Latin America refers to a cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily in the form of Spanish and Portuguese (excluding Azores islands), and to a lesser extent, Italian dialects, French (excluding Quebec) and its creoles. There is no precise or official inclusion list. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geography, and as such it includes countries in both North and South America. Most countries south of the United States tend to be included: Mexico and the countries of Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Despite being in the same geographical region, English- and Dutch-speaking countries are sometimes excluded (Suriname, Guyana, the Falkland islands, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, etc.). In a narrower sense, it often refers to Spanish America plus Brazil. Related terms are the narrower Hispanic America, which exclusively refers to Spanish-speaking nations, and the broader Ibero-America, which includes all Iberic countries in the Americas and occasionally European countries like Spain and Portugal.
The term Latin America was first introduced in 1856 at a Paris conference titled Initiative of America: Idea for a Federal Congress of the Republics (Iniciativa de la América. Idea de un Congreso Federal de las Repúblicas). Chilean politician Francisco Bilbao coined the term to unify countries with shared cultural and linguistic heritage. It gained further prominence during the 1860s under the rule of Napoleon III, whose government sought to justify France's intervention in the Second Mexican Empire. Napoleon III extended the term to include French-speaking territories in the Americas, such as French Canada, Haiti, French Louisiana, French Guiana, and the French Antillean Creole Caribbean islands (e.g., Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia, and Dominica). This broader conceptualization aligned with France’s geopolitical ambitions to categorize these regions alongside the predominantly Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of the Americas. (Full article...)
DonaMaria Amélia (1 December 1831 – 4 February 1853) was a princess of the Empire of Brazil and a member of the Brazilian branch of the House of Braganza. Her parents were Emperor DomPedro I, the first ruler of Brazil, and Amélie of Leuchtenberg. The only child of her father's second marriage, Maria Amélia was born in France after Pedro I abdicated the Brazilian throne in favor of his son Dom Pedro II. Before Maria Amélia was a month old, Pedro I went to Portugal to restore the crown of the eldest daughter of his first marriage, Dona Maria II. He fought a successful war against his brother Miguel I, who had usurped Maria II's throne.
Only a few months after his victory, Pedro I died from tuberculosis. Maria Amélia's mother took her to Portugal, where she remained for most of her life without ever visiting Brazil. The Brazilian government refused to recognize Maria Amélia as a member of Brazil's Imperial House because she was foreign-born, but when her elder half-brother Pedro II was declared of age in 1840, he successfully intervened on her behalf. (Full article...)
A casta painting of a Spanish man and an indigenous Mexican woman with their Mestizo child, c. 1763
Mestizo (/mɛˈstiːzoʊ,mɪˈ-/mest-EE-zoh, mist-, Spanish:[mesˈtiθo]or[mesˈtiso]; fem. mestiza, literally 'mixed person') is a person of mixed European and non-European ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though their ancestors were Indigenous American. The term was used as an ethno-racial exonym for mixed-race castas that evolved during the Spanish Empire. It was a formal label for individuals in official documents, such as censuses, parish registers, Inquisition trials, and others. Priests and royal officials might have classified persons as mestizos, but individuals also used the term in self-identification. With the Bourbon reforms and the independence of the Americas, the caste system disappeared and terms like "mestizo" fell in popularity.
The noun mestizaje, derived from the adjective mestizo, is a term for racial mixing that did not come into usage until the 20th century; it was not a colonial-era term. In the modern era, mestizaje is used by scholars such as Gloria Anzaldúa as a synonym for miscegenation, but with positive connotations. (Full article...)
... that Brazilian computer science researcher and internet pioneer Tadao Takahashi negotiated with drug lords to install internet equipment in his country?
Image 21Intermediate level international-style Latin dancing at the 2006 MIT ballroom dance competition. A judge stands in the foreground. (from Culture of Latin America)
Image 22Plaquita, a Dominican street version of cricket. The Dominican Republic was first introduced to cricket through mid-18th century British contact, but switched to baseball after the 1916 American occupation. (from Culture of Latin America)
Image 24In blue countries under right-wing governments and in red countries under left-wing and centre-left governments as of 2023 (from History of Latin America)
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Curaçao
Dominica
Dominican Republic
French Guiana
Ecuador
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Honduras
Guyana
Haiti
Jamaica
Martinique
Mexico
Montserrat
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Puerto Rico
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
Uruguay
Venezuela
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