Edit]Genetic studies

In Colombia, the composition of the population found out according to an autosomal study was 60.0% European, 32.0% Native and 8.0% SSA African, and in Mexico 44.3% European, 50.1% Native and 5.6% African. ^[44] Ecuador was found out to be: 53.9% European, 38.8% Native and 7.3% African; and the Dominican Republic, 51.2% European 7.0% Native and 41.8% African. ^[45]

A genetic study concluded that the dominant female ancestry found in Argentina is of Amerindian origin (60% of Amerindian lineages found among Northern and Southern Argentines, and 50% among Central Argentines).^[46] A different study concluded that 56% of the European descent population in Buenos Aires have some degree of DNA indicating Amerindian ancestry, while 42% have European DNA in both parental lineages.^[47] Another study found that 2 million Argentines have a small variation of African ancestry and that 10% of the population of Buenos Aires have some degree in African DNA.^[48] In a sample from Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, Amerindian DNA was found in 20.4% of the population.^[49] The Chilean population low genetic studies "the use of mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome test results show the following: The European component is predominant in the Chilean upper class,^[50] the middle classes, 72.3%-76.8% European component^[50][51] and 27.7%-23.2 of mixed aboriginal^[50][51] and lower classes at 62.9%-65% European component^[50][51] and 37.1%-35% mix of Aboriginal.^[50][51]

The Brazilian population has European, African and Native American contributions. The European is the most important, generally, among the "whites" and "pardos". African ancestry is greater among the "blacks". The Native American ancestry is present throughout Brazil, in "whites", "pardos" and "blacks", though in a lower degree. According to an autosomal DNA study from 2008, conducted by the University of Brasília (UnB), European ancestry is predominant in all regions of Brazil, accounting for 65,90% of the heritage of the population, followed by the African contribution (24,80%) and Native American ancestry (9,3%).^[52] According to an autosomal study from 2010, published in the American Journal of Human Biology, European ancestry is predominant in Brazil, accounting for about 77% of the heritage of the whole population.^[53][54]The results also showed that physical features did not correlate well with ancestry in many instances.^[55] According to an autosomal DNA study from 2009, the Brazilian population as a whole exhibits a predominant degree of European ancestry, with African and Native American ancestries.^[56] According to an autosomal DNA study conducted in 2011, with nearly 1000 "white" "pardo" "black" Brazilian samples, European ancestry is predominant in all regions of Brazil, with African and Native American contributions. According to this study, European ancestry accounts for 70% of the heritage of the population. .^[57] This study verified that Brazilians from different regions are genetically much more homogenous than some expected.^[58] The 2011 autosomal study samples came from blood donors (the lowest classes constitute the great majority of blood donors in Brazil ^[59]), and also public health institutions personnel and health students.

Edit]Language

Linguistic map of Latin America. Spanish is in green, Portuguese in orange, and French in blue.

Spanish and Portuguese are the predominant languages of Latin America. Portuguese is spoken only in Brazil, the biggest and most populous country in the region. Spanish is the official language of most of the rest of the countries on the Latin American mainland, as well as in Cuba, Puerto Rico (where it is co-official with English), and the Dominican Republic. French is spoken in Haiti and in the French overseas departments Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon; it is also spoken by some Panamanians of Afro-Antillean descent. Dutch is the official language in Suriname, Aruba, and theNetherlands Antilles. (As Dutch is a Germanic language, these territories are not necessarily considered part of Latin America.)

Native American languages are widely spoken in Peru, Guatemala, Bolivia, Paraguay and, to a lesser degree, in Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, and Chileamongst other countries. In Latin American countries not named above, the population of speakers of indigenous languages is either small or non-existent.

In Peru, Quechua is an official language, alongside Spanish and any other indigenous language in the areas where they predominate. In Ecuador, while holding no official status, the closely related Quichua is a recognized language of the indigenous people under the country's constitution; however, it is only spoken by a few groups in the country's highlands. In Bolivia, Aymara, Quechua and Guaraní hold official status alongside Spanish. Guaraní, along with Spanish, is an official language of Paraguay, and is spoken by a majority of the population (who are, for the most part, bilingual), and it is co-official with Spanish in the Argentine province of Corrientes. In Nicaragua, Spanish is the official language, but on the country's Caribbean coast English and indigenous languages such as Miskito, Sumo, and Rama also hold official status. Colombia recognizes all indigenous languages spoken within its territory as official, though fewer than 1% of its population are native speakers of these languages. Nahuatl is one of the 62 native languages spoken by indigenous people in Mexico, which are officially recognized by the government as "national languages" along with Spanish.

