Americas (terminology)

Last updated
Subdivisions of the Americas
MapLegend
LocationNSAm.png
  North America (NA)
  South America (SA)
  May be included in
       either NA or SA
LocationNSAm2.png
  North America (NA)
  May be included in NA
  Central America
  Caribbean
  South America
LocationNSAm3.png
  North America (NA)
  May be included in NA

       Northern America

  Middle America (MA)
  Caribbean (may be
        included in MA)
  South America (SA)
  May be included
        in MA or SA
LocationNSAngloLatin.png
  Anglo-America (A-A)
  May be included in A-A
  Latin America (LA)
  May be included in LA

The Americas, also known as America, [1] are lands of the Western Hemisphere, composed of numerous entities and regions variably defined by geography, politics, and culture.

Contents

The Americas are recognized in the English-speaking world to include two separate continents: North America and South America. In parts of Europe and Latin America, America is considered to be a single continent, within which North and South America are regions. [2]

Physical geography

Human geography

Geographical or geopolitical regions

United Nations geoscheme

United Nations geoscheme for the Americas
LocationNSAmUNGeoscheme.png
  Caribbean
  Central America
  Northern America
  South America

Within this scheme, the continent of America includes Northern America, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. [19]

Political divisions

United States of America LocationWHUnitedStatesofAmerica.png
United States of America
 
Confederate States of America (1861-1865) LocationWHConfederateStatesofAmerica.png
Confederate States of America (1861-1865)
Federal Republic of Central America (1823-1840) LocationWHFederalRepublicofCentralAmerica.png
Federal Republic of Central America (1823-1840)
West Indies Federation (1958-1962) LocationWHWestIndiesFederation.png
West Indies Federation (1958-1962)

Linguistic/cultural regions

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central America</span> Subregion of the Americas

Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering the United States and the Gulf of Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually defined as consisting of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Within Central America is the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends northern Guatemala to southeastern Panama. Due to the presence of several active geologic faults and the Central America Volcanic Arc, there is a high amount of seismic activity in the region, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, which has resulted in death, injury, and property damage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North America</span> Continent in the Northern Hemisphere

North America is a continent in the Northern and Western Hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. The region includes the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Clipperton Island, Greenland, Mexico, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Americas</span> Landmass comprising North and South America

The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Caribbean</span>

The history of the Caribbean reveals the region's significant role in the colonial struggles of the European powers since the 15th century. In the modern era, it remains strategically and economically important. In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean and claimed the region for Spain. The following year, the first Spanish settlements were established in the Caribbean. Although the Spanish conquests of the Aztec empire and the Inca empire in the early sixteenth century made Mexico and Peru more desirable places for Spanish exploration and settlement, the Caribbean remained strategically important.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European colonization of the Americas</span>

During the Age of Discovery, a large scale colonization of the Americas, involving a number of European countries, took place primarily between the late 15th century and the early 19th century. The Norse explored and colonized areas of Europe and the North Atlantic, colonizing Greenland and creating a short term settlement near the northern tip of Newfoundland circa 1000 AD. However, due to its long duration and importance, the later colonization by the European powers involving the continents of North America and South America is more well-known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser Antilles</span> Archipelago in the Southeast Caribbean

The Lesser Antilles are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea forming part of the Caribbean islands or West Indies. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc which begins east of Puerto Rico at the archipelago of the Virgin Islands, swings southeast through the Leeward and Windward Islands towards South America, and turns westward through the Leeward Antilles along the Venezuelan coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subregion</span> Part of a larger geographical region or continent

A subregion is a part of a larger geographical region or continent. Cardinal directions are commonly used to define subregions. There are many criteria for creating systems of subregions; this article is focusing on the United Nations geoscheme, which is a changing, constantly updated, UN tool based on specific political geography and demography considerations relevant in UN statistics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern America</span> Northernmost subregion of North America

Northern America is the northernmost subregion of North America as well as the northernmost region in the Americas. The boundaries may be drawn significantly differently depending on the source of the definition. In one definition, it lies directly north of Middle America. Northern America's land frontier with the rest of North America then coincides with the Mexico–United States border. Geopolitically, according to the United Nations' scheme of geographical regions and subregions, Northern America consists of Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British America</span> Former British territories in North America

British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, and the successor British Empire, in the Americas from 1607 to 1783. These colonies were formally known as British America and the British West Indies immediately prior to thirteen of the colonies seceding in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and forming the United States of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Indies</span> Island region of the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean

The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island countries and 19 dependencies in three archipelagos: the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Lucayan Archipelago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations geoscheme</span> UN system for grouping the worlds 248 countries and territories into regions and subregions

