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{{Infobox Ethnic group
{{Infobox Ethnic group
|group = Mexicans <br />"''Mexicanos''"
|group = Mexicans <br />"''Mexicanos''"
|image = [[File:Dolores del Rio Argentinean Magazine AD.jpg|70px]][[File:Emiliano Zapata, 1914.jpg‎|60px]][[File:Octavio Paz.gif‎|63px]][[File:Benito Juarez Presidente.jpg|70px]][[File:Porfirio Diaz in uniform.jpg|66px]][[File:Frida Kahlo (self portrait).jpg|68px|Frida Kahlo]][[File:Mexico.RodolfoNeriVela.01.jpg|69px]][[File:MARIA SABINA.jpg|62px]][[File:Guillermo del Toro by Gage Skidmore.jpg|71px|Guillermo del Toro]]<br>[[File:Motecuzoma Xocoyotzin.jpeg|66px]][[File:Lila Downs.jpg|68px]][[File:Carlos Fuentes.jpg|66px]][[File:Jorge Negrete.gif|66px]][[File:Juana Inés de la Cruz.jpg|69px|Juana Inés de la Cruz]][[File:Marco rito.jpg|69px|Marco Rito-Palomares]]
|image = [[File:Dolores del Rio Argentinean Magazine AD.jpg|70px]][[File:General Emiliano Zapata.jpg‎|61px]][[File:Octavio Paz.gif‎|63px]][[File:Benito Juarez Presidente.jpg|70px]][[File:Porfirio Diaz in uniform.jpg|66px]][[File:Frida Kahlo (self portrait).jpg|68px|Frida Kahlo]][[File:Mexico.RodolfoNeriVela.01.jpg|69px]][[File:MARIA SABINA.jpg|62px]][[File:Guillermo del Toro by Gage Skidmore.jpg|71px|Guillermo del Toro]]<br>[[File:Motecuzoma Xocoyotzin.jpeg|66px]][[File:Lila Downs.jpg|68px]][[File:Carlos Fuentes.jpg|66px]][[File:Jorge Negrete.gif|66px]][[File:Juana Inés de la Cruz.jpg|69px|Juana Inés de la Cruz]][[File:Marco rito.jpg|69px|Marco Rito-Palomares]]
|caption = <small> Pictured: <br/> [[Dolores Del Rio]]{{·}}[[Emiliano Zapata]]{{·}}[[Octavio Paz]]{{·}}[[Benito Juárez]]{{·}}[[Porfirio Diaz]]{{·}}[[Frida Kahlo]]<br/>[[Rodolfo Neri Vela]]{{·}}[[Maria Sabina]]{{·}}[[Guillermo del Toro]]<br>{{·}}[[Moctezuma II]]{{·}}[[Lila Downs]]{{·}}[[Carlos Fuentes]]{{·}}[[Jorge Negrete]]{{·}}[[Juana Ines de la Cruz]]{{·}}[[Marco Rito-Palomares]]{{·}}</small>
|caption = <small> Pictured: <br/> [[Dolores Del Rio]]{{·}}[[Emiliano Zapata]]{{·}}[[Octavio Paz]]{{·}}[[Benito Juárez]]{{·}}[[Porfirio Diaz]]{{·}}[[Frida Kahlo]]<br/>[[Rodolfo Neri Vela]]{{·}}[[Maria Sabina]]{{·}}[[Guillermo del Toro]]<br>{{·}}[[Moctezuma II]]{{·}}[[Lila Downs]]{{·}}[[Carlos Fuentes]]{{·}}[[Jorge Negrete]]{{·}}[[Juana Ines de la Cruz]]{{·}}[[Marco Rito-Palomares]]{{·}}</small>
|population = '''World'''<br>'''±120,000,000'''
|population = '''World'''<br>'''±120,000,000'''

