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76-795: The Latin American Free Trade Association came into effect on January 2, 1962. When the trade association commenced it had seven members and its main goal was to eliminate all duties and restrictions on the majority of their trade within a twelve-year period. By the late 1960s the area of LAFTA had a population of 220 million and produced about $ 90 billion of goods and services annually. By the same time it had an average per capita gross national product of $ 440. By 1970, LAFTA expanded to include four more Latin American nations which were Bolivia , Colombia , Ecuador , and Venezuela . It now consisted of eleven nations. In 1980, LAFTA reorganized into

152-437: A lieutenant under Columbus, who later became the first governor of the island. From the start of the conquest of Puerto Rico, Castilians ruled over the religious ( Roman Catholic ) and political life. Some came to the island for just a few years and then returned to Spain; however, many stayed. Puerto Rico's founding family were Castilians (Ponce de León family). Their home was built in 1521 by Ponce de León but he died

228-529: A Latin American country due to Spanish colonialism, although the term "Spanish-American" is used only to refer to Americans whose ancestry originates entirely or partially from Spain . They are found in large concentrations in five major states from 1940 through the early twenty-first century. In 1940, the highest concentration of Spaniards were in New York (primarily New York City ), followed by California , Florida , New Jersey and Pennsylvania . Immigration to

304-617: A combination of their nationality , ethnicity and their ancestral origins. In addition to the indigenous population, Latin Americans include people with Old World ancestors who arrived since 1492. Latin America has the largest diasporas of Spaniards , Portuguese , Africans , Italians , Lebanese and Japanese in the world. The region also has large German (second largest after the United States), French , Palestinian (largest outside

380-500: A coordination of policies. Compared e.g. to the European Union the political and economic integration is very limited. LAFTA brought many new positive changes to Latin America. With LAFTA in place existing productive capacity could be used more fully to supply regional needs, industries could reduce costs as a result of potential economies through expanded output and regional specialization, and attraction to new investment occurred as

456-470: A few groups in the country's highlands. In Bolivia , Aymara , Quechua and Guaraní hold official status alongside Spanish. Guarani is, along with Spanish, an official language of Paraguay , and is spoken by a majority of the population (who are, for the most part, bilingual), and it is co-official with Spanish in the Argentine province of Corrientes . In Nicaragua , Spanish is the official language, but, on

532-667: A lesser extent from Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Catalonia and the Basque Country. It is estimated that between 1880 and 1930, 25,000 Spaniards moved to El Salvador. The Spanish people represented the third largest group of immigrants in the country, only surpassed by the French and Italians. The arrival of the Spaniards in Guatemala began in 1524 with the conquest of the territory under

608-642: A majority; some are dominated by inhabitants of European ancestry; and some countries' populations are primarily mulatto . Black , Asian , and zambo (mixed black and native American) minorities are also identified regularly. White Latin Americans are the largest single group, accounting for more than one-third of the population. The Latinobarómetro surveys have asked respondents in 18 Latin American countries what race they considered themselves to belong to. The figures shown below are averages for 2007 through 2011. Don't know/No response. Weighted using 2011 population. Spanish and Portuguese are

684-596: A part of the Spanish Empire ) and continues to the present day. On 25 September 1493, Christopher Columbus set sail on his second voyage with 17 ships and 1,200–1,500 men from Cádiz , Spain. On 19 November 1493, he landed on the island, naming it San Juan Bautista in honor of Saint John the Baptist . The first Spanish settlement, Caparra , was founded on 8 August 1508 by Juan Ponce de León , born in Valladolid , Spain,

760-439: A result of the regional market area. Although LAFTA has brought many constructive results, it has also brought problems to individual nations as well as to Latin America as a whole. Some of the problems which the individual countries face are the way they are grouped together by their economic strengths according to LAFTA. The grouping was originally Brazil and Argentina in one group, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela in

836-444: A sparsely populated strip of land). Then again in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A substantial Spanish-descended Criollo population gradually built up, while some mixed with the indigenous populations ( Mestizos ), with the black slave population ( Mulattoes ), or with other European immigrants. Since a great part of the immigrants to Uruguay before the mid-19th century were of Spanish descent, and

