You can mark you interesting snippets of text that will be available through a unique link in your browser.


Americas

Translation
Americas

▪ continents
also called  America  

      the two continents, North (North America) and South America, of the Western Hemisphere. The climatic zones of the two continents are quite different. In North America, subarctic climate prevails in the north, gradually warming southward and finally becoming tropical near the southern isthmus. In South America, the climate in the north is tropical, becoming cooler southward, and finally becoming a cold, marine climate at Cape Horn.

      The Americas can be roughly divided into two major cultural regions: Latin America (Latin America, history of), which includes North America south of the Rio Grande, the islands of the West Indies, and all of South America; and Anglo-America, which includes Canada and the United States. The term Middle America is sometimes used to designate Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies collectively.

      The name America is derived from that of the Italian explorer and friend of Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci (Vespucci, Amerigo), who made several voyages to the Western Hemisphere and, perhaps more important, described his travels there in letters to friends in Italy. One of these letters, published in 1504, used the term “Mundus Novus” (“New World”) in referring to South America. The letter circulated from hand to hand, and a copy reached the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller (Waldseemüller, Martin), who was apparently unaware of Columbus' voyage of 1498, during which he had discovered the continent of South America. Waldseemüller included some of Vespucci's writings in his Cosmographiae introductio (1507; Introduction to Cosmography) and observed that “another fourth part [of the inhabited earth] had been discovered by Americus Vespucius,” and he suggested that the new land be called America, in recognition of that explorer's voyages. Waldseemüller's book was widely read, and the new appellation was eventually universally accepted.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

  
Share  

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Americas — Area 42,549,000 km2 …   Wikipedia

  • Americas — noun North America, Central America and South America considered as a single entity (usually the Americas). Syn: New World …   Wiktionary

  • Americas — Америка …   Большой англо-русский и русско-английский словарь

  • Americas — America Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Americas — Макаров: Америка …   Универсальный англо-русский словарь

  • Americas — USA: A …   Универсальный русско-английский словарь

  • Americas Quarterly — is an American policy journal founded in 2007 and dedicated to deepening policy analysis and debate on economics, finance, and politics in the Western Hemisphere. It is published four times a year by the Americas Society and Council of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Americas Tower — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Americas Tower Vista del Americas Tower Información Ubicación …   Wikipedia Español

  • Americas Towers Hotel Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires) — Americas Towers Hotel Buenos Aires country: Argentina, city: Buenos Aires (City Centre) Americas Towers Hotel Buenos Aires The Americas Towers Hotel Buenos Aires is located in La Recoleta, a very elegant area and a few metres away from Julio… …   International hotels

  • Americas Best Inn & Suites Salt Lake City (Salt Lake City/Park City) — Americas Best Inn & Suites Salt Lake City country: United States, city: Salt Lake City/Park City (Central Location) Americas Best Inn & Suites Salt Lake City Location Americas Best Inn & Suites is placed closed to Salt Lake City and is just a… …   International hotels