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If "Americas" is indeed the most common name (in English, that is), that still doesn't preclude an edit such as mine, which merely gives the most common, and traditional, 'alternative'. What's so wrong with my edit? Shouldn't you be able to articulate it? SamEV ( talk) 06:31, 3 February 2008 (UTC)
Cuchullain, those encyclopedias, of far more reliability than this one still, consider 'America = Western Hemisphere' a prominent enough view to list right in the first sentence. As for conspiracy (!), no conspiracy is necessary when good old-fashioned systemic bias gets the job done. SamEV ( talk) 19:10, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
(There might be some strange formulations in my comment below, for english is not my native language. I beg your pardon.)
Look, it's really not that hard to understand. America is the continent which was discovered by Columbus and named after Amerigo Vespucci. For that reason, "America" is the term which is used to describe the American continent in German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and many other languages - including English. The name United States of America even proves that - it denominates those states of the continent which are a part of the free, republican Union founded in the late 18th century. Back then, the word "America" in the name of the state couldn't mean anything other than the continent, for the nation in its definite form didn't even exist, and expressed the desire to build a Union of Republics within America. Hence, when the modern American calls his country "America", he's just using - be it consciously or unconsciously - a mere figure of speech, a totum pro parte which is not an actual name. Therefore, the United States are the United States, and America is not a country, but a continent which should be refered to with its proper name in Wikipaedia, while one should avoid the term "The Americas", which is only a neologism, which expresses US-American bias and which is simply irritating in an international context.
Besides, the complaint that "America" is too ambiguous and should be avoided because of that is just nonsense. Europe is ambiguous too, for it can describe the European Union, the continent except the British Isles and the continent including them (and also a bunch of other things). But in spite of that, nobody with a sane mind would refer to Europe as "The Europes". Thus Wikipaedia should, while mentioning the term "The Americas" and linking to the United States, call the American continent simply "America".
Greetings, 141.35.186.133 ( talk) 13:27, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
Some people, based in history, say America is one continent. Some others say it is two continents based on land masses (well, nobody call himself a Eurasian). In both cases, America goes from Kaffeklubben Island in the North to the islands of Southern Thule in the South. This cannot be defined as the “West Hemisphere”, because “West hemisphere” also includes part of Europe and Africa, and is based in a “euro-centric” conception. Some others say it is a country, a.k.a U.S.A., and then solve the semantic problem creating “the Americas” continent. This is may be right for English spoken citizens that represent 1/3 of “the Americas” population, but it is not an official name as "America". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 221.186.251.195 ( talk) 04:00, 14 May 2008 (UTC) UZ:ozbek —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.147.128.2 ( talk) 11:09, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
I couldn't agree more with the first comment. America is the name of the continent. Period. You can further subdivide it into two, or even more subcontinents (just as Europe). The important thing here is that The whole big mass of land in this part of the world should be called "America", despite the fact that a lot of people call it, in a wrong way, The Americas.
You just can't go against history. That would be like saying: "Well, the name Russia makes me get confused for some reason. Why don't I just start calling it something else?" Well, no, because its name doesn't depend on what you think. —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
189.146.129.27 (
talk)
02:17, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
In my opinion, either naming the entire landmass "America" or "The Americas" is correct. The most general problem arises when someone refers to a U.S. citizen as "an American", and in fact, believes that anyone from any other American country is not an American. This is a wrong assumption. Every person born either in Argentina, Brazil, The U.S. or Canada (to mention some) IS AN AMERICAN and this should not be misunderstood. The fact that there is no other way to refer to a U.S. citizen, other than "U.S. citizen" is a separate issue, and must not be an attempt to make the term "American" exclusive for U.S. citizens. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.208.159.17 ( talk) 13:45, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
This article should be called America which is the real name of the continent, changing the name of a continent just to not confuse somebody is ridiculous, if you have 2 cities named Miami you have to stick to their real anme and not change one to Miamis, there is no real support on the Americas name, the name of this article have to be changed to America, and a link to the america as a term for US citizen should be put, the fac is that this article is confusing people already by having the americas as tittle —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.10.249.194 ( talk) 07:30, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
Wasn't it true that the AMERICA name was given when Americo Vespucci was sailing around the South American coast? Then later this name was given to all the land found on this specific side of the Atlantic Ocean by the european monarchies. Then what are the U.S. citizens claiming for? They took a name given first to "South America".
