Hispanidad (literally Hispanicness) is the community formed by all the people and nations that share Spanish language and culture. The 23 nations included are all Spanish-speaking except the Philippines, and can be classified in four geographic areas: Spain, Hispanoamerica, Hispanoafrica and the Hispanopacific. Every October 12 Hispanic Day is celebrated. Hispanidad or Spanish linguistic and cultural diffusion began when the 12 October 1492 Christopher Columbus sighted America and initiated the European colonization in the name of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. The kingdom of Castile (Castilla) built a global empire, spreading their culture and language in the Americas and biologically and culturally mixing with the indigenous peoples, altering the composition of the hemisphere. The penetration and reach of Spain at this time also extended into other European nations.