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Americas

Area 42,549,000 km2(16,428,000 mi2)

Population 954 million (July 2013 estimate) [1]

Demonym American,[2]New Worlder,[3]and

Pan-American[4]are used (see usage)

Countries 35

Languages Spanish, English, Portuguese, French,

Quechua, Haitian Creole, Guaran,Aymara, Nahuatl, Dutch and many

others

Time zones UTC-10 to UTC

Largest

cities

Metropolitan areas in the

Americas

Mexico City

So Paulo

New York

AmericasFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Americas, or America,[5][6][7]also known as the New World, are the combined

continental landmasses of North America and South America,[8][9]in the Western

Hemisphere.[10]

Along with their associated islands, they cover 8.3% of the Earth's totalsurface area (28.4% of its land area). The topography is dominated by the American

Cordillera, a long chain ofmountains that run the length of the west coast. The flattereastern side of the Americas is dominated by large river basins, such asthe Amazon,

Mississippi, and La Plata. Since the Americas extend 14,000 km (8,700mi) from north tosouth, the climate and ecology vary widely, from the arctic tundra of Northern Canada,

Greenland, and Alaska, to the tropical rain forests in Central America and South America.

Humans first settled the Americas from Asiabetween 40,000 BCE and 15,000 BCE. Asecond migration of Na-Dene speakers followed later from Asia. The subsequent migration

of the Inuit into the neoarctic around 3500 BCE completed what is generally regarded as thesettlement by the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The first known European settlement

in the Americas was by the Norse explorer Leif Ericson.[11]However the colonization never

became permanent andwas later abandoned.The voyages ofChristopher Columbus from

1492 to 1502 resulted in permanent contact with European (and subsequently, other OldWorld) powers, which led to the Columbian exchange. Diseases introduced from Europe

and Africa devastated the Indigenous peoples, and the European powerscolonised the

Americas.[12]Mass emigration from Europe, including large numbers ofindentured

servants, and forced immigration of African slaves largely replaced the Indigenous Peoples.Beginning with the American Revolution in 1776 and Haitian Revolution in 1791, theEuropean powers began to decolonise the Americas. Currently, almost all of the population

of the Americas resides in independent countries; however, the legacy of the colonisation

and settlement by Europeans is that the Americas share many common cultural traits, mostnotably Christianity and the use of Indo-European languages; primarily Spanish, English,

and Portuguese.

More than 900 million people live in the Americas, the most populous countries being theUnited States, Brazil, and Mexico, the most populous cities being So Paulo, Mexico City

and New York City.

Coordinates: 1900N 9600W

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Los Angeles

Buenos Aires

Rio de Janeiro

Lima

Chicago

Bogot

Dallas

Contents

1 History

1.1 Settlement

1.2 Pre-Columbian era1.3 European colonization

2 Etymology and naming

3 Geography

3.1 Extent

3.2 Geology

3.3 Topography

3.4 Climate3.5 Hydrology

3.6 Ecology

4 Demography

4.1 Population

4.2 Largest urban centers

4.3 Ethnology

4.4 Religion4.5 Languages

5 Terminology

5.1 English

5.2 Spanish

5.3 Portuguese

5.4 French

5.5 Dutch

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Map of early human migrations based on the Out of

Africa theory.[13]

6 Politics

6.1 Countries and territories

6.2 Multinational organizations in the Americas

7 See also

8 Notes

9 References10 Further reading

11 External links

History

Settlement

The first inhabitants migrated into the Americas from Asia. Habitation sites are known in

Alaska and the Yukon from at least 20 000 years ago, with suggested ages of up to 40,000

years.[14][15][16]Beyond that, the specifics of the Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout

the Americas, including the dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and

discussion.[17]Widespread habitation of the Americas occurred during the late glacial

maximum, from 16,000 to 13,000 years ago.[16][18]The traditional theory has been thatthese early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and

present-day Alaska around 40,00017,000 years ago,[19]when sea levels were significantlylowered due to the Quaternary glaciation.[17][20]These people are believed to have

followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridorsthat

stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets.[21]Another route proposed is

that, either on foot or using primitive boats, they migrated down the Pacific coast to South America.[22]Evidence of the latter would since have

been covered by a sea level rise of hundreds of meters following the last ice age.[23]Both routes may have been taken, although the genetic

evidences suggests a single founding population.[24]The micro-satellite diversity and distributions specific to South American Indigenous

people indicates that certain populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region.[25]

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Parkin Site, a Mississippian site in

Arkansas, circa 1539.

