-
| Ecuador
| style="text-align: right" |17,643,060
| style="text-align: right" | 283,561
| style="text-align: right" |122.59
| style="text-align: right" |6,630.18
| style="text-align: right" |268.19
| style="text-align: right" |14,485.60
|-
| El Salvador
| style="text-align: right" |6,486,201
| style="text-align: right" | 21,041
| style="text-align: right" |35.28
| style="text-align: right" |5,550.27
| style="text-align: right" |75.95
| style="text-align: right" |11,700.78
|-
| Guatemala
| style="text-align: right" |16,858,333
| style="text-align: right" | 108,889
| style="text-align: right" |112.40
| style="text-align: right" | 5,739.46
| style="text-align: right" |214.57
| style="text-align: right" |10,948.04
|-
| Honduras
| style="text-align: right" |9,904,608
| style="text-align: right" | 112,492
| style="text-align: right" | 34.16
| style="text-align: right" |3,285.97
| style="text-align: right" |75.65
| style="text-align: right" |7,198.47
|-
| Mexico
| style="text-align: right" |128,932,753
| style="text-align: right" | 1,972,550
| style="text-align: right" |2,017.48
| style="text-align: right" |15,246.01
| style="text-align: right" |3,413.80
| style="text-align: right" |25,966.32
|-
| Nicaragua
| style="text-align: right" |6,624,554
| style="text-align: right" | 130,373
| style="text-align: right" |17.28
| style="text-align: right" |2,599.90
| style="text-align: right" |51.96
| style="text-align: right" |7,648.20
|-
| Panama
| style="text-align: right" |4,314,768
| style="text-align: right" | 75,320
| style="text-align: right" |82.38
| style="text-align: right" |18,489.51
| style="text-align: right" |190.81
| style="text-align: right" |42,788.36
|-
| Paraguay
| style="text-align: right" |7,132,530
| style="text-align: right" | 406,752
| style="text-align: right" |45.84
| style="text-align: right" |7,345.63
| style="text-align: right" |124.93
| style="text-align: right" |20,054.20
|-
| Peru
| style="text-align: right" |32,971,846
| style="text-align: right" | 1,285,216
| style="text-align: right" |282.92
| style="text-align: right" |8,288.27
| style="text-align: right" |566.26
| style="text-align: right" |16,684.88
|-
| Puerto Rico
| style="text-align: right" |3,075,871
| style="text-align: right" | 9,100
| style="text-align: right" |117.68
| style="text-align: right" |37,232.71
| style="text-align: right" |132.27
| style="text-align: right" |41,942.78
|-
| Uruguay
| style="text-align: right" |3,473,727
| style="text-align: right" | 176,215
| style="text-align: right" |82.46
| style="text-align: right" |23,053.11
| style="text-align: right" |108.17
| style="text-align: right" |30,474.28
|-
| Venezuela
| style="text-align: right" |28,435,943
| style="text-align: right" | 916,447
| style="text-align: right" |92.53
| style="text-align: right" |3,541.70
| style="text-align: right" |212.74
| style="text-align: right" |7,978.27
|-
! style="text-align: left" | Total
! style="text-align: right" |412,323,809
! style="text-align: right" |11,485,417
! style="text-align: right" |4,787.30
! style="text-align: right" |11,610.53
! style="text-align: right" |9,056.09
! style="text-align: right" |21,963.53
|}
Largest cities
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
|- align="left"
!City !!Country !!Population !!Metro
|-
|Mexico City || ||9,209,944 ||21,804,515
|-
|Buenos Aires || ||3,054,300 ||12,806,866
|-
|Bogotá || ||7,963,734 ||12,545,272
|-
|Lima || ||8,894,000 ||9,569,468
|-
|Santiago || ||5,428,590 ||7,112,000
|-
|Guadalajara || ||1,385,621 ||5,286,642
|-
|Caracas || ||3,273,863 ||5,239,364
|-
|Guatemala City || ||2,149,188 ||4,500,000
|-
|Monterrey || ||1,133,814 ||4,106,054
|-
|Medellín || ||2,636,101 ||3,731,447
|-
|Quito || ||2,011,388 ||3,156,182
|-
|Guayaquil || ||2,698,077 ||3,113,725
|-
|Havana || ||2,350,000 ||3,073,000
|-
|Maracaibo || ||2,201,727 ||2,928,043
|-
|Santo Domingo || ||965,040 ||2,908,607
|-
|Puebla || ||1,399,519 ||2,728,790
|-
|Asunción || ||525,294 ||2,698,401
|-
|Cali || ||2,068,386 ||2,530,796
|-
|San Juan || ||434,374 ||2,509,007
|-
|San Salvador || ||540,090 ||2,223,092
|-
|San José || ||1,543,000 ||2,158,898
|-
|Toluca || ||820,000 ||1,936,422
|-
|Montevideo || ||1,325,968 ||1,868,335
|-
|Managua || ||1,380,300 ||1,825,000
|-
|Barranquilla || ||1,148,506 ||1,798,143
|-
|Santa Cruz || ||1,594,926 ||1,774,998
|-
|Valencia || ||894,204 ||1,770,000
|-
|Tijuana || ||1,286,157 ||1,751,302
|-
|Tegucigalpa || ||1,230,000 ||1,600,000
|-
|La Paz || ||872,480 ||1,590,000
|-
|Panama City || ||990,641 ||1,500,000
|-
|Barquisimeto || ||1,116,000 ||1,500,000
|-
|León || ||1,278,087 ||1,488,000
|-
|Córdoba || ||1,309,536 ||1,452,000
|-
|Ciudad Juárez || ||1,301,452 ||1,343,000
|-
|San Pedro Sula || ||1,250,000 ||1,300,000
|-
|Maracay || ||1,007,000 ||1,300,000
|-
|Rosario || ||908,163 ||1,203,000
|-
|Torreón || ||548,723 ||1,144,000
|-
|Bucaramanga || ||516,512 ||1,055,331
|}
Ethnology
The population of the Hispanic America is made up of the descendants of three large racial groups and their combinations:
• The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, descendants of Incas, Aztecs, Mayan, Taíno and others.
