Canary Islanders, or Canarians (Spanish: canarios), are a Romance people and subgroup of the Spaniards. They reside on the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain near the coast of northwest Africa, and descend from a mixture of Spanish settlers and aboriginal Guanche peoples. Genetic shows modern Canarian people to be a mixture of mostly European, with significant North African, and minor Sub-Saharan African. The distinctive variety of the Spanish language spoken in the region is known as habla canaria (Canary speech) or the (dialecto) canario (Canarian dialect). The Canarians, and their descendants, played a major role during the conquest, colonization, and eventual independence movements of various countries in Latin America. Their ethnic and cultural presence is most palpable