Final answer:
The earliest known inhabitants of Spain were the Iberians, Celtiberians, and Basques, with Jewish communities established during the Roman period. The Moors from North Africa had a significant influence on Spanish culture through their rule in Al-Andalus. Spain's history of conquest laid the groundwork for its Age of Exploration and the impact on the Indigenous peoples of the New World.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first people living in what is now Spain were likely the ancestors of modern humans who arrived tens of thousands of years ago. However, regarding historical populations, the Iberians, Celtiberians, and Basques were some of the earliest known inhabitants recorded in history. Throughout the centuries, Spain saw successive waves of settlers and conquerors, including Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, and Visigoths. During the first century CE, Jewish communities were established as part of the Roman conquest.
It was under the Roman Empire that Spain became a unified territory, with Latin as the lingua franca which heavily influenced the Spanish language and many aspects of its culture. By the fall of the Roman Empire, the Visigoths took control before being conquered by the Moors, who were Muslim people mainly from North Africa. The Moors' long period of rule, particularly in Al-Andalus, had a profound impact on Spanish culture, introducing advancements in science, agriculture, and art.Spain's history is marked by periods of conquest, with the Christian Reconquista as a pivotal moment, leading to the unification under Catholic monarchs and the eventual expulsion of the Moors and Jews. This set the stage for the Age of Exploration, during which Spain established itself as a global power through the conquest of vast territories in the Americas. The conquest had devastating effects on the Indigenous peoples of the New World, including the extermination of many native populations.