The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music also incorporate the indigenous music of Latin America. Due to its highly syncretic nature, Latin American music encompasses a wide variety of styles, including influential genres such as cumbia, bachata, bossa nova, merengue, rumba, salsa, samba, son, candombe and tango. During the 20th century, many styles were influenced by the music of the United States giving rise to genres such as Latin pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, and reggaeton.
The music of Ecuador is a diverse aspect of Ecuadorian culture. Ecuadorian music ranges from indigenous styles such as pasillo to Afro-Ecuadorian styles like bomba to modern indie rock like "Cambio de Tonalidad" by Da Pawn.
Zambo or Sambu is a racial term historically used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed Amerindian and African ancestry. Occasionally in the 21st century, the term is used in the Americas to refer to persons who are of mixed African and Native American ancestry.
Asian Latin Americans are Latin Americans of Asian descent. Asian immigrants to Latin America have largely been from East Asia or West Asia. Historically, Asians in Latin America have a centuries-long history in the region, starting with Filipinos in the 16th century. The peak of Asian immigration occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries. There are currently more than four million Asian Latin Americans, nearly 1% of Latin America's population. Chinese, Japanese, and Lebanese are the largest Asian ancestries; other major ethnic groups include Filipinos, Syrians, Koreans and Indians, many of whom are Indo-Caribbean and came from neighboring countries in the Caribbean and the Guianas. Brazil is home to the largest population of East Asian descent, estimated at 2.08 million. The country is also home to a large percentage of West Asian descendants. With as much as 5% of their population having some degree of Chinese ancestry, Peru and Mexico have the highest ratio of any country for East Asian descent. Though the most recent official census, which relied on self-identification, gave a much lower percentage.
The culture of Latin America is the formal or informal expression of the people of Latin America and includes both high culture and popular culture, as well as religion and other customary practices. These are generally of Western origin, but have various degrees of Native American, African and Asian influence.
Noralma Vera Arrata is a former Ecuadorian prima ballerina and choreographer.
Karina Galvez is an Ecuadorian American poet.
Hernando Calvo Ospina is a Colombian journalist, author and director of various documentaries. He resides in France.
Rosa Carmina Riverón Jiménez is a Cuban-Mexican actress and dancer.
Mirella Cesa is an Ecuadorian singer who has won several awards and been called the "mother of Andipop".
Nicole Nau is a German dancer of Tango Argentino and Argentine folklore living in Argentina and Germany.
Luis Pereyra is a dancer and choreographer of Tango Argentino and Argentine folk dances.
Josefina Benedetti Punceles is a Venezuelan-American composer, musicologist and choral director.
Alba Calderón de Gil was an Ecuadorian social realist painter, leftist activist, and feminist. She founded the movement for the recognition of women's rights in Ecuador.
Esperanza Cruz Hidalgo is a former Ecuadorian ballerina and dance instructor.
Ulises Estrella Moya was an Ecuadorian poet and the co-founder of Tzantzismo, a literary movement of the 1960s, Ecuador. He was also a devoted film researcher and programmer, who headed the film cinematheque of the House of Ecuadorian Culture for over 30 years.
Neisi Patricia DájomesBarrera is an Ecuadorian weightlifter, who is the 2020 Tokyo 76 kg Olympic Champion, a 6 time Pan American Champion, Pan American Games Champion and a 3 time Junior World Champion. As of 2024, she is the only female Ecuadorian athlete to win multiple Olympic medals. She competed in the 75 kg category until 2018 and 76 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories. She is the older sister of Angie Palacios.
Corina del Parral Durán was an Argentine writer, poet, pianist, and composer. Married to President José María Velasco Ibarra, she served four terms as the First Lady of Ecuador.
Álvaro Manzano Montero was an Ecuadorian opera and symphony orchestra conductor.
The Bird that Spoke the Truth is a New Mexican folktale. It is related to the motif of the calumniated wife and classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children". These tales refer to stories where a girl promises a king she will bear a child or children with wonderful attributes, but her jealous relatives or the king's wives plot against the babies and their mother. Variants are widely collected across Latin America.
