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120-606: The Canary Islands ( / k ə ˈ n ɛər i / , Spanish : Canarias , Spanish: [kaˈnaɾjas] ), also known informally as the Canaries , are a Spanish region, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean . At their closest point to the African mainland, they are 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of Morocco . They are the southernmost of the autonomous communities of Spain . The islands have
240-679: A 2024 study by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, there is archaeological evidence that the Romans were the first to colonise the islands, during the period from the 1st century BCE to the 1st century CE. There was no overlap with the occupation by the people who were inhabiting the islands at the time of the Spanish conquest, who had first arrived sometime between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE. As José Farrujia describes, 'The indigenous Canarians lived mainly in natural caves, usually near
360-693: A Spanish-based creole language called Chavacano developed in the southern Philippines. However, it is not mutually intelligible with Spanish. The number of Chavacano-speakers was estimated at 1.2 million in 1996. The local languages of the Philippines also retain significant Spanish influence, with many words derived from Mexican Spanish , owing to the administration of the islands by Spain through New Spain until 1821, until direct governance from Madrid afterwards to 1898. 1833 territorial division of Spain The 1833 territorial division of Spain divided
480-603: A considerable number of words from Arabic , as well as a minor influence from the Germanic Gothic language through the period of Visigoth rule in Iberia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Latin through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Latin and Renaissance Latin , the form of Latin in use at that time. According to
600-467: A dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants , known in Spanish as the reajuste de las sibilantes , which resulted in the distinctive velar [x] pronunciation of the letter ⟨j⟩ and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental [θ] ("th-sound") for the letter ⟨z⟩ (and for ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ ). See History of Spanish (Modern development of
720-482: A first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos ( Ilustrados ). Despite a public education system set up by the colonial government, by the end of Spanish rule in 1898, only about 10% of the population had knowledge of Spanish, mostly those of Spanish descent or elite standing. Spanish continued to be official and used in Philippine literature and press during the early years of American administration after
840-471: A government that lasted only into the following January, having been unable to satisfy either side. Despite his vain efforts to gain the support of either the liberals or the Carlists, his government undertook a major reform of the territorial division of Spain whose effects are still felt after more than a century-and-a-half: the division of Spain into provinces. A royal decree of 20 November 1833 ratified
960-577: A large degree of autonomy. In fact, the islands do not enjoy any special degree of autonomy, as each one of the Spanish regions is considered an autonomous community , with equal status to the European ones. Under the Law of the Sea , the only islands not granted territorial waters or an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) are those that are not fit for human habitation, or do not have an economic life of their own, which
1080-408: A linear trend of northeast–southwest. In October a submarine eruption occurred about 2 km ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 mi) south of Restinga. This eruption produced gases and pumice, but no explosive activity was reported. The following table shows the highest mountains in each of the islands: The official natural symbols associated with Canary Islands are the bird Serinus canaria (canary) and
1200-478: A long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century. In the wake of the 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty , hundreds of thousands of Spanish speakers became a minoritized community in the United States. The 20th century saw further massive growth of Spanish speakers in areas where they had been hitherto scarce. According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of
1320-575: A number of rocks, including Garachico and Anaga . In ancient times, the island chain was often referred to as "the Fortunate Isles". The Canary Islands are the southernmost region of Spain , and the largest and most populous archipelago of Macaronesia . Because of their location, the Canary Islands have historically been considered a link between the four continents of Africa , North America , South America , and Europe . In 2023,
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#17327717599351440-523: A plan put forth by Javier de Burgos , secretary of state for development ( secretario de estado de Fomento ), which created the basis for a centralized state divided into 49 provinces. All but four of the provinces received the name of their capital cities; those four— Navarre with its capital at Pamplona , Álava with Vitoria , Gipuzkoa with San Sebastián , and Biscay (Spanish: Vizcaya ) with Bilbao —reflected long standing entities, and retained their historic names. Javier de Burgos's division
1560-598: A population of 2.2 million people and are the most populous special territory of the European Union . The seven main islands are from largest to smallest in area, Tenerife , Fuerteventura , Gran Canaria , Lanzarote , La Palma , La Gomera , and El Hierro . The only other populated island is La Graciosa , which administratively is dependent on Lanzarote. The archipelago includes many smaller islands and islets, including Alegranza , Isla de Lobos , Montaña Clara , Roque del Oeste , and Roque del Este . It includes
1680-508: A primarily Hassaniya Arabic -speaking territory, Spanish was officially spoken as the language of the colonial administration during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Spanish is present in the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its secondary official language, and in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ( Algeria ), where the Spanish language is still taught as
