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The Spanish people or more properly '''Spaniards''', are a Nation native to Spain , in the Iberian Peninsula of southwestern Europe . Their religion is predominantly Roman Catholic 94%. Ethnically composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types, has a long history of Invasions and Migrations {Link without Title} Substantial populations descended from Spanish Colonists and Immigrants also exist in other parts of the world, most notably in Latin America . A more orthodox analysis would be used to class these groups as Spanish, based on common language, culture and a sense of shared ancestry. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND .]] The earliest modern humans inhabiting Spain are believed to have been Paleolithic peoples that may have arrived in the Iberian Peninsula as early as 35,000-40,000 years ago. In more recent times the Iberians are believed to have arrived or developed in the region between the 4th Millennium BC and the 3rd Millennium BC , initially settling along the Mediterranean coast. Celt ic tribes arrived in Iberia between the 9th Century BC and the 6th Century BC . The Celts merged with the Iberians in central Spain, creating a local hybrid culture known as Celtiberian . In addition, a group known as the Tartessians and later Turdetani ans inhabited southwestern Spain and who are believed to have developed a separate civilization of Phoenicia n influence. The seafaring Phoenicians , Greeks and Carthaginians successively settled along the Mediterranean coast and founded trading colonies there over a period of several centuries. The Second Punic War between the Carthaginians and Romans was fought mainly in what is now Spain and Portugal .1 The Roman Republic annexed Iberia during the 2nd Century BC and transformed most of the region into a series of Latin -speaking provinces. As a result of Roman Colonization , the majority of local languages, with the exception of Basque , stem from a type of Vulgarized Latin that was spoken in Hispania (Roman Iberia), which evolved into the Modern Languages Of The Iberian Peninsula , including Castilian , which became the unifying language of Spain, and now known in many countries as Spanish . Hispania (including Spain, but also Portugal) emerged as an important part of the Roman Empire and produced notable historical figures such as Trajan , Hadrian and Seneca . The Germanic Vandals and their subordinates the Iranic Alans arrived around 409 AD, but were displaced to North Africa by another Germanic tribe, the Visigoths who conquered the region around 415 AD and became the dominant power in Iberia for a time. Iberian-Roman culture eventually '' Romanized '' the Visigoths and other tribes. Another Germanic tribe, the Suebi (including the Buri ), who arrived at roughly the same time as the Vandals, became established in the old North western Roman province of Gallaecia a kingdom which survived until late 6th Century when it too was integrated by the Visigoth s. In 711 , the Iberian Peninsula was Invaded By Muslim Arab - Berbers , popularly known as the Moors , who conquered nearly all the peninsula except the Kingdom Of Asturias in the very northern part and subsequently ruled part of the region as Al-Andalus , but were Driven South during their reign, ruling areas from between three to nearly eight centuries, Ending With Their Defeat in 1492 . These Muslim Invaders were mainly of Berber origin with prominent Arab Tribal leaders mixed in and they converted many locals to Islam to the point that at certain points in time Muslim s may have outnumbered Christians. Muslims of Hispanic origin were generally known as Muladi s (or Muwalladin in Arabic ), "those born of foreign parentage" (though the idea "foreign" in this case meant "foreign" to the Arab and Berbers). Muslim Iberia was known as Al-Andalus . Ultimately, most Muslim s and Sephardi Jew s were either forcibly Converted To Christianism or expelled after the Christian reconquest ('' Reconquista ''). The union of the Kingdoms of Castille and Aragon and the conquest of Granada led to the formation of the Spanish state as we know it today and thus to the development of Spanish identity in the form of one people. ETHNICITIES AND REGIONS n costumes]] Spain itself consists of various regional sub-nationalities and ethnicities including the Castilians (a large culturally-dominant minority2 who most strongly identify with a Spanish identity), the Catalans , Valencians and Balearics (speakers of a distinct yet related Romance language in eastern Spain), the Basques (a distinct people inhabiting the Basque Country ), and the Galicians , who speak a language which is very close to Portuguese. Regional diversity is important to many Spaniards and some regions (other than the ones associated with the different nationalities) have strong local identities and dialects, such as Asturias , Aragon , the Canary Islands , and Andalusia . The Roma Spain is home to around 700,000 Spanish- Roma ( Gitanos ). Roma are a formerly-nomadic group, originating in Northern India, which spread across Western Asia, North Africa and Europe, reaching