Facts on Spanish-Speaking Countries & Capitals
Spanish, or Castilian as it is known in the New World, is a Romance language that evolved from Vulgar Latin dialects spoken in the central area of the Iberian Peninsula before being codified by Antonio de Nebrija in 1492. Modern Spanish also incorporates elements from Arabic, Basque and Germanic linguistic influences. As of 2010, Spanish was spoken in more than 40 countries and by at least 358 million native speakers.
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History
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The Roman Empire invaded and conquered the Iberian Peninsula in the second century BC. The Romans built aqueducts, roads, theaters and imposed their language. Modern Spanish evolved in the province of Castile, the region that came to dominate the peninsula by the end of the 15th century. With the establishment of colonies in Central and South America and Africa, the Spanish language spread to other continents. The language remains a legacy of Spain's former empire, although vocabulary and grammatical structure now varies among regions and countries.
Geography
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The geography of Spanish-speaking countries and capitals is diverse. While Spain's capital city, Madrid, is located in the geographical center of the country on dry and flat land, Bolivia's capital, La Paz, is one of the world's highest cities, with an altitude of 11,913 feet above sea level. Chile occupies a long and very narrow section of coastline approximately 109 miles (175 km) wide between the Andean mountain range and the Pacific Ocean. Tropical Costa Rica, on Central America's isthmus, boasts the planet's greatest density of species, and nearly a quarter of the nation's territory is protected.
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Size
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Although Spanish-speaking countries vary in size and population, their capital cities tend to be large urban centers. Mexico is approximately triple the size of Texas and has the largest population of Latin America's Spanish-speaking countries with 107 million inhabitants, while El Salvador is nearly the same size as Massachusetts and has a population of just more than 7 million. Approximately 21 million Mexicans live in the dense capital of Mexico City, while Argentina has a population of about 13 million in the capital of Buenos Aires. In contrast, Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, has just more than 1 million inhabitants.
Politics
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When Spain lost the last of its colonies in 1898, a power vacuum was created in the wake of independence. This vacuum was generally filled by authoritarian leaders called "caudillos," who strengthened their own power at the expense of institutions. This pattern continued, with some exceptions like Costa Rica, into the 20th century as several nations, including Chile and Argentina, fell under the rule of military dictatorships. By 2010, several Spanish-speaking nations, including Spain and Bolivia, had adopted democratic governments with socialist tendencies while Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua had all elected female presidents.
Violence
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Some Spanish-speaking capitals and countries were among the most violent in the world as of 2010. Mexico's Ciudad Juarez is arguably the most violent city in the world, with a murder rate of 191 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2009 that reflects an upswing in violence perpetrated by local drug cartels. The murder rate in Medellin, Colombia, rose 64 percent in 2009 with 1,431 deaths. Increasingly violent Spanish-speaking capitals include San Salvador in El Salvador, the Venezuelan capital Caracas, Guatemala City in Guatemala and Tegucigalpa in Honduras.
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References
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- Photo Credit globe terrestre image by Nicolas D from Fotolia.com
