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87-767: The Academy of Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, the Venezuelan Society of Ecology, the Association of Archaeologists and Archaeologists of Venezuela (AAAV), the National Assembly of Venezuela , the Latin America and Caribbean (LACA) Section of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), and the NGO PROVEA have publicly expressed their concern at the non-compliance with environmental and sociocultural impact studies,

174-536: A Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) . The Senate was made up of two senators per state , two for the Federal District , and a number of ex officio senators intended to represent the nation's minorities. In addition, former presidents (those elected democratically or their replacements legally appointed to serve at least half a presidential term) were awarded lifetime senate seats . Senators were required to be Venezuelan-born citizens and over

261-831: A center for illegal mining. RAISG, (a network of Amazonian NGOs) reports that the Mining Arc has made Venezuela the Amazon country with the highest number of illegal mines. According to the organization SOS Orinoco, in the last 20 years, 779,600 hectares of forest have been destroyed. In 2021, Unesco's World Heritage Centre resolved to review the impact of mining in Canaima national park. The Canadian Embassy in Venezuela reported at least 59 illegal mines in Canaima park, some of them only 23 km from Angel Falls, with large areas being devastated by open-pit mining operations. A group of scientists, members of

348-588: A considerable number of words from Arabic , as well as a minor influence from the Germanic Gothic language through the period of Visigoth rule in Iberia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Latin through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Latin and Renaissance Latin , the form of Latin in use at that time. According to

435-479: A coup d'état by President Nicolás Maduro . However, after public protests and condemnation by international bodies, the court's decision was reversed a few days later on 1 April. On 4 August 2017, Venezuela convened a new Constituent National Assembly after a special election which was boycotted by the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) and other opposition parties. The new Constituent Assembly

522-517: A dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants , known in Spanish as the reajuste de las sibilantes , which resulted in the distinctive velar [x] pronunciation of the letter ⟨j⟩ and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental [θ] ("th-sound") for the letter ⟨z⟩ (and for ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ ). See History of Spanish (Modern development of

609-476: A first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos ( Ilustrados ). Despite a public education system set up by the colonial government, by the end of Spanish rule in 1898, only about 10% of the population had knowledge of Spanish, mostly those of Spanish descent or elite standing. Spanish continued to be official and used in Philippine literature and press during the early years of American administration after

696-471: A long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century. In the wake of the 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty , hundreds of thousands of Spanish speakers became a minoritized community in the United States. The 20th century saw further massive growth of Spanish speakers in areas where they had been hitherto scarce. According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of

783-498: A primarily Hassaniya Arabic -speaking territory, Spanish was officially spoken as the language of the colonial administration during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Spanish is present in the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its secondary official language, and in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ( Algeria ), where the Spanish language is still taught as

870-404: A replacement (suplente) to stand in for them during periods of incapacity or absence. Under the 1999 constitution deputies could be reelected on up to two terms (Art. 192); under the 2009 Venezuelan constitutional referendum these term limits were removed. Deputies must be Venezuelan citizens by birth, or naturalized Venezuelans with a period of residency in excess of 15 years; older than 21 on

957-599: A second language features characteristics involving the variability of the vowel system. While far from its heyday during the Spanish protectorate in Morocco , the Spanish language has some presence in northern Morocco , stemming for example from the availability of certain Spanish-language media. According to a 2012 survey by Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), penetration of Spanish in Morocco reaches 4.6% of

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1044-518: A second language, largely by Cuban educators. The number of Spanish speakers is unknown. Spanish is also an official language of the African Union . Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973. During Spanish colonization , it was the language of government, trade, and education, and was spoken as

1131-627: A secretary and an assistant secretary, they form the Assembly Directorial Board, and when it is on recess twice a year, they lead a Standing Commission of the National Assembly together with 28 other MPs . Since 2010 the Assembly's 15 Permanent Committees, created by the 2010 Assembly Rules, are composed by MPs (ranging from the minimum of 7 to the maximum of 25) tackling legislation of various issues. The Committees' offices are housed in

1218-416: Is cognate to the root word of satisfacer ("to satisfy"), and hecho ("made") is similarly cognate to the root word of satisfecho ("satisfied"). Compare the examples in the following table: Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table: In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish underwent

1305-640: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe . Today, it is a global language with about 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain , and about 600 million when including second language speakers. Spanish is the official language of 20 countries , as well as one of the six official languages of

