Hispanics in the United States

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Hispanic American Hispano Estadounidense
Romualdo Pacheco • Alberto Gonzales • Ken Salazar Michael Lopez-Alegria • Loretta Sanchez • Joseph M. Acaba

Total population
Hispanic Americans 44,252,278 14.78% of the U.S. population^[1]
Regions with significant populations
predominantly Southwestern United States • Florida • Illinois • New York City
Language(s)
predominantly American English • Spanish
Religion(s)
predominantly Roman Catholic • Protestant • Islam^[2] • Jewish and other secular groups
Related ethnic groups
Mexican • Puerto Rican • Cuban • Salvadoran • Spanish • Colombian and others

Hispanic Americans (Spanish: Hispano Estadounidense) are Americans of Hispanic ethnicity who largely identify with the Hispanic cultural heritage.^[3] Hispanics constitute 15% of the total U.S. population or around 45 million people, forming the second largest ethnic group after non-Hispanic European Americans (which in turn have numerous ethnic groups) . It also includes sub-ethnic groups such as Mexican American, Cuban American, etc. People of Hispanic heritage have lived continuously^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] in the territory of the present-day United States since the 1565 founding of St. Augustine, Florida by the Spanish, the longest among European American ethnic groups and second-longest of all U.S. ethnic groups, after American Indians.

[edit] Terminology

See also: Racial demographics of the United States

In the United States, Hispanic is one of several terms of ethnicity employed to categorize any person, of any racial background, of any country and of any religion who has at least one ancestor from the people of Spain or Spanish-speaking Latin America, whether or not the person has Spanish ancestry.^{[citation needed]} The term was first adopted in the United States by the administration of Richard Nixon^[9] and used in the 1980 census^[10] The term has continued to be used in the census and since been used in local and federal employment, mass media, and business market research.

The ethnic label Hispanic was the result of efforts by a New Mexican U.S. Senator, Joseph Montoya, who wanted a label that could be used to quantify the Spanish-speaking population for the US Census. The label Hispanic was chosen in part because in New Mexico, people of Spanish descent such as Montoya referred to themselves as Hispanos which was anglicized as "Hispanic."^{[citation needed]}

The Hispanic population consists of the people of Spain and anyone with origins in any of the Spanish-speaking nations of the Americas, regardless of ancestry of the latter (including Amerindians). Sometimes, by mistake, the people confuse the terms "Spanish" with "Hispanic." The Spanish (or Spaniards) are the people wo are born in the country of Spain. The Hispanic population has enriched its culture and ethnicity with a mix of aboriginal (native), African and Spanish-European civilizations. The politics of the XVI Spanish Empire of the Americas let the mix of races (mestizaje) between the Spanish and the native people in the New World. The British Empire, conversely, discouraged the mixing of races.^{[citation needed]}

Previously Hispanics were commonly referred to as "Spanish-Americans," "Spanish-speaking Americans," and "Spanish-surnamed Americans." These terms, however, proved even more misleading or inaccurate since:

Most U.S. Hispanics were not born in Spain, nor were most born to recent Spanish nationals;
Although most U.S. Hispanics speak Spanish, not all do, and though most Spanish-speaking people are Hispanic, not all are (e.g., many U.S. Hispanics by the fourth generation no longer speak Spanish, while there are some non-Hispanics of the Southwestern United States that may be fluent in the language), and;
Although most Hispanics have a Spanish surname, not all do (a notable example is New Mexico governor Bill Richardson), and while most Spanish-surnamed people are Hispanic, not all are (for example, there are tens of millions of Spanish-surnamed Filipinos, but very few, only 2%, would qualify as Hispanic by ancestry. In addition, there are also many Chamorros, Marshall Islanders, and Northern Marianas with Spanish surnames in the United States).
A number of Louisiana Creole and Cajun people have Spanish ancestry, and Hispanic surnames, yet they may identify more strongly with the traditional Francophone cultures of the region.
Hispanics may also be of full black African Latin American or Afro-Latino heritage, Amerindian/Native American heritage including mestizo, White Hispanic and even Asian Latin American heritage.