Revision as of 05:43, 23 October 2010

For a specific analysis of the population of Mexico, see Demographics of Mexico. For a more precise analysis on the nationality and identity of Mexico, see Mexican nationality law.
Mexicans
"Mexicanos"
File:Octavio Paz.gifFrida KahloFile:MARIA SABINA.jpgGuillermo del Toro
File:Jorge Negrete.gifJuana Inés de la CruzMarco Rito-Palomares
Pictured:
Dolores Del Rio · Emiliano Zapata · Octavio Paz · Benito Juárez · Porfirio Diaz · Frida Kahlo
Rodolfo Neri Vela · Maria Sabina · Guillermo del Toro
 · Moctezuma II · Lila Downs · Carlos Fuentes · Jorge Negrete · Juana Ines de la Cruz · Marco Rito-Palomares ·
Total population
World
±120,000,000
Regions with significant populations
 Mexico 111,211,789
United States United States9,900,000 a[1]
 Canada~36,225 - 50,000 b[2]
 Spain~14,399 - 16,000 c[3]
 Guatemala~11,481 - 14,000[4]
 Bolivia~9,377 - 10,000[5]
 Germany~8,848 - 12,000[6]
 Argentina~6,750 - 8,000[7]
 United Kingdom~5,125 - 6,000 d[8]
 France~4,601 - 6,000[9]
 Israel4.252[10]
 Italy3.485[11]
 Venezuela~3.075 - 4,000[12]
 Belize2.349[13]
 Costa Rica2.327[14]
 Panama2.299[15]
Languages
Spanish, English and 62 indigenous linguistic groups of Amerindian languages.
a Mexican American

b Mexican Canadian
c Mexicans in Spain

d Mexicans in the United Kingdom

Mexican people (Spanish: Pueblo mexicano (collective), Mexicanos (individuals)) refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity.

Mexico became a nation in 1821 when Mexico achieved independence from the Spanish Empire, this began the process of forging a Mexican national identity that fused the cultural traits of indigenous pre-Columbian origin with those of the dominant group of European, particularly Iberian, ancestry. This led to what has been termed "a peculiar form of multi-ethnic nationalism"[16]

The most spoken language by Mexicans is Mexican Spanish, but many also speak languages from 62 different indigenous linguistic groups and other languages brought to Mexico by recent immigration or learned by Mexican immigrants residing in other nations. The majority of Mexicans live in Mexico but there is a sizable diaspora, especially in the United States and Canada.

History

The Mexican people have varied origins and an identity that has evolved with the succession of conquests among Amerindian groups and by Europeans. The area that is now modern-day Mexico has cradled many predecessor civilizations, going back as far as the Olmec which influenced the latter civilizations of Teotihuacan (200 B.C. to 700 A.D.) and the much debated Toltec people who flourished around the 10th and 12th centuries A.D., and ending with the last great indigenous civilization before the Spanish Conquest, the Aztecs (March 13, 1325 to August 13, 1521). The Nahuatl language was a common tongue in the region of modern Central Mexico during the Aztec Empire, but after the arrival of Europeans the common language of the region became Spanish.

After the conquest of the Aztec empire, the Spanish re-administered the land and expanded their own empire beyond the former boundaries of the Aztec, adding more territory to the Mexican sphere of influence which remained under the Spanish Crown for 300 years. Cultural diffusion and intermixing among the Amerindian populations with the European created the modern Mexican identity which is a mixture of regional indigenous and European cultures that evolved into a national culture during the Spanish Colonial period. This new identity was defined as "Mexican" shortly after the Mexican War of Independence and was more invigorated and developed after the Mexican Revolution when the Constitution of 1917 officially established Mexico as an indivisible pluricultural nation founded on its indigenous roots.