1392-449: Is estimated that about 486 million people speak Spanish as a native language , making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers . An additional 75 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language , making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 538 million speakers. Spanish is also

1479-683: Is exemplified by the proliferation of mines inside protected areas and on top of tepuys that are protected as natural monuments. In 2020, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that workers in the Arco Minero were exposed to high levels of violence and exploitation by criminal groups that control the mines. They also said that illegal mining destroyed Indigenous peoples' habitat and threatened their sovereignty over their traditional territories. In 2020,

1566-740: Is heavily influenced by Venezuelan Spanish. In addition to sharing most of its borders with Spanish-speaking countries, the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s induced a favorable situation for the promotion of Spanish language teaching in Brazil . In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President , making it mandatory for schools to offer Spanish as an alternative foreign language course in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil. In September 2016 this law

1653-533: Is intended to rewrite the constitution; it also has wide legal powers allowing it to rule above all other state institutions. The Constituent Assembly met within the Federal Legislative Palace; while the leadership of the National Assembly had said it would continue its work as a legislature and it would still continue to meet in the same building. On 18 August the Constituent Assembly summoned

1740-721: Is related to Castile ( Castilla or archaically Castiella ), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The name Castile , in turn, is usually assumed to be derived from castillo ('castle'). In the Middle Ages , the language spoken in Castile was generically referred to as Romance and later also as Lengua vulgar . Later in the period, it gained geographical specification as Romance castellano ( romanz castellano , romanz de Castiella ), lenguaje de Castiella , and ultimately simply as castellano (noun). Different etymologies have been suggested for

1827-806: Is spoken by very small communities in Angola due to Cuban influence from the Cold War and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned for their country's independence. Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands , located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 km (62 mi) off

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1914-804: Is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico . The language has a strong influence in major metropolitan areas such as those of Los Angeles , Miami , San Antonio , New York , San Francisco , Dallas , Tucson and Phoenix of the Arizona Sun Corridor , as well as more recently, Chicago , Las Vegas , Boston , Denver , Houston , Indianapolis , Philadelphia , Cleveland , Salt Lake City , Atlanta , Nashville , Orlando , Tampa , Raleigh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C. due to 20th- and 21st-century immigration. Although Spanish has no official recognition in

2001-477: Is the federal legislature of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , which was first elected in 2000 under the 1999 constitution . It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by a "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote partly by direct election in state-based voting districts, and partly on a state-based party-list proportional representation system. Each of

2088-629: The 2005 elections , and as a result gained no seats, while the Fifth Republic Movement gained 114 (69%). In 2007 a number of parties, including the Fifth Republic Movement, merged to create the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which in January 2009 held 139 of the 169 seats (82%). In the 2010 election , for which the number of deputies was reduced to 165, the PSUV won 96 seats (58%),

2175-534: The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) reported that illegal mining involved about 500,000 workers in the Arco Minero. Many Indigenous people have been coerced into working for the mines by threat of violence, with violent repression of people who resist the mines. Nearly half of the miners are children. Moreover, per CSIS, as mercury from mining has seeped into the soil and water systems, local indigenous populations have been exposed at dangerous levels. In

2262-687: The Orinoco river and covers the Venezuelan states of Amazonas , Bolívar and Delta Amacuro . The region is one of the most biodiverse areas of the Amazon rainforest . Nearby Canaima National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site . Mining has been reported inside Canaima National Park, Yapacana National Park , and in the Alto Orinoco-Casiquiare Biosphere Reserve . The region is traditional territory of several Indigenous peoples including

2349-557: The Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005. Spanish has historically had a significant presence on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao ( ABC Islands ) throughout the centuries and in present times. The majority of the populations of each island (especially Aruba) speaking Spanish at varying although often high degrees of fluency. The local language Papiamentu (Papiamento on Aruba)

2436-562: The Spanish–American War but was eventually replaced by English as the primary language of administration and education by the 1920s. Nevertheless, despite a significant decrease in influence and speakers, Spanish remained an official language of the Philippines upon independence in 1946, alongside English and Filipino , a standardized version of Tagalog . Spanish was briefly removed from official status in 1973 but reimplemented under

2523-534: The United Nations . Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese ; the world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English , Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ); and the world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers is Mexico . Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance language group , in which

2610-475: The 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to the Americas. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is Latin in origin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Alongside English and French , it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout

