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Colombia is Andean, 70% of us live in the Andes. Venezuela is more coastal and it reflects in their accent and idiosyncrasy.
As someone from the Cundiboyacense altiplano I feel way more identified with Andean Ecuador or even northern Andean Peru than with Venezuela. We have a strong indigenous Muisca heritage that doesn't exist elsewhere.
Someone from Pasto or Cauca would feel more identified with Ecuador than with any other country, for obvious reasons. Sanandresanos (raizal ones) would feel more identified with the Antilles. Paisas are sui generis too, Northwest Andean Colombia is not like Venezuela or any other country. Same can be said for other regions.
Venezuela has an Andean region, very far from being culturally Caribbean, and having a lot in common with the Colombian Andes (ethnically and culturally speaking, and even with a similar accent), just in case you don't know. And 10% of the Venezuelan population lives in the Venezuelan Andes.
Then, the Venezuelan llanos are like a copy of the Colombian llanos. Around 15% of the Venezuelan population lives in the Venezuelan llanos.
Then, Lara state, in northwestern Venezuela, is another state with very little to do with the Caribbean. And more than a million and a half of Venezuelans live in Lara state. That's roughly another 5% of the Venezuelan population.
Bolivar state, in southern Venezuela, has a similar population to Lara state. That's another 5% of the Venezuelan population.
Adding up together all that, we have that roughly about 35% of Venezuelans live in non-Caribbean inner Venezuelan regions.
But on top of that, big Venezuelan cities located in the northern central region, like Caracas, Maracay and Valencia, are not in the coast but in inner valleys, and surrounded by mountains that separate them from the Caribbean sea. These cities are somewhat Caribbean influenced (I do NOT deny it), but are not as much Caribbean as lets say Cartagena, Colon, or Santo Domingo. NO even in jest. They are more like a transition, ethnically and culturally speaking, between the Caribbean and inner south America.
Stop talking about Venezuela like if is only Caribbean, and if like it is a "hardcore Caribbean" country, because you sound very very ignorant.
Last edited by alnortedelsur; 07-09-2016 at 10:00 AM..
Well I would group Latin America into 5 main groups.
The Caribbean- Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. Most of the people are mixed mulatto or triracial, wit many whites and blacks as well. The culture is largely Canarian, with huge West African influences , as well as a minor Taino influence.
Mexico and northern Central America- Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. The people are mostly either mixed mestizo or straight up native indian. The culture has a huge native influence from Aztecs and Mayans.
southern Central America and northern South America- Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela. Very mixed region with large amounts of mestizos, mulattos, triracials, whites, natives, and blacks. The culture reflects that, with nearly equal Spanish, native, and African influences.
central South America- Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia. mostly composed of natives and mestizos. Very similar to northern central america in ethnic composition and culture, main difference is they descend from South American Indians such as Inca, not central american ones.
southern South America- Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Mostly populated by whites and mestizos. Largely Spanish/Italian culture with minor native influence.
That is exactly the only way to really compare the countries and come up with some similarities. Excellent post. Although I would say that regarding the Southern Cone countries, along with the strong Spanish Italian culture there is also a significant Anglo/German culture, especially in Chile with many Chileans of British or German decent are prominent in Chilean culture.
This could also include regions of certain countries.
A few years ago I read a study that was done by someone at UNAM (Mexico's National University) and he grouped the different country by cultural influences.
He devides Latin America into four types of countries, with one of those types subdivided into two segments.
Indo-European
Countries with a mostly Spanish/Amerindian culture.
These he subdivides into two major groups:
Indo-mestizo
Countries with a Spanish culture with very strong Amerindian influences.
Guatemala
Ecuador
Peru
Bolivia
Mestizo
Countries with a Spanish culture with some Amerindian influences.
Mexico
El Salvador
Honduras
Nicaragua
Paraguay
Afro-mestizo
Countries with a Spanish culture influenced by African and Amerindian cultures.
Panama
Colombia
Venezuela
Afro-criollo
Countries with a predominantly Spanish (Portuguese in the case of Brazil) culture with some African influences and negligible Amerindian.
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico
Brazil
Criollo
Countries with basically a transplanted Spanish (& Italian in the case of Argentina) culture with very little to no additional non-European influences.
Venezuela has an Andean region, very far from being culturally Caribbean, and having a lot in common with the Colombian Andes (ethnically and culturally speaking, and even with a similar accent), just in case you don't know. And 10% of the Venezuelan population lives in the Venezuelan Andes.
