Latin American Culture Research Paper

The Culture of Latin America An innumerable amount of factors contribute to determining characteristics of a group of people. Characteristics and customs of a group of people in clustered areas helps determine culture groups. Culture is defined as attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguishes one group of people from another. In Latin America there are four features that contribute to making the culture so distinctive: language, geography, material culture, and religion. The main language in Latin America uses two main languages: spanish and portuguese. Spanish is part of the indo European family and Romance Branch. Spanish originally developed in a region referred to as Hispania. One of Spanish’s first forms is know as Vulgar Latin.

Material culture includes food, clothing, art, music, and housing. In Latin America the food eaten is very different than in the United States. Breakfast often consists of something simple such as a churro or a cup of yogurt. Lunch includes several courses and is referred to as siesta. Common foods to have during lunch are enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, burritos or a mix of them. Dinner is a smaller, simpler meal much later in the day. Dessert could be traditional Flan or a small pastry. Pop culture clothing includes all of what is trending in the United States and other countries around the world. Traditional folk culture clothing commonly consists of colorful, woven fabrics. Women often wear large dresses shaped with hoops. Elaborately designed dresses like these can be found at many festivals and dances throughout the year. The roots of Latin American art can be traced back to the arrival of people from Spain hoping to colonize the new found land. Each civilization formed had their own art. As slaves were imported, the artwork slowly changed. It began to depict the struggles of these people. As time moved on, art became slightly more modernized.Latin American Music has a European influence. Many descendants of the moorish empire, that once had control over present day European countries, were brought to the americas during the time of slave trade. Along with them they brought

The most dominant religion in Latin America is Catholicism. There are currently about 483 million Roman Catholics in Latin America. This accounts for 41% of all Roman Catholics in the world. The large predominance of catholics has led to a large amount of christian churches being built all over Latin America. As more churches are built more people are compelled to have religious opinions. The Catholic people have a pope, Pope Francis, who has the power to make doctrine. The people believe that the church is never wrong and therefore, Pope Francis is never wrong. The biggest religious belief the people have is that Jesus Christ is the son of God. The Protestant religion is seeing an increase in number in Latin America over recent years. According to an article by the Pew Research Center, “Religion in Latin America,” 19% of Latin America are now practicing the Protestant religion compared to 9% it use to be. Both of these religions help preserve the land because they believe it is not acceptable to harm it. The majority of the people in Latin America are either Catholic or