1800-617: A second language features characteristics involving the variability of the vowel system. While far from its heyday during the Spanish protectorate in Morocco , the Spanish language has some presence in northern Morocco , stemming for example from the availability of certain Spanish-language media. According to a 2012 survey by Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), penetration of Spanish in Morocco reaches 4.6% of
1920-531: A second language, largely by Cuban educators. The number of Spanish speakers is unknown. Spanish is also an official language of the African Union . Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973. During Spanish colonization , it was the language of government, trade, and education, and was spoken as
2040-680: A separate legal and institutional status, including taxation and customs with the Spanish heartland on the Ebro . Navarre was still a semi-autonomous kingdom with its own parliament and government—the Cortes and Diputación —while Álava, Gipuzkoa and Biscay (the Basque Provinces , known also as "Biscay" up to the Peninsular War ), were also autonomous. News of the central government's decision overruling native institutions spread to
2160-424: A site occupied from 1,600 years ago up until the 1960s, round stone houses, complex burial sites, and associated artefacts have been found. Across the islands are thousands of Libyco-Berber alphabet inscriptions scattered and they have been extensively documented by many linguists. The social structure of indigenous Canarians encompassed "a system of matrilineal descent in most of the islands, in which inheritance
2280-485: A surface of 845.94 km (326.62 sq mi), and a population of 149,183 inhabitants, including the adjacent islets of the Chinijo Archipelago. The capital is Arrecife , with 56,834 inhabitants. The Chinijo Archipelago includes the islands La Graciosa , Alegranza , Montaña Clara , Roque del Este and Roque del Oeste . It has a surface of 40.8 km (15.8 sq mi), and only La Graciosa
2400-417: Is Llívia (part of Gerona, but one must pass 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) through France to reach it). The provincial division consolidated rapidly and remains with rather few changes down to the present day. This is in part because the provincial capitals all became the seats of basic government institutions. The jefes políticos would eventually be replaced by civil governors, and eventually delegates of
2520-546: Is Mexico . Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance language group , in which the language is also known as Castilian ( castellano ). The group evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century, and the first systematic written use of
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#17327717599352640-562: Is San Cristóbal de La Laguna , another World Heritage Site on Tenerife. During the Age of Sail , the islands were the main stopover for Spanish galleons during the Spanish colonisation of the Americas , which sailed that far south in order to catch the prevailing northeasterly trade winds . The name Islas Canarias is likely derived from the Latin name Canariae Insulae , meaning "Islands of
2760-416: Is cognate to the root word of satisfacer ("to satisfy"), and hecho ("made") is similarly cognate to the root word of satisfecho ("satisfied"). Compare the examples in the following table: Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table: In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish underwent
2880-413: Is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout the world. Spanish is well represented in the humanities and social sciences . Spanish is also the third most used language on the internet by number of users after English and Chinese and the second most used language by number of websites after English. Spanish is used as an official language by many international organizations , including
3000-622: Is due to their beaches, subtropical climate , and important natural attractions, especially Maspalomas in Gran Canaria and Mount Teide , a World Heritage Site in Tenerife . Mount Teide is the highest peak in Spain and the 3rd tallest volcano in the world , measured from its base on the ocean floor. The islands have warm summers and winters warm enough for the climate to be technically tropical at sea level. The amount of precipitation and
3120-454: Is estimated that about 486 million people speak Spanish as a native language , making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers . An additional 75 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language , making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 538 million speakers. Spanish is also
3240-761: Is heavily influenced by Venezuelan Spanish. In addition to sharing most of its borders with Spanish-speaking countries, the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s induced a favorable situation for the promotion of Spanish language teaching in Brazil . In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President , making it mandatory for schools to offer Spanish as an alternative foreign language course in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil. In September 2016 this law
3360-533: Is not the case of the Canary Islands. There are some pro-independence political parties, like the National Congress of the Canaries (CNC) and the Popular Front of the Canary Islands . Their popular support is almost insignificant, with no presence in either the autonomous parliament or the cabildos insulares . In a 2012 study by the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas , when asked about national identity,
3480-461: Is now western Morocco in the early first century AD . That same naval force was subsequently sent on an exploration of the Canary Islands, using Mogador as their mission base. The names given by Romans to the individual islands were Ninguaria or Nivaria (Tenerife), Canaria (Gran Canaria), Pluvialia or Invale (Lanzarote), Ombrion (La Palma), Planasia (Fuerteventura), Iunonia or Junonia (El Hierro) and Capraria (La Gomera). From
3600-465: Is populated, with 658 inhabitants. With 29 km (11 sq mi), La Graciosa is the largest island of the Chinijo Archipelago and the smallest inhabited island of the Canaries. La Palma, with 81,863 inhabitants covering an area of 708.32 km (273.48 sq mi), is in its entirety a biosphere reserve. For long it showed no signs of volcanic activity, even though the volcano Teneguía entered into eruption last in 1971. On 19 September 2021,
