Modern Spanish originated in the medieval kingdom of Castile (North modern Spain). Castile was one of the states that for several centuries conquered The Iberian Peninsula among the descendants of the Arab conquerors. largest hispanic world in those years - Burgos, the capital of Castile.

At the end of the Middle Ages, the kingdoms of the Pyrenees of Aragon and Castile united, and this marked the beginning of the rise of the Spanish Empire. In August 1492, from the port of Palos de la Frontera, Christopher Columbus embarked on a historic journey. In the XVI century, the Spaniards (and the Portuguese) began to develop South America.

Significant territories of the New World became part of the Spanish Empire. It was mainly men who went overseas who found wives among local population and have children with them. So in South America and Mexico spread the Spanish language.

Spanish is now the third in the world native language(inferior to Chinese and Hindi). It is the native language for 470 million inhabitants of the planet and the second language for another 58 million. Most of them live in boundless expanses South and Central America.

1st place - Mexico City

Today, Mexico City is the largest city on the planet in terms of population, whose inhabitants speak Spanish. At the same time, in terms of the number of inhabitants, it is only the twelfth in the world, yielding to such Asian megacities as Tokyo, Jakarta, Seoul and Manila. As of 2016, 20,400,000 people live in Mexico City.

The history of the city goes back to Aztec times. It was founded in the first half of the 14th century under the name of Tenochtitlan. In 1519, Europeans entered the city for the first time - Hernan Cortes and his associates. In 1521, after a hard siege, the Spanish took Tenochtitlan, which was left in ruins after months of fighting.

The conquerors kept the layout of the streets of the Indian city and settled in the palaces that belonged to the Aztec nobility. In 1536, the viceroy of the Spanish crown arrived in the city, which began to be called "Mexico City". Mexico City became the capital of New Spain. Her viceroy lived in the palace on main square Socalo, standing nearby Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace.

In 2011, a group of genetic scientists conducted a study of the average genetic composition of the population of the Mexican capital. It gave the following results:

• 65% of the population are indigenous people of Central America;
• 31% - Europeans;
• 3% are Africans.

In addition to hereditary citizens of Mexico, descendants of the Spanish colonialists and indigenous people, many immigrants from other countries live in the city. These are immigrants from the USA and Canada, natives of South America and the Caribbean. Here you can meet people from Europe, the states of the Middle East, to whom in last years joined by residents of China and Korea. From the time of Spanish rule, Filipinos came to Mexico City and integrated into the society of the colonies.

Mexico City is home to the largest number of US citizens who have left their homeland. Their number is estimated differently. A popular figure of 600,000 Americans, but skeptical researchers question it and call a more modest - less than 150,000 people.

2nd place - Buenos Aires (Argentina)

The population of Buenos Aires (with the agglomeration) is 15,355,000. It is in second place among Spanish-speaking cities and in twentieth place among the cities of the world, behind Moscow, Cairo and Bangkok.

The first Spaniards reached the site of the future Buenos Aires in 1516. Exactly twenty years later, a city was founded on this site. The territory of the first settlement was located just south of the current center of the capital. In 1542, Indian attacks forced the Spaniards to leave the new settlement. It was revived in 1580.

The city was part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, then became the capital of the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata. During the age of the struggle for independence, Buenos Aires was the capital of the United Provinces of South America, the Argentine Confederation, a separate unrecognized republic and, finally, the Republic of Argentina.

Historically, the inhabitants of the seaside cities of South America called "porteno". With 19th century this word most often denoted precisely the inhabitants of Buenos Aires. In the 19th century, and especially in the 1880s, many Europeans came to Argentina - immigrants from Spain and Italy. They settled in coastal Buenos Aires and Montevideo. So this part of the country became populated by the descendants of immigrants from Europe, while in the interior there were more descendants of the Indian population. During the period 1880-1910, the number of "portenos" in the city grew from 500,000 to 1,500,000 people.

In addition to Spain and Italy, immigrants from other European countries also came to Buenos Aires. A minority of the inhabitants are Creoles (descendants of the population Spanish colonies) and mestizos (descendants of settlers and Indians). In the 20th century, their numbers grew due to resettlement in Buenos Aires from other parts of Argentina and neighboring countries.

