The Americas, or America,[1][2] (Spanish Countries where Spanish has official status. States of the U.S. where Spanish has no official status but is spoken by 25% or more of the population. States of the U.S. where Spanish has no official status but is spoken by 10-20% of the population. States of the U.S. where Spanish has no official status but is spoken by 5-9.9% of the population: América, Portuguese Portuguese ( português or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that grew from the Latin descended Galician-Portuguese language that was spoken in the mediaeval Kingdom of Galicia, whose territory is now divided between northern Portugal, Galicia and Asturias. It also absorbed influences from the Romance and Arabic languages spoken in the: América, French French is a Romance language spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide. Around 190 million people speak French as a second language, and an additional 200 million speak it as an acquired foreign language. French speaking communities are present in 57 countries and territories. Most native speakers of the language live in: Amérique, Quechua Quechua is a Native American language family spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably some 6 to 8 million speakers . Some speakers of Quechua also call it 'runa: Awya yala, Guarani Guaraní is a Native American macrolanguage, or dialect chain, spoken in Paraguay and parts of Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil: Amérika, Aymara Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over a million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia. It is also spoken to a much lesser extent in Chile and in Northwest Argentina: Awya Yala, Nahuatl Nahuatl (Nahuatl pronunciation: [ˈnaː.watɬ] , with stress on the first syllable) is a group of related languages and dialects of the Nahuan (traditionally called "Aztecan") branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Collectively they are spoken by an estimated 1.5 million Nahua people, most of whom live in Central Mexico. All Nahuan: Ixachitlān, Dutch Dutch ( Nederlands ) is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language and over 5 million people as a second language. Most native speakers live in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, with smaller groups of speakers in parts of France, Germany and several former Dutch colonies. It is closely related to other: Amerika) are lands in the Western hemisphere The Western Hemisphere, also Western hemisphere or western hemisphere, is a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian , the other half being the eastern hemisphere. It is also used to specifically refer to the Americas (or the New World) and adjacent waters, while excluding other territories that lie, also known as the New World The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans[note], who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia, and Africa . The term "New World" should not be confused with "modern, comprising the continents A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia of North America North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the southeast and South America South America is the southern continent of America, situated in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest with their associated islands An island or isle (/ˈaɪl/) is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot, /ˈaɪ.ət/. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago and regions Region is most commonly a geographical term that is used in various ways among the different branches of geography. In general, a region may be seen as a collection of smaller units or as one part of a larger whole (as in "the New England region of the United States"). Regions can be defined by physical characteristics, human. The plural form the Americas is often used in English, as the singular America is ambiguous: America is more commonly used to refer to the United States of America ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language.[2][3] The Americas cover 8.3% of the Earth's total surface area (28.4% of its land area) and contain about 13.5% of the human population (about 900 million people).
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History
CIA political map of the Americas in an equal-area projection A map projection is any method of representing the surface of a sphere or other shape on a plane. Map projections are necessary for creating maps. All map projections distort the surface in some fashion. Depending on the purpose of the map, some distortions are acceptable and others are not; therefore different map projections exist in order to Main article: History of the Americas The history of the Americas is the collective history of North and South America, including Central America and the Caribbean. It begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an Ice Age. These groups are generally believed to have been isolated from peoples of the "Old World" until the coming of Europeans inFormation
South America broke off from the west of the supercontinent In geology, a supercontinent is a landmass comprising more than one continental core, or craton. The assembly of cratons and accreted terranes that form Eurasia qualifies as a supercontinent today Gondwanaland Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, is the name given to a southern precursor supercontinent. Its final geological suturing occurred between ca. 570 and 510 million years ago (Ma), joining East Gondwana to West Gondwana. It later separated from Laurasia 180-200 million years ago during the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent that existed about 50 around 135 million years ago (Ma A year is the orbital period of the Earth moving around the Sun. For an observer on Earth, this corresponds to the period it takes the Sun to complete one course throughout the zodiac along the ecliptic), forming its own continent.[4] Starting around 15 Ma, the collision of the Caribbean Plate The Caribbean Plate is a mostly oceanic tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America and the Pacific Plate The north-eastern side is a divergent boundary with the Explorer Plate, the Juan de Fuca Plate and the Gorda Plate forming respectively the Explorer Ridge, the Juan de Fuca Ridge and the Gorda Ridge. In the middle of the eastern side is a transform boundary with the North American Plate along the San Andreas Fault, and a boundary with the Cocos resulted in the emergence of a series of volcanoes along the border that created a number of islands. The gaps in the archipelago of Central America Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. Central America is considered to be part of the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, excluding the southern portions of Panama filled in with material eroded off North America and South America, plus new land created by continued volcanism. By 3 Ma, the continents of North America and South America were linked by the Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It was formed some 3 million years ago during the Pliocene epoch. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal. Like many isthmuses, it is a, thereby forming the single landmass of the Americas.[5]
Settlement
