Americas

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Americas
Americas (orthographic projection).svg
Area 42,549,000 km2
Population 910,720,588 (July 2008 est.)
Pop. density 21/km2 (55/sq mi)
Demonym American[1] (but see usage)
Countries 35
Dependencies 23
List of sovereign states and dependent territories in the Americas
Languages Spanish, English, Portuguese,
French, Quechua, Haitian Creole, Guaraní, Aymara, Dutch and many others
Time Zones UTC-10 to UTC

The Americas (or America)[2][3][4] are lands in the Western Hemisphere that are also known as the New World. Comprising the continents of South America and North America, linked by the isthmus of Panama, along with their associated islands, they cover 8.3% of the Earth's total surface area (28.4% of its land area). The topography is dominated by the American Cordillera, a long chain of mountains that run the length of the west coast. The flatter eastern side of the Americas is dominated by large river basins, such as the Amazon, Mississippi, and La Plata. Extending 14,000 km (8,699 mi) in a north-south orientation, the climate and ecology varies strongly across the Americas, from arctic tundra of Canada, Greenland, and Alaska, to the tropical rain forests in Central America and South America. When the continents joined 3 million years ago, the Great American Interchange resulted in many species being spread across the Americas, such as the cougar, porcupine, and hummingbirds.

Humans first settled the Americas from Asia between 40000 BCE and 15000 BCE. A second 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 the settlement by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. The voyages of Christopher Columbus from 1492 to 1502 resulted in permanent contact with European (and subsequently, other Old World) powers, which lead to the Columbian exchange. Diseases introduced from Europe and Africa devastated the Indigenous peoples, and the European powers colonised the Americas. Mass emigration from Europe, including large numbers of indentured servants, and forced immigration of African slaves largely replaced the Indigenous Peoples. Beginning with the American Revolution in 1776 and Haitian Revolution in 1791, the European 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, most notably the predominant adherence to Christianity and use of Indo-European languages; primarily Spanish, English, and Portuguese. More than 900 million people live in the Americas (about 13.5% of the human population), the most populous countries being the United States, Brazil, and Mexico, the most populous cities being Mexico City, São Paulo, and New York City.

Contents

Etymology and naming

World map of Waldseemüller, which first named America (in the map over South America), Germany, 1507

The earliest known use of the name America for this landmass dates from April 25, 1507, where it was used for what is now known as South America. It first 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 Waldseemüller in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges in France. 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 Waldseemüller's collaborator Matthias Ringmann,[5] states, "I do not see what right any one would have to object to calling this part [that is, the South American mainland], after Americus who discovered it and who is a man of intelligence, Amerigen, that is, the Land of Americus, or America: since both Europa and Asia got their names from women". Americus Vespucius is the Latinized version of the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci's name, and America is the feminine form of Americus. Amerigen is explained as Amerigo plus gen, the accusative case of the Greek word for 'earth', and meaning 'land of Amerigo'.[5] (See etymology.) Amerigo itself is an Italian form of the medieval Latin Emericus (see also Saint Emeric of Hungary), which through the German form Heinrich (in English, Henry) derived from the Germanic name Haimirich.[6]

Vespucci was apparently unaware of the use of his name to refer to the new landmass, as Waldseemüller's maps did not reach Spain until a few years after his death.[5] Ringmann may have been 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 continent separate 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.[7] Spain officially refused to accept the name America for two centuries, saying that Columbus should get credit, and Waldseemüller's later maps, after he had ceased collaboration with Ringmann, did not include it; however, usage was established when Gerardus Mercator applied the name to the entire New World in his 1538 world map. Acceptance may have been aided by the "natural poetic counterpart" that the name America made with Asia, Africa, and Europa.[5]

History

Main article: History of the Americas

Settlement

For more details on theories of Paleo-Indian migration, see Models of migration to the New World.
Map of early human migrations based on the Out of Africa theory.[8]
  Homo sapiens
  Neanderthals
  Early Hominids

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.[9][10][11] 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.[12] Widespread habitation of the Americas occurred during the late glacial maximum, from 16,000 to 13,000 years ago.[11][13] The traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 40,000–17,000 years ago,[14] when sea levels were significantly lowered due to the Quaternary glaciation.[12][15] These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets.[16] Another route proposed is that, either on foot or using primitive boats, they migrated down the Pacific coast to South America.[17] Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by a sea level rise of hundreds of meters following the last ice age.[18] Both routes may have been taken, although the genetic evidences suggests a single founding population.[19] 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.[20]