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912-539: Is 342,040. The earliest European immigrants were Spanish colonisers who arrived in the 16th century. They came to form the majority of the population by the time of Chilean independence . They came mainly from Castile and Andalusia and formed the majority population. In the 18th and 19th centuries, many Basques from both Spain and France came to Chile where they integrated into the existing elites of Castilian origin. Other European nationalities then followed and also became rich and fused with each other and

988-403: Is concentrated in places that were part of the Spanish Empire . Countries with sizeable populations are Argentina , Bolivia , Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico , Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay , Peru , Uruguay , Venezuela , and, to a lesser extent, Brazil , Belize , Haiti , United States , Canada ,

1064-657: Is estimated that there are currently 26,880 Spanish nationals living in the Dominican Republic. After the discovery of the territory that is now El Salvador , the Spaniards began to conquer the territory. The east and north of El Salvador were easy to conquer due to the small indigenous population there, but the center-west had a lot of resistance; after the conquest, the Spanish were disappointed to learn that in El Salvador there

1140-610: Is primarily spoken in the Lesser Antilles. It is a French-based creole, that is the local language spoken among the natives of the Caribbean islands of Saint Lucia and Dominica and also in Martinique and Guadeloupe . Creole languages of mainland Latin America, similarly, are derived from European languages and various African tongues. The vast majority of Latin Americans are Christians (90%), mostly Roman Catholics . About 71% of

1216-722: Is the region of the Americas where Romance languages (i.e., those derived from Latin )—particularly Spanish and Portuguese , as well as French —are primarily spoken. It includes 21 countries or territories: Mexico in North America ; Guatemala , Honduras , El Salvador , Nicaragua , Costa Rica and Panama in Central America ; Colombia , Venezuela , Ecuador , Peru , Bolivia , Brazil , Paraguay , Chile , Argentina and Uruguay in South America ; and Cuba , Haiti ,

1292-459: Is the 23rd and most recent United States national census . National Census Day , the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. Statistics for those who self-identify as ethnic Spaniard, Spanish, Spanish American in the 2010 American Community Survey . Spanish settlement in Uruguay took place firstly in the period before Uruguay's independence from Spain (then known as Banda Oriental ,

1368-454: The Reyes Católicos ( Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile ) created a confederation of reigns , each with their own administrations, but ruled by a common monarchy. According to Henry Kamen , it was only after centuries of a common rule that these separate realms formed a fully unified state. In 1492, Spain drove out the last Moorish king of Granada. After their victory,

1444-589: The Age of Discovery , the Spanish became one of Europe's first and largest emigrating populations. The rapid expansion of the Spanish Empire led to an unprecedented dispersal of Spanish people, primarily concentrated in the vice-royalties of New Spain and Peru in the Americas. Between 1846 and 1932 nearly five million Spaniards went to the Americas, mostly to South America in general and to Argentina and Brazil in particular. Unprecedented waves of emigrants left Spain during

1520-524: The Age of Discovery , the Spanish were the earliest and one of the largest communities to emigrate out of Europe, and the Spanish Empire 's expansion during the first half of the 16th century saw an "extraordinary dispersion of the Spanish people", with particular concentrations "in North and South America", mainly the vice-royalties of the New Spain and Peru . During the first half of the 16th century, following

1596-505: The Caribbean region, creole languages are spoken. The most widely spoken creole language in the Caribbean and Latin America in general is Haitian Creole , the predominant language of Haiti ; it is derived primarily from French and certain West African tongues with indigenous, English, Portuguese and Spanish influences as well. The other most spoken Creole is Antillean Creole French that

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1672-595: The Catholic monarchs negotiated with Christopher Columbus , a Genoese sailor attempting to reach Cipangu by sailing west. Castile was already engaged in a race of exploration with Portugal to reach the Far East by sea when Columbus made his bold proposal to Isabella. Columbus instead inadvertently "discovered" the Americas , inaugurating the Spanish colonization of the continents . The Indies were reserved for Castile. After

1748-547: The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean —in summary, Hispanic America , plus Brazil and Haiti . Canada and the United States , despite having sizeable Romance-speaking communities, are almost never included in the definition, primarily for being predominantly English-speaking Anglosphere countries. Latin America, therefore, can be defined as all those parts of the Americas that were once part of