Definitions

See also: Toponymy of Mexico

Mexicano (Mexican) is derived from the word Mexico itself. In the principal model to create demonyms in Spanish, the suffix -ano its added to the name of the place of origin. The term Mexicano as a word to describe the different peoples of the region of Mexico as a single group emerged in the 16th century. In that time the term did not apply to a nationality nor to the geographical limits of the modern Mexican Republic. The term was used for the first time in the first document printed in Barcelona in 1566 which documented the expedition which launched from the port in Acapulco to find the best route which would favor a return journey from the Spanish East Indies to New Spain. The document stated: "el venturoso descubrimiento que los Mexicanos han hecho" (the venturous discovery that the Mexicans have made). That discovery led to the Manila galleon trade route and those "Mexicans" referred to Criollos, Mestizos and Amerindians alluding to a plurality of persons who participated for a common end: the conquest of the Philippines in 1565. (Gómez M., et al. 56)

Race and ethnicity

Totonac face with a smile and closed eyes.
Mayan mask.
A drawing of a cavalryman in New Spain (Mexico)
Human races in New Spain and Mestizo baby into Diego Rivera's picture.

Racial and ethnic relations in modern Mexico have grown out of the historical context of the arrival of Europeans, the subsequent colonial period of cultural and genetic miscegenation within the frame work of the castas system, the revolutionary periods focus on incorporating all ethnic and racial group into a common Mexican national identity and the indigenous revival of the late 20th century. The resulting picture has been called ""a peculiar form of multi-ethnic nationalism".[17]

Very generally speaking ethno-racial relations can be arranged on an axis between the two extremes of European and Indigenous cultural and biological heritage, this is a remnant of the colonial Spanish caste system which categorized individuals according to their perceived level of biological mixture between the two groups. Additionally the presence of considerable portions of the population with partly African and Asian heritage further complicates the situation. Even though it still arranges persons along the line between indigenous and European, in practice the classificatory system is no longer biologically based, but rather mixes socio-cultural traits with phenotypical traits, and classification is largely fluid, allowing individuals to move between categories and define their ethnic and racial identities situationally.[18][19]

The large majority of Mexicans can be classified as "Mestizos", meaning that they neither identify fully with any indigenous culture or with a particular non-Mexican heritage, but rather identify as having cultural traits and heritage that is mixed by elements from indigenous and European traditions. By the deliberate efforts of post-revolutionary governments the "Mestizo identity" was constructed as the base of the modern Mexican national identity, through a process of cultural synthesis referred to as mestizaje. Mexican politicians and reformers such as Jose Vasconcelos and Manuel Gamio were instrumental in building a Mexican national identity on the concept of mestizaje.[20][21]

Prior to contact with Europeans the indigenous peoples of Mexico had not had any kind of shared identity.[22] Indigenous identity was constructed by the dominant Euro-Mestizo majority and imposed upon the indigenous people as a negatively defined identity, characterized by the lack of assimilation into modern Mexico. Indian identity therefore became socially stigmatizing.[23] Cultural policies in early post-revolutionary Mexico were paternalistic towards the indigenous people, with efforts designed to "help" indigenous peoples achieve the same level of progress as the rest of society, eventually assimilating indigenous peoples completely to Mestizo Mexican culture, working toward the goal of eventually solving the "indian problem" by transforming indigenous communities into mestizo communities .[24]

The category of "indigena" (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexico's 62 indigenous languages, this is the categorization used by the National Mexican Institute of Statistics. It can also be defined broadly to include all persons who selfidentify as having an indigenous cultural background, whether or not they speak the language of the indigenous group they identify with. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as "indigenous" varies according to the definition applied, cultural activists have referred to the usage of the narrow definition of the term for census purposes as "statistical genocide".[25][26]

The term "Mestizo" is not in wide use in Mexican society today and has been dropped as a category in population censuses, it is however still used in social and culural studies when referring to the non-indigenous part of the Mexican population. The word has somewhat pejorative connotations and most of the Mexican citizens who would be defined as mestizos in the sociological literature would probably self-identify primarily as Mexicans. In the Yucatán peninsula the word Mestizo is even used about Maya speaking populations living in traditional communities, because during the caste war of the lat 19th century those Maya who did not join the rebellion were classified as mestizos.[27] In Chiapas the word "Ladino" is used instead of mestizo.[28]

