Where did the religious tradition of Santería develop?

Santería is the most common name given to a religious tradition of African origin that was developed in Cuba and then spread throughout Latin America and the United States.

It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional Yoruba religion of West Africa, the Roman Catholic form of Christianity, and Spiritism. There is no central authority in control of Santería and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as 'creyentes' ("believers").

The name “Santería” derives from the correspondences made by some devotees between the Yoruba deities called 'orishas' and the saints (santos) of Roman Catholic piety. The term Santería translates into English as the "way of the saints". This term was first used by scholarly commentators in the 1930s and later spread among the religion's practitioners themselves.

Santería is a practice-oriented religion; ritual correctness is considered more important than belief. It has an elaborate system of ritual, with its rites termed 'ceremonias' (ceremonies). Most of its activities focus on solving the problems of everyday life. Practitioners usually use the term "work" in reference to ritual activity; thus "working ocha" describes its rites.