A second migration occurred after the initial peopling of the Americas;[21] 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;[22] Linguists and biologists have reached a similar conclusion based on analysis of Amerindian language groups and ABO blood group system distributions.[21][23][24][25] 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.[26] The Arctic small tool tradition a Paleo-Eskimo culture branches off into two cultural variants, including the Pre-Dorset, and the Independence traditions of Greenland.[27] 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 (proto-Inuit) by 1000 Common Era (CE).[27] 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.[28] The Viking settlers quickly abandoned Vinland, and disappeared from Greenland by 1500.[29]

Pre-Columbian era

Main article: Pre-Columbian era
Simple map of subsistence methods in the Americas at 1000 BCE.
  hunter-gatherers (Mesolithic)
  simple farming societies (Neolithic)
  complex farming societies (tribal chiefdoms or civilizations)

The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas 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 during the Early Modern period.

"Pre-Columbian" is used especially often in the context of the great indigenous civilizations of the Americas, such as those of Mesoamerica (the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacano, the Zapotec, the Mixtec, the Aztec, and the Maya) and the Andes (Inca, Moche, Muisca, Cañaris).

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. late 15th–early 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.[30]

According to both indigenous American and European accounts and documents, American civilizations at the time of European encounter possessed many impressive accomplishments. For instance, the Aztecs built one of the most impressive cities in the world, Tenochtitlan, the ancient site of Mexico City, with an estimated population of 200,000. American civilizations also displayed impressive accomplishments in astronomy and mathematics.[31]

European colonization

Main article: European colonization of the Americas

Large-scale European colonization of the Americas began shortly after the first voyage of Christopher 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 Guzmán, 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 of Central 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,[32][33] with a general population crash of Native Americans occurring in the mid-16th century, often well ahead of European contact.[34] Native peoples and European colonizers came into widespread conflict, resulting in what David Stannard has called a genocide of the indigenous populations.[35] 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.

Map showing the dates of independence from European powers. Black signifies areas that are dependent territories or parts of countries considered non-American

Geography

Further information: Geography of North America and Geography of South America

Extent

The northernmost point of the Americas is Kaffeklubben Island, which is the most northerly point of land on Earth.[36] The southernmost point is the islands of Southern Thule, although they are sometimes considered part of Antarctica.[37] The mainland of the Americas is the world's longest 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).[38] 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 northeastern Brazil forms the easternmost extremity of the mainland,[38] while Nordostrundingen, in Greenland, is the most eastely point of the continental shelf.

Geology

South America broke off from the west of the supercontinent Gondwana around 135 million years ago, forming its own continent.[39] 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 the border 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 3 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.[40]

Topography

Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas

The western geography of the Americas is dominated by the American cordillera, with the Andes running along the west coast of South America[41] and the Rocky Mountains and other North American Cordillera ranges running along the western side of North America.[42] The 2,300 km (1,429 mi) long Appalachian Mountains run along the east coast of North America from Alabama to Newfoundland.[43] North of the Appalachians, the Arctic Cordillera runs along the eastern coast of Canada.[44]

The ranges with the highest peaks are the Andes and Rocky Mountain ranges. While high peaks exists in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range, on average there are not as many reaching a height greater than fourteen thousand feet. In North America, the largest amount of fourteeners occur in the United States and more specifically in the U.S. state of Colorado. The highest peaks in the Americas are located in the Andes with Aconcagua of Argentina being the highest; in North America 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.[45] The Canadian Shield covers almost 5 million km² of North America and is generally quite flat.[46] Similarly, the north-east of South America is covered by the flat Amazon Basin.[47] The Brazilian Highlands on the east coast are fairly smooth but show some variations in landform, while further south the Gran Chaco and Pampas are broad lowlands.[48]

Hydrology

Mississippi River Delta
Hurricane Katrina

With coastal mountains and interior plains, the Americas have several large river basins that drain the continents. The largest river basin in North America is that of the Mississippi, covering the second largest watershed on the planet.[49] The Mississippi-Missouri river system drains most of 31 states of the U.S., most of the Great Plains, and large areas between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. 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 the Hudson 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, and Sacramento River.

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,[50] during which over time it has carved out natural phenomena such as the Grand Canyon and 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)[51] from parts of Yukon and the Northwest Territory to the Pacific. Draining to the Arctic Ocean in North America, the Mackenzie River drains waters from the great lakes of Canada. This river is the largest in Canada and drains 1,805,200 square kilometres (697,000 sq mi).[52]

The largest river basin in South America is that of the Amazon, which has the highest volume flow of any river on Earth.[53] The second largest watershed of South America is that of the Paraná River, which covers about 2.5 million km².[54]

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 the Rocky 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.[55] 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.

