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America [for Amerigo Vespucci Vespucci, Amerigo , 1454–1512, Italian navigator in whose honor America was named, b. Florence. He entered the commercial service of the Medici and in 1492 moved to Seville.
..... Click the link for more information. ], the lands of the Western Hemisphere—North America, Central (or Middle) America, and South America. The world map published in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller Waldseemüller, Martin , Gr. Ilacomilus, 1470?–1522?, German cosmographer. One of a group of humanists known as the Gymnasium Vosagense, he lived at Saint-Dié, Lorraine, during the latter part of his life. ..... Click the link for more information. is the first known cartographic use of the name. In English, America and American are frequently used to refer only to the United States. America 1. short for the United States of America 2. the American continent, including North, South, and Central America America apple pie typical, wholesome American dessert. [Am. Culture: Flexner, 68] national bird of the U.S.; native only to North America. [Am. Culture: EB, I: 753] traditional American sport and pastime. [Am. Sports: EB, I: 850] the original Uncle Sam. [Am. Hist.: Hart, 110] Washington’s beleaguered army attacks Trenton; famous event in American history (1776). [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 138] motto of the U.S.: Latin ’one out of many.’ [Am. Culture: RHD, 481]
Independence Day; traditional U.S. holiday; anniversary of adoption of Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776). [Am. Culture: EB, V: 326] symbol of American freedom; at Independence Hall, Philadelphia. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] ship that brought the founding Puritans. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 313] America as the home of many races and cultures. [Am. Pop. Culture: Misc.] the frigate Constitution, symbol of U.S. success in War of 1812, now preserved as a museum. [Am. Hist.: Benét, 733] typical mid-American town. [Am. Culture: Misc.] statement of loyalty to the U. S., inaugurated in 1892 upon 400th anniversary of the discovery of America. [Am. Hist.: WB, P: 508] site of Pilgrim landing in Massachusetts (1620). [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 395–396] traditional dish, especially at Thanksgiving. [Am. Culture: Flexner, 68] the colors of the U. S. flag, used in reference to the flag itself and ideals of patriotism. [Am. Hist.: Misc.] average Americans of middle class. [Am. Culture: Flexner, 375] U.S. national anthem. [Am. Hist.: EB, IX: 532] nickname for the U.S. flag. [Am. Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 8567] great symbolic structure in New York harbor. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] annual U.S. holiday celebrating harvest and yearly blessings; originated with Pilgrims (1621). [Am. Culture: EB, IX: 922] personifies people or government of the United States. [Am. Hist.: Hart, 870–871] (1454–1512) Italian navigator-explorer from whose name America is derived. [Am. Hist.: EB, X: 410] focus of U.S. government, policies, etc. [Am. Hist.: Hart, 899]
(1732–1799) “the Father of our country”; first U.S. President (1789–1797). [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 535–536] official residence of the president of the U.S. in Washington, D.C. [Am. Culture: EB, X: 656] to an American, a New Englander; to a Southern American, any Northerner; to a foreigner, any American. [Am. Hist.: Hart, 953] America a part of the world formed by the two continents of North and South America. America is situated in the western hemisphere between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It includes Greenland, the largest island in the world, and several neighboring islands. The West Indies and Central America (the area between the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Isthmus of Panama) are frequently considered separate parts of North America. Because of the isolation of North and South America from each other, their remoteness from other parts of the world, their sizes, and their radically different natural conditions (despite the similarity of their geological structure and topology), they are considered to be separate continents. The Isthmus of Panama is generally accepted as the boundary line between them. America occupies an area of 42.5 million sq km and had a population of 479 million in 1967. Greenland and the northeast coast of North America were first sighted by the Normans in the tenth and 11th centuries (the initial discovery was made around 900). The Antilles, part of the northern coastline of South America, and the southern part of the Caribbean shore of North America were discovered by Christopher Columbus between 1492 and 1503. (It is speculated that these territories had been sighted long before Columbus’ expedition to the shores of America.) The name “America” was provided by the Lorraine cartographer M. Waldseemüller in 1507 in his book Introduction to Cosmography and was derived from the name of the Florentine Amerigo Vespucci, the first person to suggest that the land discovered in the western hemisphere was a new part of the world. The indigenous population of pre-Columbian America consisted of numerous Indian tribes and nations as well as Eskimos in the far north. The establishment of European control of America entailed the annihilation of a considerable part of the Indian population. In addition, many Indians died as a result of cruel exploitation and disease contracted from the colonists. Today the population of America consists of descendants of European settlers and Africans brought there as slaves (the two are intermixed in most of the countries) and the remainder of the aboriginal Indian population. From the standpoint of anthropology the population of America is extremely diversified, consisting of intermixtures of representatives of the three major races of humanity: the Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid. The intermixture of these components varies throughout the different parts of America. The largest group in America, the Caucasoid group, constitutes about 90 percent of the population of North America and about one-third of that of Latin America. The second largest group—the métis—is composed of descendants of mixed marriages of Indians and Europeans. They constitute the basic population in a number of countries (Mexico, the majority of the Central American republics, Venezuela, Paraguay, and others). The third group—the mulattoes—is the result of intermarriages between Europeans and Africans. This group includes part of the population of Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, the USA, and a number of West Indian countries. There are also groups of mixed Indian-Negroid origin in Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia. The next group, the Negroid, consists of pure (or only slightly mixed) descendants of African Negro slaves. A considerable number of them live in Brazil, and they also constitute the basic population of Haiti, Jamaica, and a majority of the West Indian countries. They also include the Negro population of the USA. The aboriginal population, the Indians, who belong to a particular branch of the Mongoloid race, has survived in a number of regions of Central and South America (in areas of present-day Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Paraguay, Brazil, Mexico, and so forth). In the USA, Canada, and other countries Indians have been settled on reservations specifically created for them. The overwhelming majority of the population of America speaks languages of the Indo-European family. English is the most prevalent language in North America, Spanish in Mexico and in the majority of countries in South and Central America, and Portuguese in Brazil. French is one of the two official languages of Canada and is also predominant in Haiti and a number of the small islands of the West Indies. The major Indian nationalities (Quechua, Aymara, and Aztec) have largely retained their own languages, but this is not true of any of the ethnic groups from Africa. Catholicism is the predominant religion in Latin America. Only a small number of Indian tribes living in inaccessible regions have retained their tribal faiths. In countries composed largely of Negroes and mulattoes, Catholicism incorporates rites derived from the African faiths. In North America, where about one-fourth of the population follows Catholicism, there are also many Protestant churches and sects. Numerically, the major nationalities of America are American, British Canadian, Mexican, Brazilian, Argentinean, Colombian, Chilean, Venezuelan, and Cuban. America consists of 50 countries—that is, separate political units; of these, 26 are independent states and 24 are colonial possessions (see Table 1). The political map of America has changed since World War II. The victorious popular revolution resulted in the foundation of the first socialist state in America—Cuba. New politically sovereign states have been formed in America: Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados.
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