• Those of European ancestry, mainly Spanish and Italian.
• Africans who were brought over to Hispanic America during the Slave Trade.
Unlike in the United States, there were no anti-miscegenation policies in Latin America. Though still a racially stratified society there were no significant barriers to gene flow between the three populations. As a result, admixture profiles are a reflection of the colonial populations of Amerindians, Europeans and Africans. The pattern is also sex biased in that the Amerindian and African maternal lines are found in significantly higher proportions than Amerindian or African Y chromosomal lines. This is an indication that the primary mating pattern was that of European males with Amerindian or African females. According to the study, half the White populations of the Latin American countries studied have some degree of either Indigenous American or African admixture (MtDNA or Y chromosome). In countries such as Chile and Colombia almost the entire white population was shown to have some non-European admixture.
Frank Moya Pons, a Dominican historian documented that Spanish colonists intermarried with Taíno women, and, over time, these mestizo descendants intermarried with Africans, creating a tri-racial Creole culture. 1514 census records reveal that 40% of Spanish men in the colony of Santo Domingo had Taíno wives.
The most common combinations are:
• Mestizos, those of mixed ancestry.
thumb|343x343px|Flag Map of Hispanic America<!--
PLEASE DO NOT MODIFY THIS TABLE EXCEPT IN ACCORDANCE WITH DISCUSSION. ALL OTHER MODIFICATIONS WILL BE REVERTED.
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{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right"
|+ Ethnic distribution, in 2005 - Population estimates, as of 2020
Yiddish and Hebrew can be heard around Buenos Aires. Non-European or Asian languages include Japanese in Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay; Korean in Argentina and Paraguay; Arabic in Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, and Chile; and Chinese throughout South America.
In several nations, especially in the Caribbean region, creole languages are spoken. Creole languages of mainland Latin America, similarly, are derived from European languages and various African tongues.
The Garifuna language is spoken along the Caribbean coast in Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua mostly by the Garifuna people a mixed race Zambo people who were the result of mixing between Indigenous Caribbeans and escaped Black slaves. Primarily an Arawakan language, it has influences from Caribbean and European languages.
Religion
The Spanish and the Portuguese took the Latin Catholic faith to their colonies in the Americas, Asia and Africa; Roman Catholicism remains the predominant religion amongst most Hispanic Americans. Membership in Protestant denominations is increasing, particularly in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and other countries. In particular, Pentecostalism has experienced massive growth. This movement is increasingly attracting Latin America's middle classes. Anglicanism also has a long and growing presence in Latin America.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! width="170 px" style="background:Lavender; color:Black"| Countries
! Population Total
! width="170 px" style="background:Lavender; color:Black" | Christians %
! Christian Population
! width="170 px" style="background:Lavender; color:Black" | Unaffiliated %
! Unaffiliated Population
! width="170 px" style="background:Lavender; color:Black"| Other religions %
! Other religions Population
!Source
|-
|
|43,830,000||85.4%
|37,420,000
||12.1%
|5,320,000
||2.5%
|1,090,000
|
|-
|
|11,830,000||94.0%
|11,120,000
||4.1%
|480,000
||1.9%
|230,000
|]]
While relatively unknown, there is a flag representing the countries of Spanish America, its people, history and shared cultural legacy.
It was created in October 1933 by Ángel Camblor, captain of the Uruguayan army. It was adopted by all the states of Spanish America during the Pan-American Conference of the same year in Montevideo, Uruguay.