What Is the ethnic breakdown in Spain?

Answer 1

Following linguistic criteria, modern Spanish citizens could be divided into Castilian, Catalan, Galician-Portuguese, Basque, Asturian-Leonese and Aragonese ethnic groups.

Castilians

The largest ethnic group in Spain. The Spanish capital of Madrid is located in the historical region of New Castile, and what the Castilian language (castellano) is also known as Spanish (español). The Kingdom of Castile was the principle actor in the unification of Spain.

The original Castilian nucleus was around the modern day autonomous communities of Cantabria and part of Castile-León (around the city of Burgos). In the Christian reconquista("reconquering") of Al-Andalus (Muslim Arab-dominated kingdoms in most of the Iberian Peninsula), Castilians settled and became the dominant population in Castile-La Mancha, Madrid, most of Extremadura, Andalucia, and Murcia.

In the last century, many Castilian-speakers from Andalucia and Extremadura emigrated to urban centres to the Basque Country and the Catalan-speaking areas. This has changed the demographic balance in those areas, which along with the dictator Francisco Franco's oppressive policy towards minority languages has made Spanish (i.e Castilian) the dominant language throughout Spain.

Catalans

Historically confined to a small Pyrenean area between the far south-east of what is now France and the far north-east of what is now Spain, the Catalans spread (as did other Iberian Christian ethnic groups) towards the south and east in the Reconquista. They colonized the rest of the modern autonomous area of Catalonia, most of the Valencian Country, the Balearic Islands and the eastern strip of Aragon. They also settled the Sardinian city of Alguer, and conquered but did not colonize many other areas of the Mediterranean in the Crown of Aragon. They also conquered and settled Murcia, but the Crown of Aragon gave this region to the Kingdom of Castile, so the main language of this area ended up being Castillian albeit with some Catalan influence. There are around 6-7 million speakers of Catalan in Spain, in a historical area of around 13 million people.

Galicians and Portuguese

Galicians inhabit the western part of the Iberian Peninsula, and despite their Romance language they got their name from a Celtic people that predated Roman settlement. In the Reconquestathey conquered what is now Portugal, spreading their language throughout the western part of the peninsula. Galicia was then annexed by Spain but Portugal gained independence, which has lead to the curious situation where nowadays the Galician language is more internationally known under the name "Portuguese". In Galicia, the urban areas have become largely Castilianized, and the Galician-speaking areas have become depopulated because of emigration to the Americas. Even today in Hispano-American slang, the word "Galician" (gallego) is used to refer to all Spaniards.

A historical part of Portugal, Olivenza, also became part of Spain through annexation, and El Bierzo was added to the Castile-Leon autonomous area despite it's Galician ethnolinguistic affiliation. Furthermore, the Eo-Nava region of Asturias represents a transition between Asturian and Galician cultures.

Basques

The Basques are the only non-Indo-European ethnic group in Western Europe, meaning the ancestor of their language was spoken in Europe before the ancestors of modern Romance, Germanic and Celtic groups arrived. Their kingdom in the medieval period was the kingdom of Navarre. Their language did not spread during the Reconquesta, unlike those of the other Spanish ethnolinguistic groups. Nowadays their urban areas are very Castilian-speaking, both because of Andalucian and Extremaduran Immigration and the Castilianization of ethnic Basques. Their country, known in their language as Euskal Herria is made up of the Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre in Spain, as well as the areas of Lapurdi, Zuberoa and Lower Navarre in southwestern France.

Asturians

Asturias was the first Christian in Spain to pursue the Reconquesta, and indeed it and its sucessor state Leon conquered large areas of western Spain. Asturian-Leonese people inhabited what are today the autonomous community of Asturias, the provinces of Leon, Zamorra and Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon, and the western areas of Extremadura. However, in Extremadura there are only a few villages which still speak anything close to Asturian-Leonese, in Salamanca there are no speakers left, and in Leon and Zamorra the speakers are left in some western villages. In Asturias most people have some knowledge of the language -- but it is far from dominant, and it has no official status. There is no Asturian nationalist or secessionist party with parliamentary representation in Asturias, Castile-Leon or Extremadura, in contrast with the Catalans, Basques, Aragonese and Galicians.