Other European languages spoken in Latin America include: English, by some groups in Argentina, Nicaragua, Panama, and Puerto Rico, as well as in nearby countries that may or may not be considered Latin American, like Belize and Guyana; German, in southern Brazil, southern Chile, Argentina, portions of northern Venezuela, and Paraguay; Italian, in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Venezuela; and Welsh,^{[61][62][63][64][65][66]} in southern Argentina.

In several nations, especially in the Caribbean region, creole languages are spoken. The most widely spoken creole language in Latin America and the Caribbean is Haitian Creole, the predominant language of Haiti; it is derived primarily from French and certain West African tongues with some Amerindian and Spanish influences as well. Creole languages of mainland Latin America, similarly, are derived from European languages and various African tongues.

Edit]Religion

Main article: Religion in Latin America

Basilica of Our Lady of the Angelslocated in Cartago, Costa Rica.

The vast majority of Latin Americans are Christians, mostly Roman Catholics.^[67] About 70% of the Latin American population consider themselves Catholic.^[68] Membership in Protestant denominations is increasing, particularly in Brazil and Venezuela.

Edit]Migration

Due to economic, social and security developments that are affecting the region in recent decades, the focus is now the change from net immigration to netemigration. About 10 million Mexicans live in the United States.^[69] 28.3 million Americans listed their ancestry as Mexican as of 2006.^[70] According to the 2005 Colombian census or DANE, about 3,331,107 Colombians currently live abroad.^[71] The number of Brazilians living overseas is estimated at about 2 million people.^[72] An estimated 1.5 to two million Salvadorans reside in the United States.^[73] At least 1.5 million Ecuadorians have gone abroad, mainly to the United States and Spain.^[74] Approximately 1.5 million Dominicans live abroadIn Latin America they speak Japanese..., mostly in the United States.^[75]More than 1.3 million Cubans live abroad, most of them in the United States.^[76] It is estimated that over 800,000 Chileans live abroad, mainly in Costa Rica, Mexico and Sweden. Other Chilean nationals may be located in countries like Spain and Sweden.^[77] An estimated 700,000 Bolivians were living in Argentina as of 2006 and another 33,000 in the United States.^[78] Central Americans living abroad in 2005 were 3,314,300,^[79] of which 1,128,701 were Salvadorans,^[80]685,713 were Guatemalans,^[81] 683,520 were Nicaraguans,^[82] 414,955 were Hondurans,^[83] 215,240 were Panamanians,^[84] 127,061 were Costa Ricans ^[85] and 59,110 were Belizeans.

For the period 2000–2005, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, and Venezuela were the only countries with global positive migration rates, in terms of their yearly averages.^[86]

Edit]Education

See also: Education in Latin America

World map indicating literacy by country (2011Human Development Report) Grey = no data

Despite significant progress, education coverage remains unequal in Latin America. The region has made great progress in educational coverage; almost all children attend primary school and access to secondary education has increased considerably. Most educational systems in the region have implemented various types of administrative and institutional reforms that have enabled reach for places and communities that had no access to education services in the early 90's.

However, there are still 23 million children in the region between the ages of 4 and 17 outside of the formal education system. Estimates indicate that 30% of preschool age children (ages 4 –5) do not attend school, and for the most vulnerable populations, the poor and rural, - this calculation exceeds 40 percent. Among primary school age children (ages 6 to 12), coverage is almost universal; however there is still a need to incorporate 5 million children in the primary education system. These children live mostly in remote areas, are indigenous or Afro-descendants and live in extreme poverty.^[87]

Among people between the ages of 13 and 17 years, only 80% are full time students in the education system; among them only 66% advance to secondary school. These percentages are lower among vulnerable population groups: only 75% of the poorest youth between the ages of 13 and 17 years attend school. Tertiary education has the lowest coverage, with only 70% of people between the ages of 18 and 25 years outside of the education system. Currently, more than half of low income children or living in rural areas fail to complete nine years of education.^[87]

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 860