So, before the europeans or settlers arrived to this continent, what was the ethnicity of the people in this land? Did they find different races here, so we can now make a cultural difference too? Every history book I read talks about "indians"(another wrong name...) and every picture I see of the natives, I can notice about their common racial origin, either they are from Alaska or Tierra del Fuego...
So, if for ethnicity at least on the original status, it is ONE land. This is the same reason why Europe is Europe and Africa is Africa.
Now, geographically speaking, before the Panama Channel, Central America was a very solid "barely small strip" land, unifying the two big land masses at north and south. If it was true that these are a completely different land masses, then why to make the Panama Channel?? It is true that they belong to different tectonic plates, but not for this reason half California doesn't belong to U.S. because of the San Andreas Fault...
So, come on!, don't be senseless!, AMERICA IS ONE ONLY CONTINENT (oh yes!, there are no 2 or such), and the plural is just a desambiguation invented by the U.S. in order to have some name to call themselves, as well as to make a difference from the southern countries.
This article should be called AMERICA only, referring to the whole continent.
Aeore (
talk)
10:46, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
Come on!... Those are a group of Islands and that's why they're called in plural. As I said, North, Central and South America are a complete unified continent, therefore one only land mass. With the exception of the Panama Channel, which is man handmade. I know, this is not just only a modern disambiguation but old, but also currently it's instiled and popularized among the U.S. society and abroad due to their intl influence. At first colonial incursions, America was this whole land, and this name along with "West Indies" represented the colonies for every european monarchy, either Spanish, British, French and etc. Then later on, because of these cultural/language differences this continent started to be "The Americas". That's the origin of it, including geographical occupations. Of course, then later there's the regional subdivision like North, South, Caribbean and Central America. But it's a just regional SUBDIVISION taught in Geography. But geologically speaking, original human group and the name of America appearing in every component of this land (Anglo America, Latin America, South America, Central America, etc.) It seems that what we have more than this name in common, which is actually what this discussion is about. This article should reflect what the land, the people and the meaning at all is, inside this huge ground, filled with many places, many climates, many cultures, many colors of what this continent is actually made of. Not forgetting about the facts of course, and to include all regions, otherwise this will keep incomplete. We are talking about the continent here, not about U.S. and what they believe. (Although this is the obstacle...) Just start getting out of that bubble in what you're trapped in, and be more self-minded instead of accepting what a few people used to think in the past. Open your eyes to the truth, be objective and EVOLVE... Aeore ( talk) 10:36, 6 September 2008 (UTC)
As I understand it's being taught in different ways around the world. For example, in Russia: North and South Americas are two continents, but America is the part of the world. Also, Europe and Asia are the parts of the world, and Eurasia is the continent. Strictly according to the definition that continent is a huge landmass surrounded by water. It does not matter if there some small land connections between the continents. In Western Europe it is taught as one continent of America, etc. I'd like to see here together with the detailed explanation how the matter is being tought around the world, the notation accepted by professional geographic community. Do any real geographers attend here?-- Minder10 ( talk) 05:56, 9 September 2008 (UTC)
It doesn't matter at all what a continent strictly is. What matters is that by the time the word "America" was created, it was conceived to describe both North America and South America. Or do you guys think that people back then debated on having separate names for them just because they lay on different tectonic plates? It can be true that North America and South America are not a continent (depends on how you define continent), but it doesn't matter. The main thing is that, regardless of what they are, the term America was created to refer to both masses, as can be seen and proved in countless ancient books and maps of the time of the colony. Of course there are very many differences between North and South America, culturally, ethnically, different languages; that`s why one can say Anglo America, Latin America, Central America, South America, Antilles, Ibero America, etc. You can arrange the countries in any form you like, and give the group the name you wish, but America shall be the name of the whole landmass. Take Asia for instance. Georgia is in Asia, as Nepal is. Both countries couldn't have less similarities. They may even lay on different plates, have different cultures, but both are part of Asia. Or Spain and Bangladesh. They are both in Eurasia, which just means that. It doesn`t mean or imply they could have anything else in common.
