Portal:Latin America

Latin America refers to the regions in the Americas where Romance languages—derived from Latin, such as Spanish, Portuguese, and French—are predominantly spoken. The term is commonly used to describe South America (excluding Suriname, Guyana and the Falkland islands), Central America, Mexico, and most of the islands in the Caribbean. In a narrower sense, it often refers specifically to Spanish America, but it may also include Brazil (Portuguese-speaking America). The term is broader than Hispanic America, which exclusively refers to Spanish-speaking nations, but narrower than Ibero-America, which includes all countries in the Americas with Spanish and Portuguese heritage, 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...) See also: Latino and Ibero-America Show new selections below (purge) Selected panorama Buenos Aires Skyline of the City of Buenos Aires, capital and largest city in Argentina, and the most visited city in South America. This picture shows specifically the district of Puerto Madero. Selected article The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) is the largest living species of tortoise, reaching weights of over 400 kg (880 lb) and lengths of over 1.8 meters (5.9 ft). With life spans in the wild of over 100 years, it is one of the longest-lived vertebrates. A captive individual lived at least 170 years. The tortoise is native to seven of the Galápagos Islands, a volcanic archipelago about 1,000 km (620 mi) west of the Ecuadorian mainland. Spanish explorers who discovered the islands in the 16th century named them after the Spanish galápago, meaning tortoise. Shell size and shape vary between populations. On islands with humid highlands, the tortoises are larger, with domed shells and short necks. On islands with dry lowlands, the tortoises are smaller, with "saddleback" shells and long necks. These island-to-island differences played a role in the inception of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Tortoise numbers declined from over 250,000 in the 16th century to a low of around 3,000 in the 1970s. The decline was caused by hunting for tortoise meat and oil, habitat clearance for agriculture, and introduction of non-native animals such as rats, goats, and pigs. Seven subspecies of the original ten survive in the wild. An eighth subspecies (C. n. abingdonii) has only a single living individual, in captivity, nicknamed Lonesome George. Conservation efforts beginning in the 20th century have resulted in thousands of captive-bred juveniles being released onto their home islands, and it is estimated that numbers exceeded 19,000 at the start of the 21st century. Despite this rebound, the species as a whole is classified as "Vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Did you know... Latin America 1 Latin America 2 Latin America 3 Latin America 4 Latin America 5 Latin America 6 Latin America 7 Latin America 8 Latin America 9 Latin America 10 Latin America 11 Latin America 12 Latin America 13 Latin America 14 Usage These "Did you know..." subpages are randomly displayed using {{Random subpage}}. Add a new DYK to the next available subpage. Update the "Random subpage" start and end values above to include the new DYK and evenly distribute the number of items across all three display templates. Subportals for geopolitical entities Territories (in bold), dependencies, and subnational entities of a country not located primarily in Latin America are italicized. 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 Guadeloupe Guatemala Honduras Guyana Haiti Honduras 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 Latin American News February 19, Ecuador: Lenín Moreno defeats Guillermo Lasso (both pictured) in the Ecuadorian general election, but both will go to a runoff election.The Guardian October 2, Colombia: A referendum rejected the peace deals with the FARC (pictured), by 50.2% to 49.8%.BBC August 25, Colombia: The Colombian conflict comes to an end with a peace deal between the government of Colombia and the FARC.The Guardian August 5, Brazil: The 2016 Summer Olympics open in Rio de Janeiro. June 7, Peru: Pedro Pablo Kuczynski narrowly defeats Keiko Fujimori in the presidential elections.The Guardian May 31, Organization of American States: Luis Almagro, head of the Organization of American States, request an evaluation of democracy in venezuela, which may cause their suspension from the body.The Guardian May 31, Brazil: Fabiano Silveira, minister of acting president Michel Temer, resigns after scandal of leaked tapes.The Guardian Selected picture Guna woman selling Molas in Panama City Mola (art form) Credit: Markus Leupold-Löwenthal The mola or molas, forms part of the traditional outfit of a Kuna woman, two mola panels being incorporated as front and back panels in a blouse. The full costume traditionally includes a patterned wrapped skirt (saburet), a red and yellow headscarf (musue), arm and leg beads (wini), a gold nose ring (olasu) and earrings in addition to the mola blouse (dulemor). In Dulegaya, the Kuna's native language, "mola" means "shirt" or "clothing". The mola originated with the tradition of Kuna women painting their bodies with geometrical designs, using available natural colors; in later years these same designs were woven in cotton, and later still, sewn using cloth bought from the European settlers of Panama. 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