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| Area | 21,951,000 km2 (8,475,000 sq mi) |
|---|---|
| Population | 670,230,000 |
| Demonym | Latin American andCaribbean |
| Countries |
|
| Dependencies | |
| Languages | Spanish,Portuguese,English,French,Dutch |
| Time zones | UTC−02:00 toUTC−08:00 |
| UN M49 code | 419 – Latin America and the Caribbean |
The termLatin America and the Caribbean (LAC[1]) is anEnglish-languageacronym referring to theLatin American and theCaribbean region. The term LAC covers an extensive region, extending fromThe Bahamas andMexico toArgentina andChile. The region has over 670,230,000 people as of 2016[update],[citation needed] and spanned for 21,951,000 square kilometres (8,475,000 sq mi).[citation needed]
Various countries within theLatin American and theCaribbean region do not use eitherSpanish,Portuguese orFrench as official languages, but ratherEnglish orDutch.[citation needed]
*Disputed territory administered by theUnited States,claimed byHaiti.
Anguilla (United Kingdom)
Antigua and Barbuda
Barbados
British Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
Dominica
Dutch Caribbean
Federal Dependencies (Venezuela)
Grenada
Guadeloupe (France)
Martinique (France)
Montserrat (United Kingdom)
Nueva Esparta (Venezuela)
Saint Barthélemy (France)
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin (France)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Spanish Virgin Islands (Puerto Rico)
Trinidad and Tobago
U.S. Virgin Islands (United States)† TheUN geoscheme includesMexico inCentral America.[2]
*Disputed territories administered byColombia,claimed by theUnited States.
† TheUN geoscheme includesBouvet Island inSouth America instead ofAntarctica orAfrica.
*Disputed territories administered by theUnited Kingdom,claimed byArgentina.
0.900–1.000 0.800–0.899 0.700–0.799 0.600–0.699 | 0.500–0.599 0.400–0.499 0.300–0.399 0.200–0.299 | 0.100–0.199 0.000–0.099 No data |
The region has a unique history and varied between stability to instability, included various deadly conflicts, though its level remains conflicted. The two deadliest conflicts in the region are theColombian conflict and theMexican drug war; and more recently, thecrisis in Venezuela andGang war in Haiti. Some other bloody conflicts include theinternal conflict in Peru and gang wars in Brazil and Honduras. Other conflicts include theMapuche conflict in Argentina and Chile; and theInsurgency in Paraguay. These conflicts, however, have received lesser attentions from international media, and varied by time.[citation needed]
The Latin American and Caribbean countries with the most representative democracy wereCosta Rica,Uruguay,Argentina,Chile, andJamaica and least democratic wereNicaragua,Cuba andVenezuela according to 2024V-Dem Democracy Report.[3]
Most countries are dominated byChristianity, the largest beingRoman Catholicism. Smaller groups includeProtestantism (includingMormonism andJehovah's Witnesses) andOrthodoxy and other forms of Christianity. There are many veneratedfolk saints andfolk religions namelyfolk catholicism as well asafrican diaspora religions (syncreticafrican traditional religions) as well asNative American religions includingshamanism. Manyfolk healers also practice folk magic. SpecificCreole peoples often have their own religions/spiritual practices like theMaroons'sRastafari andGarifuna's belief system (orNew Orleans Voodoo andMelungeon in North America).[citation needed]
Especially in the Caribbean, Central America and Brasil, there areJewish (includingMessianic Jews),Muslim,Hindu,Baháʼí Faith (especially in Panama, Bolivia and Belize),Buddhist,Shinto andRomani mythology,Chinese folk religion,Dravidian folk religion (among others) practitioners. The Muslims and especially Jews and Gitanos are often descendants of the peoples forced intoCrypto-Judaism andCrypto-Islam (and evenCrypto-Paganism, for lack of a better term) from theReconquista. There most likely isSikh andJainist groups (and possibly even smallerZoroastrianism,Samaritan andDruze groups). There is also a growing movement ofunitarian universalism/new age/neo-paganism-type unorganized spirituality;goddess worship is especially popular with younger, often progressive people like feminists. Again, these movements are often also syncretic, such asPachamama or other Pre-Columbian Deity worship. Atheism/Agnosticism is quite dichotomous with a few countries having high percentages, but most are small and may be growing slowly.[citation needed]
The region is extremely popular for its own distinctmusic which can not be found somewhere in the world. Began since the conquest of Spain, France, Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal in 15th century, due to the greater diversification including indigenous, Asian, African and European population merged, it expanded popularity of their music, dated from 1950s and rampant globalization, music from the region has become widely noticed, and has been nominated for several music awards.[4]
The region is rich at sporting activities, especially inassociation football, which have some of the world's strongest football teams, includingBrazil,Argentina,Uruguay, and others.Baseball,tennis,cycling,volleyball,rugby union,basketball,hockey, andcricket are also popular.[citation needed]
The region is known for producing significant mixed martial-arts fighters, notably competing in theUltimate Fighting Championship, Mexico and Brazil being the ones that stand out in this sport.[5][6]