1824-636: The Philippines and wider Europe . According to the latest data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística 's Register of Spaniards Resident Abroad (PERE), "the number of people with Spanish nationality living abroad reached 2,908,649 on January 1, 2024, an increase of 4.2% (118,332 people) with respect to the data from the same day last year". However, most of them are naturalized citizens returning to their countries of origin or remigrating elsewhere; only about 855,000 natural born Spaniards (about 2% of

1900-455: The Spanish , Portuguese or French colonial empires, namely Spanish America , Colonial Brazil and New France . . The population of Latin America comprises a variety of ancestries, ethnic groups and races, making the region one of the most diverse in the world. The specific composition varies from country to country: many have a predominance of mixed European and native American, or mestizo , population; in others, native Americans are

1976-564: The Spanish conquest of Guatemala was primarily the result of its technical superiority, the Spaniards were helped by the Mayans who were already involved in a bitter internal struggle. After a period of political instability exacerbated by the collapse of the world market for indigo , each province seceded from the federation, starting with Costa Rica . The federation collapsed between 1838 and 1840, when Guatemala became an independent nation. Spanish immigration to Mexico began in 1519 and spans to

2052-482: The citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-ethnic and multi-racial . Latin Americans are a pan-ethnicity consisting of people of different ethnic and national backgrounds. As a result, some Latin Americans do not take their nationality as an ethnicity , but identify themselves with

2128-452: The conquest of the Americas . At the end of the 16th century both commoners and aristocrats from Spain migrated to Mexico. The regions from which most Spanish immigrants originated were those of Extremadura , Castile , Galicia , Catalonia and Andalusia . Most of the colonial immigrants, in consequence, went from the southern regions of Spain to what now is considered the coastal Peruvian region. These immigrants generally departed from

2204-544: The world's second largest Christian population , after Europe . According to the 2005 Colombian census or DANE, about 3,331,107 Colombians currently live abroad. The number of Brazilians living overseas is estimated at 2 million people. An estimated 1.5 to two million Salvadorians reside in the United States. At least 1.5 million Ecuadorians have gone abroad, mainly to the United States and Spain. Approximately 1.5 million Dominicans live abroad, mostly in

2280-472: The 19th century. In 1800 the population was 155,426 and the century ended with almost a million inhabitants (953,243), multiplying the population by about six times. The main component responsible was the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 which led to immigrants from some 74 countries arriving. Included were hundreds of Corsican , French , Irish , German , Lebanese , Maltese and Portuguese families moving to

2356-529: The Arab states), Chinese and Jewish diasporas . The specific ethnic and/or racial composition varies from country to country and diaspora community to diaspora community: many have a predominance of mixed indigenous and European descent or mestizo , population; in others, native Americans are a majority; some are mostly inhabited by people of European ancestry; others are primarily mulatto . The largest single group are white Latin Americans . Together with

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2432-530: The Basque–Castilian elite to create modern Chilean culture . In the 20th century, there was an influx of refugees of the Spanish Civil War and Franco's regime. (see Winnipeg ship ). They have kept their Spanish national identity and set up Spanish clubs throughout the country. The Spanish culture of the original settlers slowly evolved into Chilean folk culture, especially the huaso culture, and at

2508-709: The Canaries offered a source of dyes such as the orchil lichen. The treaty settled disputes between Castile and Portucalense County over the control of the Atlantic, in which Castilian control of the Canary islands was recognized but which also confirmed Portuguese possession of the Azores, Madeira, the Cape Verde islands and gave them rights to lands discovered and to be discovered as well as any other island which might be found and conquered from

2584-500: The Canary islands beyond toward Guinea. The Castilians continued to dominate the islands, but due to the topography and the resistance of the native Guanches , complete pacification was not achieved until 1495, when Tenerife and La Palma were finally subdued by Alonso Fernández de Lugo . After that, the Canaries were incorporated into the Kingdom of Castile . The islands were conquered by mostly Andalusians and some Castilians at

2660-556: The Caribbean. Dutch is the official language of some Caribbean islands and in Suriname on the continent; however, as Dutch is a Germanic language , these territories are not considered part of Latin America. Indigenous languages are widely spoken in Peru , Guatemala , Bolivia and Paraguay , and, to a lesser degree, in Mexico , Chile and Ecuador . In Latin American countries not named above,