A woman from Jujuy, Argentina is as American as a child from Seattle, USA. One can be dark skinned, South American, speak Spanish, while the other is North American, white, protestant, speaks English. But, both are Americans. Greetings! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.70.78.156 ( talk) 21:47, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Central America is a fundamental part of the American Continent, and it NEEDS to be in this page. Central America makes North and South America one landmass. The Antilles deserve to be mentioned too as part of the continent, since they are an archipelago on the Caribbean sea, and can't be part of neither of the subcontinents. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.29.249.46 ( talk) 15:56, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
This article need lots of clean up. It needs a History section, a Physiography section and basically the rest of the sections need to be expanded. Compare to the Spanish version of this article [4] MarcoCROH ( talk) 20:44, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
The article states "only 4 percent of South Americans have no belief in a God", with no quote. According to the Pew Forum ( http://pewforum.org/world-affairs/countries/), the two South American countries they list, Chile and Brazil (the most populous country in South America with about 20% of the total population), have 8.3% and 7.4% "non-affiliated" respectively. Having lived in Argentina, I would venture that the numbers are even higher there.
I did not change the article because I don't have hard numbers, but the 4% quoted seems clearly wrong (too low). What should we do?
Thanks, —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alefu ( talk • contribs) 20:02, 27 February 2008 (UTC)
As a point of note, an atheist has a religious conviction (That there is no god(s) and that there is no possibility of god or gods) someone without any religious conviction what so ever would be an agnostic or possibly something else. True Atheists are alot rarer than most people think.( Morcus ( talk) 03:36, 14 February 2009 (UTC))
Whoffmannm is attempting to insert what seems largely a (not so great) translation of part of the Spanish wikipedia article on America. I'm taking it back out. It appears that the whole point of this lengthy passage is to come to an explanation as to why it is that Anglophones refer to the western hemisphere as "the Americas" instead of "America". This is purely original research as near as I can tell. The Spanish wikipedia article is not sourced for this argument (or indeed any of the translated text Whoffmannm is adding) and citing another WP article does not remotely qualify as a reliable source. CAVincent ( talk) 00:54, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
First of all I did not try to get around any rule, I simply forgot to log in. Second, what is POV? Please show where it is stated that the usage of versions of Wikipedia in other languages is forbidden. Nobody is arguing the fact that the entire approach to the explanation of the usage of the word “American” has its own article, I simply added a link to said site. The paragraph you erased does not contain false information whatsoever, so there is no reason to wipe it away. 84.21.34.232 ( talk) 11:00, 23 October 2008 (UTC) There! I am now logged in. Last comment was mine, too. Whoffmannm ( talk) 11:01, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Well this failure of POV or whatsoever could be more properly applied to your case, WilyD, given the fact that YOU opine that the naming discussion concerns only "a few Latin American anti-nationalists". Could that be any "less neutral point of view"? Let us analyze your "a few Latin American anti-nationalists" phrase stepwisely:
- "A few" you say? It is the majority of Latin Americans who claim the America is a name for the entire landmass.
- It is not only Latin Americans who think so. Actually it is the other way around. It is only the U.S. Americans who think it is not so. Check the "Real Academia Española" from Spain if not. Spain is not Latin America, just in case you don't know. I am not Latin American, either. Most of the people I know also do agree that America is the continet(s), not just ONE country within it.
