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Hispanicization or Hispanization^[1] refers to the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by Hispanic culture. Hispanicization is illustrated by, but not limited to, spoken Spanish, production and consumption of Latin food, Spanish language music, and participation in Hispanic festivals and holidays.^[2]

[edit] In the United States

According to the 2000 United States Census^[3], about 75 percent of all Hispanics spoke Spanish in the home. Hispanic retention rates are so high in parts of Texas and New Mexico and along the border because the percentage of Hispanics living there is also very high. Laredo, Texas; Chimayo, New Mexico; and Nogales, Arizona, for example, all have Hispanic populations greater than 90 percent. Furthermore, in these place Hispanics have always been the majority population.^[4]

[edit] In Ibero-America

This refers to Spain's influence which began in the late 15th century and the Spanish Empire beginning in the colonisation of the Canary Islands in 1402 which is now part of Spain. Later the landing of Christopher Columbus in 1492 in the Caribbean then Central America and South America. All these countries were Hispanicized to some extent and many hold a culture that still has its origins in the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.

[edit] Asia

The Philippines was ruled from Mexico City as a territory of New Spain, from 1565 to 1821 and as a province of Spain until 1898. Since the late 16th century, Spanish and Latin American culture has somewhat influenced the modern Filipino cultural landscape. Birth solidly from Austronesian and Iberian influences, modern Filipino culture is described as a blend of Eastern and Western (mostly Spanish) traditions.

[edit] References