Demography

Population

Further information: List of sovereign states and dependent territories in the Americas by population

The total population of the Americas is about 859,000,000 people and is divided as follows:[citation needed]

  • North America: 2001 with 495 million and in 2002 with 501 million (includes Central America and the Caribbean)
  • South America: 2001 with 352 million and in 2002 with 357 million

Largest urban centers

See also: Largest cities in the Americas and List of metropolitan areas in the Americas by population

There are three urban centers that each hold titles for being the largest population area based on the three main demographic concepts:[56]

Main article: City proper
  • The locality with legally fixed boundaries and an administratively recognized urban status that is usually characterized by some form of local government.[57][58][59][60][61]


Main article: Metropolitan area
  • Unlike an urban area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urban area, but also satellite cities plus intervening rural land that 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.


Main article: 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.

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 São Paulo, the largest city proper in the Americas. All three cities maintain Alpha classification and large scale influence.

Urban Centers within the Americas
Mexico City – Largest metropolitan area in the Americas  
New York City – Largest urban area in the Americas  
São Paulo – Largest city proper in the Americas  
City Country Metro Area Pop. Rank within the Americas City Proper Pop. Rank within the Americas Urban Area Pop.[62] Rank within the Americas
Mexico City  Mexico 20,450,000 1st 8,873,017 2nd 19,565,000 3rd
New York City  United States 18,897,109 3rd 8,175,133 3rd 20,710,000 1st
São Paulo  Brazil 19,889,559 2nd 11,244,369 1st 20,395,000 2nd

Global cities

Main article: Global City

The Americas are home to an array of global cities with key importance in finance, politics, and the global economy. Cities such as Los Angeles – the Entertainment Capital of the World – lead the world in entertainment, while others such as New York City, Toronto, San Francisco, and Chicago serve as global financial centers and cities such as Houston are centers for aeronautics and health. Of the global cities in the Americas, the most powerful and highest ranked are located in Northern America.[63] GaWC ranked the top global cities in the Americas as:

Alpha

 This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. Please help clarify the article; suggestions may be found on the talk page. (August 2012)

Beta

Gamma

Global Cities Index

In 2010 the index was updated, and the top American cities of the global 30 ranked were:[63][64]

Global Rank City Score
2 New York City 6.22
6 Chicago 3.94
7 Los Angeles 3.90
12 San Francisco 3.26
13 Washington, D.C. 3.25
14 Toronto 3.13
19 Boston 2.78
22 Buenos Aires 2.73
30 Mexico City 2.41

Global Power City Index

The Institute for Urban Strategies at The Mori Memorial Foundation in Tokyo, Japan issued a comprehensive study of global cities in 2009. The ranking is based on six overall categories, "Economy", "Research & Development", "Cultural Interaction", "Livability", "Ecology & Natural Environment", and "Accessibility", with 69 individual indicators among them.[65] This Japanese ranking also breaks down top ten world cities ranked in subjective categories such as "manager, researcher, artist, visitor and resident."

World City Survey

In 2011 the London-based consulting firm Knight Frank LLP, together with Citibank, published a survey of world cities.[66] The Wealth Report 2011, which included the World City Survey, assessed four parameters—economic activity, political power, knowledge and influence, and quality of life—to rank the world's most influential cities. New York topped the list in economic activity, political power, and knowledge.

Global Rank City Score Best category (position)
1 New York City 330.4 Economy (1.) Research & Development (1.)
13 Los Angeles 240.0 Research & Development (5.)
15 Toronto 234.6 Livability (5.)
20 Boston 226.2 Research & Development(6.)
21 Detroit 224.1 Research & Development(7.)
Rank City Best category Score
1 New York Economic activity 151
6 Los Angeles Knowledge and influence 122
9 Toronto Quality of life 112
11 Chicago Knowledge and influence 111
12 Washington, D.C. Political power 111
16 San Francisco Quality of life 90
19 Mexico City Political power 90

Ethnology

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

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, is prevalent, and which comprises Canada (with the exception of francophone Canada rooted in Latin Europe (France)—see Québec and Acadia) and the United States. Both countries are located in North America, with cultures deriving predominantly from Anglo-Saxon and Germanic roots.