2736-668: The Dominican Republic dates back to the founding of La Isabela, the first European settlement in the Americas, by Christopher Columbus in 1493 after the destruction of the Fuerte de la Navidad a year prior by the Cacique Caonabo. In 1510, there were 10,000 Spaniards in the colony of Santo Domingo, and it rose to over 20,000 in 1520. During the eighteenth century, there were French colonists that settled in many Spanish towns, particularly in Santiago de los Caballeros ; by 1730 they accounted for 25% of

2812-783: The Latin American Integration Association (Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración, ALADI). The membership of ALADI had remained unchanged until Cuba joined in 1999. The goal of the LAFTA is the creation of a free trade zone in Latin America. It should foster mutual regional trade among the member states, as well as with the U.S. and the European Union . To achieve these goals, several institutions are foreseen: The LAFTA agreement has important limitations: it only refers to goods, not to services, and it does not include

2888-843: The Latin American population consider themselves Catholic. Membership in Protestant denominations is increasing, particularly in Brazil , Guatemala and Puerto Rico . Argentina hosts the largest communities of both Jews and Muslims in Latin America. Indigenous religions and rituals are practiced in countries with large indigenous populations, especially Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, and Afro-Latin American religions such as Santería , Candomblé , Umbanda , Macumba and Vodou are practiced in countries with large Afro-Latin American populations, especially Cuba, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Haiti. Latin America constitutes, in absolute terms,

2964-749: The United States declined sharply between 1930 and 1940 from a total of 110,000 to 85,000. Many immigrants moved either back to Spain or to another country. In the 2013 American Community Survey , 759,781 people that reported "Spaniard", 652,884 were native USA-born and 106,897 were foreign-born. 65.3% of the foreign-born were born in Europe, 25.1% were born in Latin America , 8.3% from Asia , 0.6% in Northern America , 0.5% in Africa and 0.1% in Oceania . The 2010 census

3040-590: The United States from Spain was minimal but steady during the first half of the nineteenth century, with an increase during the 1850s and 1860s resulting from the social disruption of the Carlist civil wars. Much larger numbers of Spanish immigrants entered the country in the first quarter of the twentieth century—27,000 in the first decade and 68,000 in the second—due to the same circumstances of rural poverty and urban congestion that led other Europeans to emigrate in that period, as well as unpopular wars. The Spanish presence in

3116-748: The United States. More than 1.3 million Cubans live abroad, most of them in the United States. It is estimated that over 800,000 Chileans live abroad, mainly in Argentina, Canada, United States and Spain. Other Chilean nationals may be located in countries like Costa Rica, Mexico and Sweden. An estimated 700,000 Bolivians were living in Argentina as of 2006 and another 33,000 in the United States. Central Americans living abroad in 2005 were 3,314,300, of which 1,128,701 were Salvadorans , 685,713 were Guatemalans , 683,520 were Nicaraguans , 414,955 were Hondurans , 215,240 were Panamanians and 127,061 were Costa Rica . As of 2006, Costa Rica and Chile were

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3192-547: The beginnings of the 15th century. In 1402, they began to subdue the native Guanche population and the Guanches were initially enslaved and gradually absorbed by the Spanish colonizers. After subsequent settlement by Spaniards and other European peoples , mainly Portuguese , the remaining Guanches were gradually diluted by the settlers and their culture largely vanished. Alonso Fernández de Lugo , conqueror of Tenerife and La Palma, oversaw extensive immigration to these islands from

3268-581: The black population dropping to 12%, the mulatto population to 8%, and the quadroons to 31%. In present times the majority of the descendants of these Spaniards can be found in the North or Cibao Region of the Dominican Republic, representing a significant portion of the population in provinces such as Valverde , Espaillat , Hermanas Mirabal , La Vega and especially in Santiago de los Caballeros , but other places with important white minorities include Distrito Nacional, La Romana, Bonao, San Felipe de Puerto Plata, Punta Cana Village and Santa Cruz de Barahona. It