A second migration occurred after the initial peopling of the Americas;[26]Na Dene speakers found predominantly in North American groups

at varying genetic rates with the highest frequency found among the Athabaskans at 42% derive from this second wave;[27]Linguists andbiologists have reached a similar conclusion based on analysis of Amerindian language groups and ABO blood group system

distributions.[26][28][29][30]Then the people of the Arctic small tool tradition a broad cultural entity that developed along the Alaska Peninsula,

around Bristol Bay, and on the eastern shores of the Bering Strait around 2,500 BCE (4,500 years ago) moved into North America.[31]The

Arctic small tool tradition, a Paleo-Eskimo culture branched off into two cultural variants, including the Pre-Dorset, and the Independence

traditions of Greenland.[32]The decedents of the Pre-Dorset cultural group, the Dorset culture was displaced by the final migrants from the

Bering sea coast line the ancestors of modern Inuit, the Thule people by 1000 Common Era (CE).[32]Around the same time as the Inuit

migrated into Greenland, Viking settlers began arriving in Greenland in 982 and Vinland shortly thereafter, establishing a settlement at L'Anse

aux Meadows, near the northernmost tip of Newfoundland.[33]The Viking settlers quickly abandoned Vinland, and disappeared from

Greenland by 1500.[34]

Pre-Columbian era

The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of theAmericas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents,

spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic to European colonization duringthe Early Modern period. The termPre-Columbianis used especially often in the context of the great

indigenous civilizations of the Americas, such as those of Mesoamerica (the Olmec, the Toltec, theTeotihuacano, the Zapotec, the Mixtec, the Aztec, and the Maya) and the Andes (Inca, Moche, Muisca,

Caaris).

Many pre-Columbian civilizations established characteristics and hallmarks which included permanent

or urban settlements, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, and complex societal hierarchies.Some of these civilizations had long faded by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (c. late15thearly 16th centuries), and are known only through archaeological investigations. Others were

contemporary with this period, and are also known from historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Maya, had their own written

records. However, most Europeans of the time viewed such texts as pagan, and much was destroyed in Christian pyres. Only a few hidden

documents remain today, leaving modern historians with glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge.[35]

European colonization

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Although there had been previous trans-oceanic contact, large-scale European colonization of the Americas began with the first voyage ofChristopher Columbus in 1492. The first Spanish settlement in the Americas was La Isabela in northern Hispaniola. This town was abandoned

shortly after in favor of Santo Domingo de Guzmn, founded in 1496, the oldest American city of European foundation. This was the base

from which the Spanish monarchy administered its new colonies and their expansion. On the continent, Panama City on the Pacific coast ofCentral America, founded on August 5, 1519, played an important role, being the base for the Spanish conquest of South America. According

to the anthropologist R. Thornton, the spread of new diseases brought by Europeans and Africans killed many of the inhabitants of North

America and South America,[36][37]with a general population crash of Native Americans occurring in the mid-16th century, often well ahead

of European contact.[38]Native peoples and European colonizers came into widespread conflict, resulting in what David Stannard has called a

genocide of the indigenous populations.[39]Early European immigrants were often part of state-sponsored attempts to found colonies in the

Americas. Migration continued as people moved to the Americas fleeing religious persecution or seeking economic opportunities. Millions of

individuals were forcibly transported to the Americas as slaves, prisoners or indentured servants.

Decolonization of the Americas began with the American Revolution and the Haitian Revolution in the late 1700s. This was followed by

numerous Latin American wars of independence in the early 1800s. Between 1811 and 1825, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Gran Colombia, theUnited Provinces of Central America, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia gained independence from Spain and Portugal in armed revolutions.

After the Dominican Republic won independence from Haiti, it was re-annexed by Spain in 1861, but reclaimed its independence in 1865 atthe conclusion of the Dominican Restoration War. The last violent episode of decolonisation was the Cuban War of Independence whichbecame the SpanishAmerican War, which resulted in the independence of Cuba in 1898, and the transfer of sovereignty over Puerto Rico

from Spain to the United States. Peaceful decolonisation began with the purchase by the United States of Louisiana from France in 1803,Florida from Spain in 1819, of Alaska from Russia in 1867, and the Danish West Indies from Denmark in 1916. Canada became independent

of the United Kingdom, starting with the Balfour Declaration of 1926, Statute of Westminster 1931, and ending with the patriation of the

Canadian Constitution in 1982. The Dominion of Newfoundland similarly achieved partial independence under the Balfour Declaration andStatute of Westminster, but was re-absorbed into the United Kingdom in 1934. It was subsequently confederated with Canada in 1949.

Beginning with Jamaica in 1962, the remaining European colonies began to achieve peaceful independence. Trinidad and Tobago also became

independent in 1962, and Guyana and Barbados both achieved independence in 1966. In the 1970s, the Bahamas, Grenada, Dominica, St.Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines all became independent of the United Kingdom, and Suriname became independent of the

Netherlands. Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved independence from the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

Etymology and naming

The earliest known use of the nameAmericadates to April 25, 1507, where it was applied to what is now known as South America.[40]It

appears on a small globe map with twelve time zones, together with the largest wall map made to date, both created by the German

cartographer Martin Waldseemller in Saint-Di-des-Vosges in France.[41]These were the first maps to show the Americas as a land mass

separate from Asia. An accompanying book, Cosmographiae Introductio, anonymous but apparently written by Waldseemller's collaborator

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Map showing the dates of

independence from European powers.