Religion

Further information: Religion in Latin America, Religion in North America, Christianity in the Americas, and Islam in the Americas

The most prevalent faiths in the Americas are as follows:

  • Christianity (North America: 85 percent; South America: 93 percent)[67]
    • Roman Catholicism (practiced by 88 percent of the Mexican population;[68] approximately 74 percent of the population of Brazil, whose Roman Catholic population of 182 million is the greatest of any nation's;[69] approximately 24 percent of the United States' population;[70] and more than 40 percent of all of Canadians)[71]
    • 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)[72]
    • Eastern Orthodoxy (found mostly in the United States and Canada—1 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)[citation needed]
    • 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 members of any organized religion)
  • Islam (practiced by 2 percent of Canadians [580,000 persons][73] and 0.6 percent of the U.S. population [1,820,000 persons[70]]). 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)[74]
  • Judaism (practiced by 2 percent of North Americans—approximately 2.5 percent of the U.S. population and 1.2 percent of Canadians[75]—and 0.23 percent of Latin Americans—Argentina has the largest Jewish population in Latin America with 200,000 members)[76]

Other faiths include Sikhism; Buddhism; Hinduism; Bahá'í; 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

Main articles: Indigenous languages of the Americas, Languages of North America, and Languages of South America
Languages spoken in the Americas

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 largest 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 Guaraní as the 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 Québec and an official language in New Brunswick along with English. It is also an important language in the US state of 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 spoken since 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.

The nations of Guyana, Suriname, and Belize are generally considered[by whom?] not to fall into either Anglo-America or Latin America due to lingual differences 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. Portuñol, a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish, is spoken in the border regions of Brazil and neighboring Spanish-speaking countries.[77] More specifically, Riverense Portuñol 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 and Canada, four very important destinations for immigrants— and half of the population of Uruguay is thought to be of Italian descent.

Terminology

Subdivisions of the Americas
Map Legend
LocationNSAm.png
  North America (NA)
  South America (SA)
  May be included in
       either NA or SA
LocationNSAm2.png
  North America (NA)
  May be included in NA
  Central America
  Caribbean
  South America
LocationNSAm3.png
  North America (NA)
  May be included in NA

       Northern America

  Middle America (MA)
  Caribbean (may be
        included in MA)
  South America (SA)
  May be included
        in MA or SA
LocationNSAngloLatin.png
  Anglo-America (A-A)
  May be included in A-A
  Latin America (LA)
  May be included in LA
Further information: Americas (terminology)

America or Americas

Some uses of the English word America in a hemispherical sense remain, or are translated from other languages as such, as in the names of international organizations.[78] For instance, the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in Paris maintains a single continental association for "America", represented by one of the five Olympic rings.[79]

Speakers of English generally refer to the landmasses of North America and South America as the Western Hemisphere, the New World, or the Americas, to U.S. citizens as Americans and to the United States as America.[70][80] This sense of America, in modern usage, is used almost exclusively to refer to the United States of America,[4][81] use in English of this sense has caused offense to some from Canada or Latin America[82] who avoid this usage, preferring constructed terms in their languages derived from "United States" or even "North America".[83][84][85] In Canada, its southern neighbor is often referred to as "the United States", "the U.S.A.", or (informally) "the States," while citizens are generally referred to as Americans.[84] English dictionaries and compendiums differ regarding usage and rendition.[86][87][88]

American

Main article: American (word)

English usage

People who are not connected with the United States rarely call themselves American, but the word is sometimes used by Latin Americans when they are speaking English because they also consider themselves American, and feel that using the term solely for the United States misappropriates it.[89] When using the word as a demonym, the English-speaking world uses American primarily to refer to a citizen or national of the United States of America. For instance, Canadians abroad typically resent being referred to as Americans,[84] but some have protested the use of American as a national demonym.[90]

Spanish usage

The Spanish American colonies at their maximum extent (after the Peace of Paris, 1783)

In Spanish, América is the name of a single continent composed of the subcontinents of Sudamérica and Norteamérica, the land bridge of Centroamérica, and the islands of the Antillas. Americano/a in Spanish refers to a person from América in a similar way that europeo or europea refers to a person from Europa. The terms sudamericano/a, centroamericano/a, antillano/a and norteamericano/a can be used to more specifically refer to the location where a 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 americano or americana, and the country's name itself is often translated as Estados Unidos de Norteamérica (United States of North America). 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, rarely those of other North American countries.[91]

Portuguese usage

In Portuguese, the word americano refers to the whole of the America. But, in Brazil and Portugal, it is widely used to refer to the citizens of the United States. The least ambiguous terms, estadunidense (used in Brazil, something like "United Statesian" or "estadounidense" in Spanish), and "ianque"—the Portuguese version of "Yankee"—are rarely used. América, however, is rarely used as synonym to the country, and almost never in print and in more formal environments, where the country is called either Estados Unidos da América (i.e. United States of America) or simply Estados Unidos (i.e. United States). There is some difference between the usage of these words in Portugal and in Brazil, with the Portuguese being more prone to apply the term América to the country.