2697-404: The 2021–2022 school year alone. The local business process outsourcing industry has also helped boost the language's economic prospects. Today, while the actual number of proficient Spanish speakers is around 400,000, or under 0.5% of the population, a new generation of Spanish speakers in the Philippines has likewise emerged, though speaker estimates vary widely. Aside from standard Spanish,

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2784-574: The 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara , and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City . For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language . Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2023, it

2871-469: The 23 States and the Capital District elects no less than three representatives plus the result of dividing the state population by 1.1% of the total population of the country. Three seats are reserved for representatives of Venezuela's indigenous peoples and elected separately by all citizens, not just those with indigenous backgrounds. For the 2010 to 2015 the number of seats was 165. Deputies to

2958-512: The Caura river basin, a tributary to the Orinoco, 92 percent of indigenous women had elevated levels of mercury, which could damage the kidney and brain and impedes fetal development. Mining has created standing water and unsanitary conditions that result in a surge in malaria cases in the region. The most important environmental impacts of mining in the region are the destruction of ecosystems and rivers,

3045-509: The Congress", and was the constitutional successor of the President of Venezuela in case of a vacancy. This succession took place in 1993, when Octavio Lepage succeeded Carlos Andrés Pérez . President Hugo Chávez was first elected in December 1998 on a platform calling for a National Constituent Assembly to be convened to draft a new constitution for Venezuela. Chávez's argument was that

3132-639: The Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business. Whereas it is not the mother tongue of virtually any of its speakers, the vast majority of the population is proficient in Spanish. The Instituto Cervantes estimates that 87.7% of the population is fluent in Spanish. The proportion of proficient Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea exceeds the proportion of proficient speakers in other West and Central African nations of their respective colonial languages. Spanish

3219-691: The Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Proto-Basque , Iberian , Lusitanian , Celtiberian and Gallaecian . The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Spanish are from the 9th century. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era , the most important influences on the Spanish lexicon came from neighboring Romance languages — Mozarabic ( Andalusi Romance ), Navarro-Aragonese , Leonese , Catalan/Valencian , Portuguese , Galician , Occitan , and later, French and Italian . Spanish also borrowed

3306-557: The José María Vargas Building in Caracas, few hundred yards from the Federal Legislative Palace, the former building is also where the offices of the Assembly leadership are located. In the 2000 Venezuelan parliamentary election , representatives were elected under a mixed member proportional representation , with 60% elected in single seat districts and the remainder by closed party list proportional representation . This

3393-590: The Kari’ña, Warao, Arawak, Pemón, Ye’kwana, Sanemá o Hotï, Eñe’pa, Panare, Wánai, Mapoyo, Piaroa and Hiwi. The Orinoco Mining Arc Strategic Development Zone was originally proposed by the Chávez administration in 2011. It was opened to development by president Nicolas Maduro in 2016 in an attempt to halt the Venezuelan economic crisis and bolster support for his increasingly unpopular administration. The mining arc has become

3480-529: The Latin America and Caribbean Section of the Society for Conservation Biology, denounced that although the Orinoco Mining Arc was initially designed to tighten government oversight over mineral mining and trading in the Guayana region of Venezuela, it has instead promoted the development of a complex network of intertwined legal and illegal activities throughout the country. The impact beyond its proposed borders

3567-494: The National Assembly serve a five-year term and may be re-elected for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The National Assembly meets in the Federal Legislative Palace in Venezuela's capital, Caracas . Under its previous 1961 Venezuelan Constitution  [ es ] , Venezuela had a bicameral legislature, known as the Congress (Congreso) . This Congress was composed of a Senate of Venezuela (Senado) and

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3654-484: The National Assembly, but that election was also disputed by EU and U.S. officials. Nevertheless, since then Maduro has exercised majority control of the Venezuelan parliament, displacing Juan Guaidó from his oppositional presidency. 10°30′20″N 66°54′57″W  /  10.50556°N 66.91583°W  / 10.50556; -66.91583 Spanish language This is an accepted version of this page Spanish ( español ) or Castilian ( castellano )

3741-643: The National Assembly: one by deputy Luis Parra and one by Juan Guaidó. Parra was formerly a member of Justice First , but was expelled from the party on 20 December 2019 based on corruption allegations, which he denies. From inside the legislature, Parra declared himself president of the National Assembly; a move that was welcomed by Maduro administration. The opposition disputed this outcome, saying that quorum had not been achieved and no votes had been counted. Police forces had blocked access to parliament to some opposition members, including Guaidó, and members of

