See also
- Assimilado
- Hispanicization
- Ilustrado
- Emancipados
- Évolué
- Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish language)
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Languages | |
| Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Catholicism and Evangelicalism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
The Ladino people are a mix of mestizo or Hispanicized peoples [1] in Latin America, principally in Central America. The demonym Ladino is a Spanish word that is related to Latino . Ladino is an exonym initially used during the colonial era to refer to those Spanish-speakers who were not Peninsulares, Criollos or indigenous peoples. [2]
The Ladino population in Guatemala is officially recognized as a distinct ethnic group, and the Ministry of Education of Guatemala uses the following definition:
"The ladino population has been characterized as a heterogeneous population which expresses itself in the Spanish language as a maternal language, which possesses specific cultural traits of Hispanic origin mixed with indigenous cultural elements, and dresses in a style commonly considered as western." [3]
The population censuses include the ladino population as one of the different ethnic groups in Guatemala. [4] [5]
In popular use, the term ladino commonly refers to non-indigenous Guatemalans, as well as mestizos and westernized Amerindians. The word was popularly thought to be derived from a mix of Latino and ladrón, the Spanish word for "thief", but is not necessarily or popularly considered a pejorative. [6] The word is actually derived from the old Spanish ladino (inherited from the same Latin root Latinus that the Spanish word Latino was later borrowed from), originally referring to those who spoke Romance languages in medieval times, and later also developing the separate meaning of "crafty" or "astute". In the Central American colonial context, it was first used to refer to those Amerindians who came to speak only Spanish, and later included their mestizo descendants. [7]
Ladino is sometimes used to refer to the mestizo middle class, or to the population of indigenous peoples who have attained some level of upward social mobility above the largely impoverished indigenous masses. This relates especially to achieving some material wealth and adopting a North American lifestyle. In many areas of Guatemala, it is used in a wider sense, meaning "any Guatemalan whose primary language is Spanish".
Indigenist rhetoric sometimes uses ladino in the second sense, as a derogatory term for indigenous peoples who are seen as having betrayed their homes by becoming part of the middle class. Some may deny indigenous heritage to assimilate. "The 20th century K'iche Maya political activist, Rigoberta Menchú, born in 1959, used the term this way in her noted memoir, which many considered controversial. She illustrates the use of ladino both as a derogatory term, when discussing an indigenous person becoming mestizo/ladino, and in terms of the general mestizo community identifying as ladino as a kind of happiness.
This is a demography of the population of Guatemala including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
With a population of about 129 million in 2022, Mexico is the 10th most populated country in the world. It is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world and the third-most populous country in the Americas after the United States and Brazil. Throughout most of the 20th century Mexico's population was characterized by rapid growth. Although this tendency has been reversed and average annual population growth over the last five years was less than 1%, the demographic transition is still in progress; Mexico still has a large youth cohort. The most populous city in the country is the capital, Mexico City, with a population of 8.9 million (2016), and its metropolitan area is also the most populated with 20.1 million (2010). Approximately 50% of the population lives in one of the 55 large metropolitan areas in the country. In total, about 78.84% of the population of the country lives in urban areas, and only about 21.16% in rural ones.
Mestizo is a person of mixed European and indigenous non-European ancestry in the Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though their ancestors are indigenous. The term was used as an ethno-racial exonym for mixed-race castas that evolved during the Spanish Empire. It was a formal label for individuals in official documents, such as censuses, parish registers, Inquisition trials, and others. Priests and royal officials might have classified persons as mestizos, but individuals also used the term in self-identification.
Afro–Latin Americans or Black Latin Americans are Latin Americans of full or mainly sub-Saharan African ancestry.
Mexicans are the citizens and nationals of the United Mexican States.
Guatemalans are people connected to the country of Guatemala. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Guatemalans, several of these connections exist.
Latin Americans are the citizens of Latin American countries.
