Latin America

Latin America
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Latin America is the region of the Americas where Romance languages — those derived from Latin — are officially or primarily spoken. The other American linguistic regions, by their official European languages, are Anglo-America, where English predominates, and the Dutch-speaking Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. Greenland, which is politically associated with Denmark and where Danish is spoken, is often treated as a part of Europe, even though geographically it is North American.

Definitions for what Latin America comprises vary. From a sociopolitical perspective, Latin America generally includes territories in the Americas where Spanish or Portuguese prevail: Mexico and most of Central America, South America, and (per land area and population) the Caribbean. This is synonymous with Ibero-America. Territories where other Romance languages such as French (e.g., Quebec in Canada) or derivatives like Papiamento or Kreyol predominate are frequently not reckoned as parts of Latin America, despite French origins of the concept. Sometimes, particularly in the United States, the term "Latin America" is used to refer to all of the Americas south of the U.S., including countries such as Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados and Suriname where non-Romance languages prevail. Conversely, it is often used in Brazil to designate the Spanish-speaking countries within this area.

Geopolitically, Latin America is divided into 20 independent countries and several dependent territories. Brazil is by far the largest country of Latin America, both in area and population. Its official language, Portuguese, sets it apart from other Latin American countries, which predominately use Spanish as their official language.