The mass migration of immigrants from Italy to the capital of Argentina led to the creation of the Lunfardo dialect (the name comes from the Italian region of Lombardy). It appeared as a special dialect of criminals, which later began to be used by other townspeople. Some lunfardo words have entered the Spanish language of Argentina. Now the word "lunfardo" is synonymous with the expression "Buenos Aires speech".

3rd place - Lima (Peru)

The third largest Spanish-speaking city in the world is Lima, the capital of Peru. Its population is 11,000,000 people. Lima is the 29th most populated city in the world behind Tehran, Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro.

In the pre-colonial era, the territory of Lima was under the rule of the Inca Empire. In 1535, Francisco Pizarro founded the "City of Kings", but the name did not stick, and the city was named "Lima". After the creation of the Viceroyalty of Peru, Lima became its capital. When in 1821 Peru became independent state, the city retained its capital status.

Lima Spanish is called Peru's coast Spanish. It is distinguished by the influence of the Castilian dialect on it. Historically, most of the Spanish nobles who settled in Lima came from Castile. The Spanish of Lima is distinguished by the absence of the grammatical phenomenon "voseo", characteristic of Spanish other countries Latin America when the pronoun vos is used instead of tu or usted.

Today, the population of Lima and the agglomeration makes up about a third of the population of the entire state. The language of Lima was influenced by the languages ​​of immigrants from Europe, Asia and, as well as the language of the Quechua Indians. Now whites and mestizos each make up about 40% of the population of the Peruvian capital. In addition to them, the city has the largest Chinese and Japanese communities on the continent, as well as many Quechua Indians. The language of this Indian people is official in Lima along with Spanish.

Spanish politics in the era geographical discoveries led to the creation of an empire on several continents. The inhabitants of these lands spoke Spanish and assimilated the culture of the metropolis. After the collapse of the empire, the results of cultural influence were preserved. And it is natural that the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world is located in densely populated Latin America.

March 5th, 2018

We continue to replenish our . Today we have such an interesting and, of course, “the most” object.

The archaeological complex of Chan Chan is located in the Moche Valley, on the shore Pacific Ocean, 5 km from the city of Trujillo and 550 km from Lima. Chan Chan is the largest adobe city in the world. Ancient buildings occupy an area of ​​over 14 km2. central part The city is formed by nine so-called "palaces" - large, walled, platforms, smaller sectors and free-standing pyramids. The city center covers an area of ​​approximately 6 km2. The rest of the complex is ancient, poorly preserved structures: the remains of roads, canals, walls, cemeteries. In 1986, Chan Chan received UNESCO World Heritage status. Unfortunately, later the city was included in the Red List of World Heritage Sites, as architectural monument under the threat of destruction.

From the Chimu language, according to transcriptions compiled by Spanish chroniclers, Chan-Chan is translated as " big sun or "Glittering Sun". Thus, there is practically no doubt that the name of the city, one way or another, is associated with the luminary.

Let's take a closer look at it...

Chan Chan is the capital of the powerful and wealthy, technically advanced kingdom of Chimor of the Chimu culture (1100 - 1470). The city was built in the second half of the 9th century, and especially flourished from the 13th to the 15th century. Maximum amount the population was over 30,000, and according to some sources, during the period of maximum prosperity, up to 100,000 people could live in the city.

The Chimu capital originally consisted of nine autonomous regions, each of which was ruled by a separate ruler who showed valor in battle. These rulers were revered as kings. Each district had its own burial sites with rich investments in them. precious stones, pottery and with dozens of skeletons of young women.

When the Inca conquerors arrived at the end of the 15th century (1470), they could not take Chan Chan by military means. Therefore, the attackers built a dam in order to turn the river on which Chan Chan stood in a different direction. Only the lack of water forced the besieged to surrender to the Incas. After the conquest by the Incas, the city began to lose its significance. However, it was not the Incas who destroyed and plundered it, who were more eager to expand their Tahuantinsuyu empire than wealth. Destruction came when the Inca Empire was taken over by the Spaniards. Little remains of the Chimu culture after this. Today, only huge squares with dilapidated houses made of adobe and the ruins of religious buildings have survived.