The term "Spanish American" is still currently in use by many of those who, while not of recent descent from a Spanish national, have continued to practice and view Spanish culture and identity as dominant in their lives. In this usage, it emphasizes ancestral history and identity, and is not meant to indicate citizenship of the 'old country'.^{[original research?]}

[edit] History

Main article: History of Latinos and Hispanics

A continuous Hispanic presence in the territory of the United States has existed since the 16th century,^[4]^[5]^[7]^[8]^[6] earlier than any other group after the Native Americans. Spaniards pioneered the present-day United States. The first confirmed European landing in the continental US was by Juan Ponce de León, who landed in 1513 at a lush shore he christened La Florida. Within three decades of Ponce de León's landing, the Spanish became the first Europeans to reach the Appalachian Mountains, the Mississippi River, the Grand Canyon and the Great Plains. Spanish ships sailed along the East Coast, penetrating to present-day Bangor, Maine, and up the Pacific Coast as far as Oregon. From 1528 to 1536, four castaways from a Spanish expedition, including a "Moor", journeyed all the way from Florida to the Gulf of California, 267 years before the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

In 1540 Hernando de Soto undertook an extensive exploration of the present US, and in the same year Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led 2,000 Spaniards and Mexican Indians across today's Arizona-Mexico border and traveled as far as central Kansas, close to the exact geographic center of what is now the continental United States. Other Spanish explorers of the US make up a long list that includes, among others: Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón, Pánfilo de Narváez, Sebastián Vizcaíno, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, Gaspar de Portolà, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Tristán de Luna y Arellano and Juan de Oñate. In all, Spaniards probed half of today's lower 48 states before the first English colonization attempt at Roanoke Island in 1585.

The Spanish created the first permanent European settlement in the continental United States, at St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565. Santa Fe, New Mexico also predates Jamestown, Virginia (founded in 1607) and Plymouth Colony (of Mayflower and Pilgrims fame, founded in 1620). Later came Spanish settlements in San Antonio, Texas, Tucson, Arizona, San Diego, California, Los Angeles, California and San Francisco, California, to name just a few. The Spanish even established a Jesuit mission in Virginia's Chesapeake Bay 37 years before the founding of Jamestown.

Two iconic American stories have Spanish antecedents, too. Almost 80 years before John Smith's alleged rescue by Pocahontas, a man by the name of Juan Ortiz told of his remarkably similar rescue from execution by an Indian girl. Spaniards also held a thanksgiving — 56 years before the famous Pilgrims festival — when they feasted near St. Augustine with Florida Indians, probably on stewed pork and garbanzo beans. As late as 1783, at the end of the American Revolutionary War, Spain held claim to roughly half of today's continental United States; in 1775, Spanish ships even reached Alaska. From 1819 to 1848, the United States (through treaties, diplomacy, and purchasing territory after the Mexican War) increased the nation's area by roughly a third at Spanish and Mexican expense, including three of today's four most populous states: California, Texas and Florida. Hispanics became the first American citizens in the newly acquired Southwest territory and remained a majority in several states until the 20th century. (See also Viceroyalty of New Spain.)

Hispanic soldiers have fought in all the wars of the United States. ([1], [2], [3], List of Hispanic Medal of Honor recipients)

[edit] Demographics

**"2006 American Community Survey"**^[11]
Hispanic Group	Population	Percentage	Margin of Error
Mexican	28,339,354	(64% Of Total)	+/-87,068
Puerto Rican	3,987,947	(10%)	+/-48,136
Cuban	1,520,276	(3.5%)	+/-30,458
Salvadoran	1,371,666	(2.4%)	+/-42,389
Dominican	1,217,225	(2.3%)	+/-35,099
Spanish	1,141,675	(1.8%)	+/-75,669
Guatemalan	874,799	(1.3%)	+/-29,272
Colombian	801,363	(0.9%)	+/-26,498

Hispanics constitute one of the largest ethnic groups, by place of origin, in the United States. A Hispanic person may be of any race (Amerindian, White, Black, Asian, Pacific Islander or Multiracial such as Mulatto, Mestizo, Zambo or any "Other" race) As of July 1, 2004, Hispanics accounted for 14.1% of the population, around 41.3 million people. The Hispanic growth rate over the July 1, 2003 to July 1, 2004 period was 3.6%—higher than any other ethnic group in the United States, and in fact more than three times the rate of the nation's total population (at 1.0%). The projected Hispanic population of the United States for July 1, 2050, is of 105.6 million people. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 25% of the nation’s total population on that date.^[12]

Of the nation's total Hispanic population, 49% lives in California or Texas. Not counting Puerto Rico—which is a territorial possession of the United States—New Mexico is the state with the highest proportion of Hispanics, where 43% is of Hispanic origin. The proportion of Hispanics in the states of California and Texas exceeds 35% each.