Sometimes, particularly outside of Mexico, the word "mestizo" is used with the meaning of a person with mixed Indigenous and European blood. This usage does not conform to the Mexican social reality where a person of pure indigenous genetic heritage would be considered Mestizo either by rejecting his indigenous culture or by not speaking an indigenous language,[29] and a person with a very low percentage of indigenous genetic heritage would be considered fully indigenous either by speaking an indigenous language or by identifying with a particular indigenous cultural heritage.[30] Furthermore, the categories carry additional meanings having to do with social class so that the term indigena or the more pejorative "indio" (indian) is connected with ideas of low social class, poverty, rural background, supertition, being dominated by traditional values as opposed to reason. Commonly, instead of the term Mestizo, which also has a somewhat pejorative usage, the term "gente de razón" ("people of reason") is used and contrasted with "gente de costumbre" ("people of tradition"), cementing the status of indigeneity being connected to superstition and backwardness. For example it has been observed that upwards social mobility is generally correlated with "whitening", if persons with indigenous biological and cultural roots rise to positions of power and prestige they tend to be viewed as more "white" than if they belonged to a lower social class. Thus for example Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz has been described as being a "nearly pure Mixtec indian" by birth, but as he rose to power he was always referred to as mestizo and his indigenous roots were downplayed.[31]

Languages

Main article: Languages of Mexico
See also: Mexican Spanish
Mexico is home to some of the worlds oldest writing systems such as Mayan Script. Maya writing uses logograms complemented by a set of alphabetical or syllabic glyphs and characters, similar in function to modern Japanese writing.
Grammar of Mexican language by Carochi

Mexicans are linguistically diverse, with many speaking European languages as well as various Indigenous Mexican Languages. Spanish is spoken by approximately 92.17% of Mexicans as their first language making them the largest Spanish speaking group in the world[32] followed by Colombia (45,273,925), Spain (41,063,259)[33] and Argentina (40,134,425).[citation needed] Although the great majority speak Spanish de facto the second most populous language among Mexicans is English due to the regional proximity of the United States which calls for a bilingual relationship in order to conduct business and trade as well as the migration of Mexicans into that country who adopt it as a second language.

Mexican Spanish is distinct in dialect, tone and syntax to the Peninsular Spanish spoken in Spain. It contains a large amount of loan words from indigenous languages, mostly from the Nahuatl language such as: "chocolate," "tomate," "mezquite," "chile," and "coyote".[34]

Mexico has no official de jure language,[35] but as of 2003 it recognizes 62 indigenous Amerindian languages as "national languages" along with Spanish which are protected under Mexican National law giving indigenous peoples the entitlement to request public services and documents in their native languages.[36] The law also includes other Amerindian languages regardless of origin, that is, it includes the Amerindian languages of other ethnic groups that are non-native to the Mexican national territory. As such, Mexico's National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples recognizes the language of the Kickapoo who immigrated from the United States,[37] and recognizes the languages of Guatemalan Amerindian refugees.[38] The most numerous indigenous language spoken by Mexicans is Nahuatl which is spoken by 1.7% of the population in Mexico over the age of 5. Approximately 6,044,547 Mexicans (5.4%) speak an indigenous language according to the 2000 Census in Mexico.[39] There are also Mexicans living abroad which speak indigenous languages mostly in the United States but their number is unknown.[40]

See also

Works cited

  • Gómez M., et al. Historia de México: Texto de Consulta Para Educación Media Superior. Mexico: Limusa, 2006.
  • Moot Rodriguez, Modern History of Mexico, Universidad de Chan, Mexico, 2002.
  • Knight, Alan. 1990. "Racism, Revolution and indigenismo: Mexico 1910-1940". Chapter 4 in The Idea of Race in Latin America, 1870 - 1940. Richard Graham (ed.) pp. 71–113.
  • Wade, Peter. 1997. Race and Ethnicity in Latin America. Pluto Press.
  • Bartolomé, Miguel Alberto. (1996) "Pluralismo cultural y redefinicion del estado en México". in Coloquio sobre derechos indígenas, Oaxaca, IOC.[1]
  • Friedlander, Judith. 1975. Being Indian in Hueyapan: A Study of Forced Identity in Contemporary Mexico. New York: Saint Martin's Press.