It should be noted that the Chimu culture, included in the Tauantisuyu (the name of the Inca empire), in many aspects surpassed the society created by the sons of the Sun. It is worth paying tribute to the Incas, they were able not only to see and preserve the achievements of a people alien to them, but also to accept them into their culture. The Incas captured the city of Chan Chan as a result of its complete blockade. The soldiers destroyed the aqueducts, thereby depriving the inhabitants of sources fresh water. Died during the war great amount townspeople. The fallen Chan Chan was restored, the population returned to peaceful life.

So, by the arrival of the Spaniards, the city became one of the many prosperous Indian settlements of the great Inca Empire, with relatively little large quantity residents, and important political role didn't play anymore. During the reign Spanish crown Chan Chan was a favorite site for marauding excavations of the conquistadors, since among the European invaders there was an opinion that in the thickness clay walls"palaces" and in the pyramids are hidden countless treasures.

During the construction of the city, the craftsmen used the materials most available in the region. The most common was adobe - clay soil, sometimes mixed with totoro (a kind of reed). The walls of the palaces are powerful masonry of unbaked bricks, erected on a stone foundation. In the construction of residential sectors, ramps, platforms, broken unbaked bricks and construction waste mixed with clay were used. Since Chan Chan is located in a dry region of the country, little wood was used in the construction. Basically, poles, columns and lintels were made from it. The roofs were covered with woven straw. Modern visitors are impressed by the beauty, apparent simplicity and style of ancient buildings.

By the arrival of the Incas, Chan Chan was the most major city of its time on the South American continent and remains the largest adobe city in the world to this day. Ancient buildings occupy an area of ​​over 14 km2. The city was functionally divided into two parts - the center and the periphery.

City center rectangular shape covered an area of ​​about 6 km2 and included three types of buildings: walled areas, also called citadels or palaces; uaki or truncated pyramids, as well as auxiliary buildings.

The periphery of the city was occupied by arable land, orchards, cemeteries, as well as household and agricultural buildings: granaries, warehouses, and an irrigation system.

The center of the city are nine main palaces (citadels). Buildings are inherent similarities organizations. All palaces are oriented from north to south, all have one single entrance located in the northern wall. Such an organization made it possible to control the arrival and departure of "guests". Inner space each palace is divided into three sectors: northern, central and southern.

In the "Northern part" there was a large ceremonial square, bounded along the perimeter by low walls - pedestals, which, apparently, were used as seats during social events. Deep into the territory, to an area called audiences, a ramp led. The audiences were a series of courtyards centered on U-shaped buildings. The purpose of the buildings is ritual.

The "Central Sector" was represented by the largest number of warehouses. In addition, it was here that the "Burial Platform" was located - a small pyramid with a truncated top. The master of each of the citadels found rest in the sacred building. The owner was buried, accompanied by servants, wives, concubines, and also supplied with all the property necessary for life. Of course, it was this sector that aroused the greatest interest among the Spanish conquistadors, treasure hunters, from the very beginning of the expansion (since 1532).

The southern sector was the most spacious. Thanks to the work of archaeologists, it became known that it was in this part of the citadel that the everyday life owner. Here were the kitchen and bedrooms, and it was also here that the wells were located, providing the entire palace with fresh water.

On the territory of the city of Chan Chan, the remains of archaeological complexes that are not included in the nine "most important" ones have been preserved. They belonged to the lower elite of the city. The organization of the complexes strongly resembles the organization of the nine palaces.

It is worth emphasizing that the citadels were not just residential complexes, but included sites for ritual actions, and also served as “offices-studies”, i.e. were administrative jobs.

Now the palace of Tshudi (Chudi) is open for visitors; Restoration work has begun on the Rivero Palace.

Tsshudi Palace or Central House- the most famous of the adobe palaces of the city of Chan Chan, was built around 1400. Other names of the citadel - Nik An, because. the complex was dedicated to the god of the sea, Ni, which is clearly seen in the decorations of the marine theme. The Tshudi Palace is a prime example architectural style chimu. important landmark and distinctive feature The palace is a ceremonial pool located in the central part and preserved to this day. This impressive reservoir must have been the scene of water and fertility ceremonies.

Until now, two styles of carving design can be found here: animals - birds, fish and small mammals; graphics - a stylized image of the same animals. All carvings were painted yellow or black. The carvings in Chan Chan depict crabs, turtles, and nets for catching various marine animals. Chan Chan, unlike most other coastal ruins in Peru, is located close to the Pacific Ocean.