The Hispanic population of Los Angeles County, California—numbering over 4.6 million—is the largest of any county in the nation.^[13] Meanwhile, for the 2000 to 2004 period, Lee County, Florida had the fastest growth rate in Hispanic population of any other county in the United States.^[14]

Race by Hispanic Origin 2000 - ^[15]
Country of Origin	White	Black	Some Other Race
Mexican	47.3%	0.7	45.5
Puerto Rican	47.2%	5.9	37.9
Cuban	85.0%	3.6	7.1
Dominican	22.7%	8.9	58.4
Central American	40.4%	3.3	47.6
South American	59.6%	0.9	30.8
Other Hispanic	44.1%	2.0	42.2

Some 64% of the nation's Hispanic population are of Mexican or Mexican American ancestry. Approximately 10% are of Puerto Rican background, with about 3% each of Cuban, Salvadoran and Dominican origins. The remainder are of other Central American, South American or other Hispanic or Latino origins, including of Castilian descent directly from Spain or are descended from early Spanish settlers, including New Mexicans, several Tejanos, and some Cajuns.^[16]

Racially, Mexican Americans, as well as most Central Americans such as Salvadorans, are usually mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian background) or are primarily Amerindian or of European descent. Most Puerto Ricans are considered Mestizo with a European and Taino Indian background although there are a significant number of White and Black Puerto Ricans. Most Dominicans (73% of Dominicans) are a triracial mixture of White, Black, and Amerindian Taino background, others are solely White (16%), Black (11%) or Asian. Despite this fact, however, the Census Bureau considers about 93% of U.S. Hispanics to be "white". [4] There are also some White Americans who have Spanish surnames and who are otherwise indistinguishable from other white Americans who are also counted as Hispanic. (See White Hispanic.)

The overwhelming majority of Hispanics of Mexican/Mexican-American origin are concentrated in the Southwestern United States, primarily California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. The majority of the Hispanic population in the Southeastern United States, concentrated in Florida, are of Cuban origin. The Hispanic population in the Northeastern United States, concentrated in New York and New Jersey, is composed mostly of Puerto Ricans, however, the Dominican population has risen considerably in the last decade, especially in proportion to that region's Hispanic population. The remainder of other Hispanics, composed of various Central American and South American origins, may be found throughout the country, though South Americans tend to concentrate on the East Coast of the United States (joining Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Cubans) and Central Americans on the West Coast of the United States (joining Mexicans/Mexican Americans).

Hispanic or Latino (2000)^[17]
White	47.89%
Black	2.01%
American Indian	1.15%
Asian	0.34%
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander	0.13%
multiracial	6.30%
Non-specified/Other	42.18%

There are few recent immigrants directly from Spain. In the 2000 Census, 299,948 Americans specifically reported their ancestry as Spaniard [5]. Additionally, in the 2000 Census some 2,187,144 Americans reported "Spanish" as their ancestry.

The Census Bureau reports a decrease in the numbers of Hispanics of all national groups, including Spaniards, who identify themselves with a specific national origin separate from general labels such as "Hispanic". Several long-established Hispanic communities within the present-day territory of the United States do clearly fall within a traditional national origin category. One example is the Hispanic population of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. These peoples trace their ancestry to Spanish settlers who arrived in the region during the late 16th century through the 17th century. Many of these settlers also intermarried with local Amerindians, creating a mestizo population.^[18]^[19] People from this background often self-identify as "Hispano," "Spanish," or "Hispanic." Likewise, southern Louisiana is home to communities of people of Canary Islands descent, known as Isleños, in addition to other people of Spanish creole ancestry.

Hispanics as a percentage of the US population (2000 Census Data)

[edit] Notable contributions

Hispanic Americans have made many contributions to the United States ranging from politics, military, music, sports and economy.

[edit] Government

Main article: List of Hispanic Americans in the United States Congress

Hispanic Americans have held several important positions in the Federal government of the United States in all levels such as the senate, the White House cabinet, House of Representatives and governorship. For instance Hispanic politicians include Alberto Gonzales, former United States Attorney General, senators Mel Martinez, Ken Salazar, Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo, Dennis Chavez, Joseph Montoya and Bob Menendez. They also hold significant representations in the House of Representatives such as Joe Baca, Silvestre Reyes, Rubén Hinojosa, Linda Sánchez, John Salazar, etc.