3720-460: Is practically the same as the short-lived 1822 territorial division of Spain , dating from the " Liberal Trienium " ( Trienio Liberal ), but without the provinces of Calatayud , Vierzo , and Játiva ; also, in contrast to the 1822 division, several provinces were given names other than those of their capitals. Rather than the merit of having initiated, directed and produced a new provincial division of Spain, Don Javier de Burgos deserves credit for
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3840-844: Is spoken by very small communities in Angola due to Cuban influence from the Cold War and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned for their country's independence. Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands , located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 km (62 mi) off
3960-813: Is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico . The language has a strong influence in major metropolitan areas such as those of Los Angeles , Miami , San Antonio , New York , San Francisco , Dallas , Tucson and Phoenix of the Arizona Sun Corridor , as well as more recently, Chicago , Las Vegas , Boston , Denver , Houston , Indianapolis , Philadelphia , Cleveland , Salt Lake City , Atlanta , Nashville , Orlando , Tampa , Raleigh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C. due to 20th- and 21st-century immigration. Although Spanish has no official recognition in
4080-483: Is the highest mountain in Spain, and the third tallest volcano on Earth on a volcanic ocean island. All the islands except La Gomera have been active in the last million years. Four of them, Lanzarote, Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro, have historical records of eruptions since European discovery. The islands rise from Jurassic oceanic crust associated with the opening of the Atlantic. Underwater magmatism began during
4200-471: Is the highest peak of Spain and a World Heritage Site . Tenerife is the site of the worst air disaster in the history of aviation, in which 583 people were killed in the collision of two Boeing 747s on 27 March 1977. Graciosa Island or commonly La Graciosa is a volcanic island in the Canary Islands of Spain, located 2 km (1.2 mi) north of the island of Lanzarote across the Strait of El Río. It
4320-460: Is the most populated island of the archipelago and Spain. Two of the islands' principal cities are located on it: the capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and San Cristóbal de La Laguna , a World Heritage Site. San Cristóbal de La Laguna , the second city of the island, is home to the oldest university in the Canary Islands, the University of La Laguna . Teide , with its 3,715 metres (12,188 feet)
4440-561: Is the most populous city and shares the status of capital of the Canaries with Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Gran Canaria's surface area is 1,560 km (600 sq mi). Roque Nublo 1,813 metres (5,948 feet) and Pico de las Nieves ("Peak of Snow") 1,949 metres (6,394 feet) are located in the center of the island. On the south of the island are the Maspalomas Dunes (Gran Canaria). La Gomera (informally known as 'Isla Colombina') has an area of 369.76 km (142.77 sq mi) and
4560-498: Is the official language of 20 countries , as well as one of the six official languages of the United Nations . Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese ; the world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English , Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ); and the world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers
4680-654: Is the second largest in the archipelago and located 100 km (62 mi) from the African coast. The islands form the Macaronesia ecoregion with the Azores , Cape Verde , Madeira , and the Savage Isles . The Canary Islands is the largest and most populated archipelago of the Macaronesia region. The archipelago has seven large and several smaller islands, all of which are volcanic in origin. According to
4800-420: Is the second least populous island with 21,136 inhabitants. It has been declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO . Geologically it is one of the oldest of the archipelago. The insular capital is San Sebastian de La Gomera . Garajonay National Park is located on the island. Lanzarote is the easternmost island and one of the oldest of the archipelago, and it has shown evidence of recent volcanic activity. It has
4920-470: Is the second smallest of the major islands, and the least populous with 10,798 inhabitants. The whole island was declared a Reserve of the Biosphere in 2000. Its capital is Valverde . Also known as Ferro, it was once the westernmost known land in the world. Ancient European geographers such as Ptolemy recognised the island as the prime meridian of longitude. That remained so until the 19th century, when it
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5040-578: Is usually assumed to be derived from castillo ('castle'). In the Middle Ages , the language spoken in Castile was generically referred to as Romance and later also as Lengua vulgar . Later in the period, it gained geographical specification as Romance castellano ( romanz castellano , romanz de Castiella ), lenguaje de Castiella , and ultimately simply as castellano (noun). Different etymologies have been suggested for
5160-465: The Phoenix canariensis palm. Four of Spain's thirteen national parks are located in the Canary Islands, more than any other autonomous community. Two of these have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the other two are part of Biosphere Reserves . The parks are: Teide National Park is the oldest and largest national park in the Canary Islands and one of the oldest in Spain. Located in
5280-721: The Basque districts , sparking uproar and anger. The new design thus notably paved the way to the outbreak of the First Carlist War . While Jorge de Burgos' design of provincial Spain suppressed enclaves, it did keep the ones located in Basque territories — Trucios in Biscay, and Treviño in Álava . According to the new arrangement, the Basque enclaves were to be attached to the closer Spanish province of Common Fiscal Regime. That meant they would be paying taxes to Madrid, not to
5400-638: The Canary hotspot . The Canary Islands is the only place in Spain where volcanic eruptions have been recorded during the Modern Era , with some volcanoes still active (El Hierro, 2011). Volcanic islands such as those in the Canary chain often have steep ocean cliffs caused by catastrophic debris avalanches and landslides . The island chain's most recent eruption occurred at Cumbre Vieja , a volcanic ridge on La Palma, in 2021 . The Teide volcano on Tenerife