Then, the Venezuelan llanos are like a copy of the Colombian llanos. Around 15% of the Venezuelan population lives in the Venezuelan llanos.
Then, Lara state, in northwestern Venezuela, is another state with very little to do with the Caribbean. And more than a million and a half of Venezuelans live in Lara state. That's roughly another 5% of the Venezuelan population.
Bolivar state, in southern Venezuela, has a similar population to Lara state. That's another 5% of the Venezuelan population.
Adding up together all that, we have that roughly about 35% of Venezuelans live in non-Caribbean inner Venezuelan regions.
But on top of that, big Venezuelan cities located in the northern central region, like Caracas, Maracay and Valencia, are not in the coast but in inner valleys, and surrounded by mountains that separate them from the Caribbean sea. These cities are somewhat Caribbean influenced (I do NOT deny it), but are not as much Caribbean as lets say Cartagena, Colon, or Santo Domingo. NO even in jest. They are more like a transition, ethnically and culturally speaking, between the Caribbean and inner south America.
Stop talking about Venezuela like if is only Caribbean, and if like it is a "hardcore Caribbean" country, because you sound very very ignorant.
I know about all of that. I even thought of writing about Andean Venezuelans in my previous post, but I forgot about it. I'm not saying Venezuela is Caribbean, I'm saying that most Venezuelans (the ones from the main cities) have this "dejo caribeño" that most Andean Colombians don't really have. It has happened to me a couple of times, when meeting new people, that their accents made me thought they were "Costeños" (Caribbean Colombians) when they actually were Venezuelans.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkLoFan
Well I would group Latin America into 5 main groups.
The Caribbean- Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. Most of the people are mixed mulatto or triracial, wit many whites and blacks as well. The culture is largely Canarian, with huge West African influences , as well as a minor Taino influence.
Mexico and northern Central America- Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. The people are mostly either mixed mestizo or straight up native indian. The culture has a huge native influence from Aztecs and Mayans.
southern Central America and northern South America- Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela. Very mixed region with large amounts of mestizos, mulattos, triracials, whites, natives, and blacks. The culture reflects that, with nearly equal Spanish, native, and African influences.
central South America- Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia. mostly composed of natives and mestizos. Very similar to northern central america in ethnic composition and culture, main difference is they descend from South American Indians such as Inca, not central american ones.
southern South America- Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Mostly populated by whites and mestizos. Largely Spanish/Italian culture with minor native influence.
interesting but Chile doesn't have a sizeable white population as Argentina-Uruguay does. Their population is mainly Mestizo. Paraguayan population too. The % of pure native Paraguayans is much lower than that of Peru-Ecuador-Bolivia, even if most of the population speaks Guarani. I'd say both countries (Chile and Paraguay) have a very similar proportion of White and Mestizo population.
also Chile doesn't have a significative Italian admixture as their eastern neighbors.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rosa surf
The comparisons are in general terms. If we were to cut up each country based on the regional differences and how people are, we could be here all night, and, there would be no similarities between countries. Or, each region can have tons of similarities with other countries.
One thing is for certain, it is important to hear all of the different perspectives. Sometimes people attribute one way of being to a whole country when there are extreme differences between regions.
I know, my point was just that Colombia shares big similarities with many other countries, not only Venezuela. Many Colombians (even the majority of them) could feel more identified with Costa Rica, Panama or Ecuador than with Venezuela.
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regarding the Chilean / Argie accent discussion, yes and no, they might sound similar but many native Spanish speakers have completely different ideas about them. The slang of each country is very peculiar, especially the Chilean one. Chileans also use their own form of voseo ("voh estái", "voh hablái"), and their accent is regarded as the most difficult to understand (along with some Caribbean accents) for other native Spanish speakers. Latin Americans joke about it a lot. Argies are known for their "Italian" musicality, their voseo and "sheÃsmo", their slang.
Chile shares some slang with Argentina, but so does with Peru ("guatón", "huevón", etc).
Last edited by joacocanal; 07-09-2016 at 05:35 PM..
I find it interesting that even Mestizo Paraguayans can speak Guarani. Even in a country like Guatemala with a large Native population it would extremely rare for a mestizo to speak a Native language, I have yet to see that actually. I think it would be cool if more people did. Sadly some Natives are also losing their native languages.
I find it interesting that even Mestizo Paraguayans can speak Guarani. Even in a country like Guatemala with a large Native population it would extremely rare for a mestizo to speak a Native language, I have yet to see that actually. I think it would be cool if more people did. Sadly some Natives are also losing their native languages.