French usage

In French, as in English, the word américain can be confusing as it can be used to refer either to the United States, or to the Americas.

The noun Amérique sometimes refers to the whole as one continent, and sometimes two continents, southern and northern; the United States is generally referred to as les États-Unis d'Amérique, les États-Unis, or les USA. In Québec, the United States are sometimes called les États or even simply les states in daily informal conversation. However, the use of Amérique to refer to the United States does still have some currency in France.

The adjective américain is most often used for things relating to the United States; however, it may also be used for things relating to the Americas. Books by United States authors translated from English are often described as "traduit de l'américain".

Things relating to the United States can be referred to without ambiguity by the words états-unien, étasunien, or étatsunien, although this usage is rare.

Dutch usage

In Dutch, the word Amerika mostly refers to the United States. Although the United States is equally often referred to as de Verenigde Staten or de VS, Amerika relatively rarely refers to the Americas, but it is the only commonly used Dutch word for the Americas. This often leads to ambiguity; and to stress that something concerns the Americas as a whole, Dutch uses a combination, namely Noord- en Zuid-Amerika (North and South America).

Latin America is generally referred to as Latijns Amerika or Midden-Amerika for Central America.

The adjective Amerikaans is 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 the Americas, such as Argentijns for Argentine, etc.

Russian usage

In the 19th century in Russia the word "America" was used for a traditional continent such as Europe and Asia. In the 20th century these traditional continents are known as "parts of the world". Now the term "continent" means any of six large continuous landmasses (Eurasia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, and Australia). Now the word Ameriсa refers to the United States more often than to America as a "part of the world". There is no term equivalent to "Americas" in Russian.

Politics

Countries and territories

See also: List of countries and territories in the Americas
CIA political map of the Americas in Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection

There are 35 sovereign states in the Americas, 23 in North America and 12 in South America, as well as 24 other autonomous countries, overseas regions, overseas collectivities, overseas territories, constituent countries, public bodies, and unincorporated territories.