For more details on theories of Paleo-Indian migration, see Models of migration to the New World There have been several models of migration to the New World proposed by various academic communities. The question of how, when and why humans (Paleo-Indians) first entered the Americas is of intense interest to archaeologists and anthropologists, and has been a subject of heated debate for centuries. Current understanding of human migration into.The specifics of Paleo-Indian The Lithic peoples or Paleo-Indians are the earliest known humans of the Americas. The period's name derives from the appearance of "lithic flaked" stone tools migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion.[6] The traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge The Bering land bridge was a land bridge roughly 1,000 miles north to south at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times during the Pleistocene ice ages. It was not glaciated because snowfall was extremely light due to the southwesterly winds from the Pacific Ocean having lost their moisture over the between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 40,000–17,000 years ago, when sea levels were significantly lowered due to the Quaternary glaciation Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, the current ice age or simply the ice age, refers to the period of the last few million years in which permanent ice sheets were established in Antarctica and perhaps Greenland, and fluctuating ice sheets have occurred elsewhere (for example, the Laurentide ice sheet). The major.[6][7] These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2.588 million to 12,000 years BP covering the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek πλεῖστος (pleistos "most") and καινός (kainos "new") megafauna In terrestrial zoology, megafauna are "giant", "very large" or "large" animals. Their original and most common definition is 100 lb, often rounded in the metric system to 40 or 45 kg. This thus includes many species not popularly thought of as overly large, such as white-tailed deer and red kangaroo, as well as humans along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide The Laurentide Ice Sheet was a massive sheet of ice that covered hundreds of thousands of square miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the northern United States, between c. 95,000 and c. 20,000 years before the present day. Its southern margin included the modern sites of New York City and Chicago, and then followed quite and Cordilleran ice sheets.[8] Another route proposed is that, either on foot or using primitive boats A boat is a watercraft of modest size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is something small enough to be carried aboard another, they migrated down the Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest is a region in western North America, bound by the Pacific Ocean to the west. Always included are the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon, and the Canadian province of British Columbia. Southeast Alaska, Idaho, western Montana and northern California are often included coast to South America South America is the southern continent of America, situated in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest.[9] Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by a sea level rise Current sea level rise has occurred at a mean rate of 1.8 mm per year for the past century, and more recently, during the satellite era of sea level measurement, at rates estimated near 2.8 ± 0.4 to 3.1 ± 0.7 mm per year . Current sea level rise is due significantly to global warming, which will increase sea level over the coming century and of hundreds of meters following the last ice age.[10]
Archaeologists contend that Paleo-Indians migration out of Beringia (eastern Alaska Alaska is one of two U.S. states not bordered by another state; Hawaii the other. Alaska has more ocean coastline than all of the other U.S. states combined. It is one of two non-contiguous states in North America; Hawaii the other. About 500 miles of Canadian territory separate Alaska from Washington State. Alaska is thus an exclave of the United), ranges from 40,000 to around 16,500 years ago.[11][12][13] This time range is a hot source of debate and will be for years to come. The few agreements achieved to date are the origin from Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent, with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the last glacial period The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age occurring during the last years of the Pleistocene, or more specifically what is known as the late glacial maximum The Late Glacial Maximum is defined primarily by climates in the northern hemisphere warming substantially, causing a process of accelerated deglaciation following the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 25,000-13,000 years before the present). It is at this time that human populations, previously forced into refuge areas as a result of Last Glacial Maximum, around 16,000–13,000 years before present.[13][14]
The Inuit The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark (Greenland), Russia (Siberia) and the United States (Alaska). The Inuit language is grouped under Eskimo-Aleut languages. An Inuk is an Inuit person migrated into the Arctic The Arctic is the region around the Earth's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. The Arctic includes the Arctic Ocean (which overlies the North Pole) and parts of Canada, Greenland (a territory of Denmark), Russia, the United States (Alaska), Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland section of North America in another wave of migration, arriving around 1000 CE.[15] Around the same time as the Inuit migrated into North America, Viking settlers The Norse colonization of the Americas began as early as the 10th century, when Norse sailors explored and settled areas of the North Atlantic, including the northeastern fringes of North America began arriving in Greenland b. ^ Greenland, the Faeroes and Iceland were formally Norwegian possessions until 1814 despite 400 years of Danish monarchy beforehand in 982 and Vinland There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings reached North America approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus. In 1960 archaeological evidence of the only known Norse settlement in North America was found at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland, in what is now the Canadian shortly thereafter, establishing a settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows L'Anse aux Meadows is an archaeological site on the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Discovered in 1960, it is the only known site of a Norse village in North America outside of Greenland. The site remains the only widely-accepted instance of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact,, near the northernmost tip of Newfoundland Newfoundland (pronounced /ˈnjuːfənlænd/ ( listen); French: Terre-Neuve, Irish: Talamh an Éisc) is a large Canadian island 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) off the east coast of North America, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.[16] The Viking settlers quickly abandoned Vinland, and disappeared from Greenland by 1500.[17]
Pre-Columbian era
Main article: Pre-Columbian era The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during the Early Modern period Mississippian site in Arkansas, Parkin Site Parkin Archeological State Park, also known as Parkin Indian Mound, is an archeological site and state park in Parkin, Cross County, Arkansas. Around 1350–1650 CE an aboriginal palisaded village existed at the site, at the confluence of the St. Francis and Tyronza Rivers. Artifacts from this site are on display at the site museum. The Parkin, circa 1539. Illustration by Herb Roe.The pre-Columbian era The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during the Early Modern period incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic to European colonization during the Early Modern period.