- What do you mean "anti-nationalists"? Do you even know what that means?
The fact is, the point of view established as standard in the US regarding "America" is actually not the same as the one in the rest of the world.
This was user Whoffmannm. I don`t really know if I'm currently logged in or not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.70.78.156 ( talk) 21:28, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Well, WilyD, from what you have written one can say that you tend to assume that the way you think is always the right way. Sometimes you are indeed correct, but you say only the partial truth, and that's why there should always be someone double-checking your contributions to Wikipedia, just to prevent Neutral Point of View Failures. "The Americas" in English does denote the whole landmass, but the term "America", although less common, denotes that too, as it used to be when the term "America" was first coined. I am by no means anti-Anglophone, and I don't quite understand what makes you think that. I don't support any U.S. American Imperialism, if that is what you mean, because I truly do not see the United States as an Empire. I like the United States as a country, I have some very good friends who come from there. What I don't like is when people insist on pushing their ideas without taking into account the background and the history behind things. If you don't believe there are English speakers who would consider that "I am from America, I am an American" are ambiguous sentences, then you probably have not had enough contact with the world yet as to express your opinions on this matter. That is exactly what I was talking about in the previous paragraph: What bothers me is people who assume that what they have seen is the sole truth and try to push their ideas regardless of what the larger panorama looks like. Again you do the same mistake in your last sentence when stating that most Latin Americans use the Americas for the continent(s). Where do you get that from? Latin Americans would most likely refer to "América" as "North America and South America" IF not "America" at all. You can confirm that by reading a similar discussion on the Spanish version of this very same article. I regret not having further proof than that at the moment. I don't know where you get those ideas of me implying Latin Americans to be stupid or ignorant. On the contrary, from my very personal experience I have to say that among my American friends (yes, in the English Language the adjective "American" may refer to someone from either South of North America as well), I have found the ones from Latin American countries to be considerably more aware of culture and knowledge from countries other than their own as the ones from the USA or Canada. Greetings,
Whoffmannm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.70.78.156 ( talk) 22:35, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Nobody is insulting Canadians or native English speakers here. I simply expressed a very personal experience as a result of having interacted with a reduced number of Canadians. Being a mere opinion, it can not be extrapolated to the whole country. For instance, I once attended a gathering of people from all over the world, where some Canadians, Latin Americans among other were present. I remember the Canadians had the hardest time telling most capital of European countries or which language was spoken in which country. This does not mean that every Canadian is like that. I respect Canada for being the country where I learned English. If Mr. A says Milan is a city in France and Mr. B says it is in Italy, and then I say Mr. B’s answer was better than that of Mr. A, I am not insulting Mr. A. I am just reporting what I am perceiving. It does not mean that I think Mr. B’s family is better educated than Mr. A’s. I don’t know whether Spanish wikipedia has people insulting each other. You should know better since you seem to have been here longer than I have. -- Whoffmannm ( talk) 08:24, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
Using “America” to denote the entire landmass is no sign at all of supporting any imperialism. The term “America”, you like it or not, was originally used to denote the whole landmass in general, and the Caribbean Islands and some inner explored territories mostly (but not only) in Central and South America. The usage of “America” to denote exclusively the United States of America can not have begun earlier than late in the 18th century; that is, a couple of centuries after the word was coined in the first place. Hence, using “America” for the whole landmass is a sign of using the words in the sense they were originally meant to be used. Not acknowleding that fact and thinking it has to do with some sort of imperialism is a sign of lack of history awareness and poor culture. A Latin American (or a Chinese or whoever) could say “The Americas” or “America” to refer to the same thing when speaking English. It will depend on whom he is talking with to determine how well he is understood. Of course there are places on Earth where “America” will first and (probably only) be related to the USA, but that doesn’t mean that that is the only possibility. To write an encyclopaedia for the world, the point of view of the entire globe has to be taken into account, and not try to impose personal conceptions. For further discussion on this topic, I would recommend to create a new entry, since we are no longer discussing the usage of the spanish wikipedia. -- Whoffmannm ( talk) 08:24, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
