Portal:Latin America
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LATIN AMERICA PORTAL  Latin America was a name coined by "Emperor of Mexico" Maximilian I in an effort to gain legitimacy, since his patron, Napoleon III, spoke French, a Latinate tongue like Spanish and Portuguese. Maximilian did not last, but the coinage of "Latin America" is one of the most successful of all time. Latin America is traditionally defined as the regions of America where Spanish, the language of Spain, and Portuguese, the language of Portugal, were spoken -- in other words, every part of the Western hemisphere, with the exception of a few small islands that speak Dutch, that was not Anglo America. (English is a Germanic language.) Therefore, virtually all of the Western Hemisphere except the United States, Canada, and the non- Hispanophone countries of the Caribbean and South America have tended to come under the heading of Latin America. Other areas where languages derived from Latin, such as Papiamento and Creole, predominate are sometimes included and sometimes excluded from Latin America, depending on the speaker. edit
Countries of Latin America
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The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, shattering previous records on repeated occasions. The impact of the season was widespread and ruinous with at least 2,280 deaths and record damages of over $100 billion USD. Of the storms that made landfall, five of the seven major hurricanes that did so—Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma—were responsible for most of the destruction. The Mexican states of Quintana Roo and Yucatán and the U.S. states of Florida and Louisiana were each struck twice by major hurricanes; Cuba, The Bahamas, Haiti, Mississippi, Texas, and Tamaulipas were each struck once and in each case brushed by at least one more. The most catastrophic effects of the season were felt on the United States' Gulf Coast, where a 30-foot (10 meter) storm surge from Hurricane Katrina caused devastating flooding that inundated New Orleans, Louisiana and destroyed most structures on the Mississippi coastline, and in Guatemala, where Hurricane Stan combined with an extratropical system to cause deadly mudslides. The season officially began on June 1, 2005, and lasted until November 30, although it effectively persisted into January 2006 due to continued storm activity. A record twenty-eight tropical and subtropical storms formed, of which a record fifteen became hurricanes. Of these, seven strengthened into major hurricanes, a record-tying five became Category 4 hurricanes and a record four reached Category 5 strength, the highest categorization for hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Among these Category 5 storms were Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, the former the costliest and the latter the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. edit
Featured picture Medellín is the capital city of the Antioquia Department in Colombia. It was founded in 1616 by Francisco Herrera y Campuzano. As of 2006, Medellín municipality has a population of 2,223,078 inhabitants, making it the second most populated city in Colombia after Bogotá. Medellín also serves as the core of the Valle de Aburrá (Aburrá Valley) metropolitan area, the second largest in Colombia. edit
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Categories
Latin America
Caribbean
Central America
Mesoamerica
South America
Latin American portals
American Spanish
► Caribbean Spanish
► Central American Spanish
► CIA activities in the Americas
Communications in Latin America
► Cooperatives in Latin America
Crime in Latin America
Latin American culture
Latin American history
Human rights in Latin America
Latin American countries
Latin American people
Latino people
► Latin America-related lists
Maps of the Americas
Military history of Latin America
Organizations based in Latin America
► Spanish varieties of South America
Stock exchanges in Latin America
Latin American studies
Writers on Latin America
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Languages of Latin America
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Things you can do Here are some things you can do:
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WikiprojectsLatin America is one of the Latin American WikiProjects.
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Topics
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Other Portals
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