Black signifies areas that are

dependent territories or parts of

countries with a capital outside the

Americas.

World map of Waldseemller

(Germany, 1507), which first used

the name America (in the lower-left

section, over South America)[40]

Matthias Ringmann,[42]states, "I do not see what right any onewould have to object to calling this part [that is, the SouthAmerican mainland], after Americus who discovered it and who

is a man of intelligence, Amerigen, that is, the Land ofAmericus, or America: since both Europa and Asia got their

names from women".Americus Vespuciusis the Latinized

version of the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci's name,andAmericais the feminine form ofAmericus.Amerigenis

explained asAmerigoplusgen,the accusative case of the Greek

word for 'earth', and meaning 'land of Amerigo'.[42](Seeetymology.)Amerigoitself is an Italian form of the medieval

LatinEmericus(see also Saint Emeric of Hungary), which like

the German form Heinrich (in English, Henry) derives from the

Old High German nameHaimirich.[43]

Vespucci was apparently unaware of the use of his name to refer to the new landmass, asWaldseemller's maps did not reach Spain until a few years after his death.[42]Ringmann may havebeen misled into crediting Vespucci by the widely published Soderini Letter, a sensationalized version

of one of Vespucci's actual letters reporting on the mapping of the South American coast, which

glamorized his discoveries and implied that he had recognized that South America was a continentseparate from Asia; in fact, it is not known what Vespucci believed on this count, and he may have died

believing what Columbus had, that they had reached the East Indies in Asia rather than a new

continent.[44]Spain officially refused to accept the nameAmericafor two centuries, saying thatColumbus should get credit, and Waldseemller's later maps, after Ringmann's death, did not include it;

however, usage was established when Gerardus Mercator applied the name to the entire New World inhis 1538 world map. Acceptance may have been aided by the "natural poetic counterpart" that the nameAmericamade withAsia, Africa,and

Europa.[42]

In modern English, North and South America are generally considered separate continents, and taken together are called the Americasin the

plural, parallel to similar situations such as the Carolinas. When conceived as a unitary continent, the form is generally the continent of

Americain the singular. However, without a clarifying context, singularAmericacommonly refers in English to the United States of

America.[7]

Geography

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Aconcagua, the highest peak in the

Americas

Extent

The northernmost point of the Americas is Kaffeklubben Island, which is the most northerly point of land on Earth.[45]The southernmost point

is the islands of Southern Thule, although they are sometimes considered part of Antarctica.[46]The mainland of the Americas is the world'slongest north-to-south landmass. The distance between its two polar extremities, the Boothia Peninsula in northern Canada and Cape Froward

in Chilean Patagonia, is roughly 14,000 km (8,700 mi).[47]The mainland's most westerly point is the end of the Seward Peninsula in Alaska;

Attu Island, further off the Alaskan coast to the west, is considered the westernmost point of the Americas. Ponta do Seixas in northeasternBrazil forms the easternmost extremity of the mainland,[47]while Nordostrundingen, in Greenland, is the most easterly point of the continentalshelf.

Geology

South America broke off from the west of the supercontinent Gondwana around 135 million years ago, forming its own continent.[48]Around

15 million years ago, the collision of the Caribbean Plate and the Pacific Plate resulted in the emergence of a series of volcanoes along theborder that created a number of islands. The gaps in the archipelago of Central America filled in with material eroded off North America and

South America, plus new land created by continued volcanism. By three million years ago, the continents of North America and South

America were linked by the Isthmus of Panama, thereby forming the single landmass of the Americas.[49]The Great American Interchange

resulted in many species being spread across the Americas, such as the cougar, porcupine, opossums, armadillos and hummingbirds.[50]

Topography

The geography of the western Americas is dominated by the American cordillera, with the Andes

running along the west coast of South America[51]and the Rocky Mountains and other North American

Cordillera ranges running along the western side of North America.[52]The 2,300-kilometer-long(1,400 mi) Appalachian Mountains run along the east coast of North America from Alabama to

Newfoundland.[53]North of the Appalachians, the Arctic Cordillera runs along the eastern coast of

Canada.[54]

The ranges with the highest peaks are the Andes and Rocky Mountain ranges. Although high peaks

exist in the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range, on average there are not as many reaching a height

greater than 14,000 feet. In North America, the greatest number of fourteeners are in the United States,

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Climate zones of the Americas in the

Kppen climate classification system.

and more specifically in the U.S. state of Colorado. The highest peaks of the Americas are located in the Andes, with Aconcagua of Argentinabeing the highest; in North America Mount McKinley (Denali) in the U.S. state of Alaska is the tallest.

