Latin America is a region of the world that spans two continents, North America (including Central America and the Caribbean) and South America. It includes 19 sovereign nations and one non-independent territory, Puerto Rico. Most people in the region speak Spanish or Portuguese, although French, English, Dutch, and Kreyol are also spoken in parts of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.
Which Latin American country is the best to live in?
- Cuenca, Ecuador. Cuenca, Ecuador, is the most affordable place you’d want to retire in Latin America. ...
- Fortaleza, Brazil. ...
- Mazatlán, Mexico. ...
- Medellín, Colombia. ...
- Mendoza, Argentina. ...
- Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic. ...
- San Ignacio, Belize. ...
- El Valle de Antón, Panama. ...
- La Barra, Uruguay. ...
- Viña del Mar, Chile. ...
Which country in Latin America should you visit?
The South American Country to Visit Based on Your Personality
- Nightowl – Argentina. ...
- Foodie – Peru. ...
- Beach Bum – Brazil. ...
- Coffee Snob – Colombia. ...
- Nature Lover- Venezuela. ...
- Culture Vulture – Argentina. ...
- History Buff – Chile. ...
- Cool Customer – Uruguay. ...
- Wilderness Wanderer – Bolivia. ...
- Wildlife Nut – Ecuador. ...
Which Latin American country should I move to?
- Paraty, a colonial gem with lovely beaches just three hours from Rio de Janeiro
- Florianopolis, a mid-sized city (5th largest in Brazil), with beaches and surfing near the border with Uruguay and Argentina, which is quite popular
- Curitiba, the capital of Parana in the south
What every Latin American country is best at?
What Every Latin American Country Is Best at. Though Latin American countries share the memory of colonialism and Americans not really knowing where anyone but Mexico is, each is special and unique in its own way. Article by Thrillist. 23.
Is Latin America considered a nation?
Latin America is a region of the world that spans two continents, North America (including Central America and the Caribbean) and South America. It includes 19 sovereign nations and one non-independent territory, Puerto Rico.
How many countries are in Latin America?
Latin America consists of 33 countries.
What defines Latin America?
Defining Latin America Culturally and linguistically, Latin America is defined as nations in the Americas and the Caribbean whose residents predominantly speak Spanish or Portuguese—two of the many languages descended from Latin.
What's Latin American countries?
It includes 21 countries or territories: Mexico in North America; Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama in Central America; Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay in South America; and Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico ...
Why is Latin America called that?
The region consists of people who speak Spanish, Portuguese and French. These languages (together with Italian and Romanian) developed from Latin during the days of the Roman Empire and the Europeans who speak them are sometimes called 'Latin' people. Hence the term Latin America.
Is Latin America and South America same?
South America and Latin America are two different types of entities. The first mentioned is a geographical entity while the other is a cultural entity. What is this? Latin America contains most off South America but it includes many other islands, countries and territories.
What do you call someone from Latin America?
A Latino/a or Hispanic person can be any race or color. In general, "Latino" is understood as shorthand for the Spanish word latinoamericano (or the Portuguese latino-americano) and refers to (almost) anyone born in or with ancestors from Latin America and living in the U.S., including Brazilians.
What is Latino identity?
Terms used most often to describe identity Among all Hispanic adults, for example, half say they most often describe themselves by their family's country of origin or heritage, using terms such as Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican or Salvadoran. Another 23% say they most often call themselves American.
Is Latin America Western?
Second is Latin America, which includes Mexico, Peru, and the other countries of Central and South America. As mentioned, these groupings may be considered part of the Western World or may be broken out on their own.
Is America a country?
The United States of America is the world's third largest country in size and nearly the third largest in terms of population. Located in North America, the country is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean.
Is Brazil considered Latin America?
Geographically and organizationally, Brazil is considered part of Latin America.
Is Central America a continent?
noCentral America / Is continent?
What is Latin America?