3344-533: The command of Pedro de Alvarado . After the conquest and the colonial era, more people came to the country, not as conquerors, but to do business or daily activities. The Spanish embassy in Guatemala City reports some 9,311 Spaniards living in Guatemala in 2014. Early European immigrants from Guatemala were Spaniards who conquered the indigenous Mayan population in 1524. They ruled for almost 300 years. Although

3420-404: The country's Caribbean coast English and indigenous languages such as Miskito , Sumo , and Rama also hold official status. Colombia recognizes all indigenous languages spoken within its territory as official, though fewer than 1% of its population are native speakers of these. Nahuatl is one of the 62 native languages spoken by indigenous people in Mexico that are officially recognized by

3496-400: The fact that a significant part of the late-19th century/early-20th century immigrants to Uruguay were Spaniards, the vast majority of Uruguayans are of mostly Spanish ancestry. However, this prevalence and the numerous shared cultural aspects between Uruguay and Spain (the Spanish language , Roman Catholicism , Criollo / Hispanic traditions), massive Immigration to Uruguay at the turn of

3572-411: The failed plans of the Spanish monarchy to expel the French colonists, the monarchy decided to actively encourage the mass settlement of Spanish families in its territory. Over the nineteenth century, the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo was the subject of a mass migration of Spaniards, most of whom came from the Canary Islands. Due to this migration, it decreased the amount of non-whites in the colony with

3648-561: The first Spanish settlement in Cuba, with orders from Spain to conquer the island. Most heritage comes from Canarians , Asturians , Galicians and Castilians . The native white population are nearly all descendants of the Spaniards. Other results show that between 1902 and 1931, 780,400 (60.8%) were from Spain, 197,600 (15.4%) from Haiti, 115,600 (9.0%) from Jamaica and 190,300 (14.8%) other countries. In 2020, there were 147,617 people in Cuba with Spanish citizenship. The presence of whites in

3724-955: The government as "national languages" along with Spanish. Other European languages spoken in Latin America include: English , by some groups in Argentina , Chile , Costa Rica , Nicaragua , Panama and Puerto Rico , as well as in nearby countries that may or may not be considered Latin American, such as Belize and Guyana ; English is also used as a major foreign language in Latin American commerce and education. Other languages spoken in parts of Latin America include German in southern Brazil , southern Chile , Argentina, portions of northern Venezuela and Paraguay; Italian in Brazil , Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela; Polish , Ukrainian and Russian in southern Brazil; and Welsh in southern Argentina. Hebrew and Yiddish are used by Jewish diasporas in Argentina and Brazil. In several nations, especially in

3800-539: The immigration wave patterns made to the island, during the 19th century the greatest number of Spaniards that came to the island with their families were Catalans and Mallorcans from the nearby Mediterranean regions . The second most common Spanish region with the largest numbers were the Galicians and Asturians, and the third regions were Canary Islanders, Basques and Andalusians . The Catalans , Galicians , Majorcans and Asturians would come with whole families most of

3876-424: The independence of Latin American countries). Brazilian censuses do not research "ethnic origins" or ancestry, which makes it very difficult to give accurate numbers of Brazilians of Spanish descent. In a 1998 research, the scope of which, however, is limited (it covers only six metropolitan regions), Brazilians claiming Spanish descent were 4.4% of Brazil's population. The population of Canadians of Spanish descent

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3952-506: The island. Some countries were represented by only a few (51 Chinese individuals, for example). The country that still sent the most people was Spain. From the start of colonization, other groups from Catalonia , Asturias , Galicia , and Majorca had also immigrated, although the Canarian people formed the basis. Once the 19th century came, things changed drastically. According to Puerto Rican authors such as Cifre de Loubriel who researched

4028-628: The island. The first sighting of a Spanish boat approaching the island was on 28 October 1492, probably at Baracoa on the eastern point of the island. Christopher Columbus, on his first voyage to the Americas, sailed south from what is now the Bahamas to explore the northeast coast of Cuba and the northern coast of Hispaniola . Columbus found the island believing it to be a peninsula of the Asian mainland. In 1511, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar set out with three ships and an army of 300 men from Santo Domingo to form

4104-448: The late 1490s to the 1520s from mainland Europe, and immigrants included Galicians , Castilians , Portuguese , Italians , Catalans , Basques and Flemings . At subsequent judicial enquiries, Fernández de Lugo was accused of favoring Genoese and Portuguese immigrants over Castilians. Spanish emigrant settlements were established in Argentina in the period before Argentina's independence from Spain, and again in larger numbers during

