Hispanic
[3][4] The term commonly applies to Spaniards and Spanish-speaking (Hispanophone) populations and countries in Hispanic America (the continent) and Hispanic Africa (Equatorial Guinea and the disputed territory of Western Sahara), which were formerly part of the Spanish Empire due to colonization mainly between the 16th and 20th centuries.
The ancient Roman Hispania, which roughly comprised what is currently called the Iberian Peninsula, included the contemporary states of Spain, Portugal, parts of France, Andorra, and the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar.
[13][14] Some famous Hispani (plural of Hispanus) and Hispaniensis were the emperors Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Hadrian, Theodosius I and Magnus Maximus, the poets Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, Martial and Prudentius, the philosophers Seneca the Elder and Seneca the Younger, and the usurper Maximus of Hispania.
This revival of the old Roman concept in the Middle Ages appears to have originated in Provençal and was first documented at the end of the 11th century.
[23] Spain was a geographic territory, home to several kingdoms (Christian and Muslim), with separate governments, laws, languages, religions, and customs, and was the historical remnant of the Hispano-Gothic unity.
Illustrative of this fact is the historical ecclesiastical title of Primate of the Spains, traditionally claimed by the Archbishop of Braga, a Portuguese prelate.
With the Decretos de Nueva Planta, Philip V started to organize the fusion of his kingdoms that until then were ruled as distinct and independent, but this unification process lacked a formal and juridic proclamation.
[35] Although sharing the etymology for the word (pt: hispânico, es: hispánico), the definition for Hispanic is different between Portugal and Spain.
"Hispanic" is totally void of any self-identification in Brazil, and quite to the contrary, serves the purpose of marking a clear distinction in relation to neighboring countries' culture.
[5][6] The United States Census Bureau uses Hispanic or Latino to refer to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race [44] and states that Hispanics or Latinos can be of any race and any ancestry.
[45] Because of the technical distinctions involved in defining "race" vs. "ethnicity", there is confusion among the general population about the designation of Hispanic identity.
Currently, the United States Census Bureau defines six race categories:[46] A 1997 notice by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget defined Hispanic or Latino persons as being "persons who trace their origin or descent to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central and South America, and other Spanish cultures.
The United States census uses the Hispanic or Latino to refer to "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.
"[48] The U.S. Department of Transportation defines Hispanic as, "persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
[50] The United States Department of Labor – Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs encourages the same self-identification.
The men's national teams of Argentina, Uruguay and Spain have won the FIFA World Cup a total six times.
However, baseball is the most popular sport in some Central American and Caribbean countries (especially Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico,Nicaragua and Venezuela), as well as in the diaspora in the United States.
Several Hispanic sportspeople have been successful worldwide, such as Diego Maradona, Alfredo di Stefano, Lionel Messi, Diego Forlán, Fernando Torres, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Iker Casillas, Xabi Alonso (association football), Juan Manuel Fangio, Juan Pablo Montoya, Eliseo Salazar, Fernando Alonso, Marc Gené, Carlos Sainz Sr. and Carlos Sainz Jr. (auto racing), Ángel Nieto, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Márquez, Marc Coma, Nani Roma (motorcycle racing), Emanuel Ginóbili, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol (basketball), Julio César Chávez, Saúl Álvarez, Carlos Monzón (boxing), Miguel Indurain, Alberto Contador, Santiago Botero, Rigoberto Urán, Nairo Quintana (cycling), Roberto de Vicenzo, Ángel Cabrera, Sergio García, Severiano Ballesteros, José María Olazábal (golf), Luciana Aymar (field hockey), Rafael Nadal, Marcelo Ríos, Guillermo Vilas, Gabriela Sabatini, Juan Martín del Potro (tennis).
The Spanish and the Portuguese took the Catholic faith to their colonies in the Americas, Africa, and Asia; Catholicism remains the predominant religion amongst most Hispanics.
Among the Spanish-speaking Catholics, most communities celebrate their homeland's patron saint, dedicating a day for this purpose with festivals and religious services.
Some Spanish-speakers in Latin America syncretize Roman Catholicism and African or Native American rituals and beliefs.
Such is the case of Santería, popular with Afro-Cubans, which combines old African beliefs in the form of Roman Catholic saints and rituals.
Genetic studies on the (male) Y-chromosome conducted by the University of Leeds in 2008 appear to support the idea that the number of forced conversions has been previously underestimated significantly.
There are also thought to be many Catholic-professing descendants of marranos and Spanish-speaking crypto-Jews in the Southwestern United States and scattered through Hispanic America.
Additionally, there are Sephardic Jews who are descendants of those Jews who fled Spain to Turkey, Syria, and North Africa, some of whom have now migrated to Hispanic America, holding on to some Spanish/Sephardic customs, such as the Ladino language, which mixes Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic and others, though written with Hebrew and Latin characters.