Latin America is a group of Western Hemispheric countries and dependencies where Romance languages (derived from Latin), principal ly Spanish, Portuguese and, to a lesser extent, French, are predominantly spoken. The term is "commonly used to describe South America, [Mexico and] Central America, and islands of the Caribbean." The term is used for those places brought under the Spanish Empire, Portuguese Empire in Brazil, and the French Colonial Empire in the circum-Caribbean region. Some subnational regions known as French America such as Quebec and parts of the United States where Romance languages are primarily spoken are not usually included due to the countries as a whole being a part of Anglo-America, (an exception to this is Puerto Rico, which is almost always included within the definition of Latin America despite being a territory of the United States ). The term is broader than categories such as Hispanic America, which specifically refers to Spanish-speaking countries and Ibero-America, which specifically refers to both Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries. The term is also more recent in origin.
What are the subregions of Latin America?
If defined as all of the Americas south of the United States, the basic geographical subregions are North America, Central America, the Caribbean and South America; the latter contains further politico-geographical subdivisions such as the Southern Cone, the Guianas and the Andean states. It may be subdivided on linguistic grounds into Spanish America, Portuguese America and French America .
What are the major trade blocs in Latin America?
The major trade blocs (or agreements) in the region are the Pacific Alliance and Mercosur. Minor blocs or trade agreements are the G3 Free Trade Agreement, the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Andean Community of Nations (CAN). However, major reconfigurations are taking place along opposing approaches to integration and trade; Venezuela has officially withdrawn from both the CAN and G3 and it has been formally admitted into the Mercosur (pending ratification from the Paraguayan legislature). The president-elect of Ecuador has manifested his intentions of following the same path. This bloc nominally opposes any Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States, although Uruguay has manifested its intention otherwise. Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico are the only four Latin American nations that have an FTA with the United States and Canada, both members of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
What is the most developed transport system in Latin America?
Transport in Latin America is basically carried out using the road mode, the most developed in the region. There is also a considerable infrastructure of ports and airports. The railway and fluvial sector, although it has potential, is usually treated in a secondary way.
What countries have left wing governments?
In most countries, since the 2000s left-wing political parties have risen to power. The presidencies of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela , Ricardo Lagos and Michelle Bachelet in Chile, Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff in Brazil, Néstor Kirchner and his wife Cristina Fernández in Argentina, Tabaré Vázquez and José Mujica in Uruguay, Evo Morales in Bolivia , Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, Fernando Lugo in Paraguay, Manuel Zelaya in Honduras (removed from power by a coup d'état ), Mauricio Funes and Salvador Sánchez Cerén in El Salvador are all part of this wave of left-wing politicians who often declare themselves socialists, Latin Americanists, or anti-imperialists (often implying opposition to US policies towards the region ). A development of this has been the creation of the eight-member ALBA alliance, or " The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America " (Spanish: Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América) by some of the countries already mentioned. By June 2014, Honduras ( Juan Orlando Hernández ), Guatemala ( Otto Pérez Molina ), and Panama ( Ricardo Martinelli) had right-wing governments.
What were the major conflicts in Latin America in the late nineteenth century?
A notable international conflict is the War of the Pacific (1879-1884), when Chile seized territory and resources from Peru and Bolivia, gained valuable nitrate deposits and left Bolivia landlocked with no access to the sea. Also notable is the War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870) in which Paraguay under Francisco Solano López provoked war against Brazil, which joined in alliance with Argentina and Uruguay. The war was a disaster for Paraguay, with huge loss of life and destruction of the modernized sector.
How many people in Latin America have HIV?
HIV/AIDS has been a public health concern for Latin America due to a remaining prevalence of the disease. In 2018 an estimated 2.2 million people had HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean, making the HIV prevalence rate approximately 0.4% in Latin America.
What is Latin America?
Latin America is a vast region of the Western Hemisphere that stretches from the U.S.-Mexico border all the way down to the southern tip of South America. Thus, it includes Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. Historically, Latin America was named as such by its former European colonial masters to distinguish countries in ...
How many countries are there in Latin America?