3828-529: The Old Spanish sibilants) for details. The Gramática de la lengua castellana , written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija , was the first grammar written for a modern European language. According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I , she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire. In his introduction to

3915-580: The Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also castellano (Castilian), the language from the Kingdom of Castile , contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician , Basque , Asturian , Catalan/Valencian , Aragonese , Occitan and other minor languages. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of

4002-502: The U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin. In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population. Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico , where it is also an official language along with English. Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included. While English

4089-552: The Vice President, but not the President, who can only be removed through a recall referendum ) and appointing the members of the electoral, judicial, and prosecutor's branches of government. Among others it also has the power to authorize foreign and domestic military action and to authorize the President to leave the national territory for more than 5 days. The Assembly is led by a President with 2 Vice Presidents, and together with

4176-451: The administration of Ferdinand Marcos two months later. It remained an official language until the ratification of the present constitution in 1987, in which it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language. Additionally, the constitution, in its Article XIV, stipulates that the Government shall provide the people of the Philippines with a Spanish-language translation of

4263-454: The age of 30. The members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected by direct universal suffrage, with each state returning at least two. Deputies had to be at least 21 years old. The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies were each led by a President, and both performed their functions with the help of a Directorial Board. The President of Senate of Venezuela held the additional title of "President of

4350-672: The classic hispanus or hispanicus took the suffix -one from Vulgar Latin , as happened with other words such as bretón (Breton) or sajón (Saxon). Like the other Romance languages , the Spanish language evolved from Vulgar Latin , which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War , beginning in 210 BC. Several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages )—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages , and some that are not related at all—were previously spoken in

4437-446: The consonant written b (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic b and v . Typical of Spanish (as also of neighboring Gascon extending as far north as the Gironde estuary , and found in a small area of Calabria ), attributed by some scholars to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial f into h- whenever it

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4524-404: The country's constitution. In recent years changing attitudes among non-Spanish speaking Filipinos have helped spur a revival of the language, and starting in 2009 Spanish was reintroduced as part of the basic education curriculum in a number of public high schools, becoming the largest foreign language program offered by the public school system, with over 7,000 students studying the language in

4611-411: The court. The 2017 court judgement declared that the "situation of contempt" meant that the assembly could not exercise its powers. The action transferred powers from the Assembly, which had an opposition majority since January 2016, to the Supreme Court, which has a majority of government loyalists. The move was denounced by the opposition with Assembly President Julio Borges describing the action as

4698-541: The current Bolivarian 1999 Constitution , the legislative branch of Government in Venezuela is represented by a unicameral National Assembly. The Assembly is currently made up of 277 seats . Officials are elected by "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote on a national party-list proportional representation system. In addition, three deputies are returned on a state-by-state basis, and three seats are reserved for representatives of Venezuela's indigenous peoples. All deputies serve five-year terms and must appoint

4785-435: The day of the election; and have lived in the state for which they seek election during the previous four years (Art. 188). Beyond passing legislation (and being able to block any of the president's legislative initiatives), the National Assembly has a number of specific powers outlined in Article 187, including approving the budget, initiating impeachment proceedings against most government officials (including ministers and

4872-467: The degradation of public health services and increased security risks. With the cooperation of the Venezuelan military and local authorities, who receive bribes paid in gold, illegal gold is moved into Brazil, Guyana, Colombia, and island in the Caribbean, where fraudulent paperwork enables the gold to be sold in legal international markets. National Assembly of Venezuela Others (21) The National Assembly ( Spanish : Asamblea Nacional )

4959-421: The existing political system, under the earlier 1961 Constitution, had become isolated from the people. In the Constituent Assembly elections held on 25 July 1999, all but six seats were given to candidates associated with the Chávez movement. The National Constituent Assembly (ANC), consisting of 131 elected individuals, convened in August 1999 to begin rewriting the constitution. The ANC's proposed constitution

5046-450: The following table: Spanish is marked by palatalization of the Latin double consonants ( geminates ) nn and ll (thus Latin annum > Spanish año , and Latin anellum > Spanish anillo ). The consonant written u or v in Latin and pronounced [w] in Classical Latin had probably " fortified " to a bilabial fricative /β/ in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with