5520-559: The Civil Guard are based in the territory. Before the arrival of humans, the Canaries were inhabited by prehistoric animals including the giant lizard ( Gallotia goliath ), the Tenerife and Gran Canaria giant rats , and giant tortoises, Geochelone burchardi and Geochelone vulcanica . Although the original settlement of what are now called the Canary Islands is not entirely clear, linguistic, genetic, and archaeological analyses indicate that indigenous peoples were living on
5640-688: The Phoenicians , the Greeks , and the Carthaginians . King Juba II , Caesar Augustus 's Numidian protégé, is credited with discovering the islands for the Western world. According to Pliny the Elder , Juba found the islands uninhabited, but found "a small temple of stone" and "some traces of buildings". Juba dispatched a naval contingent to re-open the dye production facility at Mogador in what
5760-456: The Province of Canary Islands was split into two provinces. In 1982, the autonomous community of the Canary Islands was established. The cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria are, jointly, the capitals of the islands. Those cities are also, respectively, the capitals of the provinces of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas . Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been
5880-540: The Spanish Senate . Of these, 11 seats are directly elected, 3 for Gran Canaria, 3 for Tenerife, and 1 each for Lanzarote (including La Graciosa), Fuerteventura, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. The other 3 are appointed by the regional legislature. The Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands has two provinces ( provincias ), Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife , whose capitals, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife , are capitals of
6000-568: The Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005. Spanish has historically had a significant presence on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao ( ABC Islands ) throughout the centuries and in present times. The majority of the populations of each island (especially Aruba) speaking Spanish at varying although often high degrees of fluency. The local language Papiamentu (Papiamento on Aruba)
6120-508: The Spanish–American War but was eventually replaced by English as the primary language of administration and education by the 1920s. Nevertheless, despite a significant decrease in influence and speakers, Spanish remained an official language of the Philippines upon independence in 1946, alongside English and Filipino , a standardized version of Tagalog . Spanish was briefly removed from official status in 1973 but reimplemented under
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#17327717599356240-768: The United Nations , European Union , Organization of American States , Union of South American Nations , Community of Latin American and Caribbean States , African Union , among others. In Spain and some other parts of the Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also castellano (Castilian), the language from the Kingdom of Castile , contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician , Basque , Asturian , Catalan/Valencian , Aragonese , Occitan and other minor languages. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses
6360-478: The dragon tree , Dracaena draco are endemic, as noted by Sabin Berthelot and Philip Barker Webb in their work, L'Histoire Naturelle des Îles Canaries (1835–50). The climate is warm subtropical / tropical and generally arid , moderated by the sea and in summer by the trade winds . There are a number of microclimates and the classifications range mainly from semi-desert to desert . The majority of
6480-721: The 14th century onward, numerous visits were made by sailors from Majorca , Portugal , and Genoa . Lancelotto Malocello settled on Lanzarote in 1312. The Majorcans established a mission with a bishop in the islands that lasted from 1350 to 1400. In 1402, the Castilian colonisation of the islands began with the expedition of the French explorers Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle , nobles and vassals of Henry III of Castile , to Lanzarote. From there, they went on to conquer Fuerteventura (1405) and El Hierro. These invasions were "brutal cultural and military clashes between
6600-404: The 2021–2022 school year alone. The local business process outsourcing industry has also helped boost the language's economic prospects. Today, while the actual number of proficient Spanish speakers is around 400,000, or under 0.5% of the population, a new generation of Spanish speakers in the Philippines has likewise emerged, though speaker estimates vary widely. Aside from standard Spanish,
6720-595: The 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara , and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City . For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language . Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2023, it
6840-400: The African coast, the influence of the current diminishes, and the islands become increasingly arid. Fuerteventura and Lanzarote , the islands which are closest to the African mainland, are effectively desert or semi-desert. Gran Canaria is known as a "continent in miniature" for its diverse landscapes like Maspalomas and Roque Nublo . The north of Tenerife lies under the influence of
6960-480: The Canary Island's territorial waters as being Moroccan coast and Morocco has authorised gas and oil exploration in what the Canary Islands states to be Canarian territorial waters and Western Sahara waters. Morocco's official position is that international laws regarding territorial limits do not authorise Spain to claim seabed boundaries based on the territory of the Canaries, since the Canary Islands enjoy
7080-557: The Canary Islands at least 2,000 years ago, possibly 3,000, and that they shared a common origin with the Berbers on the nearby North African coast. Reaching the islands may have taken place using several small boats, landing on the easternmost islands Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. These groups came to be known collectively as the Guanches , although Guanches had been the name for only the indigenous inhabitants of Tenerife. According to
