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 Recognized content - Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards. San Lorenzo Colossal Head 4, now at the Museo de Antropología de Xalapa The Olmec colossal heads are stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. They range in height from 1.17 to 3.4 metres (3.8 to 11.2 ft). The heads date from at least 900 BC and are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. All portray mature individuals with fleshy cheeks, flat noses, and slightly-crossed eyes; their physical characteristics correspond to a type that is still common among the inhabitants of Tabasco and Veracruz. The backs of the monuments are often flat. The boulders were brought from the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas mountains of Veracruz. Given that the extremely large slabs of stone used in their production were transported more than 150 kilometres (93 mi), requiring a great deal of human effort and resources, it is thought that the monuments represent portraits of powerful individual Olmec rulers. Each of the known examples has a distinctive headdress. The heads were variously arranged in lines or groups at major Olmec centres, but the method and logistics used to transport the stone to these sites remain unclear. The heads all display distinctive headgear and one theory is that these were worn as protective helmets, maybe worn for war or to take part in a ceremonial Mesoamerican ballgame. (Full article...) List of recognized articles South American dreadnought race The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (film) Cerro Azul (Chile volcano) ARA Moreno Rongorongo Andean condor Galápagos tortoise Chagas disease Spanish conquest of Petén 1910 Cuba hurricane Spanish conquest of Guatemala Pedro II of Brazil List of international goals scored by Javier Hernández Sésamo Latin American Boom Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903 Venezuelan refugee crisis Argentine–Chilean naval arms race Violeta Chamorro Néstor Kirchner Carmen Casco de Lara Castro Pedro I of Brazil Uruguayan War Empire of Brazil 1930 FIFA World Cup Maya civilization Maya stelae Nahuatl Cantons of Costa Rica Armero tragedy Nevado del Ruiz The General in His Labyrinth Fauna of Puerto Rico Luis Aparicio Award El Hatillo Municipality Effects of Hurricane Ivan in the Lesser Antilles and South America Norte Chico civilization Peru national football team Mario Vargas Llosa List of World Heritage Sites in Peru Mayor of Pichilemu May Revolution Juan Manuel de Rosas Pisco sour Calabozos Chilean battleship Almirante Latorre Cerro Azul (Chile volcano) Payún Matrú 2013 Rosario gas explosion Evo Morales Pedro II of Brazil Princess Maria Amélia of Brazil Mário de Andrade Thalassodromeus Lundomys 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix List of Golden Martín Fierro Award winners Guianan cock-of-the-rock Suriname at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Copa Libertadores Spanish American wars of independence Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos Guyana at the 2008 Summer Olympics Demerara rebellion of 1823 Dictator novel Augusto Roa Bastos Venezuelan crisis of 1895 Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Capybara Revolt of the Comuneros (Paraguay) Lake Tauca Topics More did you know - ... that Guinea pigs are so important to Andean cuisine that a painting of the Last Supper in Cusco shows Jesus eating one? WikiProjects WikiProject South America WikiProject Latin America (semi-active) Selected article - San Isidro skyline Lima (/ˈliːmə/ ⓘ LEE-mə; locally [ˈlima]), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (locally [sjuˈdat de los ˈreʝes], Spanish for "City of Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of the country, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The city is considered the political, cultural, financial and commercial center of Peru. Due to its geostrategic importance, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network has categorized it as a "beta" tier city. Jurisdictionally, the metropolis extends mainly within the province of Lima and in a smaller portion, to the west, within the Constitutional Province of Callao, where the seaport and the Jorge Chávez Airport are located. Both provinces have regional autonomy since 2002. The 2023 census projection indicates that the city of Lima has an estimated population of 10,092,000 inhabitants, making it the most populated city in the country, and the second most populous in the Americas after São Paulo. Together with the seaside city of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima Metropolitan Area, which encompasses a total of 10,151,200 inhabitants. When considering the constitutional province of Callao, the total agglomeration reaches a population of 11,342,100 inhabitants, one of the thirty most populated urban agglomerations in the world. The city is marked by severe urban segregation between the poor pueblos jóvenes, populated in large part by immigrants from the Andean highlands, and wealthy neighbourhoods. From 1985 onwards, barriers known as "walls of shame" run across much of the city separating rich areas from the poor. (Full article...) List of selected articles Flag of Mexico Peru Argentina Brazil Chile Dominican Republic Nicaragua Colombia Mexico Costa Rica Latin Americans Honduras Cuba Guatemala Race and ethnicity in Latin America 2010 Ecuador crisis Venezuelan protests (2014–present) Mesoamerica History of Guatemala 2010 Copiapó mining accident Indictment and arrest of Augusto Pinochet 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis Mary Wilhelmine Williams Foreign policy of the Ollanta Humala administration Guayabera Responses to the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis Augusto Pinochet Panama Canal Zone Panama Panama Canal International sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis Latin America–United Kingdom relations Deportation of Germans from Latin America during World War II Canada–Latin America relations Tegucigalpa Women in Latin music Capture of the sloop Anne White Latin Americans Day of the Dead