ABSTRACT
Geographically speaking, there are two continents that carry the name America: One is South America, which refers to all the territory south of Panama, and the other is North America, comprising three countries—Mexico, the United States, and Canada. In all of the Americas, there are three countries named for a specific historic person. In contemporary days, many citizens of the United States of America assume that they are “Americans” and that the word “American” distinguishes them from other peoples of other nations. The Treaty of Tordesillas essentially set the boundaries between Portuguese America and Spanish America. The term “Latin America” originated in nineteenth century France: the French, trying to increase their world profile, especially after 1848, applied a linguistic categorization to America and referred to all territories in the Americas with Latin-derivative languages as “Latin America.”.