I think a lot has to do with population size. For example I'm sure you'll find this dynamic with Nahuatl or Quechua.
Guarani is practically the only indigenous language in Paraguay.
Colombia in contrast has over 60 languages and the largest populations are generally in remote regions.
Interesting but Chile doesn't have a sizeable white population as Argentina-Uruguay does. Their population is mainly Mestizo. Paraguayan population too. The % of pure native Paraguayans is much lower than that of Peru-Ecuador-Bolivia, even if most of the population speaks Guarani. I'd say both countries (Chile and Paraguay) have a very similar proportion of White and Mestizo population.
also Chile doesn't have a significative Italian admixture as their eastern neighbors.
In the North I could see this be the case but in the center and south of the country, I noticed essentially the same folk in Argentina as in Chile. I think there is just more emphasis of the Argentinean being more european but I just didn't see the difference being that grand between the two countries. I think there were more in Argentina because it's just a bigger country.
I did see more light haired people in Argentina while the typical Chilean was dark haired and lighter skinned.
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Quote:
egarding the Chilean / Argie accent discussion, yes and no, they might sound similar but many native Spanish speakers have completely different ideas about them. The slang of each country is very peculiar, especially the Chilean one. Chileans also use their own form of voseo ("voh estái", "voh hablái"), and their accent is regarded as the most difficult to understand (along with some Caribbean accents) for other native Spanish speakers. Latin Americans joke about it a lot. Argies are known for their "Italian" musicality, their voseo and "sheÃsmo", their slang.
Chile shares some slang with Argentina, but so does with Peru ("guatón", "huevón", etc).
I think that while their slang is different they're essentially trying to say the same thing. Weon in Chile is basically the buludo in Argentina. And both countries say conche tu madre too. Chileans to me just sound like higher pitched Argentineans with different slang.
But to most people it's only similar in the sense that the way Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans sound somewhat similar but they're markedly different upon further examination. Most people have to really hear for a minute for any difference between the three to say ok they're Cuban or Dominican. It's the same with Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. I have to wait for the right slang and the way they say pollo.
But what is this emphasis with dissecting the difference between Argentina and Chile so much? They're different but as different as Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico are to each other. There will be differences but they're seen as similarly Caribbean. The same with Argentina, Chile and Uruguay being seen as similarly Southern Cone. Puerto Rico for instance has more white people than Dominican Republic but the countries are still similar.
I don't mean to harp on this but I dislike it when I see similar countries argue over things which seem trivial to outsiders especially when it's based on things like who has the more European looking people. To me as a typical Yankee who traveled around LATAM, I saw marginal differences between Argentina and Chile. I understood the countries as distinct but saw them more as brothers who split and grew apart but they're cut from the same cloth.
I know it may seem as though I am just looking at this as an ignorant American who thinks all Latinos are the same but I am looking at this more as calling one group out as almost trying to sound superior when the rest of the world and LATAM views the two neighbors as very similar.
In the North I could see this be the case but in the center and south of the country
The south of the country? The Araucania - the Mapuche's homeland?
Now I know that there is a minority Anglo-German heritage in Chile but in reality a large portion of Chileans look like Peruvians but with lighter skin, they are predominantly mestizo. Chile is half-way between Argentina and Peru in looks, mannerisms, culture, slang and music.
This is a ridiculous video that went viral of a festival in southern Chile but you get the idea of how people look in the south.
The south of the country? The Araucania - the Mapuche's homeland?
Now I know that there is a minority Anglo-German heritage in Chile but in reality a large portion of Chileans look like Peruvians but with lighter skin, they are predominantly mestizo. Chile is half-way between Argentina and Peru in looks, mannerisms, culture, slang and music.
This is a ridiculous video that went viral of a festival in southern Chile but you get the idea of how people look in the south.
I didn't go to the south but I had heard about the big Anglo German communities down there and that there are Mapuche. I wasn't referring to the indigenous community but that the typical Chilean has dark black hair and lighter skin. I wouldn't say it's like Peru or Argentina but that I saw more similarities between the people of Argentina and Chile than I did with Peru and Chile, even though a lot of Chileans look Peruvian too. I wasn't disagreeing with you.
It's like there being more white people in Puerto Rico but there are enough people in PR to confuse them with Dominicans too. That's what I meant when I said they're similar. If anything I would say Chilean people look more like the light(er) skinned Mexican population.
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