The United Nations geoscheme is a system which divides 248 countries and territories in the world into six continental regions, 22 geographical subregions, and two intermediary regions. It was devised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) based on the M49 coding classification. The creators note that "the assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of North America</span>

North America is the third largest continent, and is also a portion of the third largest supercontinent if North and South America are combined into the Americas and Africa, Europe, and Asia are considered to be part of one supercontinent called Afro-Eurasia. With an estimated population of 580 million and an area of 24,709,000 km2 (9,540,000 mi2), the northernmost of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west; the Atlantic Ocean on the east; the Caribbean Sea on the south; and the Arctic Ocean on the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle America (Americas)</span> Subregion in the middle latitudes of the Americas

Middle America is a subregion in the middle latitudes of the Americas. It usually includes Mexico, the seven countries of Central America, and the 13 island countries and 18 territories of the Caribbean. Together with Northern America, they form the continent of North America.

The languages of North America reflect not only that continent's indigenous peoples, but the European colonization as well. The most widely spoken languages in North America are English, Spanish, and to a lesser extent French, and especially in the Caribbean, creole languages lexified by them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caribbean</span> Region to the east of the Central American region of North America

The Caribbean is a subregion of the Americas that includes the Caribbean Sea and its islands, some of which are surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some of which border both the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean; the nearby coastal areas on the mainland are sometimes also included in the region. The region is south-east of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and north of South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of Turks and Caicos Islands–related articles</span>

The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The military history of North America can be viewed in a number of phases.

References

  1. "America." The Oxford Companion to the English Language ( ISBN   0-19-214183-X). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 33: "[16c: from the feminine of Americus, the Latinized first name of the explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512). A claim is also made for the name of Richard Ameryk, sheriff of Bristol and patron of John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), the 16c Anglo-Italian explorer of North America. The name America first appeared on a map in 1507 by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller, referring to the area now called Brazil]. Since the 16c, a name of the western hemisphere, often in the plural Americas and more or less synonymous with the New World. Since the 18c, a name of the United States of America. The second sense is now primary in English: ... However, the term is open to uncertainties: ..."
  2. Martin W. Lewis; Karen E. Wigen (1997). "Chapter One, The Architecture of Continents". The Myth of Continents. University of California Press. ISBN   0-520-20742-4.
  3. 1 2 "Middle America", Encyclopædia Britannica, on line. Accessed October 12, 2007.
  4. 1 2 3 "Middle America." Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary. Accessed October 11, 2007.
  5. Nord-Amèrica, in Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana Archived 2016-05-15 at the Portuguese Web Archive
  6. "Central America". Encyclopædia Britannica, on line. Accessed October 12, 2007.
  7. "North America". Michigan State University Global Access. Archived from the original on 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
  8. "Joint Statement by Prime Minister Harper, President Bush, and President Calderón". The White House. 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  9. "Citizenship and Human Rights in the North American Region". Centre of North American Politics and Society, Carleton University. 2006-10-05. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  10. "Teaching Geography and Geopolitics". Foreign Policy Research Institute. May 2002. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  11. "North America", MSN Encarta, Microsoft. Accessed on line October 10, 2007. Archived 2009-10-31.
  12. pp. 30–31, Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts, H. J. de Blij and Peter O. Muller, Wiley, 12th ed., 2005 ( ISBN   0-471-71786-X.)
  13. p. 168, Lewis and Wigen.
  14. Burchfield, R. W., ed. 2004. "America." Fowler's Modern English Usage ( ISBN   0-19-861021-1) New York: Oxford University Press, p. 48
  15. McArthur, Tom. 1992."North American." The Oxford Companion to the English Language ( ISBN   0-19-214183-X) New York: Oxford University Press, p. 707.
  16. "Central America", MSN Encarta, Microsoft. Accessed on line October 12, 2007. Archived 2009-10-31.
  17. "Central America", Encyclopedia Americana, Grolier: 2002.
  18. "South America", MSN Encarta, Microsoft. Accessed on line October 12, 2007. Archived 2009-10-31.
  19. Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings. United Nations Statistics Division, Country and Region Codes. Revised August 28, 2007. Accessed on line October 12, 2007.
  20. Mexican Congress Archived 2008-03-15 at the Wayback Machine
  21. Decreto Constitucional para la Libertad de la América Mexicana Archived 2013-05-20 at the Wayback Machine
  22. What's the difference between North, Latin, Central, Middle, South, Spanish and Anglo America? Archived 2016-04-10 at the Wayback Machine Geography at about.com. Accessed on line October 12, 2007.

Sources