The
Americas are the lands of the
Western hemisphere or
New World consisting of the
continents of
North America and
South America with their associated
islands and
regions. The Americas cover 8.3% of the
Earth's total surface area (28.4% of its land area) and contain about 14% of the
human population (about 900 million people).
The Americas may alternatively be referred to as
America; however,
America may be ambiguous as it can refer to either this entire landmass or just the
United States of America.
History
Formation
South America broke off from Western
Gondwanaland around 135 million BCE, forming its own continent.
Starting around 15 million BCE, the collision of the
Caribbean Plate and the
Pacific Plate resulted in a series of volcanoes along the border that created a number of islands. The gaps in the archipelago of
Central American filled in with material eroded off North America and South America, plus new land created by continued volcanism. By 3 million BCE, the continents of North America and South America were linked by the
Isthmus of Panama, thereby forming the single landmass of the Americas.
Settlement
Archaeological finds establish the widespread presence of the
Clovis culture in North America and South America around
10000 BCE. Whether this is the first migration of humans into North America and South America is disputed, with
alternative theories holding that humans arrived in North America and South America as early as 40000 BCE.
The
Inuit migrated into the
Arctic section of North America in another wave of migration, arriving around 1000 CE. Around the same time as the Inuit migrated into North America,
Viking settlers began arriving in
Greenland in 982 and
Vinland shortly thereafter. The Viking settlers quickly abandoned Vinland, and disappeared from Greenland by 1500.
Large scale
European colonization of the Americas began shortly after the voyages of
Christopher Columbus in 1492. The spread of new diseases brought by Europeans and Africans killed most of the inhabitants of North America and South America, with a general
population crash of Native Americans occurring in the mid sixteenth century, often well ahead of European contact. Native peoples and European colonizers came into widespread conflict, resulting in what
David Stannard has called a
genocide of the indigenous populations. 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. Many individuals were forcibly transported to the Americas as
slaves,
prisoners or
indentured servants.
Naming
The earliest known use of the name
America for this particular landmass dates from
April 25,
1507. It appears on a globe and a large map created by the
German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller in
Saint-Dié-des-Vosges. An accompanying book,
Cosmographiae Introductio, explains that the name was derived from the
Latinized version of the explorer
Amerigo Vespucci's name,
Americus Vespucius, in its feminine form,
America, as the other continents all have Latin feminine names.
Vespucci's role in the naming issue, like his exploratory activity, is unclear. Some sources say that he was unaware of the widespread use of his name to refer to the new landmass.
Christopher Columbus, who had first brought the region's existence to the attention of
Renaissance era voyagers, had died in 1506 (believing, to the end, that he'd discovered and colonized part of India) and couldn't protest Waldseemüller's decision.
A few alternative theories regarding the landmass' naming have been proposed, but none of them has achieved any widespread acceptance.
One alternative, first advanced by
Jules Marcou in 1875 and later recounted by novelist
Jan Carew, is that the name
America derives from the district of
Amerrique in
Nicaragua. The gold-rich district of Amerrique was purportedly visited by both Vespucci and Columbus, for whom the name became synonymous with gold. According to Marcou, Vespucci later applied the name to the New World, and even changed the spelling of his own name from
Alberigo to
Amerigo to reflect the importance of the discovery.
Another theory, first proposed by a
Bristol antiquary and
naturalist, Alfred Hudd, in 1908 was that
America is derived from
Richard Amerike, a merchant from Bristol, who is believed to have financed
John Cabot's voyage of discovery from
England to
Newfoundland in 1497 as found in some documents from
Westminster Abbey a few decades ago. Supposedly, Bristol fishermen had been visiting the coast of North America for at least a century before Columbus' voyage and Waldseemüller's maps are alleged to incorporate information from the early English journeys to North America. The theory holds that a variant of Amerike's name appeared on an early English map (of which however no copies survive) and that this was the true inspiration for Waldseemüller.
Geography
Extent
The northernmost point of the Americas is
Kaffeklubben Island, which is the northernmost point of land on Earth. The southernmost point is the islands of
Southern Thule, although they're sometimes considered part of
Antarctica. The easternmost point is
Nordostrundingen. The westernmost point is
Attu Island.
Topography
The western geography of the Americas is dominated by the
American cordillera, with the
Andes running along the west coast of South America and the
Rocky Mountains and other
Pacific Coast Ranges running the western side of North America. The 2300 km long
Appalachian Mountains run along the east coast of North America from
Alabama to
Newfoundland. North of the Appalachians, the
Arctic Cordillera runs along the eastern coast of Canada.
