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{{Short description|Citizens of Latin American countries}}{{For|the pan-ethnic demographic group in the United States|Hispanic and Latino Americans}}

factoids

){{UN_Population|ref}}Based on recent estimates, as of 2010. Sources by country: Australia Australian Bureau of Statistics 20680-Ancestry (full classification list) by Sex - Australia;Canada 2006 census WEB,weblink Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada Highlight Tables, 2006 Census, 2008-05-10, Statistics Canada, 2008-05-07,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080507053644weblink">weblink dead, ;Sweden weblinkPortugal POPULAÇÃO ESTRANGEIRA EM TERRITÓRIO NACIONAL, SERVIÇODE ESTRANGEIROS E FRONTEIRAS 2008;Spain INE, Revisión del Padrón municipal 2007. Datos a nivel nacional, comunidad autónoma y provincia. {{in lang|es}}; INE, Notas de Prensa 2008 {{in lang|es}};USA (Self-identified ethnicity rather than birthplace) WEB , ; WEB , Latin America628,000,000{{UN_Population>ref}}Brazil}}Brazil}}Mexico}}Mexico}}Colombia}}Colombia}}Argentina}}Argentina}}Peru}}Peru}}Venezuela}}Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)}}Chile}}Chile}}Guatemala}}Guatemala}}Ecuador}}Ecuador}}Bolivia}}Bolivia (Plurinational State of)}}Haiti}}Haiti}}Cuba}}Cuba}}Dominican Republic}}Dominican Republic}}Honduras}}Honduras}}Nicaragua}}Nicaragua}}Paraguay}}Paraguay}}El Salvador}}El Salvador}}Costa Rica}}Costa Rica}}Panama}}Panama}}Uruguay}}Uruguay}}Puerto Rico}}Puerto Rico}}Guadeloupe}}Guadeloupe}}Martinique}}Martinique}}United States of America}}Hispanic and Latino Americans>+62,000,000ACCESS-DATE=2009-04-13PEW RESEARCH CENTER>PEW HISPANIC CENTERARCHIVE-DATE=2009-05-01WORK=2008 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY 1-YEAR ESTIMATESPUBLISHER=UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAUARCHIVE-DATE=2020-02-12, dead, Spain}}Immigration to Spain>+1,700,000| ref26 = Foreign population in Spain (2009), Spanish National Statistics Institute press report. June 3, 2009. (Spanish)France}}| pop27 = 1,333,000ACCESS-DATE=5 JULY 2021, LIST OF COUNTRIES IN LATIN AMERICA>URL=HTTPS://WWW.BRITANNICA.COM/TOPIC/LIST-OF-COUNTRIES-IN-LATIN-AMERICA-2061416PUBLISHER=THE EDITORS OF ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, 31 August 2021, Canada}}Latin American Canadians>+1,000,000ACCESS-DATE=29 NOVEMBER 2022, Italy}}Immigration to Italy>354,180Japan}}Demographics of Japan#Immigration>+345,000ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20050824195238/HTTP://WWW.STAT.GO.JP/DATA/NENKAN/PDF/Y0213014.PDFPUBLISHER=STATISTICS BUREAU, 7 November 2011, Germany}}| pop31 = 206,094ACCESS-DATE=20 JUNE 2019, United Kingdom}}Latin Americans in the United Kingdom>186,500PUBLISHER=TRUST FOR LONDONURL-STATUS=DEADARCHIVE-DATE=21 MARCH 2012, Saint Lucia}}Saint Lucia }}Portugal}}Immigration to Portugal>~100,000| ref34 = POPULAÇÃO ESTRANGEIRA EM TERRITÓRIO NACIONAL, SERVIÇO DE ESTRANGEIROS E FRONTEIRAS 2008;Australia}}Latin American Australians>93,795WORK=ABS.GOV.AU, 22 September 2015, Sweden}}| pop36 = 88,175Dominica}}Dominica}}Spanish language>Spanish and Portuguese languageRegionally Haitian Creole, Antillean Creole French, Quechua languages>Quechua, Mayan languages, Guarani language, French language>French, Aymara language, Nahuatl and Latin Americans#Language>othersCatholic Church 69%>Protestantism 19%>Irreligion 8%>Other 4%}}HTTPS://WWW.PEWFORUM.ORG/2014/11/13/RELIGION-IN-LATIN-AMERICA/>TITLE=RELIGION IN LATIN AMERICA, 13 November 2014, | related_groups = }}Latin Americans (; ; ) are 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 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.Pozzetta, George E., Bruno Ramirez and Robert F. Harney. The Italian Diaspora: Migration across the Globe. Toronto: Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1992.JOURNAL, King, Russell, 1978-01-01, Report: The Italian Diaspora, 20001401, Area, 10, 5, 386, WEB,weblink Fact Sheet 3. Brazil - the Country and its People, Embassy of Brazil in London - Schools' Pack, Brazil 2009, 2009,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20111226051546weblink">weblink 26 December 2011, dead, The region also has large German (second largest after the United States),WEB, Wilhelm Bleek,weblink Auslandsdeutsche, Germans abroad, de, German Federal Agency for Civic Education, 2003, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110310052559weblink">weblink 2011-03-10, French, Palestinian (largest outside the Arab states),JOURNAL, Baeza, Cecilia, Palestinians in Latin America: Between Assimilation and Long-Distance Nationalism,weblink Journal of Palestine Studies, 22 December 2021, 59–72, en, 10.1525/jps.2014.43.2.59, 1 February 2014, 43, 2, 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.WEB, América Latina, 15 July 2001,weblink monografias.com,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20050809074052weblink">weblink 9 August 2005, The largest single group are white Latin Americans. Together with 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 and Italy.