Spain in the 15th century. Gitanos, for a number of historical and cultural reasons are not considered a separate or "foreign" population in Spain, but a distinct ethnicity which overlaps with the wider Spanish ethnicity. Indeed, Gitanos play an important role in particularly Andalusia n folklore, music and culture. There are no official statistics on the Gitano population in Spain. Estimates range from 600 000 to 700 000, making Spain, together with Romania and Bulgaria, home to one of the largest Roma communities in Europe. Over 40% of Gitanos live in the region of Andalusia, where they have traditionally enjoyed a higher degree of integration than in the rest of the country. A number of Spanish "gitanos" also live in Southern France, especially in the region of Perpignan . ANCESTRY The ancestry of the Iberian peoples is largely consistent with the geographic position of the Iberian peninsula, located on the extreme southwest of Europe. There are clear connections with the Mediterranean peoples as well as with those of Atlantic and Western Europe . A Paleolithic and Neolithic basis of Iberian ancestry Recent development of methodologies for defining population structure using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism markers has led a 2006 study to conclude that there is clear and consistent division between ''“northern” and “southern” European population groups'', strongly suggesting a close genetic relationship between Greeks, Italians, Portuguese and Spaniards, whereas all European populations north of the Alps and the Pyrenees (except for Ashkenazi jews) seem to fall squarely into a separate "Northern" population group.[ 3 Somewhat contradicting the above findings, a similar 2007 study found that the most prominent genetic stratifications in Europe run from the north to the south-east Europe to the Balkans , with another stratification running on an east-west axis across the continent. This latter study points to a strong Paleolithic element in the Iberian gene-pool, confirming earlier findings that Iberia holds the most ancient European ancestry. Despite these stratifications it noted the unusually high degree of European homogeneity: "there is low apparent diversity in Europe with the entire continent-wide samples only marginally more dispersed than single population samples elsewhere in the world." Measuring European Population Stratification using Microarray Genotype Data [http://vetinari.sitesled.com/euroaims.pdf] Indeed, the Paleolithic component in Iberian ancestry had already been ascertained by means of Y-chromosome and mtDNA analysis, a methodology which does not provide strong inferences on genetic population structure but is useful in tracing parts of the routes of migration in the populating of Europe. Both Y-chromosome haplogroups R1b and Mtdna haplogroup H, reach frequencies above 60% in most of Iberia , R1b peaking at 90% in the Basque region. {Link without Title} This shows the strong ancestral bond between Iberia and the rest of western Europe. It is thought that Northern Iberia was an Ice Age refuge at the end of the last glaciation 45,000 years ago from which human beings later colonized the rest of western Europe. 4 Y-chromosome and Mtdna analysis also points to pre-historic population movements into Iberia from North Africa, probably during the Capsian diffusion. Autosomal studies using a small number of classical genetic markers, supported by more recent analysis of Microsatellite data, have not only lent support for a large Neolithic element in the European genome, but have also been the basis for the Demic Diffusion model from the near east. Broad gradients across Europe, largely on a South East/North West cline using a small number of classical genetic markers would thus link the populations of Western Europe (including Iberia) by a common "paleolithic" ancestry and those of eastern (and particularly south eastern) Europe by a common "neolithic" ancestry {Link without Title} Nevertheless the demic diffusion model remains controversial, to the degree that studies of ancient Mtdna point to the total absence of Neolithic contribution to modern European populations. The Atlantic Experts such as Barry Cunliffe , Bryan Sykes , Stephen Oppenheimer and Spencer Wells have put forward theories, supported by genetic and archaeological studies, pointing to Iberia as the main origin of the people that re-populated Atlantic Europe in the post-glacial period, during the Paleolithic and Neolithic times. They argue that the evidence clearly shows that this prehistoric genetic source remains the predominant one in the region. The legacy of Muslim rule There exists a number of studies which focus on the genetic impact of the eight centuries of Muslim Rule In The Iberian Peninsula ( Al-Andalus ) on the genetic make up of the Iberian population. Recent studies agree that there is a genetic relationship between (particularly southern) Iberia and North Africa as a result of this period of history. Iberia is the only region in Europe with a significant presence of the typically North West Africa n Y-chromosome haplotypes E-M81 | |||
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