Country or territory Area
(km²)[92]		 Population
(2008 est.)[93]		 Population density
(per km²)		 Languages (official in bold) Capital
 Anguilla (UK) &1000000000000009100000091 &1000000000001500000000015,000 &10000000000000164800000164.8 English The Valley
 Antigua and Barbuda &10000000000000442000000442 &1000000000008800000000088,000 &10000000000000199099999199.1 Creole[94], English St. John's
 Argentina &100000000027668900000002,766,890 &1000000004048200000000040,482,000 &1000000000000001430000014.3 Spanish Buenos Aires
 Aruba (Neth.) &10000000000000180000000180 &10000000000107000000000107,000 &10000000000000594399999594.4 Papiamentu, Spanish[95], Dutch Oranjestad
 Bahamas, The &1000000000001394300000013,943 &10000000000342000000000342,000 &1000000000000002450000024.5 Creole[96], English Nassau
 Barbados &10000000000000430000000430 &10000000000256000000000256,000 &10000000000000595299999595.3 Bajan[97], English Bridgetown
 Belize &1000000000002296600000022,966 &10000000000307000000000307,000 &1000000000000001340000013.4 Spanish, Kriol, English[98] Belmopan
 Bermuda (UK) &1000000000000005400000054 &1000000000006500000000065,000 &100000000000012037000001,203.7 English Hamilton
 Bolivia &100000000010985800000001,098,580 &100000000098630000000009,863,000 &100000000000000084000008.4 Spanish, Quechua, Aymara, 35 additional indigenous languages La Paz and Sucre [99]
 Bonaire (Neth.) &10000000000000294000000294 &1000000000001209300000012,093[100] &1000000000000004110000041.1 Papiamentu, Spanish, Dutch[101] Kralendijk
 Brazil &100000000085148770000008,514,877 &10000000191241714000000191,241,714 &1000000000000002200000022.0 Portuguese Brasília
 British Virgin Islands (UK) &10000000000000151000000151 &1000000000002300000000023,000 &10000000000000152300000152.3 English Road Town
 Canada &100000000099846700000009,984,670 &1000000003357300000000033,573,000 &100000000000000033999993.4 English, French Ottawa
 Cayman Islands (UK) &10000000000000264000000264 &1000000000005600000000056,000 &10000000000000212099999212.1 English George Town
 Chile[102] &10000000000756950000000756,950 &1000000001692887300000016,928,873 &1000000000000002200000022 Spanish Santiago
 Colombia &100000000011389100000001,138,910 &1000000004592897000000045,928,970 &1000000000000004000000040 Spanish Bogotá
 Costa Rica &1000000000005110000000051,100 &100000000045790000000004,579,000 &1000000000000008959999989.6 Spanish San José
 Cuba &10000000000109886000000109,886 &1000000001120400000000011,204,000 &10000000000000102000000102.0 Spanish Havana
 Curaçao (Neth.) &10000000000000444000000444 &10000000000140794000000140,794 &10000000000000317100000317.1 Dutch, Papiamentu Willemstad
 Dominica &10000000000000751000000751 &1000000000006700000000067,000 &1000000000000008920000089.2 English Roseau
 Dominican Republic &1000000000004867100000048,671 &1000000001009000000000010,090,000 &10000000000000207300000207.3 Spanish Santo Domingo
 Ecuador &10000000000283560000000283,560 &1000000001457310100000014,573,101 &1000000000000005379999953.8 Spanish Quito
 El Salvador &1000000000002104100000021,041 &100000000061630000000006,163,000 &10000000000000293000000293.0 Spanish San Salvador
 Falkland Islands (United Kingdom)[103] &1000000000001217300000012,173 &100000000000031400000003,140[104] &100000000000000002600000.26 English Port Stanley
 French Guiana (France) &1000000000009100000000091,000 &10000000000221500000000221,500[105] &100000000000000027000002.7 French Cayenne
 Greenland (Den.) &100000000021660860000002,166,086 &1000000000005700000000057,000 &100000000000000000260000.026 Greenlandic, Danish Nuuk (Godthåb)
 Grenada &10000000000000344000000344 &10000000000104000000000104,000 &10000000000000302300000302.3 English St. George's
 Guadeloupe (Fr.) &100000000000016280000001,628 &10000000000401784000000401,784[106] &10000000000000246699999246.7 French Basse-Terre
 Guatemala &10000000000108889000000108,889 &1000000001402700000000014,027,000 &10000000000000128800000128.8 Spanish Guatemala City
 Guyana &10000000000214999000000214,999 &10000000000772298000000772,298 &100000000000000035000003.5 English Georgetown
