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The Castilian people (Spanish: castellanos) are the inhabitants of those regions in Spain where most people identify themselves as Castilian. They include Castile La Mancha, Madrid, and a part of Castile and Leon. However, not all regions of the medieval Kingdom of Castile think of themselves as Castilian. For this reason, the exact limits of what Castile is today are disputed.
Through the Reconquista and other conquests in the Middle Ages, the Kingdom of Castile (later Crown of Castile) spread over a large part of the Iberian Peninsula, especially towards the southern Spanish regions. After this, since the 15th century, through the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the Castilians also spread over the New World, bringing with them not only their language, but also elements of their culture, traditions and idiosyncrasy.
The Castilian language
Castilian (castellano) is the native language of the Castilians. It is thought to have originated in the foothills of the high plains of the Cordillera Cantábrica and the upper Ebro valley, in northern Spain, around the 8th and 9th centuries AD. It is descended from the Latin of the Roman Empire, with some Basque influence. During the Reconquista, it was brought to the south and replaced the languages that were spoken in the former Moorish controlled zones, such as the locally generated form of Latin, that was heavily influenced by Arabic, now refered to as Mozarabic, and also the Arabic of the elites and city dwellers. However, in this process Castilian acquired considerable influences from these languages, some of which continues to be used in contemporary Castilian. Outside of Spain, Castilian is now usually referred to as Spanish.
During the Spanish conquest of the Americas, Spanish was the dominant language in Spain, and therefore was the language that was transmitted to the New World by the Conquistadores. Due to this gradual process, the Hispanophone world was created.
In Spanish, the word castellano (Castilian) is often used to refer to the Spanish language, alongside español (Spanish). See Names given to the Spanish language.
See also
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