Definition

File:Map-Latin America.svg|thumbnail|left|200px|Latin American countries (green) in the AmericasAmericasLatin America ( or Latinoamérica; ; ) 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.BOOK, Latin America at the End of Politics,weblink Colburn, Forrest D, 2002, Princeton University Press, 0-691-09181-1, "Latin America."The New Oxford Dictionary of English. Pearsall, J., ed. 2001. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press; p. 1040: "The parts of the American continent where Spanish or Portuguese is the main national language (i.e.Mexico and, in effect, the whole of Central and South America including many of the Caribbean islands)."''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, 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 the Spanish, Portuguese or French colonial empires,BOOK, Rangel, Carlos, The Latin Americans: Their Love-Hate Relationship with the United States, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977, New York, 3–5, 0-15-148795-2, BOOK, Skidmore, Thomas E., Peter H. Smith, Modern Latin America,weblink registration, Oxford University Press, 2005, 6, Oxford and New York, 1–10, 0-19-517013-X, namely Spanish America, Colonial Brazil and New France.

Demographics

Ethnic and Racial groups

File:Wititis.jpg|thumb|Wititi dancers from Colca Canyon, Peru. Indigenous people make up most of the population in Bolivia and Guatemala, and a quarter in PeruPeru.File:La Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco y su Director Titular Marco Parisotto.jpg|thumb|Mexican musicians from the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra. MestizosMestizosFile:XXXIV Fiesta Nacional del Inmigrante - desfile - colectividad italiana 2.JPG|thumb|Italian Argentine youths in Oberá. Over 60% of Argentina's population has some degree of Italian ancestry.BOOK, Britain and the Making of Argentina,weblink 101, Gordon A. Bridger, 2013, WIT Press, 9781845646844, Some 86% identify themselves as being of European descent, of whom 60% would claim Italian links, WEB,weblink Historias de inmigrantes italianos en Argentina, 14 November 2011, Departamento de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas de la National University of La Matanza, Universidad Nacional de La MatanzaNational University of La Matanza, Universidad Nacional de La MatanzaFile:Palenqueras al natural.jpg|thumb|Afro-Colombian fruit sellers in Cartagena.]]File:Japanese Brazilian Miko Curitiba Paraná.jpg|thumb|Woman from Curitiba, one of over a million Japanese BraziliansJapanese BraziliansFile:Tapati 3351a.jpg|thumb|Rapa Nui dancers from Easter Island, Chile. The Rapa Nui are a Polynesian peoplePolynesian peopleThe 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 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.WEB,weblinkweblink dead, June 13, 2007, CIA â€” The World Factbook -- Field Listing â€” Ethnic groups, 2008-02-20,