7200-464: The Canary Islands had a population of 2,236,013, with a density of 299 inhabitants per km, making it the seventh most populous autonomous community of Spain. The population is mostly concentrated in the two capital islands: around 43% on the island of Tenerife and 40% on the island of Gran Canaria. The Canary Islands, especially Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, and Lanzarote, are a major tourist destination, with over 16 million visitors in 2023. This
7320-518: The Canary Islands have a hot desert climate ( BWh ) and a hot semi-desert climate ( BSh ) within the Köppen system, caused partly due to the cool Canary Current . A subtropical humid climate, which is very influenced by the ocean, is in the middle of the islands of La Gomera , Tenerife and La Palma , where laurisilva cloud forests grow. The seven major islands, one minor island, and several small islets were originally volcanic islands, formed by
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#17327717599357440-760: The Canary Islands: Spanish language Spanish ( español ) or Castilian ( castellano ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe . Today, it is a global language with about 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain , and about 600 million when including second language speakers. Spanish
7560-448: The Cretaceous, and continued to the present day. The current islands reached the ocean's surface during the Miocene . The islands were once considered as a distinct physiographic section of the Atlas Mountains province, which is part of the larger African Alpine System division, but are now recognized as being related to a magmatic hot spot. In the summer of 2011, a series of low-magnitude earthquakes occurred beneath El Hierro. These had
7680-425: The Dogs", perhaps because monk seals or sea dogs were abundant, a name that was evidently generalized from the ancient name of one of these islands, Canaria – presumably Gran Canaria. According to the historian Pliny the Elder , the island Canaria contained "vast multitudes of dogs of very large size". The connection to dogs is retained in their depiction on the islands' coat-of-arms. Other theories speculate that
7800-523: The Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business. Whereas it is not the mother tongue of virtually any of its speakers, the vast majority of the population is proficient in Spanish. The Instituto Cervantes estimates that 87.7% of the population is fluent in Spanish. The proportion of proficient Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea exceeds the proportion of proficient speakers in other West and Central African nations of their respective colonial languages. Spanish
7920-577: The Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Proto-Basque , Iberian , Lusitanian , Celtiberian and Gallaecian . The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Spanish are from the 9th century. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era , the most important influences on the Spanish lexicon came from neighboring Romance languages — Mozarabic ( Andalusi Romance ), Navarro-Aragonese , Leonese , Catalan/Valencian , Portuguese , Galician , Occitan , and later, French and Italian . Spanish also borrowed
8040-424: The Old Spanish sibilants) for details. The Gramática de la lengua castellana , written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija , was the first grammar written for a modern European language. According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I , she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire. In his introduction to
8160-443: The Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms— español and castellano —are regarded as synonymous and equally valid. The term castellano is related to Castile ( Castilla or archaically Castiella ), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The name Castile , in turn,
8280-400: The State. ... The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities... The Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española ), on the other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language castellano . The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by
8400-502: The U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin. In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population. Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico , where it is also an official language along with English. Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included. While English
8520-399: The administration of Ferdinand Marcos two months later. It remained an official language until the ratification of the present constitution in 1987, in which it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language. Additionally, the constitution, in its Article XIV, stipulates that the Government shall provide the people of the Philippines with a Spanish-language translation of
8640-520: The autonomous community. Each of the seven major islands are ruled by an island council named a Cabildo Insular . Each island is subdivided into smaller municipalities ( municipios ). Las Palmas is divided into 34 municipalities , and Santa Cruz de Tenerife is divided into 54 municipalities . The international boundary of the Canaries is disputed in Morocco-Spain relations . In 2022 the UN declared
8760-495: The basis of electoral districts and tax districts. Civil health districts also followed provincial lines (though military health districts sometimes did not). By 1868 there were 463 legal districts; the number of municipalities has repeatedly risen and fallen. The new design arranged by Jorge de Burgos and government officials in Madrid opened a scenario of overt confrontation with the Basque territories and institutions, who kept
8880-428: The central government and the provinces. These "historic regions" had no powers, no administrative organs, no common jurisdiction over the provinces grouped within them. Each province had a governor ( jefe político , "political chief") appointed by the central government. Besides looking to the 1822 arrangement, Javier de Burgos took as his model the departments of France . While many of the borders and inclusions in
9000-400: The central government. The provincial division was followed by all branches of government and formed the basis for all future divisions and combinations. Each of Spain's municipalities ( ayuntamientos ) falls within a single province. In 1834, Spain was divided into legal districts ( partidos judiciales ); these took provincial borders into account. These legal districts later became
