Overview: The Latin American and Caribbean Peoples affinity bloc encompasses the culturally and linguistically diverse populations where Spanish and Portuguese are dominant languages. This bloc reflects centuries of cultural exchange, colonization, and mixing among Indigenous peoples, European settlers, African populations brought through the slave trade, and later immigrants. The majority are Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking mestizo and mixed-heritage groups forming the demographic core of most nations. The bloc also includes substantial Indigenous peoples maintaining distinct languages and identities, including the Quechua, Mayan, Aymara, Guaraní, Nahuatl, Zapotec, and Mixe, plus over one hundred smaller groups, particularly in the Amazon basin. The region is characterized by shared colonial history, predominantly Catholic heritage (with growing Protestant and secular populations), and cultural elements blending Indigenous, European, and African influences.

  -- ROP Editor

People clusters: Afro-American, Hispanic; Afro-Caribbean; Amazon; Aymara; Aztec; Central American Indigenous; Guarani; Hispanic; Maya; Mixe; Mixtec; Other Hispanic American; Otomi; Portuguese, Brazilian; Quechua; South American Indigenous; Zapotec

Countries where they are found: Argentina; Aruba; Australia; Austria; Bahamas; Barbados; Belgium; Belize; Bermuda; Bolivia; Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba; Brazil; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Cuba; Curacao; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; El Salvador; France; French Guiana; Germany; Guadeloupe; Guatemala; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; Italy; Jamaica; Martinique; Mexico; Montserrat; Mozambique; Netherlands; Nicaragua; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Sint Maarten; Spain; Suriname; Sweden; Switzerland; Trinidad and Tobago; Turks and Caicos Islands; United Kingdom; United States; Uruguay; Venezuela