In 1986, Chan Chan received UNESCO World Heritage status. Unfortunately, the city is gradually being destroyed. Causes - annual storms, which are increasingly modifying desert coastal areas; level up ground water; the impact of the El Niño climate anomaly, as well as illegal settlements on the territory of the archaeological complex, the growth of the city of Trujillo. Due to the ongoing destruction, Chan Chan has been included in the Red List of World Heritage Sites as a site in danger of destruction. Nowadays scientists different countries fighting to save the city.

In recent years, increased erosion ancient city cites the El Niño climate phenomenon. For decades, the area has barely experienced rainfall, but as the climate changes, annual storms are getting stronger and reshaping the desert coastal areas. The best preserved area is Tschudi, named after the Swiss explorer Johann Jakob von Tschudi. This area is gradually being restored and is open to tourists. Here you can see some festive halls with luxurious ornaments. Until 1998, adobe structures were covered with a special glaze that protected them from precipitation. However, since then, the El Niño phenomenon has become so strong that it was necessary to build steel scaffolding to prevent the ancient structures from being washed away.

In 2014, work was completed on the construction of protective canopies over the ancient pre-Inca city of Chan Chan, built of unbaked brick (adoba). This was stated by the Ministry of Culture of Peru, according to the Peruvian Times website. Work on the USD 60,000 project began in early December last year with 70 workers involved.

The buildings of the ancient city, located near the coastal city of Trujillo, are built of adobe (unbaked bricks) and therefore are constantly exposed to the damaging effects of heavy rains brought by warm weather. ocean current El Nino.

And although El Niño is not expected this year, even small rainfall can still affect the walls with elegant carvings. “Everything is planned to minimize the risk of damage from rain,” said project leader Henri Gayoso. - Possible impacts before, during and after rains are taken into account. This guarantees the safety of the archaeological complex.”

The works included the cleaning of the drainage system and the installation of protective canopies over the walls of the complex.

Recall that Chan Chan was included in the UNESCO list world heritage in 1986. The city was the capital of the Chimu kingdom, which controlled the territory of the northern coast of Peru from 900 BC. until the conquest by the Inca army under the command of Tupac Inca Yupanqui at the end of the 15th century. During its heyday, Chan Chan was the largest city in pre-Columbian America and the largest adobe city in the world.

At the same time, it should be noted that at the moment, Chan Chan is included in the UNESCO list of places that are at risk not only from the effects of rain, but also from soil erosion and people who invade the territories adjacent to the settlement in order to occupy agriculture, construction of houses and organization of landfills.

To raise self-awareness among the citizens of the country and instill pride in the heritage of Peru, the Ministry of Culture organizes in Trujillo summer programs on craft and art for children, which will involve the motives of the pre-Columbian cities of the north of the country.

It must be said that the popularity of Chan-Chan is increasing due to the development of a Special Project aimed at popularizing historical monument in funds mass media. In 2013 were created documentaries which are shown on the international news channels CNN and BBC, as well as published books and written a number of articles in popular magazines about the history and culture of the Chimu. On the territory of the ruins of Cham-Cham are held interesting programs associated with the history of Chimor.

The world population is growing in geometric progression, so the ratings of the largest settlements Lands are reviewed regularly. Under the conditions of the total merger of megacities with nearby settlements, it is difficult to establish the exact boundaries of agglomerates. Scientists decided to determine the city limits from space - at night, satellites take pictures that allow them to fix the area of ​​​​continuous building by light designations and find out which areas are part of the urban formation. The method proved to be excellent, which made it possible to find out the top most big cities world by area in 2018.

10. Wuhan, China (8,494 sq km)

This city is administrative center Hubei Province, located at the confluence of the Yangtze and Han rivers. Exactly territorial location Near major rivers influenced the rapid development and growth of a small village that was once located here. The first settlements in this area appeared more than 3000 years ago, and by the beginning of our era a large port was formed here.
For several centuries, Wuhan has been one of the four largest trading cities in the country and in this moment is one of the most densely populated cities in central China.

9. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (9,965 sq km)

Kinshasa has been the country's capital since 1960. The city is relatively young, it was founded in 1881 on the banks of the Congo River. Until 1966, Kinshasa was called Leopoldville in honor of King Leopold II of Belgium, who owned these territories.
Despite the fact that this country belongs to one of the poorest countries in the world, this did not stop its capital from growing and entering our ranking of the largest cities in the world by area. Despite the vast territories belonging to the territory of the city, most of them are sparsely populated and are rural areas, only West Side the city is densely populated, here is business center cities.
Kinshasa is a very ambiguous city: here prosperity and poverty coexist side by side. This city, oddly enough, surpassed Paris in terms of French-speaking population. Despite the fact that almost every resident here knows French, the spoken language is still Lingala.

In the 20th century, the World Meteorological Association began to record the number sundial in half the countries of the world. These observations continued for three days...

8. Melbourne, Australia (9,992 sq km)

Before the formation of the city, the surrounding lands were inhabited by the aborigines of the Wurundzheri tribe for supposedly 40 thousand years.
The city was founded by European settlers in 1835, and Golden fever contributed to it tremendously rapid development. By 1965, the city had become the largest in Australia.
Now Melbourne is the southernmost million-plus city in the world, and also continues to play essential role in the economy of the country. Today it is the second largest city in Australia, the capital of the state of Victoria.

7. Tianjin, China (11,943 sq km)

The city is located in the north of the country, it was founded in 340 BC. AD
The transfer of the capital of China to Beijing contributed to the rapid development of the settlement, due to its close location.
Today Tianjin is the center of the country's light and heavy industry, the city is of great importance for the country's economy, it is growing and developing rapidly. The population is about 15.5 million people.

6. Sydney, Australia (12,368 sq km)

Sydney is the largest and most Old city Australia. It was here that the first settlement was founded. European colonizers in 1788. Meanwhile, scientists have proven that local aborigines lived in these territories already 30 thousand years ago.
Sydney is one of the most multicultural and multinational cities in the world, since it is here that the concentration of migrants seeking permanent residence on the green continent is maximum.
Sydney Opera House with its unique architecture familiar to everyone. Sydney is also known for its stunning clean beaches.
Sydney's economy makes up approximately 25% of the entire Australian economy.

5. Chengdu, China (14,312 sq km)

Every locality, from a giant metropolis to a tiny village, has a name and a history associated with it. Many of them are named after...

The first settlements in these territories date back to the 4th century BC. e. Chengdu is part of Sichuan province, where the provincial government is based.
In 1928, the neighboring territories of Chengdu and Huayang were annexed to the city, which greatly increased total area cities.
Today Chengdu is the center of the country's automotive industry.
Automakers such as Volvo, FAW Volkswagen, FAW Toyota and many others are represented in Chengdu.

4. Brisbane, Australia (15,842 sq km)

It was on the territory of modern Brisbane that a colony for exiles was founded in 1824. This period is considered the moment of the founding of the city. After the abolition of the colony, the settlement began to grow rapidly.
Brisbane is located on the river of the same name, which in an interesting way divides the city into two parts. On the one hand, there is a business center and a shopping center, and on the other side, there are parks and various recreation areas.

3. Beijing, China (16,801 sq km)

Beijing opens the top three in our ranking. Looking ahead, let's say that only Chinese cities are on the pedestal.
Beijing - the capital of China, was founded in 1045 BC, its population is about 22 million people.
It is political, cultural and Education Centre countries, occupies a leading position in the development and creation of innovative enterprises.

2. Hangzhou, China (16,847 sq km)

This city is the capital of Zhejiang Province, founded in 589. The city is famous for its tea plantations, magnificent nature and many attractions. Many Chinese from nearby cities tend to visit this wonderful city that has preserved its history more often. Hangzhou is an industrial city, many large corporations have representative offices, plants and factories here.

Traveling around the world is very different. Someone goes on vacation, someone is in a hurry on an extraordinary business trip, and someone decides to immigrate from ...

1. Chongqing, China (82,403 sq km)

Chongqing is the largest city in the world by area. Moreover, its area at times more area nearest pursuer. Interestingly, less than 2 percent of the entire area of ​​the city is a densely populated urban area, where business life. The rest of the territory countryside. Partly such vast territory cities are connected with order territorial division installed in China. There is no concept of “city” familiar to us, and the concept of “city of central subordination” implies a certain area that includes several settlements or counties at once.
Thus, the largest city in the world by area is commensurate with the area of ​​the whole of Austria.