9120-490: The central government. There were a few minor adjustments of borders, and several provinces have been renamed to accord with local languages or in view of other issues of regional identity. The "historic regions" went by the wayside during the Spanish transition to democracy in the later 1970s and early 1980s, when they were replaced by the autonomous communities , many of which coincide precisely with an earlier "historic region". Some authors writing about present-day Spain use
9240-684: The classic hispanus or hispanicus took the suffix -one from Vulgar Latin , as happened with other words such as bretón (Breton) or sajón (Saxon). Like the other Romance languages , the Spanish language evolved from Vulgar Latin , which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War , beginning in 210 BC. Several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages )—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages , and some that are not related at all—were previously spoken in
9360-411: The coast, 300 to 500 metres (1,000 to 1,600 ft) above sea level. These caves were sometimes isolated but more commonly formed settlements, with burial caves nearby'. Archaeological work has uncovered a rich culture visible through artefacts of ceramics , human figures, fishing, hunting and farming tools, plant fibre clothing and vessels, as well as cave paintings. At Lomo de los Gatos on Gran Canaria,
9480-500: The consonant written b (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic b and v . Typical of Spanish (as also of neighboring Gascon extending as far north as the Gironde estuary , and found in a small area of Calabria ), attributed by some scholars to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial f into h- whenever it
9600-426: The country into provinces , in turn classified into " historic regions " (Spanish: regiones históricas ). This division was followed (helped by the enforcing of the 1834 Royal Statute ) by the ensuing creation of provincial deputations , the government institutions for most of the provinces, remaining up to this date. Nearly all of the provinces retain roughly or precisely the 1833 borders. Conversely, many of
9720-404: The country's constitution. In recent years changing attitudes among non-Spanish speaking Filipinos have helped spur a revival of the language, and starting in 2009 Spanish was reintroduced as part of the basic education curriculum in a number of public high schools, becoming the largest foreign language program offered by the public school system, with over 7,000 students studying the language in
9840-415: The courage and political will have put in place the previous division of 1822 with the adjustments and modifications that he believed appropriate. Javier de Burgos' 1833 provincial division included 49 provinces. The same decree that created the provincial division grouped the provinces into "historic regions". However, these were merely honorary and classificatory: there was no level of administration between
9960-631: The following table: Spanish is marked by palatalization of the Latin double consonants ( geminates ) nn and ll (thus Latin annum > Spanish año , and Latin anellum > Spanish anillo ). The consonant written u or v in Latin and pronounced [w] in Classical Latin had probably " fortified " to a bilabial fricative /β/ in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with
10080-466: The former British colony of Belize (known until 1973 as British Honduras ) where English is the sole official language, according to the 2022 census, 54% of the total population are able to speak the language. Due to its proximity to Spanish-speaking countries and small existing native Spanish speaking minority, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented Spanish language teaching into its education system. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government launched
10200-579: The geographic centre of the island of Tenerife, it is the most visited national park in Spain. In 2010, it became the most visited national park in Europe and second worldwide. The park's highlight is the Teide volcano. Standing at an altitude of 3,715 metres (12,188 ft), it is the highest elevation in Spain and the third largest volcano on Earth from its base. In 2007, the Teide National Park
10320-604: The grammar, dated 18 August 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire." From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Spanish-discovered America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America . Miguel de Cervantes , author of Don Quixote , is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). In
10440-466: The historic regions correspond to present-day autonomous communities . Immediately after the death of King Ferdinand VII on 29 September 1833, the regent Maria Christina attempted to find a moderate third way between the absolutist Carlists —the followers of the Infante Carlos —and the liberals . This mission was given to First Secretary of State Francisco Cea Bermúdez , leader of
10560-497: The indigenous population and the Castilians" lasting over a century due to formidable resistance by indigenous Canarians. Professor Mohamed Adhikari has defined the conquest of the islands as a genocide of the Guanches . Béthencourt received the title King of the Canary Islands, but still recognised King Henry III as his overlord. It was not a simple military enterprise, given the aboriginal resistance on some islands. Neither
10680-423: The island of Lanzarote. It is the smallest and least populated of the main islands, with about 700 people. Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the archipelago. Gran Canaria , with 865,070 inhabitants, is both the Canary Islands' second most populous island, and the third most populous one in Spain after Tenerife (966,354 inhabitants) and Majorca (896,038 inhabitants). The island of Fuerteventura
10800-724: The islets of Montaña Clara , Alegranza , Roque del Este and Roque del Oeste , belonging to the Chinijo Archipelago . Northeast of Fuerteventura is the islet of Lobos . There are a series of small adjacent rocks in the Canary Islands: the Roques de Anaga , Garachico and Fasnia in Tenerife, and Salmor and Bonanza in El Hierro. El Hierro, the westernmost island, covers 268.71 km (103.75 sq mi). It
10920-500: The language happened in Toledo , a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile , in the 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to the Americas. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is Latin in origin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Alongside English and French , it
