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The correct term is "strictly Latin American" because to be Latin American is based on culture and history, not genetics.
And even if it was based on genetics, the average Dominican has Iberian blood in them (aka, Latin.) I've seen some studies that put Dominicans among the Latin American people with the highest input of Iberian blood in their mixture, more than is typical in most Latin American countries. This may come as a shock to some, because Dominicans are more often than not mixed with more African blood than is typical in Latin America, so many people judge them to be less Iberian than other Latin American people due to their African blood, but reality points in the opposite direction.
The typical Dominican has a genetic mixture that averages 52% Spanish origin, 44% African origin, and 3.6% Amerindian origin. This means that Dominicans have more Spanish blood in their mixture than in all other Latin American countries except five (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Costa Rica, Chile, and Venezuela); Dominicans also have the most African blood in their mixture than in any other Latin American country except Haiti; and Dominicans have some of the least Amerindian blood in Latin America with only Cubans and Haitians having less.
Spanish Blood in Admixture of the People
Puerto Rico 64.1%
Cuba 63.0%
Costa Rica 60.4%
Chile 54.5%
Venezuela 53.2% Dominican Republic 52.0%
El Salvador 50.0%
Nicaragua 49.0%
Uruguay 48.2%
Paraguay 46.8%
Honduras 46.0%
Colombia 45.6%
Panama 39.7%
Ecuador 32.0%
Argentina 30.2%
Mexico 30.0%
Peru 28.0%
Bolivia 23.7%
Guatemala 22.0%
Belize 21.8%
Brazil 3.0%
Haiti 0.2%
African Blood in the Admixture of the People
Haiti 97.5% Dominican Republic 44.4%
Cuba 33.5%
Colombia 17.3%
Belize 16.9%
Brazil 16.7%
Puerto Rico 15.8%
Venezuela 14.0%
Costa Rica 8.9%
Ecuador 7.0%
Panama 6.5%
Peru 5.7%
Nicaragua 4.5%
Uruguay 4.0%
Mexico 3.4%
Guatemala 2.6%
Argentina 2.0%
Honduras 2.0%
Chile 1.4%
Paraguay 1.0%
Bolivia 0.9%
Amerindian Blood in the Admixture of the People
Guatemala 72.9%
Bolivia 72.4%
Peru 64.2%
Mexico 62.5%
Ecuador 61.1%
Honduras 52.0%
El Salvador 50.0%
Paraguay 45.8%
Nicaragua 40%
Chile 37.3%
Colombia 37.1%
Panama 35.7%
Venezuela 31.0%
Costa Rica 29.7%
Puerto Rico 17.9%
Belize 11.5%
Brazil 9.1%
Argentina 5.0%
Uruguay 4.0% Dominican Republic 3.6%
Cuba 2.5%
Haiti 0.0%
The percentages in the admixture of the people is based on an estimate done at Brown University using the share of migration from various origins into the population of each Latin American country. These are estimates.
This is how the estimates reach the conclusion that the typical Mexican is 30% Spanish, 3% African, and 63% Amerindian; the typical Ecuadorian is 32% Spanish, 7% African, and 61% Amerindian; the typical Puerto Rican is 64% Spanish, 16% African, and 18% Amerindian; the typical Peruvian is 28% Spanish, 6% African, and 64% Amerindian; etc.
The correct term is "strictly Latin American" because to be Latin American is based on culture and history, not genetics.
And even if it was based on genetics, the average Dominican has Iberian blood in them (aka, Latin.) I've seen some studies that put Dominicans among the Latin American people with the highest input of Iberian blood in their mixture, more than is typical in most Latin American countries. This may come as a shock to some, because Dominicans are more often than not mixed with more African blood than is typical in Latin America, so many people judge them to be less Iberian than other Latin American people due to their African blood, but reality points in the opposite direction.
The typical Dominican has a genetic mixture that averages 52% Spanish origin, 44% African origin, and 3.6% Amerindian origin. This means that Dominicans have more Spanish blood in their mixture than in all other Latin American countries except five (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Costa Rica, Chile, and Venezuela); Dominicans also have the most African blood in their mixture than in any other Latin American country except Haiti; and Dominicans have some of the least Amerindian blood in Latin America with only Cubans and Haitians having less.