• Asians. People of Asian descent number several million in Latin America. The majority of Asian descendants in the country are either of West Asian (such as Lebanese or Syrian) or East Asian (like Chinese or Japanese) descent.JOURNAL, Lizcano Fernández, Francisco,weblink Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI, Ethnic Composition of the Three Cultural Areas of the American Continent at the Beginning of the 21st Century, es, Convergencia. Revista de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Toluca, México, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130626010236weblink">weblink 26 June 2013, 194–195, En principio, se pueden distinguir dos grupos muy distintos al interior de esta etnia: el que procede de Asia occidental (sobre todo árabes cristianos llegados desde Siria y Líbano) y el que salió de Asia oriental (chinos y japoneses principalmente)., The first Asians to settle in the region were Filipino, as a result of Spain's trade involving Asia and the Americas. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics states that the country's largest Asian communities are from West Asia and East Asia.WEB, Petruccelli, Jose Luis, Saboia, Ana Lucia, Caracteristicas Etnico-raciais da Populacao Classificacoes e identidades,weblink 28 July 2021, IBGE, 53, descendentes e os asiáticos – japoneses, chineses, coreanos, libaneses, sírios, entre outros, It is estimated that 7 to 10 million Brazilians are of Lebanese descent.WEB,weblink Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affaires, 22 September 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150923004630weblink">weblink 23 September 2015, dead, WEB,weblink Lebanon: Geography, pt, Embassy of Lebanon in Brazil, 1996, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080529005221weblink">weblink 29 May 2008, Around 2 million Brazilians self-identify as being "Yellow" (amarela or of East Asian descent) according to the 2010 census.WEB,weblink 8 November 2011, Censo Demográfi co 2010 Características da população e dos domicílios Resultados do universo,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130525132840weblink">weblink 5 November 2022, 25 May 2013, The country is home to the largest ethnic Japanese community outside Japan itself, estimated as high as 1.5 million, and circa 200,000 ethnic Chinese and 100,000 ethnic Koreans.{{citation|work=Revista de Estudos da Religião|issue=Nº 3|year=2004|pages=74–87|issn=1677-1222|title=Reinterpretação do Budismo Chinês e Coreano no Brasil|first=Rafael |last=Shoji |url=http://www.pucsp.br/rever/rv3_2004/p_shoji.pdf|access-date=2010-06-02}}WEB,weblink Japan-Brazil Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 22 September 2015, Ethnic Koreans also number tens of thousands of individuals in Argentina and Mexico.{{citation|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade |location=South Korea |year=2009 |access-date=2009-05-21 |url=http://www.mofat.go.kr/consul/overseascitizen/compatriotcondition/index6.jsp?TabMenu=TabMenu6 |title=재외동포현황/Current Status of Overseas Compatriots |ref=CITEREFMOFAT2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20101023213104weblink |archive-date=2010-10-23 }} The 2017 census stated that under 40,000 Peruvians self-identified as having Chinese or Japanese ancestry.WEB,weblink Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico, 216, Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, Though other estimates claim as much as 1.47 million people of East Asian descent reside in the country.WEB,weblink :: Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission, R.O.C. ::, Ocac.gov.tw, 2004-08-24, 2010-07-26, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131123193905weblink">weblink 2013-11-23, WEB,weblink DESAFIOS-QUE-NOS-ACERCAN — Noticias — Universia Perú, Univeria.edu.pe, 2010-07-26, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090415092911weblink">weblink 2009-04-15, Lebanese and Syrian descendants have also formed notable communities in countries like Mexico and Argentina.NEWS, Recopilaron casi 200 años de los sirio libaneses en Argentina,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140908043743weblink">weblink 8 September 2014, 9 November 2021, El Independiente, González convenció a sus pares de rechazarla, con el argumento de que eran "los más europeos del Asia y son sumisos y laboriosos"., es, The Martiniquais population includes a mixed African, European and native American descent, and an East Indian (Asian Indian) population is also present in Martinique.WEB, CIA, US, 2003, The World Factbook,weblink 2013-09-23, 2018-09-11,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180911195426weblink">weblink dead, In Guadeloupe, an estimated 14% of the population is of East Asian descent.
• Blacks. Millions of African slaves were brought to Latin America from the 16th century onward, most of whom were sent to the Caribbean region and Brazil. Today, people identified as "black" are most numerous in Brazil (more than 10 million) and in Haiti (more than 7 million).WEB,weblink La trata de negros, 22 September 2015, Significant populations are also found in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama and Colombia. Latin Americans of mixed black and white ancestry, called mulattoes, are far more numerous than blacks.
• Native Americans. The indigenous population of Latin America arrived during the Lithic stage. In post-Columbian times, they experienced tremendous population decline, particularly in the early decades of colonization. They have since recovered in numbers, surpassing sixty million (by some estimates), though, with the growth of the other groups, they now comprise a majority only in Bolivia. In Guatemala, native Americans are a large minority that comprises 41% of the population.Census data {{dead link|date=December 2023}} Mexico's 21% (9.8% in the official 2005 census) is the next largest ratio, and one of the largest indigenous population in the Americas in absolute numbers. Most of the remaining countries have native American minorities, in every case making up less than one-tenth of the respective country's population. In many countries, people of mixed indigenous and European ancestry, known as mestizos, make up the majority of the population.