References

  1. ^ conapo.gob.mx; Mexicanos en Estados Unidos
  2. ^ statcan.ca; Mexicanos en Canadá Censo de 2001
  3. ^ Mexicanos en España INE 2007
  4. ^ Investigación de la Migración Internacional en Latinoamérica (IMILA).
  5. ^ Bolivia - Censo de Población y Vivienda 2001
  6. ^ Statische Bundesamt Deutschland
  7. ^ Argentina - Población extrenjera residente en Argentina de 2000-2008
  8. ^ ime.gob.mx; Mexicanos en Reino Unido
  9. ^ INED France- INED
  10. ^ PERIOD OF IMMIGRATION, COUNTRY OF BIRTH AND LAST COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE IN ISRAEL 2008
  11. ^ Istat
  12. ^ INE
  13. ^ 2000 Housing and Population Census
  14. ^ Colombia - Sistema de Consulta Información Censal (Censo 2005)
  15. ^ DEMOGRAFIA: Los hispanos de origen Mexicano por todo el mundo
  16. ^ Wimmer, Andreas, 2002. Nationalist exclusion and ethnic conflict: shadows of modernity, Cambridge University Press page 115
  17. ^ Wimmer, Andreas, 2002. Nationalist exclusion and ethnic conflict: shadows of modernity, Cambridge University Press page 115
  18. ^ Bartolomé (1996:2)"En primer lugar cabe destacar que en México la pertenencia racial no es un indicador relevante ni suficiente para denotar una adscripción étnica específica. El proceso de mestizaje no ha sido sólo biológico sino básicamente social y cultural, por ello personas racialmente indígenas pueden asumirse y definirse culturalmente como mestizas. De esta manera ser o no ser indígena representa un acto de afirmación o de negación lingüística y cultural, que excluye la pertenencia a un fenotipo racial particular. Por lo tanto es relativamente factible realizar el llamado tránsito étnico, es decir que un indígena puede llegar a incorporarse al sector mestizo a través de la renuncia a su cultura tradicional y si sus condiciones materiales se lo permiten. Este acto supone tanto la aceptación de un estilo de vida alterno como la negación del propio, incluyendo la no enseñanza de la lengua a sus hijos. Pero muy difícilmente ocurre lo contrario; esto es que individuos fenotípicamente "blancos", pretendan reivindicar una adscripción indígena. Sin embargo, y con gran frecuencia, esas mismas personas considerarán a los indígenas como sus antepasados, fundadores de una "nación mexicana" que ahora les pertenece en calidad de herederos."
  19. ^ Knight (1990:74)
  20. ^ Wade (1981:32)
  21. ^ Knight (1990:78-85)
  22. ^ Knight (1990:75)
  23. ^ Friedlander (1971)
  24. ^ Bartolomé (1996:5)
  25. ^ Knight (1990:73-74)
  26. ^ Bartolomé (1996:3-4)
  27. ^ Bartolomé (1996:2)
  28. ^ Wade (1997:44-47)
  29. ^ Bartolomé (1996:2)
  30. ^ Knight (1990:73)
  31. ^ Knight (1990:73)
  32. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. "Spanish language - Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2010-07-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ www.ine.es Spanish population 2009
  34. ^ "Spanish Language History and Main Spanish-Speaking Countries". Todaytranslations.com. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  35. ^ "Constitución Política De Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  36. ^ "Microsoft Word - 257" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  37. ^ "Kikapúes — Kikaapoa". CDI México. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
  38. ^ "Aguacatecos, cakchiqueles, ixiles, kekchíes, tecos y quichés". CDI México. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
  39. ^ "Perfil sociodemográfico de la población hablante de náhuatl" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  40. ^ "Can a Mother Lose Her Child Because She Doesn't Speak English?". Time. August 27, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
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