Aragonese

The Aragonese inhabited primarily Aragon (the central and southern areas being fruit of the Reconquesta) as well as the churro areas of Valencia (the rest of the region is historically dominated by Catalans). They gave their name to the Crown of Aragon which was a major playor in the Mediterranean, but its centre was Barcelona and it spread Catalan language and culture. Furthermore, eastern Aragon was settled by Catalans, and now western dialects of Catalan are predominantly spoken in that sparsely populated area. Other parts of Aragon rapidly became Castilian-speaking -- this was both due to Castilian resettlement of areas depopulated by plagues and the Castilianization of the ethnic Aragonese due to the lack of prestige given to their language. By the 20th century the Aragonese language was mainly spoken in mountain areas of the Huescaprovince.

Answer 2

Spaniards are primarily Iberian people.

The largest ethnic group in Spain are the Castilians. Castile was the kingdom that united Spain into one country, before that it was made up of many different states such as Aragon, Navarre, etc. Areas that are historically "Castilian" are Castile and Leon, Castile-La Mancha and Madrid, although they have a presence throughout Spain. The Castilians are the largest group in Spain. Castilian is Spain's official language, and is for this reason called "Spanish" even though there are other Spanish languages (such as Catalan, Galician, etc.).

Another large group are the Catalans. They live mostly in Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands (although some Balearics and Valencians maintain a separate identity). The Catalan independence movement is the strongest of the independence movement among the Spanish peoples.

Basques, one of the few ethnic groups that is associated with a non-Romance language, are mostly found in the Basque Country and Navarre. Che Guevara was a famous Argentine of Basque descent.

Galicians are mostly found in Galicia, northwestern Spain. Galician is more like Portuguese than Castilian (also called Spanish since it's the largest language in Spain). Fidel Castro is a well known Cuban of Galician descent.

Andalucians have considerably more Arab and Berber background than other Spanish peoples (other than newer Arab and Berber migrants, of course). They speak the Andalucian dialect of Castilian which sounds very similar to latin American spanish, perhaps from the carribean. These people are primarily found in Andalucia.

The Aragonese of Aragon are another important group in Spain. The union of the Aragonese and Castilian nobility is what began the unification of Spain, which unfortunately began the demise of Aragon and the beginning of Castilian domination in the peninsula. Aragon was one of the most powerful Spanish nations before Spanish unification (it controlled Barcelona, Valencia, the Balearics and even parts of Italy and the Netherlands).

Other groups are the Leonese of Leon, the Asturians of Asturias and the Cantabrians of Cantabria.

Canarios from the Canary Islands are primarily of andalucian heritage as other regions within Spain and also mixed with the native Guanche tribe. The guanches were a white nomadic people said to be descended from the Berbers. However they were a tall white people with blue eyes. The canario spanish is said to be somewhere between andalucian spanish and venezuelan spanish.

Native minority groups include the Roma and Saphardi Jews. Many immigrant minority groups are coming from Asia and Africa. There are also many Arabs and Berbers coming from neighbouring North Africa. There are some migrants from other parts of Europe, especially Britons. This is partly due to European integration.

Answer 3

The ethnic breakdown in Spain is approximately 74.4 percent Castilian Spanish, 16.9 percent Catalan, 6.4 percent Galician, and 1.6 percent Basque. An additional 0.7 percent identify themselves as 'other.'

Answer 4

The population of Spain is around 75 percent Castilian Spanish, 17 percent Catalan Spanish, 6 percent Galician Spanish, and 1. 5 percent Basque. The remainder of the population is made up of immigrants from North Africa, Latin America, elsewhere in Europe, as well as Asia. The Romani population is estimated to be around 700,000.

Answer 5

Castilian Spanish 74,4%; Catalan 16,9%; Galician 6,4%; Basque 1,6%; other 0,7%

Answer 6

About 89.9 percent of Spanish population is of Spanish ethnicity and 10.1% is of foreign ethnicity.

Answer 7

The answer is:

Jewish

Ethinic

Castilians

Castilians

Basques

Answer 8

blue