Spanish is the most widely spoken language in Latin America, and it is the primary language in every South American country except Brazil, Suriname and French Guyana
French Guiana is an overseas department and region of France, on the north Atlantic coast of South America in the Guyanas. It borders Brazil to the east and south and Suriname to the west. Since 1981, when Belize became independent from the United Kingdom, French Guiana has bee…
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SpanishBecause of the heritage of these nations, Spanish and Portuguese are most commonly spoken, but there are many other languages in the region as well. Spanish, as it is spoken in the Americas, is not the same Spanish as spoken in Spain.
1. Spanish. Though the tally is close, Spanish is the most spoken language in South America, edging out Portuguese by a few million people. Nearly 210 million South Americans speak Spanish, with the largest number living in Colombia — about 47.2 million.
Countries such as Spain, France and Portugal colonized the region. Although most of Latin America was colonized by Spain, the countries of Portugal and France also had major influences on the region.
Spanish is the most spoken language of South America with Portuguese as a close second. Other official languages with substantial number of speakers are: English in Guyana and the Falkland Islands.
Español — Spanish (Países Hispanos - Hispanic Countries) It is a widely spoken language in Latin America, except in Brazil and several other countries like Guyana and Suriname. More than 60% of people in the Latin American region speak Spanish as their first language.
The Definition of Latin America By 1898, all Latin American nations had become countries. Some people still wonder why it was named Latin America rather than Spanish America or Hispanic America.
The actual term "Latin America" was coined in France under Napoleon III and played a role in his campaign to imply cultural kinship with France, transform France into a cultural and political leader of the area and install Maximilian as emperor of Mexico.
Roman CatholicsThe majority of Latin Americans are Christians (90%), mostly Roman Catholics. Membership in Protestant denominations is increasing, particularly in Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Puerto Rico. In particular, Pentecostalism has experienced massive growth.
Originally spoken by small groups of people living along the lower Tiber River, Latin spread with the increase of Roman political power, first throughout Italy and then throughout most of western and southern Europe and the central and western Mediterranean coastal regions of Africa.
Over 60% of the Latin American population speaks Spanish, about 35% speak Portuguese, the rest prefer French, English, and Native American languages.
The 10 Most Spoken Languages In North AmericaEnglish. With approximately 334 million speakers, English easily comes in at number one on the list of most spoken languages in North America. ... Spanish. ... French. ... Chinese (all varieties) ... Tagalog. ... Vietnamese. ... German. ... Arabic.More items...•
If you count only native speakers, Mandarin Chinese is the largest.Mandarin Chinese is the largest language in the world when counting only first language (native) speakers. ... When factoring in second-, third-, and higher language speakers, English is the largest language in the world.More items...
One other characteristic of Latin American culture is that some aspects of it are not exactly Latin. In other words, there are elements of Latin American culture that do not come from Spanish or Portuguese colonial sources. Going back to the example of salsa music, in some styles of salsa, there are sounds and rhythms that are African in origin. This is because many people in Latin America are of African descent. Many are the descendants of slaves brought to Latin America from Africa by Spanish and Portuguese colonists and slave traders. Some Latin music includes traditional rhythms from the pre-Columbian Indigenous people of Latin America.
The term “Latin America” was first put in writing in the 19 th century , during a conference in Paris, France, held by a Chilean politician named Francisco Bilbao.
Latin culture and people known as Latinos or Latinas usually implies descent from a Spanish or Portuguese-speaking country of Latin America.
For example, when people in the US or Canada refer to Latin music, they usually mean music that originates in a country of Latin America in which Spanish or Portuguese is the predominant language. Street musicians in Havana, Cuba. Image credit: Gil.K/Shutterstock. Certain styles of music and dance are ascribed to certain countries or regions ...
Latin America is a vast, intercontinental region stretching from the US-Mexico border to the southern tip of South America. About 659 million people live in Latin America. The term "Latin America" originally referred to any territory in the Western Hemisphere where a Romance-based language was the predominant language.
Ironically, however, Napoleon III used the term “Latin America” when he was attempting to make his own imperial conquests , as he wanted to take over Mexico in the 1860s.
As a former Dutch colony, Suriname's official language is Dutch. These include the Central American country of Belize, the South American countries of Guyana and Suriname, and several countries and dependencies in the Caribbean. Thus, the term “Latin America” today has mostly geopolitical connotations rather than linguistic.
Spanish is the most widely spoken language in Latin America, and it is the primary language in every South American country except Brazil, Suriname and French Guyana, as well as Puerto Rico, Cuba and several other islands.
Latin America typically refers to the nations of South and Central America, but technically it refers to all the countries that once belonged to the empires of Spain and Portugal during the discovery of the American continents.
Because of the heritage of these nations, Spanish and Portuguese are most commonly spoken, but there are many other languages in the region as well.
The Dominican Republic is home to over 9 million people, according to the most recent census reports. The largest city in the nation is Santa Domingo, with just over 2 million residents.
French is spoken in certain areas of Latin America, including Haiti and French Guyana, where it is the primary language. Due to large native populations in the South American interior, as well as a melting pot of languages in the Caribbean, it is difficult to say how many other languages and dialects are spoken in Latin America, ...
Portuguese. Portuguese is spoken throughout South America, but it is the primary language of only one nation: Brazil. Brazil is the most populous and largest country in South America, so even though Portuguese is not the primary language elsewhere on the continent, almost half the population of South America speaks it.
The Dominican Republic is located in the Caribbean, and historians believe that people have inhabited the island since at least the 7th century. This was one of the first places discovered by Christopher Columbus on his voyages and it now exists as a democratic country.
The main language spoken in Latin America is Spanish, since the Spanish colonized most of the area.
Latin American Spanish is different to European Castilian Spanish and is particularly noticeable in its spoken form, not to mention colloquial expressions. It is not dissimilar to the differences between American English and British English.
What is the most widely spoken language in South America? That would be Spanish, with a whopping 210 million speakers. That includes both those speaking Spanish as their first tongue and those who speak other languages but use Spanish to communicate when need be.
While the main language in South America is Spanish (closely followed by Portuguese), learning the area’s other languages can reap significant rewards in terms of cultural understanding and discovery.
Another language in South America that is subject to efforts to preserve and expand its use is Wayúunaiki. Also referred to as Wayuu and Guajiro, it is spoken by the Wayuu people of Venezuela and Colombia.
Hot on the heels of Spanish, Portuguese has 206 million speakers in South America. However, while Spanish speaking South America includes nine countries, Portuguese South America includes just one. Which South American country speaks Portuguese? Brazil, of course.
Thought by some to have originated around 2,600 BC, Quechua was spread by the Incas as their empire flourish across South America in the 1400s. This is why the language is spoken today across such a wide geographic area; Quechua speakers can be found in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile and Colombia.
That leaves just four non-Spanish speaking countries in South America. Many businesses looking to trade across international borders within South America therefore make use of Spanish translation services in order to ensure the smooth flow of goods between the countries that speak Spanish and those that don’t.
What we do know is that many South American languages preserved their distinctive features thanks to geography. Jungles, mountains and wide, fast-flowing rivers have all served to keep people – and their native languages – in isolated communities until very recently, in historical terms.