Between its coastal mountain ranges, North America has vast flat areas. The Interior Plains spread over much of the continent, with low

relief.[55]The Canadian Shield covers almost 5 million km of North America and is generally quite flat.[56]Similarly, the north-east of South

America is covered by the flat Amazon Basin.[57]The Brazilian Highlands on the east coast are fairly smooth but show some variations in

landform, while farther south the Gran Chaco and Pampas are broad lowlands.[58]

Climate

The climate of the Americas varies significantly from region to region. Tropical rainforest climate

occurs in the latitudes of the Amazon, American cloud forests, Florida and Darien Gap. In theRocky Mountains and Andes, a similar climate is observed. Often the higher altitudes of these

mountains are snow-capped.

Southeastern North America is well known for its occurrence of tornadoes and hurricanes, of

which the vast majority of tornadoes occur in the United States' Tornado Alley.[59]Often parts of

the Caribbean are exposed to the violent effects of hurricanes. These weather systems are formed

by the collision of dry, cool air from Canada and wet, warm air from the Atlantic.

Hydrology

With coastal mountains and interior plains, the Americas have several large river basins that drainthe continents. The largest river basin in North America is that of the Mississippi, covering the

second largest watershed on the planet.[60]The Mississippi-Missouri river system drains most of31 states of the U.S., most of the Great Plains, and large areas between the Rocky and Appalachianmountains. This river is the fourth longest in the world and tenth most powerful in the world.

In North America, to the east of the Appalachian Mountains, there are no major rivers but rather a

series of rivers and streams that flow east with their terminus in the Atlantic Ocean, such as theHudson River, Saint John River, and Savannah River. A similar instance arises with central Canadian rivers that drain into Hudson Bay; the

largest being the Churchill River. On the west coast of North America, the main rivers are the Colorado River, Columbia River, Yukon River,Fraser River, and Sacramento River.

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The Colorado River drains much of the Southern Rockies and parts of the Great Basin and Range Province. The river flows approximately

1,450 miles (2,330 km) into the Gulf of California,[61]during which over time it has carved out natural phenomena such as the Grand Canyonand created phenomena such as the Salton Sea. The Columbia is a large river, 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, in central western North America

and is the most powerful river on the West Coast of the Americas. In the far northwest of North America, the Yukon drains much of the

Alaskan peninsula and flows 1,980 miles (3,190 km)[62]from parts of Yukon and the Northwest Territory to the Pacific. Draining to the ArcticOcean of Canada, the Mackenzie River drains waters from the Arctic Great Lakes of Arctic Canada, as opposed to the Saint-Laurence River

that drains the Great Lakes of Southern Canada into the Atlantic Ocean. The Mackenzie River is the largest in Canada and drains 1,805,200square kilometres (697,000 sq mi).[63]

The largest river basin in South America is that of the Amazon, which has the highest volume flow of any river on Earth.[64]The second

largest watershed of South America is that of the Paran River, which covers about 2.5 million km.[65]

Ecology

North America and South America began to developed a shared population of flora and fauna around 2.5 million years ago, when continental

drift brought the two continents into contact via the Isthmus of Panama. Initially, the exchange of biota was roughly equal, with NorthAmerican genera migrating into South America in about the same proportions as South American genera migrated into North America. This

exchange is known as the Great American Interchange. The exchange became lopsided after roughly a million years, with the total spread of

South American genera into North America far more limited in scope than the spread on North American genera into South America.[66]

Demography

Population

The total population of the Americas is about 951 million people and is divided as follows:

North America: 565 million (includes Central America and the Caribbean)

South America: 386 million

Largest urban centers

There are three urban centers that each hold titles for being the largest population area based on the three main demographic concepts:[67]

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City proper

A city proper is the locality with legally fixed boundaries and an administratively recognized urban status that is usually characterized by

some form of local government.[68][69][70][71][72]

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas

may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets. Urban

areas are created and further developed by the process of urbanization and do not include large swaths or rural land, as do metropolitan

areas.

Metropolitan area

Unlike an urban area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urban area, but also satellite citiesplus intervening rural landthat is

socio-economically connected to the urban core city, typically by employment ties through commuting, with the urban core city being

the primary labor market.

In accordance with these definitions, the three largest population centers in the Americas are: Mexico City, anchor to the largest metropolitan

area in the Americas; New York City, anchor to the largest urban area in the Americas; and So Paulo, the largest city proper in the Americas.All three cities maintain Alpha classification and large scale influence.

Urban Centers within the Americas

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So Paulo Largest city proper in the

Americas with a population of

10,886,534 in 2010.

New York City Largest urban area in

the Americas with a population of

18,351,295 in 2010.

Mexico City Largest metropolitan area

in the Americas with a population of

20,116,842 in 2010.

Country City City Population Metro Area Population

Colombia Bogot 7,674,366[73] 10,763,453[74]

Peru Lima 7,605,742[75] 8,472,935[75]

Mexico Mexico City 8,864,000[76] 20,116,842[77]

United States New York City 8,405,837[78] 19,949,502[79]

Brazil So Paulo 11,821,876[80] 19,889,559[81]

Ethnology

The population of the Americas is made up of the descendants of four large ethnic groups and their combinations.

The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, being Amerindians, Inuit, and Aleuts.

Those of European ancestry, mainly Spanish, British and Irish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Polish, German, Dutch, Russians and

Scandinavians.