• Mestizos. Intermixing between Europeans and native Americans began early in the colonial period and was extensive. The resulting people, known as mestizos, make up the majority of the population in half of the countries of Latin America. Additionally, mestizos comprise large minorities in nearly all the other mainland countries.
• Mulattoes. Mulattoes are people of mixed European and African ancestry, mostly descended from Spanish, French, or Portuguese settlers on one side and African slaves on the other, during the colonial period. Brazil is home to Latin America's largest mulatto population. Mulattoes form a majority in the Dominican Republic and are also numerous in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador. Smaller populations of mulattoes are found in other Latin American countries.
• Whites. Beginning in the late 15th century, large numbers of Iberian colonists settled in what became Latin America (Portuguese in Brazil and Spaniards elsewhere in the region), and at present most white Latin Americans are of Spanish, Portuguese or Italian ancestry. Iberians brought the Spanish and Portuguese languages, the Catholic faith, and many Iberian traditions. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela contain the largest numbers of Europeans in Latin America in pure numbers. They make up the majority of the population of Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile and Uruguay and roughly half of Brazil's and Venezuela's population.WEB,weblink Resultado Básico del XIV Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda 2011, 14, es, Ine.gov.ve, 2012-11-25, 2018-11-15,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181115145751weblink">weblink dead, Of the millions of immigrants since most of Latin America gained independence in the 1810s–1820s, Italians formed the largest group, and next were Spaniards and Portuguese.ENCYCLOPEDIA,weblink South America :: Postindependence overseas immigrants, 2008-02-10, Britannica Online Encyclopedia, Many others arrived, such as French, Germans, Greeks, Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Croats, Serbs, Latvians, Lithuanians, English, Jews, Irish and Welsh. Most Latin Americans have some degree of European ancestry, when talking into account those of either mixed or full European descent.WEB,weblink Latinoamérica, 2013-09-23, {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
• Zambos: Intermixing between blacks and native Americans was especially prevalent in Colombia and Brazil, often due to slaves running away (becoming cimarrones: maroons) and being taken in by indigenous villagers. In Spanish-speaking nations, people of this mixed ancestry are known as zambos,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110514000352weblink">Stranded in Paradise: Shipwrecked Hundreds of Years Ago, the Garifuna Are Still Trying to Find Their Way by Teresa Wiltz, The Washington Post. and they are also known as cafuzos in Brazil.
• Multi-ethnic/Multi-racials: In addition to the foregoing groups, Latin America also has millions of peoples who belong to multiracial backgrounds.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right"Racial distribution, in 2005LIZCANO FERNáNDEZ, Francisco, May–August 2005, Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI, Convergencia, 38, 185–232; table on p. 218, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Mexico, 1405-1435,weblink es, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080920172933weblink">weblink 2008-09-20, {{Page range too broad|date=July 2021}} - Population estimates, as of {{UN_Population|Year}}{{UN_Population|ref}} style="background:#e8e8e8;"! Country! Population{{UN_Population|ref}}! Native Americans! Whites! Mestizos! Mulattoes! Blacks! Zambos! Asians {{flag|Argentina}} Argentina}} 1.0% 85.0% 11.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2.9% {{flag|Bolivia}}Bolivia (Plurinational State of)}} 55.0% 15.0% 28.0% 2.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% {{flag|Brazil}} {{UN_Population47.7% >TITLE=COR OU RAçA YEAR=2010, 5 October 2013, {{flag|Chile}}Chile}} 3.0% 53.0% 44.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% {{flag|Colombia}}Colombia}} 1.8% 20.0% 53.2% 21% 3.9% 0.1% 0.0% {{flag|Costa Rica}}Costa Rica}} 0.8% 82.0% 15.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2.0% 0.2% {{flag|Cuba}}Cuba}} 0.0% 62.0% 0.0% 27.6% 11.0% 0.0% 1.0% {{flag|Dominican Republic}}Dominican Republic}} 0.0% 14.6% 0.0% 75.0% 7.7% 2.3% 0.4% {{flag|Ecuador}}Ecuador}} 39.0% 9.9% 41.0% 5.0% 5.0% 0.0% 0.1% {{flag|El Salvador}}El Salvador}} 1.0% 12.0% 86.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% {{flag|Guatemala}}Guatemala}} 50.9% 6.9% 41.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.8% {{flag|Honduras}}Honduras}} 7.7% 1.9% 85.1% 1.6% 0.0% 3.9% 0.7% {{flag|Mexico}}Mexico}} 14% 15% 70% 0.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.5% {{flag|Nicaragua}}Nicaragua}} 5% 17% 69% 6% 3% 0.6% 0.2% {{flag|Panama}}Panama}} 8.0% 10.0% 32.0% 27.0% 5.0% style="background:#E8E8E8" 4.0% {{flag|Paraguay}}Paraguay}} 1.5% 3.5% 90.5% 3.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.5% {{flag|Peru}}Peru}} 45.5% 12.0% 32.0% 9.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.8% {{flaggroup=snPolitical status of Puerto Rico>a territory of the United States.}}WEBSITE=CENSUS.GOV, 0.5% 17.1% 2.3% 10.5% style="background:#E8E8E8" | 0.1% {{flag|Haiti}}Haiti}} 0.0% 9.0% 0.0% 5.0% 86.0% 0.0% 1.0%ATLAS SOCIODEMOGRAFICO Y DE LA DESIGUALDAD EN URUGUAY, 2011: ANCESTRY >LANGUAGE=ES URL=HTTP://WWW.INE.GUB.UY/BIBLIOTECA/ATLAS_SOCIODEMOGRAFICO/ATLAS_FASCICULO_2_AFROURUGUAYOS.PDF ARCHIVE-DATE=8 SEPTEMBER 2014, {{flag|Uruguay}}Uruguay}} 0.0% 88.0% 4.0% 8.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% {{flag|Venezuela}}Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)}} 2.7% 42.2% 42.9% 0.7% 2.8% 0.0% 2.2% class="sortbottom" style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" Total36.1% >| 0.7%{{reflist|group=sn}}