Spanish Blood in Admixture of the People
Puerto Rico 64.1%
Cuba 63.0%
Costa Rica 60.4%
Chile 54.5%
Venezuela 53.2% Dominican Republic 52.0%
El Salvador 50.0%
Nicaragua 49.0%
Uruguay 48.2%
Paraguay 46.8%
Honduras 46.0%
Colombia 45.6%
Panama 39.7%
Ecuador 32.0%
Argentina 30.2%
Mexico 30.0%
Peru 28.0%
Bolivia 23.7%
Guatemala 22.0%
Belize 21.8%
Brazil 3.0%
Haiti 0.2%
African Blood in the Admixture of the People
Haiti 97.5% Dominican Republic 44.4%
Cuba 33.5%
Colombia 17.3%
Belize 16.9%
Brazil 16.7%
Puerto Rico 15.8%
Venezuela 14.0%
Costa Rica 8.9%
Ecuador 7.0%
Panama 6.5%
Peru 5.7%
Nicaragua 4.5%
Uruguay 4.0%
Mexico 3.4%
Guatemala 2.6%
Argentina 2.0%
Honduras 2.0%
Chile 1.4%
Paraguay 1.0%
Bolivia 0.9%
Amerindian Blood in the Admixture of the People
Guatemala 72.9%
Bolivia 72.4%
Peru 64.2%
Mexico 62.5%
Ecuador 61.1%
Honduras 52.0%
El Salvador 50.0%
Paraguay 45.8%
Nicaragua 40%
Chile 37.3%
Colombia 37.1%
Panama 35.7%
Venezuela 31.0%
Costa Rica 29.7%
Puerto Rico 17.9%
Belize 11.5%
Brazil 9.1%
Argentina 5.0%
Uruguay 4.0% Dominican Republic 3.6%
Cuba 2.5%
Haiti 0.0%
The percentages in the admixture of the people is based on an estimate done at Brown University using the share of migration from various origins into the population of each Latin American country. These are estimates.
This is how the estimates reach the conclusion that the typical Mexican is 30% Spanish, 3% African, and 63% Amerindian; the typical Ecuadorian is 32% Spanish, 7% African, and 61% Amerindian; the typical Puerto Rican is 64% Spanish, 16% African, and 18% Amerindian; the typical Peruvian is 28% Spanish, 6% African, and 64% Amerindian; etc.
They are also 'strictly Caribbean'. Caribbean is apso just as much a correct term as is Latin America. One term does not negate or cancel out the other.
What is "strictly Latin American" or "strictly Caribbean" anyway? Both regions are extremely diverse within themselves, so it's impossible to say that Dominicans are "typical Latin Americans". The DR has alot in common with countries like Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the coastal parts of Colombia, but altogether that accounts for maybe 1/3 of the Spanish-speaking population in the Western Hemisphere, leaving Dominican culture relatively foreign to the remaining 2/3s of the region.
What is "strictly Latin American" or "strictly Caribbean" anyway? Both regions are extremely diverse within themselves, so it's impossible to say that Dominicans are "typical Latin Americans". The DR has alot in common with countries like Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the coastal parts of Colombia, but altogether that accounts for maybe 1/3 of the Spanish-speaking population in the Western Hemisphere, leaving Dominican culture relatively foreign to the remaining 2/3s of the region.
Its true Rep Dom might have alot more in common with thos places you mentioned. But that doesnt mean it doesn't have similarities with other Latin American countries. I think middle class Latinos regardless of where they are from share a similar out look on life and share the same values and yes they also have a similar culture. Dominican music is probably more popular outside of those countries you mentioned.
Its true Rep Dom might have alot more in common with thos places you mentioned. But that doesnt mean it doesn't have similarities with other Latin American countries. I think middle class Latinos regardless of where they are from share a similar out look on life and share the same values and yes they also have a similar culture. Dominican music is probably more popular outside of those countries you mentioned.
It may have some commonalities, but probably not a whole lot. Half of Bolivians, Paraguayans and Guatemalans, a quarter of Ecuadorians and a fifth of Peruvians don't even speak Spanish as a native language, most Argentines and Uruguayans are of European descent and have relatively little in common with with the rest of Latin America as a whole and overall there is a much stronger indigenous cultural component shaped by regional factors such as geography and climate, so I'm not optimistic about any arguments about Dominicans being particularly similar to the majority of mainland Latinos.