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Those of African ancestry, mainly of West African descent.

Asians, that is, those of Eastern, South, and Southeast Asian ancestry.

Mestizos, those of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry.

Metis people, those of mixed European and Native American/First Nations ethnic ancestry in the United States and Canada.

Mulattoes, people of mixed African and European ancestry.

Zambos (Spanish) or Cafusos (Portuguese), those of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry.

The majority of the population live in Latin America, named for its predominant cultures, rooted in Latin Europe (including the two dominant

languages, Spanish and Portuguese, both Romance languages), more specifically in the Iberian nations of Portugal and Spain (hence the use of

the term Ibero-America as a synonym). Latin America is typically contrasted with Anglo-America, where English, a Germanic language, isprevalent, and which comprises Canada (with the exception of francophone Canada rooted in Latin Europe [France]see Qubec and Acadia)

and the United States. Both countries are located in North America, with cultures deriving predominantly from Anglo-Saxon and other

Germanic roots.

Religion

The most prevalent faiths in the Americas are as follows:

Christianity (North America: 85 percent; South America: 93 percent)[82]

Roman Catholicism (practiced by 88 percent of the Mexican population;[83]approximately 74 percent of the population of Brazil,

whose Roman Catholic population of 182 million is the greatest of any nation's;[84]approximately 24 percent of the United States'

population;[85]and more than 40 percent of all of Canadians)[86]

Protestantism (practiced mostly in the United States, where half of the population are Protestant, and Canada, with slightly more

than a quarter of the population; there is a growing contingent of Evangelical and Pentecostal movements in predominantly

Catholic Latin America)[87]

Eastern Orthodoxy (found mostly in the United States and Canada1 percent of the U.S. citizenry; this Christian group is

growing faster than many other Christian groups in Canada and now represents roughly 3 percent of the Canadian population)

Non-denominational Christians and other Christians (some 1,000 different Christian denominations and sects practiced in the

Americas)

Irreligion (includes atheists and agnostics, as well as those who profess some form of spirituality but do not identify themselves as

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Languages spoken in the Americas

members of any organized religion)

Islam (practiced by 2 percent of Canadians [580,000 persons][88]and 0.6 percent of the U.S. population [1,820,000 persons[85]]).

Together, Muslims constitute about 1 percent of the North American population and 0.3 percent of all Latin Americans. Argentina has

the largest Muslim population in Latin America with up to 600,000 persons, or 1.9 percent of the population.[89]

Judaism (practiced by 2 percent of North Americansapproximately 2.5 percent of the U.S. population and 1.2 percent of Canadians[90]

and 0.23 percent of Latin AmericansArgentina has the largest Jewish population in Latin America with 200,000 members)[91]

Other faiths include Buddhism; Hinduism; Sikhism; Bah' Faith; a wide variety of indigenous religions, many of which can be categorized as

animistic; new age religions and many African and African-derived religions. Syncretic faiths can also be found throughout the continent.

Languages

Various languages are spoken in the Americas. Some are of European origin, others are spoken by

indigenous peoples or are the mixture of various idioms like the different creoles.

The dominant language of Latin America is Spanish, though the most populous nation in Latin

America, Brazil, speaks Portuguese. Small enclaves of French-, Dutch- and English-speaking regions

also exist in Latin America, notably in French Guiana, Suriname, and Belize and Guyana respectively,and Haitian Creole, of French origin, is dominant in the nation of Haiti. Native languages are more

prominent in Latin America than in Anglo-America, with Nahuatl, Quechua, Aymara and Guaran asthe most common. Various other native languages are spoken with less frequency across both Anglo-

America and Latin America. Creole languages other than Haitian Creole are also spoken in parts of

Latin America.

The dominant language of Anglo-America is English. French is also official in Canada, where it is the

predominant language in Quebec and an official language in New Brunswick along with English. It isalso an important language in Louisiana, and in parts of New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. Spanish

has kept an ongoing presence in the Southwestern United States, which formed part of the Viceroyalty

of New Spain, especially in California and New Mexico, where a distinct variety of Spanish spokensince the 17th century has survived. It has more recently become widely spoken in other parts of the United States due to heavy immigration

from Latin America. High levels of immigration in general have brought great linguistic diversity to Anglo-America, with over 300 languages

known to be spoken in the United States alone, but most languages are spoken only in small enclaves and by relatively small immigrant

groups.

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Subdivisions of the AmericasMap Legend

North America (NA)

South America (SA)

May be included in

North America (NA)

May be included in NA

Central America

Caribbean

South America

North America (NA)

May be included in NA

The nations of Guyana, Suriname, and Belize are generally considered not to fall into either Anglo-America or Latin America due to lingualdifferences with Latin America, geographic differences with Anglo-America, and cultural and historical differences with both regions; English

is the primary language of Guyana and Belize, and Dutch is the official and written language of Suriname.