5133-408: The form of the 2017 Venezuelan protests . The constitutionality of this move has been questioned, and it has been condemned by several foreign governments and international bodies. The 2020 Venezuelan National Assembly Delegated Committee election of 5 January, to elect the Board of Directors of the National Assembly was disrupted. The events resulted in two competing claims for the Presidency of

5220-466: The former British colony of Belize (known until 1973 as British Honduras ) where English is the sole official language, according to the 2022 census, 54% of the total population are able to speak the language. Due to its proximity to Spanish-speaking countries and small existing native Spanish speaking minority, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented Spanish language teaching into its education system. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government launched

5307-454: The grammar, dated 18 August 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire." From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Spanish-discovered America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America . Miguel de Cervantes , author of Don Quixote , is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). In

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5394-416: The language is also known as Castilian ( castellano ). The group evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century, and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo , a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile , in

5481-423: The language's hegemony in an intensely centralising Spanish state were established from the 18th century onward. Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra . Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Germany . Spanish is an official language of the European Union . Today,

5568-628: The majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America . Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure —of Argentina , Bolivia (co-official with 36 indigenous languages), Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní ), Peru (co-official with Quechua , Aymara , and "the other indigenous languages"), Puerto Rico (co-official with English), Uruguay , and Venezuela . Spanish language has

5655-400: The media. Later in the day, a separate session was carried out at the headquarters of El Nacional newspaper, where 100 of the 167 deputies voted to re-elect Guaidó as president of the parliament. In his speech, Guaidó announced his resignation from Popular Will. Guaidó was sworn in a session on 7 January after forcing his way in through police barricades. Parra has reiterated his claim to

5742-410: The members of the National Assembly to attend a ceremony acknowledging its legal superiority; the opposition members of the National Assembly boycotted the event. In response, the Constituent Assembly stripped the National Assembly of its legislative powers, assuming them for itself. It justified the move by claiming that the National Assembly had failed to prevent what it called "opposition violence" in

5829-443: The modification of topography, habitat fragmentation, and the pollution of water and fish by sediment and mercury. More data is urgently needed to evaluate the ecological consequences of the Orinoco Mining Arc on natural populations of plants and animals. The increase in mining activity has also increased the size of the human population and the influence of non-indigenous culture in the region. Displacement of entire communities due to

5916-686: The municipal, state, or national level in the jurisdiction where the election takes place are also ineligible unless holding accidental, assistance, teaching, or academic positions. A deputy of the National Assembly cannot own, manage, or direct companies that contract with state entities, nor can they manage private lucrative interests with such entities. Deputies are obliged to abstain from voting on issues where they have an economic conflict of interest. Moreover, they are not allowed to accept or exercise other public offices without losing their status as deputies, except for teaching, academic, or assistance activities that do not require full-time dedication. Under

6003-498: The northwest of the African mainland. The Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands traces its origins back to the Castilian conquest in the 15th century , and, in addition to a resemblance to Western Andalusian speech patterns, it also features strong influence from the Spanish varieties spoken in the Americas, which in turn have also been influenced historically by Canarian Spanish. The Spanish spoken in North Africa by native bilingual speakers of Arabic or Berber who also speak Spanish as

6090-439: The opposition electoral coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) 65, and Patria Para Todos won 2. At the 2015 parliamentary election , the MUD won 109 of the 164 general seats and all three indigenous seats, which gave them a supermajority in the National Assembly; while the government's own coalition, the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP), won the remaining 55 seats. Voter turnout exceeded 70 percent. The result, however,

6177-508: The other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language castellano . The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by the Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms— español and castellano —are regarded as synonymous and equally valid. The term castellano

6264-529: The population. Many northern Moroccans have rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, with Spanish being particularly significant in areas adjacent to Ceuta and Melilla. Spanish also has a presence in the education system of the country (through either selected education centers implementing Spain's education system, primarily located in the North, or the availability of Spanish as foreign language subject in secondary education). In Western Sahara , formerly Spanish Sahara ,

6351-768: The presidency of the parliament. Any Venezuelan citizen by birth or naturalization , with at least fifteen years of residence in Venezuelan territory, who is 21 years of age or older, is eligible to be elected as a deputy to the National Assembly. However, the same person cannot hold the office of President or Vice President of the Republic, Minister, Secretary of the Presidency, or hold senior positions in Autonomous Institutes or State-owned companies , until three months after leaving these positions. Additionally, state governors , secretaries of government, and other officials at