Xinca is a small extinct family of Mesoamerican languages, formerly regarded as a single language isolate, once spoken by the indigenous Xinca people in southeastern Guatemala, much of El Salvador, and parts of Honduras.
The Xinka, or Xinca, are a non-Mayan indigenous people of Mesoamerica, with communities in the southern portion of Guatemala, near its border with El Salvador, and in the mountainous region to the north.
The Indigenous peoples of South America or South American Indigenous peoples, are the pre-Columbian peoples of South America and their descendants. These peoples contrast with South Americans of European ancestry and those of African descent.
Ixil (Ixhil) is a Mayan language spoken in Mexico and Guatemala. It is the primary language of the Ixil people, which mainly comprises the three towns of San Juan Cotzal, Santa Maria Nebaj, and San Gaspar Chajul in the Guatemalan highlands and numerous towns in the states of Campeche and Quintana Roo in southeast México. There is also an Ixil speaking migrant population in Guatemala City, Mexico City and the United States. Although there are slight differences in vocabulary in the dialects spoken by people in the three main guatemalan Ixil towns, they are all mutually intelligible and should be considered dialects of a single language. According to historical linguistic studies Ixil emerged as a separate language sometime around the year 500AD.
Central America is a subregion of the Americas formed by six Latin American countries and one (officially) Anglo-American country, Belize. As an isthmus it connects South America with the remainder of mainland North America, and comprises the following countries : Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.
Chileans are an ethnic group and nation native to the country of Chile and its neighboring insular territories. Most Chileans share a common culture, history, ancestry and language. The overwhelming majority of Chileans are the product of varying degrees of admixture between European ethnic groups with peoples indigenous to Chile's modern territory. Chile is a multilingual and multicultural society, but an overwhelming majority of Chileans have Spanish as their first language and either are Christians or have a Christian cultural background.
Guatemalan Sign Language or "Lengua de Señas de Guatemala" is the proposed national deaf sign language of Guatemala, formerly equated by most users and most literature equates with the sign language known by the acronymic abbreviations LENSEGUA, Lensegua, and LenSeGua. Recent legal initiatives have sought to define the term more inclusively, so that it encompasses all the distinctive sign languages and sign systems native to the country.
The Awakatek (Aguacateco) are a Maya people in Guatemala, primarily located in the municipality of Aguacatán (Huehuetenango). Their native Awakatek language is related to the Ixil language.
This is a demography of the population of Colombia including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. It is the second-most populous country in South America after Brazil.
Racism in Mexico refers to the social phenomenon in which behaviors of discrimination, prejudice, and any form of antagonism are directed against people in that country due to their race, ethnicity, skin color, language, or physical complexion. It may also refer to the treatment and sense of superiority of one race over another.
There is no single system of races or ethnicities that covers all modern Latin America, and usage of labels may vary substantially.
In Mexico, the term mestizo is used to refer to an identity of those of mixed European and Indigenous Mexican descent. Some believe it can be defined by criteria ranging from ideological and cultural to self-identification, genetic ancestry, or physical appearance. According to these criteria, estimates of the number of mestizos in Mexico vary from about 40 percent of the population to over 90% who do not belong to the country's culturally indigenous minorities. A survey done by Latinobarometro in 2018 found that around 58% of Mexicans self-identify as mestizos when asked about their race, and another survey by Cohesión Social found that over 70% of Mexicans identified as mixed-race. Some genetic studies have claimed that mestizos make up over 93% of Mexico's present-day population, but this is disputed, with many Mexicans, including those of mixed ancestry, identifying more with static racial labels such as "white" or "indigenous" rather than mestizo, and a large number simply identifying as "Mexican," rejecting racialized labels.
The arrival of the Spaniards in Guatemala began in 1524 with the conquest of the Guatemalan Highlands and neighbouring Pacific plain under the command of Pedro de Alvarado. After the conquest and the colonial era, more people came to the country not as conquerors, but to do business or daily activities.