As for middle class Latinos sharing similar values...middle class people worldwide share similar values, and the majority of Latin Americans aren't middle class anyway. So I don't see any point in your statement. Nor does Dominican music being popular have anything to do with anything...Hip Hop is popular in France but that doesn't make the French similar to African Americans now does it?
It may have some commonalities, but probably not a whole lot. Half of Bolivians, Paraguayans and Guatemalans, a quarter of Ecuadorians and a fifth of Peruvians don't even speak Spanish as a native language, most Argentines and Uruguayans are of European descent and have relatively little in common with with the rest of Latin America as a whole and overall there is a much stronger indigenous cultural component shaped by regional factors such as geography and climate, so I'm not optimistic about any arguments about Dominicans being particularly similar to the majority of mainland Latinos.
As for middle class Latinos sharing similar values...middle class people worldwide share similar values, and the majority of Latin Americans aren't middle class anyway. So I don't see any point in your statement. Nor does Dominican music being popular have anything to do with anything...Hip Hop is popular in France but that doesn't make the French similar to African Americans now does it?
Ok most Latinos aren't middle class, they are poor. That means their life styles are probably even more similar.
Your right about the indigenous component, but most people in Guatemala speak Spanish, Even if they speak other languages most speak spanish along with other languages. The media, education, signs are all in Spanish. Im sure its the same way in most of the countries you mentioned. I have yet to meet a Peruvian or Ecuadorian that doesnt speak spanish. But not all people in those countries are purely indigenous and the truth is Mestizos have very little cultural influence from their indigenous counterparts. Good or bad thats the way it is.
Geography and climate, most of Latin America is tropical. Coastal regions on the pacific from Southern Mexico all the way down to Ecuador are really not that different from the Caribbean. Those regions all cultivate similar things like Sugar cane, tabaco, bananas, pineapples etc etc. Also, all those countries have similar ranching traditions.
I am not saying Latinos are the exact same, I am aware of the diversity in Latin America. But I don't think Latinos are fundamentally that different from one another.
Ok most Latinos aren't middle class, they are poor. That means their life styles are probably even more similar.
Not really, among the poor and working class is where most traditional culture survives and that tends to differ most even within the same country, never mind between countries.
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Your right about the indigenous component, but most people in Guatemala speak Spanish, Even if they speak other languages most speak spanish along with other languages. The media, education, signs are all in Spanish. Im sure its the same way in most of the countries you mentioned. I have yet to meet a Peruvian or Ecuadorian that doesnt speak spanish. But not all people in those countries are purely indigenous and the truth is Mestizos have very little cultural influence from their indigenous counterparts. Good or bad thats the way it is.
You're missing the point. The fact that a significant portion of the population speaks Spanish as a second language makes them in many ways fundamentally different. And to say that there is very little indigenous cultural influence is misleading when a great deal of the food, music and superstitions/beliefs/traditions are influenced by indigenous cultures.
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Geography and climate, most of Latin America is tropical. Coastal regions on the pacific from Southern Mexico all the way down to Ecuador are really not that different from the Caribbean. Those regions all cultivate similar things like Sugar cane, tabaco, bananas, pineapples etc etc. Also, all those countries have similar ranching traditions.
Again, not really true. Coastal regions are generally tropical, but inland is a completely different story. Most of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay are mountainous highlands, while huge parts of Mexico are covered in desert and Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are more temperate. So please explain to me how the wine-growing regions of Chile have anything to do with the canefields of DR.
They are also 'strictly Caribbean'. Caribbean is apso just as much a correct term as is Latin America. One term does not negate or cancel out the other.
Caribbean is more of a geographic term than it is cultural while Latin American is more a cultural term. That's why Dominican Republic is in the Caribbean, but Jamaica is not part of Latin America.
But when I think of Dominicans, I think Latin Americans and then Caribbean; similarly as how I think of Puerto Ricans or Cubans or Peruvians or Brazilians or Nicaraguans or Mexicans. I see all of them as Latin American before I associate them with their geography. In fact, I hardly ever take into consideration their geography.
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I think middle class Latinos regardless of where they are from share a similar out look on life and share the same values and yes they also have a similar culture. Dominican music is probably more popular outside of those countries you mentioned.