Most of the non-native languages have, to different degrees, evolved differently from the mother country, but are usually still mutually

intelligible. Some have combined, however, which has even resulted in completely new languages, such as Papiamento, which is a

combination of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch (representing the respective colonizers), native Arawak, various African languages, and, more

recently English. The lingua franca Portuol, a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish, is spoken in the border regions of Brazil and neighboringSpanish-speaking countries.[92]More specifically, Riverense Portuol is spoken by around 100,000 people in the border regions of Brazil and

Uruguay. Due to immigration, there are many communities where other languages are spoken from all parts of the world, especially in the

United States, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguayvery important destinations for immigrants.[93][94][95]

Terminology

English

Speakers of English generally refer to the landmasses of North America and South America

as the Americas, the Western Hemisphere, or theNew World.[96]The adjectiveAmerican

may be used to indicate something pertains to the Americas,[2]but this term is primarily used

in English to indicate something pertains to the United States.[2][97][98]Some non-ambiguous

alternatives exist, such as the adjectivePan-American,[99]orNew Worlderas a demonym for

a resident of the Americas.[3]Use ofAmericain the hemispherical sense is sometimes

retained, or can occur when translated from other languages.[100]For example, the

Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in Paris maintains a singlecontinental association for "America", represented by one of the five Olympic rings.[101]

The English-language use of "American" as the demonym for citizens of the United States

has caused offense to some from Latin America[102]who may identify themselves with theterm "American" and feel that using the term solely for the United States misappropriates

it.[103]To avoid this usage, they prefer constructed terms in their languages derived from

"United States" or even "North America".[98][104][105]In Canada, its southern neighbor is

often referred to as "the United States", "the U.S.A.", or (informally) "the States," while

either NA or SA

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Northern America

Middle America (MA)

Caribbean (may be

South America (SA)

May be included

Anglo-America (A-A)

May be included in A-A

Latin America (LA)

May be included in LA

citizens are generally referred to as Americans.[98]Most Canadians resent being referred to as

Americans,[98]but some are said to have protested the use of American as a national

demonym.[98][106]

Spanish

In Spanish,Amricais a single continent composed of the subcontinents of SudamricaandNorteamrica, the land bridge of Centroamrica, and the islands of theAntillas.Americanoor americanain Spanish refers to a person fromAmricain a similar way that europeoor

europearefers to a person fromEuropa. The termssudamericano/a, centroamericano/a,antillano/aand norteamericano/acan be used to more specifically refer to the location wherea person may live.

Citizens of the United States of America are normally referred to by the term estadounidense(rough literal translation: "United Statesian") instead of americanoor americanawhich is

discouraged,[107][108]

and the country's name itself is officially translated asEstados Unidosde Amrica(United States of America), commonly abbreviated asEstados Unidos.[108]Also,

the term norteamericano(North American) may refer to a citizen of the United States. This term is primarily used to refer to citizens of the

United States, and less commonly to those of other North American countries.[107]

Portuguese

In Portuguese,Amrica[109]is a single continent composed ofAmrica do Sul(South America) andAmrica do Norte(North America).[110]

Amricacan be used as synonym for the United States of America, but is avoided in print and formal environments. The United States is called

eitherEstados Unidos da Amrica(i.e. United States of America) orEstados Unidos[111][112]or simplyEUA.[113]

Terms estado-unidense, estadunidense, (resembling Spanish language estadounidense, rough literal translation: "United Statesian") americano

(American), norte-americano[114](North American) orIanque[115](Yankee or Yank) can be used to refer to the citizens of the United States.

French

included in MA)

in MA or SA

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In French the word amricainmay be used for things relating to the Americas, however, similar to English, it is most often used for things

relating to the United States.Panamricainmay be used as an adjective to refer to the Americas without ambiguity.[116]French speakers mayuse the nounAmriqueto refers to the whole landmass as one continent, or two continents,Amrique du NordandAmrique du Sud. In

French,Amriqueis also used to refer to the United States, making the term ambiguous. Similar to English usage, les Amriquesor des

Amriquesis used to refer unambiguously to the Americas.

Dutch

In Dutch, the wordAmerikamostly refers to the United States. Although the United States is equally often referred to as de Verenigde Staten

or de VS,Amerikarelatively rarely refers to the Americas, but it is the only commonly used Dutch word for the Americas. This often leads toambiguity; and to stress that something concerns the Americas as a whole, Dutch uses a combination, namelyNoord- en Zuid-Amerika(North

and South America).

Latin America is generally referred to asLatijns AmerikaorMidden-Amerikafor Central America.

The adjectiveAmerikaansis most often used for things or people relating to the United States. There are no alternative words to distinguish

between things relating to the United States or to the Americas. Dutch uses the local alternative for things relating to elsewhere in theAmericas, such asArgentijnsfor Argentine, etc.