If you think using "America" for the entire continent(s) is a viewpoint of a minority, you should source it. Otherwise, it is merely an opinion of one individual. Whoffmannm ( talk) 20:52, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
Well then be honest and accept it is not a viewpoint of a minority. As I said, this is an article for the world, so you shouldn't just assume that the way things are in your neighborhood are the standard everywhere else. Researching won't harm, believe me. Keep in mind, for instance, that there are more English speakers (of course considering fluent speakers only) in Latin America (let alone continental Europe) than in Canada alone. The English language is not regulated by any official entity, and the sole fact of you being a Native speaker does not give you more right of "owning the language". Whoffmannm ( talk) 22:16, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
We were always taught that it was called "the Americas" because there were two of them. The continents of North and South America. collectively know as the Americas. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 15:04, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
In your country you were taught it was "the Americas", but it doesn't imply that in the whole world they have been making that mistake. Please do some researching and you will find out that when the term "America" was first coined, it was meant to represent the whole landmass. By the time the first conquerors arrived in the New World", they did not distinguish two continents, but gave the whole mass the name "America".
WilyD, please refrain from trying to impose your personal believes that "America" is an archaic way of refering to the entire landmass. Please be honest and do not come here and tell us that you yourself are a more reliable source than Britannica and Encarta encyclopedias. We are trying to build up a serious article here and by the ways you express yourself (using the sh*t word two times in this section alone), and insulting other users you are nothing but losing credibility. One should take into account that a certain level of education and respect is required to participate. Whoffmannm ( talk) 18:32, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
CAVincent: Respect has been granted thoroughly in all my entries. I have not been treating anybody is if they had failed anything. Please refrain from generalizing what has been said here and extrapolating your assumptions of what is meant to a larger group of people. Whoffmannm ( talk) 20:19, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
Well, it does come as a surprise to me since I am used to dealing with highly educated and civilized individuals who respectfully express their points of view rather than insulting and using censurable words. If you consider your education level sufficient, you should once and for all revise all what has been written here, consult the verifiable sources, realize that the world is larger than four blocks around your house, and you will come to see that, although "The Americas" is a valid term, "America" is also largely used worldwide to refer to the same thing. It is not a false statement; I know it for I have researched it. Whoffmannm ( talk) 21:56, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
The first part of my comment above is no attack to another user. Be impartial und you will see who is attacking whom. There is nothing to hide, it is all written here. Scan for a while and find, for instance, who calls "disturber" to whom and who expresses himself with censurable words. Whoffmannm ( talk) 20:19, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
America can be used to refer to the whole continent(s) or, commonly yet technically not correctly, to the United States of America. That is being honest and accurate. Whoffmannm ( talk) 18:37, 6 November 2008 (UTC) which seems to indicate that Whoffmannm also thinks the common usage of America is to refer to the US. Finding what might be the technically correct name may be easier, there is Pan American Health Organization but even they use the term "Americas". I found Free Trade Area of the Americas interesting, especially given the translations but that may be just because it came from the English first. Then we have the Organization of American States, who in their charter use America to refer to both continents and appear to use it that way throughout their site. Of course they also run the Summit of the Americas. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 13:30, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
Here are some news sources from the UK, Canada, and Australia to some of the common usage outside the U.S. that use Americas for both North and South America and America in reference to the U.S.: BBC News (UK): (World News America) [6] (news about the United States) BBC News Americas [7] (news about both North and South America) Even the BBC store has 2 separate websites: BBC America [8] (for U.S.) and BBC Canada [9]
CBC news (Canada): “America votes” [10] “Race in America” [11](describing U.S. elections, uses the word ‘’America’’ in reference to the U.S.). “The Americas” [12] (referring to both the continents)
ABC News (Australia): “in the Americas” [13] [14] [15] “America” (referring to the U.S.) [16] [17] [18] [19] Kman543210 ( talk) 09:25, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
I object to the title of "The Americas", which, in effect reserves the term "America" for USA. Whether we live in Toledo, Canada, Mexico, or Chili, we are ALL Americans, and EACH of us is entitled to be called an American.