 Haiti &1000000000002775000000027,750 &1000000001003300000000010,033,000 &10000000000000361500000361.5 Creole, French Port-au-Prince
 Honduras &10000000000112492000000112,492 &100000000074660000000007,466,000 &1000000000000006640000066.4 Spanish Tegucigalpa
 Jamaica &1000000000001099100000010,991 &100000000027190000000002,719,000 &10000000000000247400000247.4 Patois, English Kingston
 Martinique (Fr.) &100000000000011280000001,128 &10000000000397693000000397,693[107] &10000000000000352600000352.6 French Fort-de-France
 Mexico &100000000019643750000001,964,375 &10000000112322757000000112,322,757 &1000000000000005710000057.1 Spanish Mexico City
 Montserrat (UK) &10000000000000102000000102 &100000000000060000000006,000 &1000000000000005879999958.8 English Plymouth; Brades[108]
 Navassa Island (USA) &100000000000000050000005[109] &100000000000000000000000[110] &100000000000000000000000.0 No  —
 Nicaragua &10000000000130373000000130,373 &100000000057430000000005,743,000 &1000000000000004410000044.1 Spanish Managua
 Panama &1000000000007541700000075,417 &100000000034540000000003,454,000 &1000000000000004579999945.8 Spanish Panama City
 Paraguay &10000000000406750000000406,750 &100000000068313060000006,831,306 &1000000000000001559999915.6 Guarani, Spanish Asunción
 Peru &100000000012852200000001,285,220 &1000000002913201300000029,132,013 &1000000000000002200000022 Spanish, Quecha, Aymara Lima
 Puerto Rico (USA) &100000000000088700000008,870 &100000000039820000000003,982,000 &10000000000000448899999448.9 Spanish, English San Juan
 Saba (Neth.) &1000000000000001300000013 &100000000000015370000001,537[100] &10000000000000118200000118.2 English, Dutch The Bottom
 Saint Barthélemy (Fr.) &1000000000000002100000021[109] &100000000000074480000007,448[110] &10000000000000354699999354.7 French Gustavia
 Saint Kitts and Nevis &10000000000000261000000261 &1000000000005200000000052,000 &10000000000000199199999199.2 English Basseterre
 Saint Lucia &10000000000000539000000539 &10000000000172000000000172,000 &10000000000000319100000319.1 English, French Creole Castries
 Saint Martin (Fr.) &1000000000000005400000054[109] &1000000000002982000000029,820[110] &10000000000000552200000552.2 French Marigot
Flag of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.svg Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Fr.) &10000000000000242000000242 &100000000000060000000006,000 &1000000000000002480000024.8 French Saint-Pierre
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines &10000000000000389000000389 &10000000000109000000000109,000 &10000000000000280199999280.2 English Kingstown
 Sint Eustatius (Neth.) &1000000000000002100000021 &100000000000027390000002,739[100] &10000000000000130400000130.4 Dutch, English Oranjestad
 Sint Maarten (Neth.) &1000000000000003400000034 &1000000000004000900000040,009[100] &100000000000011767000001,176.7 English, Spanish, Dutch Philipsburg
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Georgia and
South Sandwich Islands (United Kingdom)[111]		 &100000000000030930000003,093 &1000000000000002000000020 &100000000000000000100000.01 English Grytviken
 Suriname &10000000000163270000000163,270 &10000000000472000000000472,000 &100000000000000030000003 Dutch Paramaribo
 Trinidad and Tobago &100000000000051300000005,130 &100000000013390000000001,339,000 &10000000000000261000000261.0 English Port of Spain
 Turks and Caicos Islands (UK) &10000000000000948000000948 &1000000000003300000000033,000 &1000000000000003479999934.8 English Cockburn Town
 United States[note 1] &100000000096290910000009,629,091 &10000000311630000000000311,630,000 &1000000000000003270000032.7 English, Spanish Washington, D.C.
 United States Virgin Islands (USA) &10000000000000347000000347 &10000000000110000000000110,000 &10000000000000317000000317.0 English, Spanish Charlotte Amalie
 Uruguay &10000000000176220000000176,220 &100000000034777800000003,477,780 &1000000000000001939999919.4 Spanish Montevideo
 Venezuela &10000000000916445000000916,445 &1000000002681484300000026,814,843 &1000000000000003019999930.2 Spanish Caracas
Total &1000000004232098500000042,320,985 &10000000928076232000000928,076,232 &1000000000000002189999921.9