Between its coastal mountain ranges North America has vast flat areas. The
Interior Plains spread over much of the continent with low relief. The
Canadian Shield covers almost 5 million km² of North America and is generally quite flat. Similarly, the north-east of South America is covered by the flat
Amazon Basin. 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.
Hydrology
With coastal mountains and interior plains, the Americas have several large
river basins that drain the continents. The largest river basin in South America is that of the
Amazon, which has the highest volume flow of any river on Earth. The largest river basin in North America is that of the
Mississippi, covering the second largest
watershed on earth. The second largest watershed of South America is that of the
Paraná River, which covers about 2.5 million km².
Demography
Ethnology
The population of the Americas is made up of the descendants of eight large
ethnic groups and their combinations.
- 1. The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, being Amerindians, Inuits, and Aleuts;
- 2. Europeans, mainly Spanish, English, Irish, Italian, Portuguese, French, German and Dutch
- 3. Mestizos, those of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry.
- 4. Those of Black African ancestry.
- 5. Mulattoes, people of mixed Black African and European ancestry.
- 6. Zambos (Spanish) or Cafusos (Portuguese), those of mixed Black African and Amerindian ancestry.
- 7. Asians, for example, those of Central, Eastern, South, and Southeast Asian ancestry.
- 8. Those from the Middle East (Middle Easterners).
- 9. Amerasian- those of mixed, usually European, and Asian ancestry.
The majority of the people live in
Latin America, named for its dominant languages,
Spanish and
Portuguese, both of which are descended from
Latin. Latin America is typically contrasted with
Anglo-America where
English, a
Germanic language, prevails: namely,
Canada and the
United States (in
Northern America) have predominantly British roots and are quite different in terms of linguistic, cultural, and economic situation from other countries in the Americas.
Religion
Much of the population of the Americas practices
Christianity with 85% of
North Americans and 93% of
South Americans describing it as their faith.
(External Link
)
The most popular Christian faith in the Americas is
Roman Catholicism.
(External Link) Protestantism is the second most popular faith, and is especially popular in Canada, the United States, and some
Caribbean nations. Many other religions are present in the Americas,
Judaism is practiced by 2% of the population in North America, and 0.23% in South America, while
Islam is practiced by 1.8% of the population of North America and 0.28% in South America. Atheists represent 9% and 4% respectively. Indigenous religions are also practiced. Populations of
Hindu and
Sikh adherents are extremely low.
(External Link)
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 largest nation in Latin America,
Brazil, speaks
Portuguese. Small enclaves of French- and English-speaking regions also exist in Latin America, notably in
French Guiana and
Nicaragua's
Mosquito Coast, 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 lesser 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, as the name suggests, is
English.
French is also official in
Canada where it's the predominant language in
Québec and an official language in
New Brunswick along with English. It is also an important language in the
U.S. state of
Louisiana.
Spanish has become widely spoken in 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 not to fall into either Anglo-America or Latin America due to lingual differences with Latin America and geographic and cultural differences with Anglo-America; English is the primary language of Guyana and Belize, and
Dutch is the primary language of Suriname.
Spanish - spoken by approximately 320 million in many nations, regions, islands, and communities throughout both continents.
English - spoken by approximately 300 million people in the United States, Canada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Belize, Guyana and many islands of the Caribbean.
Portuguese - spoken by approximately 185 million in South America, mostly Brazil
French - spoken by approximately 12 million in Canada (majority 7 million in Quebec, and Acadian communities in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia); the Caribbean (Haiti, Guadeloupe, Martinique); French Guiana; the French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon; and Acadiana (a Francophone area in southern Louisiana, United States).
Quechua - native language spoken by 10 - 13 million speakers in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile, and northwest Argentina.
Haitian Creole - creole language, based in French and various African languages, spoken by 6 million in Haiti and the Haitian Diaspora in Canada and the United States.
Guaraní (avañe'ẽ) - native language spoken by approximately 6 million people in Paraguay, and regions of Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil.
Italian - spoken by approximately 4 million people, mostly New England/New York, in the United States, southern Ontario, and Quebec in Canada, Argentina, and Brazil, and also includes pidgin dialects of Italian such as Talian (Brazil), and Chipilo (Mexico).
German: Some 2.2 million. Spoken by 1.1 million people in the United States plus another million in parts of Latin America, such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile and El Salvador. It is the second most studied second language in the United States.
Aymará - native language spoken by about 2.2 million speakers in the Andes, in Bolivia and Peru.