We would like to restore the dignity of the word, "American", and undo the harm caused by its use by previous "United Stations", and their incessant war-mongering and attempts to dominate the world! We do NOT want to be associated with your agenda!!!
GIVE US BACK the word, "American", and call yourselves "United Stations", to make clear your DIFFERENCES from the rest of the Western Hemisphere!
The Iraq war has been a hoax, which has led your country into virtual bankruptcy (let alone the lives of 4,000 United Stations and 100,000 Iraqis). It is a unilateral, undeclared war, all in pursuit of OIL, but in the name of DEMOCRACY. As long as you continue to finance this so-called war (a war is usually declared, and the premises defined), which is really an occupation and invasion, and you are fighting on borrowed money...YOU WILL PAY THE PRICE!!!
DOES OIL MATTER MORE THAN HUMAN LIVES???
The rest of America, (the other 76%) would prefer to distance ourselves from you. PLEASE, DON'T USE THE NAME OF OUR HEMISPHERE TO SUGGEST THAT WE AGREE WITH YOU!
Why are you hated by the world? Why did 9/11 ever occur? You want to be loved by the world, but to totally control it!!!
These are the first days of the Decline of the Empire of The United States of America. Your economy has been based on credit, but you have reached your credit limit! What else is there, but bankruptcy?
From a caring Canadian friend, who hopes against odds to steer you onto a realistic and humane path, in which you are not self-perceived gods, but equals, caring more about human lives than oil!
PS: Does your dignity suffer when referred to as "equals"? Get real, and consider it a far-reaching compiment!!! Unfortunately, the rest of the world perceives you as antagonists, and NOT as friends!
Anyone who agrees completely or in part with the views I have expressed, PLEASE make you views known to Wikipedia, by adding a comment! If, by concensus, we win, the Article Name will be changed, and so will countless readers. Prof.rick ( talk) 10:04, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
no man, Americas = north america and south america
two of them
hence the 's' on the end —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.74.25.153 ( talk) 00:45, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
There is one America...the western hemisphere. This title is misleading, and reveals a pro-USA bias. If the title is not changed to "America", I will surely think less of Wikipedia, for a slanted USA bias. GET REAL! You are 24% of America!!! Prof.rick ( talk) 10:21, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
America can be used to refer to the whole continent(s) or, commonly yet technically not correctly, to the United States of America. That is being honest and accurate. Whoffmannm ( talk) 18:37, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
The Western Hemispere and the Americas aren't the same thing! I came here to bring this up as the article uses that assumption and I'm about to remove it. The western hemisphere is everything west of the greenwhich meanline which includes most of the UK, all of the Republic of Ireland, all of portugal, part of spain and part of France as well as swathes of Africa and many other places not in the Americas (Which for the record predate the US by hundrendeds of year, I remeber seeing the term in history sources at school regarding the (English) civil war.)( Morcus ( talk) 03:42, 14 February 2009 (UTC))
WHY has Wikipedia blocked all editors from changing the title, from the obviously biased "Americas" to the objective "America"? C'mon, Wikipiedia editors, from all over the globe...SPEAK UP! Are you going to allow 24% of America (the war-monger, USA) to control OUR encyclopedia? Prof.rick ( talk) 10:29, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
Once again, WilyD do not keep on pushing your very own personal ideas that only "a few Latin American internet activists" want to turn control to the United States. Neither the user who opened this section nor I are Latin Americans, so there you have a small proof that not only "a few Latin Americans" think that way. Please go read a lot before coming here and writing nonsense. Using “America” to denote the entire landmass is no sign at all of supporting any imperialism. The term “America”, you like it or not, was originally used to denote the whole landmass in general, and the Caribbean Islands and some inner explored territories mostly (but not only) in Central and South America. The usage of “America” to denote exclusively