Travelling to Latin America

Latin America (French: Amerique Latine, Portuguese:Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) takes this
América Latina, Spanish: Latinoamérica ordefinition a step further, by including Spain and Portugal
América Latina) is the region of the Americas(often termed the Mother Countries of Latin America)
where Romance languages — those derivedamong its member states, in addition to their Spanish
from Latin, predominantly Spanish and Portugueseand Portuguese-speaking former colonies in America.
— are officially or primarily spoken. LatinThe Americas are thought to have been first inhabited
America is distinct from Anglo-America, a region of theby people crossing the Bering Land Bridge, now the
Americas where English predominates.Bering strait, from northeast Asia into Alaska more
Definitionthan 10,000 years ago. Over the course of millennia,
There are several definitions of Latin America:people spread to all parts of the continents. By the first
From a strict cultural and linguistic perspective, it wouldmillennium AD/CE, South America’s vast
include all countries and territories in the Americasrainforests, mountains, plains and coasts were the
where Romance languages — Spanish,home of tens of millions of people. Some groups
Portuguese, French, and their creoles — areformed permanent settlements, such as the Chibchas
spoken.(or "Muiscas" or "Muyscas") and the Tairona groups.
The most common view is that Latin America includesThe Chibchas of Colombia, the Quechuas of Peru and
territories in the Americas where Spanish orthe Aymaras of Bolivia were the three Indian groups
Portuguese prevail: Mexico, most of Central America,that settled most permanently.
South America and the Caribbean. TheThe region was home to many indigenous peoples and
English-speaking countries of North and South Americaadvanced civilizations, including the Aztecs, Toltecs,
are not included in Latin America. Territories whereCaribs, Tupi, Maya, and Inca. The golden age of the
other Romance languages such as French (e.g.,Maya began about 250, with the last two great
Quebec in Canada) or Kreyol (e.g. Haiti, Martinique andcivilizations, the Aztecs and Incas, emerging into
Guadeloupe) predominate are frequently notprominence later on in the early fourteenth century and
considered to be part of Latin America from thismid-fifteenth centuries, respectively.
perspective, despite the French origins of the concept.With the arrival of the Europeans following Christopher
The former Dutch colonies Suriname, NetherlandsColumbus's voyages, the indigenous elites, such as the
Antilles and Aruba are not considered parts of LatinIncans and Aztecs, lost power to the Europeans.
America, even though in the latter two, theHernán Cortés destroyed the Aztec elite's
predominantly Iberian-influenced language Papiamentupower with the help of local groups who disliked the
is spoken by the majority of the population.Aztec elite, and Francisco Pizarro eliminated the Incan
Sometimes, particularly in the United States, the termrule in Western South America. European powers,
"Latin America" is used to refer to all of the Americasmost notably Spain and Portugal, colonized the region,
south of the U.S., including countries such as Belize,which along with the rest of the uncolonized world
Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados andwas divided into areas of Spanish and Portuguese
Suriname where non-Romance languages prevail.control by the Line of Demarcation in 1493, which gave
Conversely, it is often used in Brazil and theSpain all areas to the west, and Portugal all areas to
Commonwealth Caribbean to designate thethe east (the Portuguese lands in America
Spanish-speaking countries within this area, which aresubsequently becoming Brazil). By the end of the
often known as Hispanic America.sixteenth century, Europeans occupied large areas of
Geopolitically, Latin America is divided into 20Central and South America, extending all the way into
independent countries and several dependentthe present southern United States. European culture
territories. Spanish is predominant and an officialand government was imposed, with the Roman
language in most Latin American countries with theCatholic Church becoming a major economic and
exception of Brazil, where Portuguese prevails, andpolitical power, as well as the official religion of the
Haiti, where Haitian Creole is the dominant language.region.
EtymologyDiseases brought by the Europeans, such as smallpox
A terrain map of Latin AmericaOriginally a political term,and measles, wiped out a large proportion of the
Amerique Latine was coined by French emperorindigenous population, with epidemics of diseases
Napoleon III, who cited Amerique Latine and Indochinereducing them sharply from their prior populations.
as goals for expansion during his reign. While the termHistorians cannot determine the number of natives
helped him stake a claim to those territories, itwho died due to European diseases, but some put the
eventually came to embody those parts of thefigures as high as 85% and as low as 20%. Due to the
Americas that speak Romance languages initiallylack of written records, specific numbers are hard to
brought by settlers from Spain, Portugal and, to a minorverify. Many of the survivors were forced to work in
extent, France in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.European plantations and mines. Intermarriage
An alternate etymology points to Michel Chevalier, whobetween the indigenous peoples and the European
mentioned the term in 1836.colonists was very common, and, by the end of the
In the United States, the term was not used until thecolonial period, people of mixed ancestry (mestizos)
1890s, and did not become a common descriptor offormed majorities in several colonies.
the region until early in the twentieth century. BeforeBy the end of the eighteenth century, Spanish and
then, Spanish America was more commonly used.Portuguese power waned as other European powers
The term Latin America has come to represent antook their place, notably Britain and France.
expression equivalent to Latin Europe and implies aResentment grew over the restrictions imposed by
sense of supranationality greater than those implied bythe Spanish government, as well as the dominance of
notions of statehood or nationhood. This supranationalnative Spaniards (Iberian-born peninsulares) over the
identity is expressed through common initiatives andmajor institutions and the majority population, including
organizations, like the South American Community ofthe Spanish descended Creoles (criollos). Napoleon's
Nations. It is important to observe that the terms Latininvasion of Spain in 1808 marked the turning point,
American, Latin, Latino, and Hispanic differ from eachcompelling Creole elites to form juntas that advocated
other.independence. Also, the newly independent Haiti, the
Many people in Latin America do not speaksecond oldest nation in the New World after the United
Latin-derived languages, but native ones or languagesStates, further fueled the independence movement by
brought over by immigration. There is also the blend ofinspiring the leaders of the movement, such as
Latin-derived cultures with indigenous and African onesSimón Bolívar and José de San Martin,
resulting in a differentiation in relation to theand by providing them with considerable munitions and
Latin-derived cultures of Europe.troops. Fighting soon broke out between the Juntas
Quebec, other French-speaking areas in Canada andand the Spanish authorities, with initial Creole victories,
the United States like Acadia, Louisiana, Saint-Pierresuch as Father Miguel Hidalgo's in Mexico and
and Miquelon, and other places north of Mexico areFrancisco de Miranda's in Venezuela, crushed by
traditionally excluded from the sociopolitical definition ofSpanish troops. Under the leadership of Simón
Latin America, despite having significant populationsBolívar, José de San Martin and other
that speak a Latin-derived language, due in part toLibertadores, the independence movement regained
these territories' not existing as sovereign states orstrength, and by 1825, all of Spanish Latin America,
being geographically separated from the rest of Latinexcept for Puerto Rico and Cuba, gained
America. French Guiana, however, is sometimesindependence from Spain. Brazil achieved
included, despite being a dependency of France andindependence with a constitutional monarchy
not an independent country.established in 1822. During the same year in Mexico, a
As alluded to above, the term Ibero-America ismilitary officer, Agustín de Iturbide, led
sometimes used to refer to the nations that wereconservatives who created a constitutional monarchy,
formerly colonies of Spain and Portugal, as these twowith Iturbide as emperor (shortly followed by a
countries are located on the Iberian peninsula. Therepublic).