11040-549: The language's hegemony in an intensely centralising Spanish state were established from the 18th century onward. Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra . Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Germany . Spanish is an official language of the European Union . Today,
11160-414: The largest city in the Canaries since 1768, except for a brief period in the 1910s. Between the 1833 territorial division of Spain and 1927, Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole capital of the Canary Islands. In 1927, it was ordered by decree that the capital of the Canary Islands would be shared between two cities, and this arrangement persists to the present day. The third largest city in the Canary Islands
11280-508: The level of maritime moderation vary depending on location and elevation. The archipelago includes green areas as well as semi-desert. The islands' high mountains are ideal for astronomical observation, because they lie above the temperature inversion layer. As a result, the archipelago has two professional astronomical observatories: the Teide Observatory on Tenerife, and Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma. In 1927,
11400-548: The majority of respondents from the Canary Islands (53.8%) considered themselves Spanish and Canarian in equal measures, followed by 24% who consider themselves more Canarian than Spanish. 6.1% of the respondents considered themselves only Canarian, and 7% considered themselves only Spanish. The defense of the territory is the responsibility of the Spanish Armed Forces . Components of the Army , Navy , Air Force and
11520-694: The majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America . Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure —of Argentina , Bolivia (co-official with 36 indigenous languages), Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní ), Peru (co-official with Quechua , Aymara , and "the other indigenous languages"), Puerto Rico (co-official with English), Uruguay , and Venezuela . Spanish language has
11640-417: The moist Atlantic winds and is well vegetated. The south of the island around the tourist resorts of Playa de las Américas and Los Cristianos is arid. The island rises to almost 4,000 m (13,000 ft) above sea level. At altitude, in the cool relatively wet climate, forests of the endemic pine Pinus canariensis thrive. Many of the plant species in the Canary Islands, like the Canary Island pine and
11760-651: The name comes from the Nukkari Berber tribe living in the Moroccan Atlas, named in Roman sources as Canarii , though Pliny again mentions the relation of this term with dogs. The name of the islands is not derived from the canary bird ; rather, the birds are named after the islands. From west to east, the Canary Islands are El Hierro , La Palma , La Gomera , Tenerife , Gran Canaria , Fuerteventura , Lanzarote , and La Graciosa . North of Lanzarote are
11880-615: The northwest of the African mainland. The Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands traces its origins back to the Castilian conquest in the 15th century , and, in addition to a resemblance to Western Andalusian speech patterns, it also features strong influence from the Spanish varieties spoken in the Americas, which in turn have also been influenced historically by Canarian Spanish. The Spanish spoken in North Africa by native bilingual speakers of Arabic or Berber who also speak Spanish as
12000-533: The population. Many northern Moroccans have rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, with Spanish being particularly significant in areas adjacent to Ceuta and Melilla. Spanish also has a presence in the education system of the country (through either selected education centers implementing Spain's education system, primarily located in the North, or the availability of Spanish as foreign language subject in secondary education). In Western Sahara , formerly Spanish Sahara ,
12120-550: The position of the islands with respect to the north-east trade winds , the climate can be mild and wet or very dry. Several native species form laurisilva forests. The individual islands in the Canary archipelago tend to have distinct microclimates . Those islands such as El Hierro , La Palma and La Gomera lying to the west of the archipelago have a climate which is influenced by the moist Canary Current . They are well vegetated even at low levels and have extensive tracts of sub-tropical laurisilva forest. Travelling east toward
12240-412: The provinces may at first appear arbitrary from a historical and geographical point of view, he was operating under a set of rational criteria: area (it was intended to be possible to travel between the capital and any point in the province in a single day), population (wherever feasible, the provinces had populations between 100,000 and 400,000), and geographic coherence. The provincial division restored
12360-671: The provincial division within Catalonia , replacing it with a division into seven veguerias . However, the number of senators or deputies that Catalonia contributes to Spain's parliament, the Cortes Generales : remained regulated by Article 69 of the Constitution in terms of provinces. While the veguerias project remained controversial, the Catalan government intended to put it into effect in January 2010. However,
12480-528: The relevant Basque government (Álava, Biscay). Oñati was incorporated into Gipuzkoa—definitely in 1845. Despite their close ties of cultural, linguistic, institutional, and legal nature (cf. fueros ), it was decided to nominally regroup the above districts into two different "historic regions": Provincias Vascongadas and Navarra . As remarked above, the 1833 system of provinces has undergone only minimal changes. Jefes políticos were replaced by civil governors, and eventually by delegates and sub-delegates of
12600-415: The term castellano to define the official language of the whole of Spain, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. "the other Spanish languages "). Article III reads as follows: El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. ... Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas... Castilian is the official Spanish language of
12720-558: The term español (Spanish). According to the Royal Spanish Academy, español derives from the Occitan word espaignol and that, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin * hispaniolus ('of Hispania'). Hispania was the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula . There are other hypotheses apart from the one suggested by the Royal Spanish Academy. Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal suggested that