Racial groups according to self-identification

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.Informe Latinobarómetro, Latinobarómetro.{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right"! Country || Mestizo || White || Mulatto || Black || Native American || Asian || Other || DK/NR1 {{flag73% >| 7% {{flag47% >| 4% {{flag45% >| 2% {{flag60% >| 5% {{flag43% >| 9% {{flag66% >| 5% {{flag28% >| 2% {{flag78% >| 3% {{flag62% >| 11% {{flag44% >| 6% {{flag61% >| 10% {{flag60% >| 4% {{flag54% >| 11% {{flag55% >| 4% {{flag36% >| 20% {{flag72% >| 5% {{flag80% >| 6% {{flag45% >| 5%! Weighted average2 || 34% || 33% || 8% || 6% || 11% || 0% || 2% || 7%1 Don't know/No response.2 Weighted using 2011 population.

Language

(File:Map-Romance Latin America.svg|thumb|Linguistic map of Latin America. Spanish in green, Portuguese in orange, and French in blue.)Spanish and Portuguese are 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 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, 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 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 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 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 WelshWEB,weblink h2g2 - Y Wladfa - The Welsh in Patagonia - Edited Entry, Not Panicking Ltd, 21 November 2011, bbc.co.uk, 22 September 2015, WEB,weblink The Welsh Immigration to Argentina, 1stclassargentina.com, 22 September 2015, WEB,weblink Opening page: The Welsh in Patagonia, Jeremy Howat, argbrit.org, 22 September 2015, WEB,weblink Gaiman, Trelew y Rawson, patagonline.com, 22 September 2015, WEB,weblink Y Wladfa - Patagonia, andesceltig.com, 22 September 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170917174822weblink">weblink 17 September 2017, dead, WEB,weblink Reference for Welsh language in southern Argentina, Welsh immigration to Patagonia, 2010-07-05,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160808130811weblink">weblink 2016-08-08, dead, in southern Argentina. Hebrew and Yiddish are used by Jewish diasporas in Argentina and Brazil.In several nations, especially in 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 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.