Multinational organizations in the Americas

See also

Portal icon Geography portal
Portal icon North America portal
Portal icon South America portal

Notes

  1. ^ 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.

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  78. ^ Reader's Digest Oxford Complete Wordfinder. 1993. (ISBN 0-276-42101-9) New York, USA: Reader's Digest Association; p. 45.
  79. ^ The Olympic symbols. International Olympic Committee. 2002. Lausanne: Olympic Museum and Studies Centre. The five rings of the Olympic flag represent the five inhabited, participating continents: (Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania).
  80. ^ Burchfield, R. W. 2004. Fowler's Modern English Usage. (ISBN 0-19-861021-1) Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press; p. 48.
  81. ^ Marjorie Fee and Janice MacAlpine, Oxford Guide to Canadian English Usage (2008) page 36 says "In Canada, American is used almost exclusively in reference to the United States and its citizens." Likewise, The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary, The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, The Australian Oxford Dictionary and The Concise Oxford English Dictionary all specify the USA in their definition of "America".
  82. ^ "America." Microsoft Encarta Dictionary. 2007. Microsoft. Archived October 31, 2009.
  83. ^ "American." The Oxford Companion to the English Language (ISBN 0-19-214183-X); McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 35.
  84. ^ a b c "America." Oxford Guide to Canadian English Usage. (ISBN 0-19-541619-8) Fee, Margery and McAlpine, J., ed., 1997. Toronto: Oxford University Press; p. 36.
  85. ^ "Estados Unidos" (in Spanish). Diccionario panhispánico de dudas. Real Academia Española. October 2005. http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltGUIBusDPD?lema=Estados%20Unidos. Retrieved November 30, 2010. 
  86. ^ "America – Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". M-w.com. August 13, 2010. http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/America. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
  87. ^ "America - Definitions from Dictionary.com". Dictionary.reference.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=America. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
  88. ^ "America – Definition of America at". Yourdictionary.com. July 20, 2010. Archived from the original on July 12, 2010. http://www.yourdictionary.com/america. Retrieved July 27, 2010. 
  89. ^ Mencken, H. L. (December 1947). "Names for Americans". American Speech (American Speech, Vol. 22, No. 4) 22 (4): 241–256. doi:10.2307/486658. JSTOR 486658. 
  90. ^ de Ford, Miriam Allen (April 1927). "On the difficulty of indicating nativity in the United States". American Speech: 315. 
  91. ^ "Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas:Norteamérica" (in (Spanish)). Buscon.rae.es. http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltGUIBusDPD?lema=Norteam%E9rica. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
  92. ^ Unless otherwise noted, land area figures are taken from (PDF) Demographic Yearbook—Table 3: Population by sex, rate of population increase, surface area and density. United Nations Statistics Division. 2008. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2008/Table03.pdf. Retrieved 14 October 2010. 
  93. ^ Unless otherwise noted, population estimates are taken from Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2009) (PDF). World Population Prospects, Table A.1. 2008 revision. United Nations. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_text_tables.pdf. Retrieved 12 March 2009. 
  94. ^ Sara Louise Kras (2008). Antigua and Barbuda. Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 0761425705. 
  95. ^ "Aruba Census 2010 Languages spoken in the household". Central Bureau of Statistics. http://www.cbs.aw/cbs/manageDocument.do?dispatch=view&id=1621. 
  96. ^ Paul M. Lewis (2009). "Languages of Bahamas". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BS. 
  97. ^ Paul M. Lewis, ed. (2009). "Languages of Barbados". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BB. 
  98. ^ "Belize 2000 Housing and Population Census". Belize Central Statistical Office. 2000. http://celade.cepal.org/cgibin/RpWebEngine.exe/PortalAction?&MODE=MAIN&BASE=CPVBLZ2000&MAIN=WebServerMain.inl. Retrieved 2011-06-24. 
  99. ^ La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia;
  100. ^ a b c d Population estimates are taken from the Central Bureau of Statistics Netherlands Antilles. "Statistical information: Population". Government of the Netherlands Antilles. http://www.cbs.an/population/population_b2.asp. Retrieved 14 October 2010. 
  101. ^ "Households by the most spoken language in the household Population and Housing Census 2001". Central Bureau of Statistics. http://www.cbs.cw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103:households-by-the-most-spoken-language-in-the-household&catid=48:household-characteristics&Itemid=82. 
  102. ^ Includes Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean, a Chilean territory frequently reckoned in Oceania. Santiago is the administrative capital of Chile; Valparaíso is the site of legislative meetings.
  103. ^ Claimed by Argentina.
  104. ^ "Falkland Islands: July 2008 population estimate". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/fk.html. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
  105. ^ (Jan. 2009) (French) INSEE, Government of France. "Population des régions au 1er janvier". http://www.insee.fr/fr/themes/tableau.asp?reg_id=99&ref_id=CMRSOS02137. Retrieved 2009-01-20. 
  106. ^ "Insee - Populations légales 2008 - 971-Guadeloupe". Insee.fr. http://www.insee.fr/fr/ppp/bases-de-donnees/recensement/populations-legales/departement.asp?dep=971&annee=2008. Retrieved 31 October 2011. 
  107. ^ "Insee - Populations légales 2008 - 972-Martinique". Insee.fr. http://www.insee.fr/fr/ppp/bases-de-donnees/recensement/populations-legales/departement.asp?dep=972&annee=2008. Retrieved 31 October 2011. 
  108. ^ Due to ongoing activity of the Soufriere Hills volcano beginning in July 1995, much of Plymouth was destroyed and government offices were relocated to Brades. Plymouth remains the de jure capital.
  109. ^ a b c Land area figures taken from "The World Factbook: 2010 edition". Government of the United States, Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2147.html. Retrieved 14 October 2010. 
  110. ^ a b c These population estimates are for 2010, and are taken from "The World Factbook: 2010 edition". Government of the United States, Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2119.html. Retrieved 14 October 2010. 
  111. ^ Claimed by Argentina; the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean are commonly associated with Antarctica (due to proximity) and have no permanent population, only hosting a periodic contingent of about 100 researchers and visitors.

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Coordinates: 19°00′N 96°00′W / 19°N 96°W / 19; -96
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