Pre-Columbian is used especially often in the context of the great indigenous civilizations of the Americas, such as those of Mesoamerica (the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacano, the Zapotec, the Mixtec, the Aztec, and the Maya) and the Andes (Inca, Moche, Chibcha, Cañaris).
Many pre-Columbian civilizations established characteristics and hallmarks which included permanent or urban settlements, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, and complex societal hierarchies. Some of these civilizations had long faded by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (c. late 15th–early 16th centuries), and are known only through archaeological investigations. Others were contemporary with this period, and are also known from historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Maya, had their own written records. However, most Europeans of the time viewed such texts as heretical, and much was destroyed in Christian pyres. Only a few hidden documents remain today, leaving modern historians with glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge.[18]
According to both indigenous American and European accounts and documents, American civilizations at the time of European encounter possessed many impressive accomplishments. For instance, the Aztecs built one of the most impressive cities in the world, Tenochtitlan, the ancient site of Mexico City, with an estimated population of 200,000. American civilizations also displayed impressive accomplishments in astronomy and mathematics.[19]
European colonization of the Americas
Main article: European colonization of the AmericasLarge-scale European colonization of the Americas began shortly after the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The spread of new diseases brought by Europeans and Africans killed many of the inhabitants of North America and South America,[20][21] with a general population crash of Native Americans occurring in the mid-16th century, often well ahead of European contact.[22] Native peoples and European colonizers came into widespread conflict, resulting in what David Stannard has called a genocide of the indigenous populations.[23] Early European immigrants were often part of state-sponsored attempts to found colonies in the Americas. Migration continued as people moved to the Americas fleeing religious persecution or seeking economic opportunities. Millions of individuals were forcibly transported to the Americas as slaves, prisoners or indentured servants.
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Sat, 28 Aug 2010 06:05:29 GMT+00:00
Salt Lake Tribune Thank you, Salt Lake City, for your help in the recovery of one of America's most resilient and culturally unique cities, New Orleans. Today, Aug. ... Thanks to San Antonio for helping New Orleans San Antonio Express
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here Don t ask me to explain the retarded directory name You can click on the links in this email which brings the maps up in your browser and follow along side by side First the Americas Not a hellava lot of surprises here There are the nearly legendary Texas Oklahoma oil deposits from whose bounty all our oil tycoons got their start Also visible are the
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Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:15:04 GM
Watch Ghost Hunters Season 6 Episode 12 s06e12 . America's. First Zoo Free Online Stream. Give yourself some more time to rejoice and laugh with Ghost Hunters.
Q. If you really think about it in Europe they already built big castles and ships and were more civilized and were way ahead than the people in the Americas ( Indians, Aztecs, Mayas, and all the cultures south ). My question is why?? How come this happen?
Asked by Shadow - Tue Feb 5 13:19:13 2008 - - 9 Answers - 0 Comments
A. Earlier answers have steered you in the right direction... it has everythingto do with exposure to other cultures and technology. Before the 13th Century, Europeans were in fact at constant war with each other and completely surrounded by their enemies and a vast ocean. As one of my history professor's once said: "At this time, the only worthwhile countries in Europe were Spain and Portugal, and that is due to the influence the Moors had on them". What the Spaniards and Portugese and later the Dutch, French and English did right was advance technologies based on their constant use in warfare. (Amongst the most important were advances in the construction of seaworthy sails and improvements on cannon and cartography, which allowed them to… [cont.]
Answered by leo0426 - Tue Feb 5 14:30:02 2008
