Hispanic America

"Spanish America" redirects here. For colonial Spanish America, see Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Map of countries that make up Hispanic America.
Spanish speakers in the Americas.
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European colonies and territories in the Americas in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.

Hispanic America, more generally called Spanish America, (Spanish: Hispanoamérica, América española or América hispana) is the region comprising the Spanish-speaking nations in the Americas.[1][2]

These countries have significant commonalities with each other and with Spain, its former European metropolis. 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).[3] Catholic Christianity is the predominant religion.[4]

Hispanic America differs from Ibero-America in that the latter comprises Hispanic America and Brazil (formerly "Portuguese America"), and for some uses includes the Iberian Peninsula nations of Portugal, Spain and Andorra. Hispanic America also contrasts with Latin America, which includes Hispanic America, Brazil, and also the former French colonies in the Western Hemisphere except (at least) areas that are now in either the United States or Canada.[5]

History

The Spanish conquest of the Americas began in 1492, and ultimately was part of a larger historical process of world discovery, through which various European powers incorporated 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 takeover of 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 and Asian territories were Philippine archipelago and the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, until the 1898 Spanish–American War.

Countries

Only GDP in billion $USD (2014 est.)
Country Population Area[lower-alpha 1] GDP (nominal)[lower-alpha 2] GDP (nominal) per capita Data refers mostly to the year 2015. GDP(PPP) GDP (PPP) per capita
Argentina Argentina 43,514,000 2,780,400 $775.00 $12,622 $972 $27,500
Bolivia Bolivia 10,227,299 1,098,581 $27.43 $3,040 $74.4 $5,400
Chile Chile[6] 17,094,275 756,950 $268.20 $13,383 $422.4 $22,500
Colombia Colombia 48,873,936 1,141,748 $427.13 $6,056 $667.4 $13,400
Costa Rica Costa Rica 4,579,000 51,000 $45.13 $10,625 $75 $15,000
Cuba Cuba 11,451,652 110,861 $72.30 $6,790 $234.6 $10,200
Dominican Republic Dominican Republic 10,090,000 48,730 $59.00 $6,373 $149.7 $10,060
Ecuador Ecuador 14,067,000 256,370 $80.93 $6,250 $183.4
El Salvador El Salvador 7,185,000 21,040 $23.82 $4,217 $53
Guatemala Guatemala 14,655,189 108,890 $49.88 $3,904 $125.8
Honduras Honduras 7,793,000 112,492 $18.39 $2,494 $41
Mexico Mexico 113,724,226 1,972,550 $1,177.00 $9,009 $2,227
Nicaragua Nicaragua 5,743,000 129,494 $10.51 $2,088 $31.33
Panama Panama 3,450,349 75,571 $36.25 $13,265 $87.2
Paraguay Paraguay 6,996,245 406,752 $26.00 $4,160 $61
Peru Peru 29,885,340 1,285,220 $217.60 $6,121 $389
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (U.S.) 3,994,259 9,104 $93.52 $29,620 $125.86
Uruguay Uruguay 3,415,920 176,215 $49.40 $15,581 $73.46
Venezuela Venezuela 28,549,745 916,445 $205.70 $11,936 $515.74
Total 376,607,614 11,466,903 $3,460.16 $9,188 $6,505.29 $17,273