Latin America consists of 33 countries. Brazil is the largest and most populous country in Latin America. It also has the region's biggest economy. Mexico is the largest and most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world. Approximately 659 million people live in Latin America. Latin America is a vast region of the Western Hemisphere ...
What languages do people speak in South America?
In addition to the Spanish and Portuguese spoken by the overwhelming majority of South Americans, millions of people in South America also speak indigenous languages. One of these languages is Quechua, which is spoken by those of Incan descent. Machu Picchu, the 15th century Inca Citadel ruins, in Peru.
How many people live in South America?
The rest of the continent’s population is of European, African, Asian, or mixed descent. In total, there are more than 433 million people living in South America. Brazil is the largest and most populous country in both South America and Latin America as a whole. It has a population of approximately 212 million, and a total land area of 8,358,140 sq. km. Brazil also has the biggest economy in both South America and Latin America. In fact, the country has the 9 th largest economy in the world.
How many countries are there in the Caribbean?
There are a total of 13 countries in the Caribbean.
What is the official language of South America?
Spanish is the official language in all but three of the above countries, Brazil, Guyana, and Suriname. Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, while French is the official language of the French overseas territory known as French Guiana. English and Dutch are the official languages of Guyana and Suriname respectively. The Falkland Islands, which is geographically part of South America, is a British overseas territory, thus English is the official language there. In addition to the Spanish and Portuguese spoken by the overwhelming majority of South Americans, millions of people in South America also speak indigenous languages. One of these languages is Quechua, which is spoken by those of Incan descent.
What continent is Central America?
Central America is the southern extent of the North American continent. It stretches from Mexico’s southern borders with Guatemala and Belize to the border between Columbia and Panama. Central America contains 7 countries:
What is Latin America?
Latin America is generally understood to consist of the entire continent of South America in addition to Mexico, Central America, ...
What continent is Latin America?
Latin America is generally understood to consist of the entire continent of South America in addition to Mexico, Central America, and the islands of the Caribbean whose inhabitants speak a Romance language. The peoples of this large area shared the experience of conquest and colonization by the Spaniards and Portuguese from ...
Where is Spain located?
Spain, country located in extreme southwestern Europe. It occupies about 85 percent of the Iberian Peninsula, which it shares with its smaller neighbour Portugal. Spain is a storied country of stone castles, snowcapped mountains, vast monuments, and sophisticated cities, all of which have…
What is Latin America?
Latin America is a summary historical name of the countries of the American continent that have been under the influence of Spain, Portugal or France, and where Spanish, Portuguese or French are official languages . Geographically, Latin America encompasses most of South America, Central America, Mexico as well as some Caribbean islands.
How many countries are there in Latin America?
There are a total of 30 countries in Latin America. These include Mexico, Central America (excluding Belize), the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean and the countries of South America (excluding Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana).
What does Latino mean?
Latino or female Latina means a person of Latin American origin. This short form of the Spanish word Latinoamericano (“Latin American”) is mainly used in the Anglo-American area for US citizens who themselves or their ancestors come from Latin America and whose mother tongue is mostly Spanish or Portuguese.
When did Latin America become free?
Most of the countries were colonized in the 16th centuries and became free during the early 1800’s. Linguistic unity is the clearest unifying factor, while Latin America expresses a variety of cultural and historical influences. In other words, Latin America is a political and cultural term that serves to differentiate the Spanish ...
Is Latin a Latin word?
The part of word Latin refers to the Latin ical as the origin of Romanesque n languages. In the literal sense, countries and areas in which French are spoken also belong to Latin America. However, this understanding has not become generally accepted in the German-speaking area, but is used in the USA. The UN Statistics Division also subsumes all countries in Central America (including Mexico) and South America under the term Latin America. There are also other different definitions :
Is Québec part of Latin America?
However, Québec is located in the middle of Anglo-America and is so closely intertwined with the Anglo-American cultural area that Québec is not counted as part of Latin America – neither is it part of Anglo-America because Québec is not English-speaking. The same applies to the Cajun s in Louisiana.
When did Latin America become united?