the United States of America can not have begun earlier than late in the 18th century; that is, a couple of centuries after the word was coined in the first place. Hence, using “America” for the whole landmass is a sign of using the words in the sense they were originally meant to be used. Not acknowleding that fact and thinking it has to do with some sort of imperialism is a sign of lack of history awareness and poor culture. A Latin American (or a Chinese or whoever) could say “The Americas” or “America” to refer to the same thing when speaking English. It will depend on whom he is talking with to determine how well he is understood. Of course there are places on Earth where “America” will first and (probably only) be related to the USA, but that doesn’t mean that that is the only possibility. To write an encyclopaedia for the world, the point of view of the entire globe has to be taken into account, and not try to impose personal conceptions. Whoffmannm ( talk) 18:45, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
Hello Kman,
I have reverted your last edit due to the inappopriate nature of the edit summary, and to your glaringly obvious failure to read the entire lead, and check out the citations. Once you do so, you will recognize my edit reflects world views, facts, and not just those of USA. It is unbiased. But through a USA bias you have failed to maintain a neutral point of view.
I was kind enough to place "Americas" before "America" in my edit. Would you prefer the honesty of reversing the order? Unfortunately, most of the world has little respect for USA. PLEASE, don't aggravate the other 76% of America by claiming that YOU or the US is America!!!
Wikipedia gives us room for discussion. Let's use it intelligently and constructively. Prof.rick ( talk) 11:43, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
Is Africa a country or a continet? i mean if people from the USA call the US America because you guys have it on the name, would that make the south africans the only africans? would that make south africa Africa only? and should the rest be call Africas? —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
190.182.56.52 (
talk)
22:37, 16 January 2009 (UTC)
Africa is essentially a single Island/continent whilst the Americas are many significant island groups and two continents. South Africans are refered to sometimes as Afrikanes or something similar but it English African always has a continental or racial sence.( 86.31.187.54 ( talk) 17:55, 17 February 2009 (UTC))
I think this is more than a little misleading -- the terms The Indies and India meant something quite different in Columbus' time (the Dutch East India Company, for example, operated as far east as modern-day Indonesia), so while he thought he was in what he called India, he probably did not think that he was in what we call India.
To use India in this article is (to my mind) anachronistic. The only suitable modern equivalent would have to be Asia. Prof Wrong ( talk) 14:24, 8 November 2008 (UTC)
Hello I saw something on a TV program called QI the other night which stated that America was in fact not actually named after amerigo Vespucci or whatever his name was but by some one else, the researchers on this show basically find and put to rest rumours, old wives tales and commonly accepted knowledge that is false, they would not be wrong about this they have studied for years on this sort of stuff, has anyone else heard about this, but also does anybody else know who it was named after, it was mentioned on the show but I forgot the name, sorry.. 86.134.253.171 ( talk) 19:49, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Yes I'm pretty sure that was the guy they mentioned on the show because they said he was from the UK somewhere. 86.134.253.171 ( talk) 11:55, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
Mexico City is ranked as the most populous city in the Americas in this article even though its own page lists its population as 8,836,045, which is fewer than São Paulo's at 11,150,249. Is this an error or am I missing something? -- DeanoNightRider ( talk) 04:52, 3 January 2009 (UTC)
Hi guys. Seems this page is seized by Americans (that is by U.S. people impersonating as NPOViewers, or worse yet, as owners of the global truth). I guess Jimbo Wales should take a look at this talk page. For the rest of us, Americans, lets just ignore this page and move on with our lives.-- 201.116.149.85 ( talk) 17:34, 16 January 2009 (UTC)
America is the Americas, and not USA only; this is etnocentrism!!