4180-558: The late 19th and early 20th centuries. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, the Spanish Empire was the sole colonial power in the territories that became Argentina after the 1816 Argentine Declaration of Independence . Thus, before 1816, a large number of the European settlers in Argentina were from Spain, and they conducted Spanish colonial administration, including religious affairs, government, and commercial business. A substantial Spanish-descended Criollo population gradually built up in

4256-517: The many commercial ships going to retrieve rubber in Peru to bring back to Europe. These immigrants arrived at the river port of Iquitos . Almost all of them stayed there. These immigrants numbered no more than a few thousand. Around 44% of Peruvians are mestizos (people of mixed white and native Peruvian descent), and more than 7% are mulattoes, making a total of 51% with mixed ancestry. Spanish immigration to Puerto Rico began in 1493 (continuing to 1898 as

4332-489: The new cities, while some mixed with the indigenous populations ( Mestizos ), with the black slave population ( Mulattoes ), or with other European immigrants. Since a great part of the immigrants to Argentina before the mid-19th century were of Spanish descent, and the fact that a significant part of the late-19th century/early-20th century immigrants to Argentina were Spaniards, the vast majority of Argentinians are of mostly Spanish ancestry. However, this prevalence and

4408-782: The next year, the Council of the Indies reasoned in favor of Pichardo and issued a pardon to the French. In 1720–1721, a revolt in Santiago against a new tax on beef exports to the Saint Domingue colony, arose Frenchification fears in the Santo Domingo elite; Captain-General Fernando Constanzo, governor of the Santo Domingo, accused the elite of the Cibao of seeking to annex their provinces to France. After

4484-425: The numerous shared cultural aspects between Argentina and Spain (the Spanish language , Roman Catholicism , Criollo/ Hispanic traditions), massive immigration to Argentina at the turn of the 20th century involved a majority of non-Spanish peoples from all over Europe. Bolivian people of European ancestry are predominantly descended from the people who emigrated from Spain beginning five hundred years ago. In

4560-561: The official census in 1900, people who self-identified as "Blanco" (white) composed 12.72% or 231,088 people in the total population. This was the last time data on race was collected. There were 529 Italians, 420 Spaniards, 295 Germans, 279 French, 177 Austrians, 141 English and 23 Belgians living in Bolivia. Spanish immigration was the third largest among immigrant groups in Brazil; about 750,000 immigrants entered Brazil from Spanish ports (a number smaller only than that of Argentina and Cuba after

4636-466: The only two countries with global positive migration rates. Spanish diaspora The Spanish diaspora consists of Spanish people and their descendants who emigrated from Spain . In the Americas , the term most often refers to residents with Spanish nationality; this is in contrast to " Hispanic " which in English usually describes Spanish-speaking populations in general. The diaspora

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4712-504: The people of part European ancestry, they combine for almost the totality of the population. Latin Americans and their descendants can be found almost everywhere in the world, particularly in densely populated urban areas. The most important migratory destinations for Latin Americans are found in the United States , Spain , France , Canada , Italy and Japan . Latin America ( Spanish : América Latina or Latinoamérica ; Portuguese : América Latina ; French : Amérique latine )

4788-405: The population of speakers of indigenous languages is small or non-existent. In Peru , Quechua is an official language, alongside Spanish and any other indigenous language in the areas where they predominate. In Ecuador , while holding no official status, the closely related Quichua is a recognized language of the indigenous people under the country's constitution; however, it is only spoken by

4864-584: The population) live overseas. Castile , under the reign of Henry III , began the colonization of the Canary Islands in 1402, authorizing under feudal agreement to Norman noblemen Jean de Béthencourt . The conquest of the Canary Islands , inhabited by Guanche people, was only finished when the armies of the Crown of Castille won, in long and bloody wars, the islands of Gran Canaria (1478–1483), La Palma (1492–1493) and Tenerife (1494–1496). The marriage of