Quiché and other Maya languages - native languages spoken by about 1.9 million speakers in Guatemala and southern Mexico.
Nahuatl - native language of central Mexico with 1.5 million speakers. Also was the language of the Aztec People of Mexico.
Antillean Creole - spoken by approximately 1.2 million in the Eastern Caribbean (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Dominica, Saint Lucia) and French Guiana.
American Sign Language - An estimated 100,000 - 500,000 people within the Deaf Community use ASL as their primary language in the United States and Canada.
Mapudungun (or Mapuche) - native language spoken by approximately 440,000 people in Chile and Argentina.
Navajo- native language spoken by about 178,000 speakers in the Southwest U.S. on the Navajo Nation (Indian reservation). The tribe's isolation until the early 1900s provided a language used in a military code in World War II.
Dutch - spoken in the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, and Suriname by about 210,000 speakers.
Pennsylvania Dutch - Some descendants of the Pennsylvania Dutch in the Northeast U.S. speak a local form of the German language which dates back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They number about 85,000.
Inuit - native language spoken by about 75,000 across the North American Arctic and to some extent in the subarctic in Labrador.
Danish- and Greenlandic (Inuit) are the official languages of Greenland, most of the population speak both of the languages (approximately 50,000 people). A minority of Danish migrants with no Inuit ancestry speak Danish as their first, or only, language.
Cree - Cree is the name for a group of closely-related Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 50,000 speakers across Canada
Welsh - In Argentina, two towns of Trelew and Rawson were settled by Welsh immigrants in the late nineteenth century and the Welsh language remains spoken by about 25,000, including the towns' older residents.
Cherokee- native language spoken in a small corner of Oklahoma, U.S by about 19,000 speakers. The use of this language has rebounded in the late twentieth century. It is known to possess its own alphabet, the Cherokee syllabary.
Gullah- a creole language based on English with strong influences from West and Central African languages spoken by the Gullah people, an African American population living on the coastal region of the U.S. states of South Carolina and Georgia.
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 though, which has even resulted in completely new languages, such as Papiamentu, which is a combination of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch (representing the respective colonizers), native Arawak, various African languages and, more recently, English. Because of 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.
Terminology
America/Americas
In many parts of the world, America in the singular is commonly used as a name for the United States of America; however, (the) Americas (plural with s and generally with the definite article) isn't and is invariably used to refer to the lands and regions of the Western hemisphere. Usage of America to also refer to this collectivity remains fairly common.
While many in the United States of America generally refer to the country as America and themselves as Americans, many people elsewhere in the Americas resent what they perceive as appropriation of the term in this context and, thus, this usage is frequently avoided. In Canada, their southern neighbour is seldom referred to as "America" with "the United States", "the U.S.", or (informally) "the States" used instead.
Portuguese usage
In Portuguese, the word americano refers to the whole of the Americas. But, in Brazil and Portugal, it's widely used to refer to the citizens of the United States. Sometimes "norte-americano" is also used, but "americano" is the most common term employed by people and media at large, while "norte-americano" (North American) is more common in books. The least ambiguous term, "estadunidense" (used more frequently in Brazil) or "estado-unidense" (used more frequently in Portugal), something like "United Statian" or "estadounidense" in Spanish language), and "ianque" - the Portuguese version of "Yankee" - are rarely used.
"América", however, isn't that frequently used as synonym to the country, and almost exclusively in current speech, while in print and in more formal environments the US is usually called either "Estados Unidos da América" (for example United States of America) or only "Estados Unidos" (for example United States). There is some difference between the usage of these words in Portugal and in Brazil, being the Brazilians less prone than the Portuguese to apply the term América to the country. A well-known example of such use is the translation of the title of Alain Resnais' movie "Mon Oncle d'Amérique": "O Meu Tio da América".
French usage
In French, as in English, the word Américain can be confusing as it can be both used to refer to the United States, and to the American continents.
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. However, the usage of Amérique to refer to the United States, while technically not correct, 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 American continents.
Things relating to the United States can be referred to without ambiguity by the words états-unien, étasunien or étatsunien, although their usage is rare.
Countries
Dependencies
Multinational organizations in the Americas
External results
Click here for more details on Americas
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://americas.totallyexplained.com">Americas Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
We see you're using Internet Explorer. Try Firefox, we think you'll like it better.
· Firefox blocks pop-up windows.
· It stops viruses and spyware.
· It keeps Microsoft from controlling the future of the internet.
Click the button on the right to download Firefox. It's free.
NEW: Download the Totally