12840-821: The term "historic regions" to refer only to the Basque Country, Catalonia, usually Galicia, and occasionally Andalusia, all of which have historically had the strong local nationalisms . Under Article 141 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 , the provinces remain Spain's basic units of territorial organization. They are the basis for electoral constituencies (Article 68) and autonomous communities are normally formed out of one or more provinces, with no province divided between two or more autonomous communities (Article 143). The revised Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia that went into effect in August 2006 ignored
12960-444: The theories of Ramón Menéndez Pidal , local sociolects of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish, in the north of Iberia, in an area centered in the city of Burgos , and this dialect was later brought to the city of Toledo , where the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century. In this formative stage, Spanish developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese , and, according to some authors,
13080-768: The third most used language on the Internet , after English and Chinese. Spanish is the official language of Spain . Upon the emergence of the Castilian Crown as the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the Middle Ages, the Romance vernacular associated with this polity became increasingly used in instances of prestige and influence, and the distinction between "Castilian" and "Spanish" started to become blurred. Hard policies imposing
13200-525: The traditional names of the Basque provinces and Navarre, which had been renamed in the 1822 territorial division of Spain , but few concessions were made to historic enclaves and exclaves . The most important of these that were retained were the Rincón de Ademuz (part of Valencia, but located between Teruel and Cuenca) and the Treviño enclave (part of Burgos, but surrounded by Álava); another notable exclave
13320-478: The volcanic Cumbre Vieja on the island erupted . It is the second-highest island of the Canaries, with the Roque de los Muchachos at 2,423 metres (7,949 feet) as its highest point. Santa Cruz de La Palma , known to those on the island as simply "Santa Cruz", is its capital. Tenerife is, with its area of 2,034 km (785 sq mi), the most extensive island of the Canary Islands. With 904,713 inhabitants, it
13440-536: Was declared one of the 12 Treasures of Spain . The regional executive body, the Parliament of the Canary Islands , is presided over by Fernando Clavijo Batlle ( Canarian Coalition ), the current President of the Canary Islands . The members of the regional legislature, the Parliament of the Canary Islands , has 70 elected legislators. The last regional election took place in May 2023. The islands have 14 seats in
13560-581: Was developed in the cities of Toledo , in the 13th to 16th centuries, and Madrid , from the 1570s. The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages , including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin vīta > Spanish vida ). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short e and o —which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in
13680-619: Was displaced by the one passing through Greenwich . Fuerteventura, with a surface of 1,660 km (640 sq mi), is the second largest island of the archipelago. It has been declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO . It is the oldest of the islands being more eroded. Its highest point is the Peak of the Bramble, at a height of 807 metres (2,648 feet). Its capital is Puerto del Rosario . Gran Canaria has 846,717 inhabitants. The capital, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria , with 377,203 inhabitants,
13800-622: Was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages ). This distinctive dialect spread to southern Spain with the advance of the Reconquista , and meanwhile gathered a sizable lexical influence from the Arabic of Al-Andalus , much of it indirectly, through the Romance Mozarabic dialects (some 4,000 Arabic -derived words, make up around 8% of the language today). The written standard for this new language
13920-713: Was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The h- , still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects, it is still aspirated in some words. Because of borrowings from Latin and neighboring Romance languages, there are many f -/ h - doublets in modern Spanish: Fernando and Hernando (both Spanish for "Ferdinand"), ferrero and herrero (both Spanish for "smith"), fierro and hierro (both Spanish for "iron"), and fondo and hondo (both words pertaining to depth in Spanish, though fondo means "bottom", while hondo means "deep"); additionally, hacer ("to make")
14040-551: Was formed by the Canary hotspot. The island is part of the Chinijo Archipelago and the Chinijo Archipelago Natural Park (Parque Natural del Archipiélago Chinijo). It is administered by the municipality of Teguise. In 2018, La Graciosa was declared as the eighth Canary Island by the Spanish Senate , though it is not recognized as such by the Canarian administration. It is administratively dependent on
14160-400: Was it politically, since the particular interests of the nobility (determined to strengthen their economic and political power through the acquisition of the islands) conflicted with those of the states, particularly Castile, which were in the midst of territorial expansion and in a process of strengthening of the crown against the nobility. Historians distinguish two periods in the conquest of
14280-445: Was passed on via the female line. Social status and wealth were hereditary and determined the individual's position in the social pyramid, which consisted of the king, the relatives of the king, the lower nobility, villeins, plebeians, and finally executioners, butchers, embalmers, and prisoners". Their religion was animist , centring on the sun and moon, as well as natural features such as mountains. The islands may have been visited by
14400-462: Was revoked by Michel Temer after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff . In many border towns and villages along Paraguay and Uruguay, a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken. Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period . Enshrined in the constitution as an official language (alongside French and Portuguese), Spanish features prominently in
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