6438-592: The term español (Spanish). According to the Royal Spanish Academy, español derives from the Occitan word espaignol and that, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin * hispaniolus ('of Hispania'). Hispania was the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula . There are other hypotheses apart from the one suggested by the Royal Spanish Academy. Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal suggested that

6525-444: The theories of Ramón Menéndez Pidal , local sociolects of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish, in the north of Iberia, in an area centered in the city of Burgos , and this dialect was later brought to the city of Toledo , where the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century. In this formative stage, Spanish developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese , and, according to some authors,

6612-623: The third most used language on the Internet , after English and Chinese. Spanish is the official language of Spain . Upon the emergence of the Castilian Crown as the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the Middle Ages, the Romance vernacular associated with this polity became increasingly used in instances of prestige and influence, and the distinction between "Castilian" and "Spanish" started to become blurred. Hard policies imposing

6699-483: The violation of rights to prior consultation with indigenous communities, cultural and natural heritage, and national sovereignty. In 2020, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights , Michelle Bachelet , denounced that workers in the Orinoco Mining Arc are subjected to serious abuse and violence that caused at least 149 deaths between 2016 and 2020. The Arco Minero spans an area south of

6786-581: The whole of Spain, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. "the other Spanish languages "). Article III reads as follows: El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. ... Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas... Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. ... The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities... The Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española ), on

6873-633: The world. Spanish is well represented in the humanities and social sciences . Spanish is also the third most used language on the internet by number of users after English and Chinese and the second most used language by number of websites after English. Spanish is used as an official language by many international organizations , including the United Nations , European Union , Organization of American States , Union of South American Nations , Community of Latin American and Caribbean States , African Union , among others. In Spain and some other parts of

6960-555: Was an adaptation of the system previously used for the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies , which had been introduced in 1993, with a 50-50 balance between single seat districts and party lists, and deputies per state proportional to population, but with a minimum of three deputies per state. The first election of deputies to the new National Assembly took place on 30 July 2000. President Hugo Chávez ' Fifth Republic Movement won 92 seats (56%). The opposition did not participate in

7047-537: Was approved in a referendum on 15 December 1999 and came into effect the following 20 December. On 29 March 2017, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) stripped the elected National Assembly of its constitutional powers, ruling that all powers would be transferred to the Supreme Court. The previous year the court found the assembly in contempt for swearing in legislators whose elections had been deemed invalid by

7134-680: Was developed in the cities of Toledo , in the 13th to 16th centuries, and Madrid , from the 1570s. The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages , including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin vīta > Spanish vida ). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short e and o —which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in

7221-604: Was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages ). This distinctive dialect spread to southern Spain with the advance of the Reconquista , and meanwhile gathered a sizable lexical influence from the Arabic of Al-Andalus , much of it indirectly, through the Romance Mozarabic dialects (some 4,000 Arabic -derived words, make up around 8% of the language today). The written standard for this new language

7308-713: Was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The h- , still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects, it is still aspirated in some words. Because of borrowings from Latin and neighboring Romance languages, there are many f -/ h - doublets in modern Spanish: Fernando and Hernando (both Spanish for "Ferdinand"), ferrero and herrero (both Spanish for "smith"), fierro and hierro (both Spanish for "iron"), and fondo and hondo (both words pertaining to depth in Spanish, though fondo means "bottom", while hondo means "deep"); additionally, hacer ("to make")

7395-483: Was inaugurated which has the power to rule over all other state institutions and rewrite the constitution. As of May 2019, the Constituent Assembly mandate is expected to expire on 31 December 2020 (after next National Assembly elections), a measure that replaces the previous resolution of August 2017 that established its validity for at least two years. In 2020, Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela and allied parties claimed to have captured 67 percent of seats in

7482-418: Was marred by the January 2016 suspension from the National Assembly by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of 4 elected members of Parliament (MPs) from Amazonas state due to alleged voter fraud and election irregularities. 3 of the 4 were opposition deputies and one was from the government's coalition (GPP). Following the 2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election the new Venezuelan Constitutional Assembly

7569-462: Was revoked by Michel Temer after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff . In many border towns and villages along Paraguay and Uruguay, a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken. Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period . Enshrined in the constitution as an official language (alongside French and Portuguese), Spanish features prominently in

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