Religion

File:Procesión del Milagro en la provincia de Salta - Argentina.jpg|thumb|Procession of Our Lord and the Virgin of the Miracle in Salta citySalta cityThe vast majority of Latin Americans are Christians (90%),WEB,weblink Christians, 18 December 2012, Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, 22 September 2015, mostly Roman Catholics.WEB,weblinkweblink dead, June 13, 2007, CIA â€” The World Factbook -- Field Listing â€” Religions, 2009-03-17, About 71% of the Latin American population consider themselves Catholic.Fraser, Barbara J., weblink" title="webarchive.loc.gov/all/20050628212330weblink">In Latin America, Catholics down, church's credibility up, poll says Catholic News Service June 23, 2005 Membership in Protestant denominations is increasing, particularly in Brazil, Guatemala and Puerto Rico. Argentina hosts the largest communities of both JewsWEB, World Jewish Population, LeElef, Ner,weblink 2008-01-09, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171107190542weblink">The Jewish People Policy Planning Institute; Annual Assessment, 2007 WEB,weblink dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080531003148weblink">weblink United Jewish Communities; Global Jewish Populations, May 31, 2008, and MuslimsWEB,weblink Argentina, U.S. Department of State, 22 September 2015, WEB,weblink Argentina, U.S. Department of State, 19 September 2008, 22 September 2015, NEWS,weblink BBC Mundo - A fondo - Árabes y musulmanes en América Latina, bbc.co.uk, 17 March 2005, 22 September 2015, 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, the world's second largest Christian population, after Europe.WEB,weblink The Global Religious Landscape, Pewforum.org,weblink 7 May 2020, 25 January 2017,

Migration

{{anchor|United States}}{{See also|Latino Americans|Latin American Canadians|Latin Americans in the United Kingdom|Latin American Australians|Latin American Asian}}According to the 2005 Colombian census or DANE, about 3,331,107 Colombians currently live abroad.WEB,weblink Peter Stalker, www.pstalker.com, January 31, 2009,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090131171057weblink">weblink The number of Brazilians living overseas is estimated at about 2 million people.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090721072130weblink">weblink dead, Brasileiros no Exterior â€” Portal da Câmara dos Deputados, July 21, 2009, An estimated 1.5 to two million Salvadorians reside in the United States.Country Overview: El Salvador {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101123447weblink |date=January 1, 2010 }}, United States Agency for International Development At least 1.5 million Ecuadorians have gone abroad, mainly to the United States and Spain.weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20071228044616weblink">Chavistas in Quito, Forbes.com, January 7, 2008 Approximately 1.5 million Dominicans live abroad, mostly in the United States.WEB,weblink Dominican Republic: Remittances for Development, ipsnews.net, 22 September 2015, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110610221238weblink">weblink 10 June 2011, More than 1.3 million Cubans live abroad, most of them in the United States.Cubans Abroad, Radiojamaica.com 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.Chile: Moving Towards a Migration Policy, Migration Information Source An estimated 700,000 Bolivians were living in Argentina as of 2006 and another 33,000 in the United States.WEB, South America: Brazil, Mercosur - Migration News - Migration Dialogue, ucdavis.edu,weblink 22 September 2015, Central Americans living abroad in 2005 were 3,314,300,WEB, Prospects - Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, worldbank.org,weblink 22 September 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151208121838weblink">weblink 8 December 2015, dead, dmy-all, of which 1,128,701 were Salvadorans,WEB,weblink Latin America & Caribbean (ElSalvador), World Bank, 2006, 2010-07-26, 685,713 were Guatemalans,WEB,weblink Latin America & Caribbean (Guatemala), World Bank, 2006, 2010-07-26, 683,520 were Nicaraguans,WEB,weblink Latin America & Caribbean (Nicaragua), World Bank, 2006, 2010-07-26, 414,955 were Hondurans,WEB,weblink Latin America & Caribbean (Honduras), World Bank, 2006, 2010-07-26, 215,240 were PanamaniansWEB,weblink Latin America & Caribbean (Panama), World Bank, 2006, 2010-07-26, and 127,061 were Costa Rica.WEB,weblink Latin America & Caribbean (CostaRica), World Bank, 2006, 2010-07-26, As of 2006, Costa Rica and Chile were the only two countries with global positive migration rates.WEB,weblink United Nations Population Division, 28 December 2023,

Notable Latin Americans

See also

{{Div col|colwidth=16em}}

• Argentines
• Bolivians
• Brazilians
• Californios
• Chileans
• Colombians
• Costa Ricans
• Cubans
• Dekasegi
• Dominicans
• Ecuadorians
• Filipinos
• Guatemalans
• Haitians
• Hondurans
• History of Latin America
• Italians
• Japanese Mexicans
• Latin American culture
• Latinos
• Los Angeles, California
• Mexicans
• Miami
• Neomexicanos
• Nicaraguans
• Nuyoricans
• Panamanians
• Paraguayans
• Peruvians
• Portuguese people
• Puerto Ricans
• Québécois people
• Salvadorans
• Spaniards
• Tejanos
• Uruguayans
• Venezuelans

{{div col end}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

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