Politics

Countries and territories

There are 35 sovereign states in the Americas, as well as an autonomous country of Denmark, three overseas departments of France, three

overseas collectivities of France,[117]

and one uninhabited territory of France, eight overseas territories of the United Kingdom, threeconstituent countries of the Netherlands, three public bodies of the Netherlands, two unincorporated territories of the United States, and one

uninhabited territory of the United States.[118]

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CIA political map of the Americas in

Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection

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Country or territoryArea

(km)[119] Population[note 1]

Populationdensity

(per km)Languages (official in bold) Capital

Gross DomesticProduct (Purchasing

Power Parity) USD [1]

Anguilla (UnitedKingdom)

91 13,452 164.8 English The Valley $175,400,000

Antigua and Barbuda 442 86,295 199.1 Creole,[120]English St. John's $1,605,000,000

Argentina 2,766,890 42,669,500 14.3 Spanish BuenosAires

$777,900,000,000

Aruba (Netherlands) 180 101,484 594.4 Papiamentu, Spanish,[121]

DutchOranjestad $2,516,000,000

Bahamas, The 13,943 351,461 24.5 Creole,[122]English Nassau $11,240,000,000

Barbados 430 285,000 595.3 Bajan,[123]English Bridgetown $7,169,000,000

Belize 22,966 349,728 13.4 Spanish, Kriol, English[124] Belmopan $3,048,000,000

Bermuda (UnitedKingdom)

54 64,237 1,203.7 English Hamilton $5,600,000,000

Bolivia 1,098,580 10,027,254 8.4Spanish, Quechua, Aymara,35 additional indigenouslanguages

La Paz and

Sucre [125]$56,140,000,000

Bonaire

(Netherlands)294 12,093 41.1

Papiamentu, Spanish,

Dutch[126] Kralendijk

Brazil 8,514,877 203,106,000 23.6 Portuguese Braslia $2,423,000,000,000

British Virgin Islands(United Kingdom)

151 29,537 152.3 English Road Town $500,000,000

Canada 9,984,670 35,427,524 3.4 English, French Ottawa $1,526,000,000,000

Cayman Islands(United Kingdom)

264 55,456 212.1 EnglishGeorgeTown

$2,250,000,000

Chile[127] 756,950 17,773,000 22 Spanish Santiago $334,800,000,000

Clipperton Island

(France)6[128] 0[129] 0.0 No $0

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Colombia 1,138,910 47,757,000 40 Spanish Bogot $527,600,000,000

Costa Rica 51,100 4,667,096 89.6 Spanish San Jos $45,130,000,000

Cuba 109,886 11,167,325 102.0 Spanish Havana $121,000,000,000

Curaao(Netherlands)

444 150,563 317.1 Papiamentu, Dutch[126] Willemstad $2,838,000,000

Dominica 751 71,293 89.2 French Patois, English[130] Roseau $1,018,000,000

Dominican Republic 48,671 10,378,267 207.3 SpanishSantoDomingo

$100,400,000,000

Ecuador 283,560 15,819,400 53.8 Spanish, Quechua[131] Quito $159,000,000,000

El Salvador 21,041 6,401,240 293.0 SpanishSanSalvador

$47,090,000,000

Falkland Islands

(United Kingdom)[132]12,173 3,000 0.26 English Port Stanley $164,500,000

French Guiana(France)

91,000 237,549 2.7 French Cayenne

Greenland(Denmark)

2,166,086 56,483 0.026 Greenlandic, DanishNuuk(Godthb)

$2,133,000,000

Grenada 344 103,328 302.3 English St. George's $1,467,000,000

Guadeloupe (France) 1,628 405,739 246.7 French Basse-Terre

Guatemala 108,889 15,806,675 128.8Spanish, Garifuna and 23Mayan languages

GuatemalaCity

$79,970,000,000

Guyana 214,999 784,894 3.5 English Georgetown $6,256,000,000

Haiti 27,750 10,745,665 361.5 Creole, FrenchPort-au-Prince

$13,150,000,000

Honduras 112,492 8,555,072 66.4 Spanish Tegucigalpa $38,420,000,000

Jamaica 10,991 2,717,991 247.4 Patois, English Kingston $25,620,000,000

Martinique (France) 1,128 392,291 352.6 Patois,[133]FrenchFort-de-France

Mexico 1,964,375 119,713,203 57.1 Spanish, 68 indigenouslanguages

Mexico City $1,843,000,000,000

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Montserrat (UnitedKingdom)

102 4,922 58.8 Creole English, English[134]Plymouth;

Brades[135] $43,780,000

Navassa Island(United States)

5[128] 0[129] 0.0 No $0

Nicaragua 130,373 6,071,045 44.1 Spanish Managua $27,100,000,000

Panama 75,417 3,405,813 45.8 Spanish PanamaCity

$58,020,000,000

Paraguay 406,750 6,783,374 15.6 Guaran, Spanish Asuncin $41,550,000,000

Peru 1,285,220 30,814,175 22 Spanish, Quechua, Aymara Lima $344,200,000,000

Puerto Rico (United

States)8,870 3,615,086 448.9 Spanish, English San Juan $127,000,000,000

Saba (Netherlands) 13 1,537[136] 118.2 English, Dutch The Bottom

Saint Barthlemy(France) 21[128] 8,938[129] 354.7French Gustavia

Saint Kitts and Nevis 261 55,000 199.2 English Basseterre $946,300,000

Saint Lucia 539 180,000 319.1 English, French Creole Castries $2,233,000,000

Saint Martin (France) 54[128] 36,979 552.2 French Marigot $561,500,000

Saint Pierre andMiquelon (France)

