Latin America

Etymology

The term 'Latin America' has come to be applied to this region because the majority of its inhabitants speak a language descended from the ancient Latin language. Spanish and Portuguese, and to a lesser extent French, all Latin based, are the most widely spoken languages in the region.

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There are, however, many people in Latin America who do not speak the official Latin-derived languages, but languages indigenous to the region or languages brought by languages.

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Québec, Acadia and other French-speaking areas in Canada, Louisiana, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, and other places north of Mexico are traditionally excluded from the Social-political definition of Latin America, despite significant populations speaking a Latin-derived language, because they don't exist as independent states, and/or because they are geographically isolated from the rest of Latin America. French Guiana, however, is usually included, despite being a dependency of France and not an independent country.

Related Topics:
Québec - Acadia - Canada - Louisiana - Saint-Pierre and Miquelon - French Guiana

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The term "Latin America", thus, is not always taken too literally. Although its etymology lies in a description of linguistic origins of many of the region's inhabitants, to some people in some countries (especially in the USA) it has come to be wrongly applied to describe the entire geographic region of Central and South America, and often the Caribbean, regardless of language. More specifically, Guyana and Suriname in South America, Belize in Central America and many countries in the Caribbean do not speak (predominantly, or at all) Latin languages and therefore are not formally considered part of Latin America.

Related Topics:
Central - South America - Caribbean - Guyana - Suriname - Belize

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The related term Iberoamerica is sometimes used to refer to the nations that were formerly colonies of Spain and Portugal, as these two countries are located on the Iberian peninsula. The Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) takes this definition a step further, by including Spain and Portugal (often termed the Mother Countries of Latin America) among its member states, in addition to their Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking former colonies in America.

Related Topics:
Iberoamerica - Spain - Portugal - Iberian peninsula - Organization of Ibero-American States

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