Latin America guide

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Travelling to Latin America Latin America (French: Amerique Latine, As alluded to above, the term Ibero-America Portuguese: América Latina, Spanish: is sometimes used to refer to the nations Latinoamérica or América Latina) is the that were formerly colonies of Spain and region of the Americas where Romance Portugal, as these two countries are located languages — those derived from Latin, on the Iberian peninsula. The Organization of predominantly Spanish and Portuguese — Ibero-American States (OEI) takes this are officially or primarily spoken. Latin definition a step further, by including Spain America is distinct from Anglo-America, a and Portugal (often termed the Mother region of the Americas where English Countries of Latin America) among its member predominates. states, in addition to their Spanish and Portuguese-speaking former colonies in Definition America. There are several definitions of Latin The Americas are thought to have been first America: inhabited by people crossing the Bering Land Bridge, now the Bering strait, from northeast From a strict cultural and linguistic Asia into Alaska more than 10,000 years ago. perspective, it would include all countries Over the course of millennia, people spread and territories in the Americas where Romance to all parts of the continents. By the first languages — Spanish, Portuguese, millennium AD/CE, South America’s vast French, and their creoles — are rainforests, mountains, plains and coasts spoken. were the home of tens of millions of people. Some groups formed permanent settlements, The most common view is that Latin America such as the Chibchas (or "Muiscas" or includes territories in the Americas where "Muyscas") and the Tairona groups. The Spanish or Portuguese prevail: Mexico, most Chibchas of Colombia, the Quechuas of Peru of Central America, South America and the and the Aymaras of Bolivia were the three Caribbean. The English-speaking countries of Indian  groups that settled most permanently. North and South America are not included in Latin America. Territories where other The region was home to many indigenous Romance languages such as French (e.g., peoples and advanced civilizations, including Quebec in Canada) or Kreyol (e.g. Haiti, the Aztecs, Toltecs, Caribs, Tupi, Maya, and Martinique and Guadeloupe) predominate are Inca. The golden age of the Maya began about frequently not considered to be part of Latin 250, with the last two great civilizations, America from this perspective, despite the the Aztecs and Incas, emerging into French origins of the concept. The former prominence later on in the early fourteenth Dutch colonies Suriname, Netherlands Antilles century and mid-fifteenth centuries, and Aruba are not considered parts of Latin respectively. America, even though in the latter two, the predominantly Iberian-influenced language With the arrival of the Europeans following Papiamentu is spoken by the majority of the Christopher Columbus's voyages, the population. indigenous elites, such as the Incans and Aztecs, lost power to the Europeans. Sometimes, particularly in the United States, Hernán Cortés destroyed the Aztec the term "Latin America" is used to refer to elite's power with the help of local groups all of the Americas south of the U.S., who disliked the Aztec elite, and Francisco including countries such as Belize, Trinidad Pizarro eliminated the Incan rule in Western and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados and South America. European powers, most notably Suriname where non-Romance languages prevail. Spain and Portugal, colonized the region, Conversely, it is often used in Brazil and which along with the rest of the uncolonized the Commonwealth Caribbean to designate the world was divided into areas of Spanish and Spanish-speaking countries within this area, Portuguese control by the Line of Demarcation which  are  often known as Hispanic America. in 1493, which gave Spain all areas to the west, and Portugal all areas to the east (the Geopolitically, Latin America is divided into Portuguese lands in America subsequently 20 independent countries and several becoming Brazil). By the end of the sixteenth dependent territories. Spanish is predominant century, Europeans occupied large areas of and an official language in most Latin Central and South America, extending all the American countries with the exception of way into the present southern United States. Brazil, where Portuguese prevails, and Haiti, European culture and government was imposed, where Haitian Creole is the dominant with the Roman Catholic Church becoming a language. major economic and political power, as well as  the  official  religion  of  the  region. Etymology Diseases brought by the Europeans, such as A terrain map of Latin AmericaOriginally a smallpox and measles, wiped out a large political term, Amerique Latine was coined by proportion of the indigenous population, with French emperor Napoleon III, who cited epidemics of diseases reducing them sharply Amerique Latine and Indochine as goals for from their prior populations. Historians expansion during his reign. While the term cannot determine the number of natives who helped him stake a claim to those died due to European diseases, but some put territories, it eventually came to embody the figures as high as 85% and as low as 20%. those parts of the Americas that speak Due to the lack of written records, specific Romance languages initially brought by numbers are hard to verify. Many of the settlers from Spain, Portugal and, to a minor survivors were forced to work in European extent, France in the fifteenth and sixteenth plantations and mines. Intermarriage between centuries. An alternate etymology points to the indigenous peoples and the European Michel Chevalier, who mentioned the term in colonists was very common, and, by the end of 1836. the colonial period, people of mixed ancestry (mestizos) formed majorities in several In the United States, the term was not used colonies. until the 1890s, and did not become a common descriptor of the region until early in the By the end of the eighteenth century, Spanish twentieth century. Before then, Spanish and Portuguese power waned as other European America  was  more  commonly  used. powers took their place, notably Britain and France. Resentment grew over the restrictions The term Latin America has come to represent imposed by the Spanish government, as well as an expression equivalent to Latin Europe and the dominance of native Spaniards implies a sense of supranationality greater (Iberian-born peninsulares) over the major than those implied by notions of statehood or institutions and the majority population, nationhood. This supranational identity is including the Spanish descended Creoles expressed through common initiatives and (criollos). Napoleon's invasion of Spain in organizations, like the South American 1808 marked the turning point, compelling Community of Nations. It is important to Creole elites to form juntas that advocated observe that the terms Latin American, Latin, independence. Also, the newly independent Latino,  and Hispanic differ from each other. Haiti, the second oldest nation in the New World after the United States, further fueled Many people in Latin America do not speak the independence movement by inspiring the Latin-derived languages, but native ones or leaders of the movement, such as Simón languages brought over by immigration. There Bolívar and José de San Martin, and by is also the blend of Latin-derived cultures providing them with considerable munitions with indigenous and African ones resulting in and troops. Fighting soon broke out between a differentiation in relation to the the Juntas and the Spanish authorities, with Latin-derived  cultures  of  Europe. initial Creole victories, such as Father Miguel Hidalgo's in Mexico and Francisco de Quebec, other French-speaking areas in Canada Miranda's in Venezuela, crushed by Spanish and the United States like Acadia, Louisiana, troops. Under the leadership of Simón Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, and other places Bolívar, José de San Martin and other north of Mexico are traditionally excluded Libertadores, the independence movement from the sociopolitical definition of Latin regained strength, and by 1825, all of America, despite having significant Spanish Latin America, except for Puerto Rico populations that speak a Latin-derived and Cuba, gained independence from Spain. language, due in part to these territories' Brazil achieved independence with a not existing as sovereign states or being constitutional monarchy established in 1822. geographically separated from the rest of During the same year in Mexico, a military Latin America. French Guiana, however, is officer, Agustín de Iturbide, led sometimes included, despite being a conservatives who created a constitutional dependency of France and not an independent monarchy, with Iturbide as emperor (shortly country. followed by a republic). 1 A B C D 63 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109