Culture of Latin America

The culture of Latin America is the formal or informal expression of the people of Latin America and includes both high culture (literature and high art) and popular culture (music, folk art, and dance), as well as religion and other customary practices. These are generally of Western origin, but have various degrees of Native American, African and Asian influence.

Definitions of Latin America vary. From a cultural perspective,^[1] Latin America generally refers to those parts of the Americas whose cultural, religious and linguistic heritage can be traced to the Latin culture of the late Roman Empire. This would include areas where Spanish, Portuguese, and various other Romance languages, which can trace their origin to the Vulgar Latin spoken in the late Roman Empire, are natively spoken. Such territories include almost all of Mexico, Central America and South America, with the exception of English or Dutch speaking territories. Culturally, it could also encompass the French derived culture in the Caribbean and North America, as it ultimately derives from Latin Roman influence as well. There is also an important Latin American cultural presence in the United States since the 16th century in areas such as California, Texas, and Florida, which were part of the Spanish Empire. More recently, in cities such as New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Miami.

The richness of Latin American culture is the product of many influences, including:

• Spanish and Portuguese culture, owing to the region's history of colonization, settlement and continued immigration from Spain and Portugal. All the core elements of Latin American culture are of Iberian origin, which is ultimately related to Western culture.
• Pre-Columbian cultures, whose importance is today particularly notable in countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay. These cultures are central to Indigenous communities such as the Quechua, Maya, and Aymara.
• 19th- and 20th-century European immigration from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, France, and Eastern Europe; which transformed the region and had an impact in countries such as Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Brazil (particular the southeast and southern regions), Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador (particularly in the southwest coast), Paraguay, Dominican Republic (specifically the northern region), and Mexico (particularly the northern region).
• Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Lebanese and other Arab, Armenian and various other Asian groups. Mostly immigrants and indentured laborers who arrived from the coolie trade and influenced the culture of Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Peru in areas such as food, art, and cultural trade.
• The culture of Africa brought by Africans in the Trans-Atlantic former slave trade has influenced various parts of Latin America. Influences are particularly strong in dance, music, cuisine, and some syncretic religions of Cuba, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Northwest Ecuador, coastal Colombia, and Honduras.^[2][3][4]