Suriname Bolivia Paraguay 2014 Venezuelan protests Military dictatorship in El Salvador Canada–Latin America relations Hugo Chávez Nicolás Maduro 2018 Panama–Venezuela diplomatic crisis 2016 Peruvian general election COVID-19 pandemic in South America 2010 Colombia–Venezuela diplomatic crisis 2011–2013 Chilean student protests Pancho Villa Deforestation in Central America San Salvador Second French intervention in Mexico Mabel Moraña San José, Costa Rica Mexican cuisine Belize City Guatemalan Civil War Guatemala City Panama Papers Montevideo Bogotá Amazon River Amazon rainforest Emperor tamarin Santiago Brasília Santo Domingo Mexico City Managua Asunción Caracas Havana Quito LATAM Chile Kingston, Jamaica Sucre La Paz Rio de Janeiro São Paulo Buenos Aires Córdoba, Argentina Economy of South America Coffee production in Brazil Andes Latino (demonym) Latin Americans Latin music Banana Wars LGBT cinema in Latin America Ethnic groups in Latin America HIV/AIDS in Latin America Feminism in Latin America Mestizo Latin American economy Latin American art Did you know (auto-generated) ... that Tural, the setting of the expansion pack Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, is inspired by Latin America and Southeast Asia? ... that Franz Grave, the first bishop of Essen born in Essen, focused on intercultural dialogue with Latin America? ... that Brazilian computer science researcher and internet pioneer Tadao Takahashi negotiated with drug lords to install internet equipment in his country? ... that UK prime minister Rishi Sunak complained when a joint declaration was made at a summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States that used the term Islas Malvinas? General images The following are images from various Latin America-related articles on Wikipedia. Mexican Stock Exchange (from Culture of Latin America) Che Guevara Cuban revolutionary poster (from History of Latin America) In 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) Agrarian reform poster, Guatemala 1952 (from History of Latin America) Roll-on/roll-offships, such as this one pictured here at Miraflores locks, are among the largest ships to pass through the Panama Canal. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. (from History of Latin America) The Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida is the second largest in the world, after only of the Basilica of Saint Peter in Vatican City. (from Culture of Latin America) Calls for justice in the wake of the Guatemalan genocide (from History of Latin America) Holy week, Ouro Preto-MG, 2010. Chrome. Photo: Guy Veloso. (from Culture of Latin America) Fiambre, Guatemalan traditional dish, eaten on November 1, the Day of the Dead (from Culture of Latin America) Plaquita, 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) The joropo, as depicted in a 1912 drawing by Eloy Palacios (from Culture of Latin America) Countries in Latin America by date of independence (from History of Latin America) Comandanta Ramona of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, Mexico (from History of Latin America) Pope Paul VI and Salvadoran cleric Oscar Romero (now St Oscar Romero) (from History of Latin America) A 17th-century map of the Americas (from History of Latin America) Exhumation of corpses in the aftermath of the Guatemalan genocide (from History of Latin America) Fidel Castro and his men in the Sierra Maestra, 2 December 1956 (from History of Latin America) The Guadalajara International Film Festival is considered the most prestigious film festival in Latin America. (from Culture of Latin America) Left-leaning leaders of Bolivia, Brazil and Chile at the Union of South American Nations summit in 2008 (from History of Latin America) Instituto Arnoldo Gabaldón, declared August 30, 1984, as a National Historic Landmark (from Culture of Latin America) 1903 political cartoon: President Roosevelt intimidating Colombia to acquire the Panama Canal Zone. (from History of Latin America) Intermediate level international-style Latin dancing at the 2006 MIT ballroom dance competition. A judge stands in the foreground. (from Culture of Latin America) The name Augusto Sandino, Nicaraguan nationalist hero for his struggle against the United States, was taken by leftist guerrillas as the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). (from History of Latin America) Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (from History of Latin America) Villa de Leyva, a historical and cultural landmark of Colombia (from Culture of Latin America) Map of Countries in Latin America with Socialist regimes during the Cold War c. 1985 (from History of Latin America) Monument to Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City (from Culture of Latin America) Selected panorama Torres del Paine and the Grey Glacier The Grey Glacier and Grey Lake left of the Cordillera del Paine in Torres del Paine National Park in the Chilean Patagonia. 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. Categories Category puzzle Select [►] to view subcategories Latin America Ibero-America South America Countries in Latin America Crime in Latin America Culture of Latin America Drugs in Latin America Education in Latin America Foreign relations of Latin America Gender in Latin America Latin American history History of Latin America Human rights in Latin America Latin America-related lists Mesoamerica Military history of Latin America Oil fields of Latin America Organizations based in Latin America Latin American people Pontifical Commission for Latin America Race in Latin America Spanish language in the Americas Stock exchanges in Latin America Latin American studies Works about Latin America Writers on Latin America Latin American law stubs Countries 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 Related portals North and Central America Caribbean South America Associated Wikimedia More portals Discover Wikipedia using portals List of all portals The arts portal Biography portal Current events portal Geography portal History portal Mathematics portal Science portal Society portal Technology portal Random portal WikiProject Portals