Remember that Latin America was united until around 1820. It was very loyal to Spain and the empire. It was when Napoleon invaded and occupied part of Spain that things began to unravel. The American territories sent emissaries to Spain and created a parliament with its own Constitution.
Why was England important to Latin America?
SInce their independence it did everything to control their economies and to ensure that they did not unite. Since England is no longer the power that it was, it no longer can keep latin America disunited. It is only a matter of time.
What are the reasons for Latin American development?
Beyond geography, there are pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial reasons that influenced the development of Latin American countries. Pre-colonial. Two empires existed in the Americas when Columbus arrived: the Aztecs in central Mexico an the Incas in Peru an neighboring areas.
How did Latin America grow?
Latin American countries grew as large as they could from the colonial administrative units that gave them birth, limited by geography and the preexistence of other competing administrative units.
What were the two empires that existed in the Americas when Columbus arrived?
Two empires existed in the Americas when Columbus arrived: the Aztecs in central Mexico an the Incas in Peru an neighboring areas. There were also different native cultures outside those areas. They became the basis of the initial Spanish colonial structure and underpin much of the cultural differences between Latin American countries.
Why did the British support independence in South America?
In South America independentist movements were fostered by Britain as a way way to weaken a Spain then in the hands of Napoleon. The insurrections succeeded in the newest and least established Vice-royalties, Nueva Granada and de La Plata, but the very fact that they were fairly recent meant the central authorities in them (Bogotá and Buenos Aires) weren't able to keep the territorial integrity intact, in some cases due to conflicting interests between their parts (Paraguay remaining independent of Argentina, Ecuador and Venezuela breaking away from Colombia) and in others due to foreign intervention, particularly British, such as the preservation of the independence of Uruguay.
How did colonial administrative divisions affect Latin American nations?
Colonial administrative divisions had a large impact on the later formation of the Latin American nations which mostly used those divisions as their basis. Brazil, which declared independence as a whole entity and didn't have to fight and independence war kept its territorial integrity, but the fate of the Spanish colonies would be different as their independence struggles would be part of the larger Napoleonic campaigns and the subsequent European restoration.
Overview
- Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Latin America had been settled for millennia by a wide range of indigenous groups, some of whom (Aztecs, Mayans, Incas) boasted advanced civilizations. The Spanish were the first Europeans to arrive in the Americas, followed soon after …
Etymology and definitions
History
Inequality
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas comprising multiple nation-states where Romance languages—languages that derived from Latin, i.e., Spanish, Portuguese, and French are predominantly spoken. The term does not have a precise definition, but it is "commonly used to describe South America, Central America, and Mexico, and the islands of the Caribbean." A short definiti…
Demographics
There is no universal agreement on the origin of the term Latin America. The concept and term came into being in the nineteenth century, following the political independence of countries from the Spanish and Portuguese empires. It was also popularized in 1860s France during the reign of Napoleon III. The term Latin America was a part of its attempt to create a French empire in the Americas. Research has shown that the idea that a part of the Americas has a linguistic and cult…
Economy
The earliest known human settlement in the area was identified at Monte Verde, near Puerto Montt in southern Chile. Its occupation dates to some 14,000 years ago and there is disputed evidence of even earlier occupation. Over the course of millennia, people spread to all parts of the North and South America and the Caribbean islands. Although the region now known as Latin America stretche…
Trade blocs
Wealth inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean remains a serious issue despite strong economic growth and improved social indicators. A report released in 2013 by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs entitled Inequality Matters: Report of the World Social Situation, observed that: 'Declines in the wage share have been attributed to the impact of labour-saving technological change and to a general weakening of labour market regulations and institutions.' …
Tourism
Urbanization accelerated starting in the mid-twentieth century, especially in capital cities, or in the case of Brazil, traditional economic and political hubs founded in the colonial era. In Mexico, the rapid growth and modernization in country's north has seen the growth of Monterrey, in Nuevo León. The following is a list of the ten largest metropolitan areas in Latin America. Entries in "bold" …