Educate me on USA and South America definitions please

[mrjones2004x]

Hi,
Geography isn’t my strong point and I was googling answers but as a fair chunk of peeps here are from the USA I thought I’d ask.

So I know North American and South America are classed separately.

So America is the north. The south is all the other below such as Brazil Mexico etc.

And from what I’ve read the United States is only the north 50 states?

Why is Brazil and Mexico Argentina and so on called South America when they’re not American they are their own individual countries?

Maybe I’m looking at this all wrong but I seem a bit lost on something that should be real easy.
In England when I went to school we didn’t learn hardly anything about the US or much outside of Europe.

Sorry for my lack of brains

 

[SonVolt]

"North America" is a continent of which the United States, Canada and Mexico belong to. South America is a separate continent entirely. Both are named after Amerigo Vespucci, who was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not part of the East Indies, but an entirely separate landmass. North & South America share likeness in name only.

 

[mcblink]

North America and South America are different continents.

The USA is just one country in North America. Brazil is just one country in South America.

Mexico is a country of states also, the United Mexican States, and there's 31 of them.

 

[PelliX]

I think what throws people off is that Mexico speaks Spanish as does a large portion of South America, together with Portugese. Canada and the US (predominently) speak English.

How on earth [pun intended] would you ever explain this logic to an alien, without a massive history lesson?

 

[SonVolt]

Except for those French Canadian bastards.

 

[PelliX]

Except forAttach files those French Canadian bastards.

IIRC that's pretty much just Quebec, right?

 

[Matthews Guitars]

North America is Canada and the USA, for certain. Depending on who you ask, Mexico may be either part of Central America or North America. Central America spans down to Panama, and below that it's South America all the way down to Argentina.

 

[mrjones2004x]

I nev

North America and South America are different continents.

The USA is just one country in North America. Brazil is just one country in South America.

Mexico is a country of states also, the United Mexican States, and there's 31 of them.

er knew that about Mexico at all. Just thought Mexico was country and that was that.

"North America" is a continent of which the United States, Canada and Mexico belong to. South America is a separate continent entirely. Both are named after Amerigo Vespucci, who was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not part of the East Indies, but an entirely separate landmass. North & South America share likeness in name only.

My mistake there I didn’t mean to write Mexico in the south.

Been a long time since I did geography and I have no idea but I thought America was a continent not two separate ones. Should really know that I guess.

So everything state or country that is within the north or South American continents could be called part of America or could they be called America? What actually is America? Is it just the states?

 

[mcblink]

I nev

er knew that about Mexico at all. Just thought Mexico was country and that was that.



My mistake there I didn’t mean to write Mexico in the south.

Been a long time since I did geography and I have no idea but I thought America was a continent not two separate ones. Should really know that I guess.

So everything state or country that is within the north or South American continents could be called part of America or could they be called America? What actually is America? Is it just the states?

Sort of a misnomer.
Mostly when people say "American" what they're usually referring to is a person from the US. Canadians are known as Canadians, Brazilians are known as Brazilians, etc...Mexican, Guatemalan, on and on....except for Argentina, if I'm not mistaken, they are Argentine, not "Argentinian". Maybe smokey knows lol

But yeah, we're all some type of Americans over here, in a literal sense lol

 

[StrummerJoe]

North America, USA in particular, is where everybody from South America is moving to. Canada is where people from India and Muslims move to in North America.

Mexico is the last country the South Americans travel through on their way to the USA and they get more people to follow them because it's one big house party.


South America is where aliens taught humans how to stack rocks neatly thousands of years ago, and the natives scraped massive lines in the dirt to thank them.

 

[PaulHikeS2]

Americans exclusively refers to the United States of America. Canadians, Mexicans, or Brazilians would not refer to themselves as Americans because America is not part of the name of their country. Americans also does not refer to residents of a specific continent, because there is no continent named America.

 

[mcblink]

I never knew that about Mexico at all. Just thought Mexico was country and that was that.

Well, it is a country, just like the USA is a country and Canada is a country.

Even Canada has different areas/regions. They're known as provinces. Maybe some Canadian or even Mexican member can come and elaborate more for us.

 

[fitz]

How on earth [pun intended] would you ever explain this logic to an alien, without a massive history lesson?

Don't worry, we figured it out.