4940-527: The population. In 1718 a royal decree ordered the expulsion of the French from the colony of Santo Domingo. The Grand Mayor of Santiago, Antonio Pichardo Vinuesta, refused to obey the decree arguing that most of the Frenchmen had married local Spanish women and therefore, their expulsion would damage the economy of the Cibao Region . The Grand Mayor Pichardo was tried and imprisoned in the city of Santo Domingo, but

5016-419: The ports of Cádiz or Seville and arrived in the ports of Callao , Mollendo and Pimentel . Many of these immigrants made a stopover in a Caribbean port before arriving in Peru. Before the development of the Panama Canal , ships went around Cape Horn to reach Peruvian ports. Although not many, a few travelers made their way from Europe to Peru via the Amazon River . These immigrants would seek passage on

5092-486: The predominant languages of Latin America. Spanish is the official language of most of the countries on the Latin American mainland, as well as in Puerto Rico (where it is co-official with English), Cuba and the Dominican Republic . Portuguese is spoken only in Brazil , the biggest and most populous country in the region. French is spoken in Haiti , as well as in the French overseas departments of French Guiana in South America and Guadeloupe and Martinique in

5168-412: The present day. The first Spanish settlement was established in February 1519, as a result of the landing of Hernán Cortés in the Yucatán Peninsula , accompanied by about 11 ships, 500 men, 13 horses and a small number of cannons. In March 1519, Cortés formally claimed the land for the Spanish crown , and the conquest of the Aztec Empire , a key event in the Spanish conquest of the region in general,

5244-435: The same year, leaving Casa Blanca to his young son Luis Ponce de León . The original structure did not last long; two years after its construction, a hurricane destroyed it, and it was rebuilt by Ponce de León's son-in-law Juan Garcia Troche. The southern city of Ponce is named after Juan Ponce de León y Loayza , the great-grandson of Juan Ponce de León. Immigration to the island caused the population to grow rapidly during

5320-413: The second group, and the last group which included Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay. There is a problem in these classifications because these countries are very different economically as well as in other aspects which the classification does not take into account. Problems which Latin America faced as a whole had to deal with many of the nations in the continent being underdeveloped. The Free Trade Agreement

5396-447: The sixties and the seventies for other European countries. However, shortly after signing the Treaty of Adherence to join the European Community in 1985, Spain went from being a sender to a receiver country . The first period of the conquest of the Canaries was carried out by the Norman nobles Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle . Their motives were primarily economic as Béthencourt possessed textile factories and dye works and

5472-450: The time of independence had abandoned national affiliation with Spain. Spanish emigration to Colombia began in the early 16th century and continues to the present day. About 500,000 Spaniards emigrated to Colombia during the colonial period. There are currently over 27,000 Spanish immigrants in Colombia. Spanish immigration to Cuba began in 1492, when Christopher Columbus first landed on

5548-521: The time. There were regions of the island that attracted some immigrants more than others which was mainly for political or economic reasons. The Spanish are one of the longest-established European-American groups with a continuous presence in Florida since 1565 and are the eighth-largest (choosing the term "Spaniard") Hispanic group in the United States of America. In addition, a substantial proportion of Americans are also of Spanish descent indirectly via

5624-505: Was completed in 1521. 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, this region became the principal destination of Spanish colonial settlers in the 16th century. The first Spaniards who arrived in Mexico were soldiers and sailors from Extremadura , Andalusia and La Mancha after

5700-455: Was not as much gold, jewelry and silver as in other countries. They began to find another source for the economy, with including indigo, cocoa and livestock. With little manpower, the Spanish leaders of El Salvador sent for families from Galicia and Asturias to repopulate areas. After independence and due to coffee and free immigration laws, Spaniards began to arrive in the country en masse. The vast majority came from Galicia and Asturias, and to

5776-1022: Was seen as a way of the countries having greater economic interactions amongst each other and thus improving the economic state of the poorer nations. The Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) is now the largest Latin-American group of integration. It covers more than 20 million sq kilometres and more than 493 million people. It is responsible for regulations on foreign trade which includes regulations on technical measures, sanitary regulations, environment protection measures, quality control measures, automatic licensing measures, price control measures, monopolistic measures, as well as other measures. These regulations are put into place in order for trade to be even handed amongst members of ALADI. Latin American Latin Americans ( Spanish : Latinoamericanos ; Portuguese : Latino-americanos ; French : Latino-américains ) are

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