242 6,081 24.8 French Saint-Pierre $215,300,000

Saint Vincent and the

Grenadines 389 109,000 280.2 English Kingstown $1,312,000,000

Sint Eustatius(Netherlands)

21 2,739[136] 130.4Dutch, English Oranjestad

Sint Maarten

(Netherlands)34 37,429 1,176.7 English, Spanish, Dutch Philipsburg $798,300,000

South Georgia andSouth Sandwich Islands

(United Kingdom)[137]3,093 20 0.01 English Grytviken

Suriname 163,270 534,189 3Dutch, Hindi-Urdu, Srana,

Paramaribo $6,874,000,000

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Javanese, English Creole[138]

Trinidad and Tobago 5,130 1,328,019 261.0 EnglishPort ofSpain

$27,140,000,000

Turks and CaicosIslands (United Kingdom)

948 31,458 34.8 Creole English, English[139]CockburnTown

$632,000,000

United States[note 2] 9,629,091 318,690,000 34.2 English, SpanishWashington,

D.C.$16,800,000,000,000

United States VirginIslands (United States) 347 106,405 317.0

English, SpanishCharlotteAmalie

Uruguay 176,220 3,286,314 19.4 Spanish Montevideo $54,670,000,000

Venezuela 916,445 30,206,307 30.2Spanish and 40 indigenouslanguages

Caracas $407,900,000,000

Total 42,320,985 953,700,000 21.9 $24,864,000,000,000

Multinational organizations in the Americas

Alliance for Progress

American Capital of Culture

Andean Community of Nations

Association of Caribbean States

Bank of the South

Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas

Caribbean Community

CARICOM Single Market and Economy

Central American Common Market

Central American Parliament

Community of Latin American and Caribbean States

Contadora Group

Free Trade Area of the Americas

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See also

Latin American Free Trade Agreement

Latin American Parliament or (Parlatino)

List of Parliamentary Speakers in the Americas in 1984

Mercosur or Mercosul

North American Free Trade Agreement

North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationOrganization of American States

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

Organization of Ibero-American States

Pan American Sports Organization

Regional Security System

Rio Group

School of the AmericasSummit of the Americas

Union of South American Nations

YOA Orchestra of the Americas

Amerrique Mountains

British North America

Columbia (name)

Conquistadors

Ethnic groups in Central America

List of former sovereign states

French America

La Merika

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Notes

References

List of countries in the Americas by population

Middle America (Americas)

Monarchies in the Americas

New Sweden

Northern America

Paleo-Indians

Pan-Americanism

Southern Cone

1. See List of countries by population for references.

2. Includes the US state of Hawaii, which is distant from the North American landmass in the Pacific Ocean and therefore more commonly associated

with the other territories of Oceania.

1. ^ ab "The World Factbook" (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html). Central Intelligence Agency. 2013.

Retrieved September 30, 2013.

2. ^ abc "American" (http://oed.com/search?searchType=dictionary&q=American). Oxford English Dictionary(3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

September 2005.

3. ^ ab "New Worlder" (http://oed.com/search?searchType=dictionary&q=New+Worlder). Oxford English Dictionary(3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

September 2005.

4. "Pan-American - definition of Pan-American by The Free Dictionary" (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Pan-American). TheFreeDictionary.com .

Retrieved September 8, 2014.

5. See for example: america Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/america). Retrieved on January

27, 2008; "dictionary.reference.com america (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/america)". Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of

the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Accessed: January 27, 2008.

"

10/14/2014 A i Wiki di h f l di

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. , ,

in reference to the United States and its citizens." Others, including The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary, The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, The

Australian Oxford Dictionaryand The Concise Oxford English Dictionaryall specify both the Americas and the United States in their definition of

"American".

7. ^ ab"America." The Oxford Companion to the English Language(ISBN 0-19-214183-X). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University

Press, p. 33: "[16c: from the feminine ofAmericus, the Latinized first name of the explorer Amerigo Vespucci (14541512). The name Americafirst

appeared on a map in 1507 by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemller, referring to the area now called Brazil]. Since the 16c, a name of the

western hemisphere, often in the pluralAmericasand more or less synonymous with the New World. Since the 18c, a name of the United States of

America. The second sense is now primary in English: ... However, the term is open to uncertainties: .. ."

8. Webster's New World College Dictionary, 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.

9. Merriam Webster dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/america). Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 2013.

10. "continent n. 5. a." (1989) Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition. Oxford University Press ; "continent1n." (2006) The Concise Oxford English

Dictionary, 11th edition revised. (Ed.) Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press; "