 

[mrjones2004x]

Americans exclusively refers to the United States of America. Canadians, Mexicans, or Brazilians would not refer to themselves as Americans because America is not part of the name of their country. Americans also does not refer to residents of a specific continent, because there is no continent named America.

If you’re in Europe it’s common for people to say I am European even tho I am English. I don’t like being called British but prefer English. I guess for you guys you say an American is northern American and a Brazilian is South American or Brazilian.
That’s pretty simple. Me shortening it to American doesn’t make sense and it needs its north/south up front

 

[SonVolt]

If you’re in Europe it’s common for people to say I am European even tho I am English. I don’t like being called British but prefer English. I guess for you guys you say an American is northern American and a Brazilian is South American or Brazilian.
That’s pretty simple. Me shortening it to American doesn’t make sense and it needs its north/south up front

European countries are so small by comparison so saying "European" helps even out the difference in land mass (at least for those of us on this side of the pond). I can hop in my car and drive for the next 24 hours straight and wouldn't even be midway across the US yet. If I left Paris and drove the same amount I'd be halfway through the Ukraine!

 

[geddy]

I'm amazed that you didn't learn this in school. World geography was a subject well covered by state schools in my day. It's really not difficult.

 

[mrjones2004x]

European countries are so small by comparison so saying "European" helps even out the difference in land mass (at least for those of us on this side of the pond). I can hop in my car and drive for the next 24 hours straight and wouldn't even be midway across the US yet. If I left Paris and drove the same amount I'd be halfway through the Ukraine!

European is fine. British should be dropped until the Scottish finally have a vote and decide if they want to leave as it’s all we hear about. They said no before and still it goes on.

I'm amazed that you didn't learn this in school. World geography was a subject well covered by state schools in my day. It's really not difficult.

I did geography up till ages 13 or 14 I think. I did history as my chosen subject up till 16 when I left school. We had to chose between 3 which were history, geography and religion studies.
Don’t know how many lessons you guy did but we only took 8 subjects to exams.
English lit
English lang
Maths
Science
Art
Wood work
I.T
History

 

[RCM 800]

Thought I should add that all the little countries in the panhandle north of and including Panama are part of the North American continent. Also most of the islands in the Caribbean.

 

[Seven]

I'm 100% American or more technically, from the US. I work with people from South America (Ecuador and Peru) and for awhile, Colombia. This also includes people from Mexico, which is neither North America or Central America. It's Mexico. Yes, it's hard to wrap your head around sometimes.

Central America is perceived as "in between" by these cultures and each perceives the other as being from somewhere else. Most were very poor where they came from. This may seem logical on the surface and even though Espanol (Spanish) is the general language (except for Brazil) there are noticeable cultural differences between all of them. Even the Spanish Language has variations from location to location.

The differences in appearance also change as you go father south, especially once into South America.

The internet has made us smarter and dumber at the same time. What I mean is this: The US is a very large landmass made up of 50 individual states. Texas alone is huge and a real mother to drive across. (It's like a country-sized state). Mexico is a country that also has individual states and is bigger than I would have ever guessed and very diverse. It also has active volcanos. A lady I work with lived beside one of the volcanos as a child and remembers being woke up from the ground shaking.

South America is still a bit of mystery to me, but I can share that many of the cultures are both traditional and modern. From the images I've seen, the land is amazingly beautiful and the people are taller than in Mexico. In some cases, taller by a foot or more. The women are increasingly beautiful as you enter into South America. Don't ask me why, by I've seen it with my own eyes.

Anyway, I don't know if any of this helps or just confuses things more, but the internet does make everything seem close and easy to get to. That's farther from the truth, especially when behind the wheel driving for days to get nowhere fast.

For example, driving East from Central America to South America is almost impossible. There's a jungle "road" called the Darian Pass or something like that. I think the Conquestadors are still lost on that path and can't find their way out. Look it up. Idiots still try to hack their way across while dodging bullets from the guerrillas. No, not the kind that eat bananas. It's still kind of wild and gringos are less than welcomed.

The parents of the person I know from Ecuador still wash clothes by hand on a old type washboard. They are just now thinking about getting a washer and dryer. Based on the stories I've been told, they have a better quality of life than most of us modern people will ever understand.

Technology doesn't always mean better or good.

 

[RCM 800]

IIRC that's pretty much just Quebec, right?

Some places speak Creole (Haiti) which is basically French.