Largest cities

City Country Population Metro
Mexico City  Mexico 8,851,080 23,137,152
Buenos Aires  Argentina 3,050,728 15,941,973
Bogotá  Colombia 7,878,783 9,348,588
Lima  Peru 7,605,742 9,367,587
Santiago  Chile 5,428,590 7,200,000
Caracas  Venezuela 3,273,863 5,239,364
Guatemala City  Guatemala 2,149,188 4,500,000
Guadalajara  Mexico 1,564,514 4,424,584
Monterrey  Mexico 1,133,814 4,106,054
Medellín  Colombia 2,636,101 3,731,447
Guayaquil  Ecuador 2,432,233 3,328,534
Santo Domingo  Dominican Republic 1,111,838 3,310,171[7]
Havana  Cuba 2,350,000 3,073,000
Maracaibo  Venezuela 2,201,727 2,928,043
Puebla  Mexico 1,399,519 2,728,790
Cali  Colombia 2,068,386 2,530,796
San Juan  Puerto Rico 434,374 2,509,007
Asunción  Paraguay 680,250 2,089,651
Toluca  Mexico 820,000 1,936,422
Montevideo  Uruguay 1,325,968 1,868,335
Quito  Ecuador 1,397,698 1,842,201
Managua  Nicaragua 1,380,300 1,825,000
Barranquilla  Colombia 1,148,506 1,798,143
Santa Cruz  Bolivia 1,594,926 1,774,998
Valencia  Venezuela 894,204 1,770,000
Tijuana  Mexico 1,286,157 1,751,302
Tegucigalpa  Honduras 1,230,000 1,600,000
La Paz  Bolivia 872,480 1,590,000
San Salvador  El Salvador 540,090 2,223,092
Barquisimeto  Venezuela 1,116,000 1,500,000
León  Mexico 1,278,087 1,488,000
Córdoba  Argentina 1,309,536 1,452,000
Juárez  Mexico 1,301,452 1,343,000
San Pedro Sula  Honduras 1,250,000 1,300,000
Maracay  Venezuela 1,007,000 1,300,000
San José  Costa Rica 386,799 1,284,000
Rosario  Argentina 908,163 1,203,000
Panama City  Panama 990,641 1,500,000
Torreón  Mexico 548,723 1,144,000
Bucaramanga  Colombia 516,512 1,055,331

Flag

Flag of Hispanic Heritage. Motto: Justicia, Paz, Unión y Fraternidad ("Justice, Peace, Union and Fraternity").[8]

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.[8]

The white background stands for peace, the Inti sun god of Inca mythology symbolizes the light shining on the Americas, and the three crosses represent Christopher Columbus' caravels, the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María, used in his first voyage from Spain to the New World in 1492. The deep lilac color of the crosses evokes the color of the lion on the coat of arms of the medieval Crown of Castile.[9]

See also

Notes

  1. Values listed in km².
  2. Values listed in billions USD.

References

  1. All of the following dictionaries only list "Spanish America" as the name for this cultural region. None list "Hispanic America." All list the demonym for the people of the region discussed in this article as the sole definition, or one of the definitions, for "Spanish American". Some list "Hispanic," "Hispanic American" and "Hispano-American" as synonyms for "Spanish American." (All also include as a secondary definition for these last three terms, persons residing in the United States of Hispanic ancestry.) The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (3rd ed.) (1992). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-44895-6. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) (2003). Springfield: Merriam-Webster. ISBN 0-87779-807-9. The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (2nd ed.) (1987). New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-50050-4. Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2007). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-920687-2. Webster's New Dictionary and Thesaurus (2002). Cleveland: Wiley Publishing. ISBN 978-0-471-79932-0
  2. "Hispanic America" is used in some older works such as Charles Edward Chapman's 1933 Colonial Hispanic America: A History and 1937 Republican Hispanic America: A History (both New York: The Macmillan Co.); or translated titles that faithfully reproduce Hispanoamérica, such as Edmund Stephen Urbanski (1978), Hispanic America and its Civilization: Spanish Americans and Anglo-Americans, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. The Cambridge University Press textbook by two distinguished historians of early Latin America, James Lockhart and Stuart B. Schwartz is entitled, Early Latin America: A History of Colonial Spanish America and Brazil 1983.
  3. "CIA – The World Factbook – Field Listing – Languages". Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  4. "CIA – The World Factbook – Field Listing – Religions". Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  5. "Latin America" The Free Online Dictionary (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2000, 4th ed. Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003.)
  6. "Demografia de Chile" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 27, 2009.
  7. "República Dominicana; Población estimada y proyectada por año y sexo, según región, provincia y municipio. 2000-2010" (in Spanish). Oficina Nacional de Estadística (ONE). Retrieved 2010-04-13. Context page: ("Poblacion estimada y proyectada región provincia y municipio 2000-2010.xls")
  8. 1 2 Raeside, Rob (ed.) (1999-10-11). "Flag of the Race". Flags of the World. Retrieved 2006-12-23.
  9. Image of the standard of the Crown of Castile
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