south-americans are americans, north-americans too; the people of USA in Brazil is "estadunidense" and not "american"(people of the Americas) - the terms "America" and "american" no are corrects to denominated USA and the "state-unitedians" or "united-stateans"("americans")!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.71.77.13 ( talk) 07:52, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
I believe the english term you were looking for is Usonion (I'm not entirely sure if thats the correct spelling) which is hardly used and normally only to make the point I believe you were trying to make. Your only likely to find it in a dictionary if you have a complete dictionary but it is the only english word (to my knowledge) that unambiguasly refers to a person from the USA. That said I believe the Americas to be the correct title and that use of the singular is confusing because it is normally used in English to mean the US and the same with American. I also don't see how relevant self referal of peoples across huge landmasses is to the common english name of said landmass.( Morcus ( talk) 03:54, 14 February 2009 (UTC))
Can someone take the NPOV dispute label off of this article for pity's sake? The article is an accurate representation of the use of the term in the English language, and this is the English language version of Wikipedia. The arguments that are being advanced regarding 'America' as a single continent are based on conventions that are not common to English speakers and should be advanced in some other version of Wikipedia. Feel free to do so there. In the meantime, the fact that you have cultural or political objections to the way that a word is commonly used is not a justification for altering what is supposed to be a reference work. It is obvious that historical revisionism needs to be guarded against in writing a NPOV encyclopedia, and I would appreciate it if everyone would recognize that linguistic revisionism is no less objectionable.
OckRaz ( talk) 18:06, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
My friend, America IS A SINGLE CONTINENT by Geographic convention...Technically speaking North, Central and South America are all part of the same continent... You are the one with the political bias here. —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
189.79.224.98 (
talk)
23:35, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
Update - I think I will have to apologize - Technically the Americas should really be divided in North and South America - But in latin countries america is taught as a single continent - The Olympic Flag seems to reproduce this view. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.79.224.98 ( talk) 23:43, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
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Archive 1 | Archive 2 | Archive 3 | Archive 4 | Archive 5 |
If "Americas" is indeed the most common name (in English, that is), that still doesn't preclude an edit such as mine, which merely gives the most common, and traditional, 'alternative'. What's so wrong with my edit? Shouldn't you be able to articulate it? SamEV ( talk) 06:31, 3 February 2008 (UTC)
Cuchullain, those encyclopedias, of far more reliability than this one still, consider 'America = Western Hemisphere' a prominent enough view to list right in the first sentence. As for conspiracy (!), no conspiracy is necessary when good old-fashioned systemic bias gets the job done. SamEV ( talk) 19:10, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
(There might be some strange formulations in my comment below, for english is not my native language. I beg your pardon.)
Look, it's really not that hard to understand. America is the continent which was discovered by Columbus and named after Amerigo Vespucci. For that reason, "America" is the term which is used to describe the American continent in German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and many other languages - including English. The name United States of America even proves that - it denominates those states of the continent which are a part of the free, republican Union founded in the late 18th century. Back then, the word "America" in the name of the state couldn't mean anything other than the continent, for the nation in its definite form didn't even exist, and expressed the desire to build a Union of Republics within America. Hence, when the modern American calls his country "America", he's just using - be it consciously or unconsciously - a mere figure of speech, a totum pro parte which is not an actual name. Therefore, the United States are the United States, and America is not a country, but a continent which should be refered to with its proper name in Wikipaedia, while one should avoid the term "The Americas", which is only a neologism, which expresses US-American bias and which is simply irritating in an international context.
Besides, the complaint that "America" is too ambiguous and should be avoided because of that is just nonsense. Europe is ambiguous too, for it can describe the European Union, the continent except the British Isles and the continent including them (and also a bunch of other things). But in spite of that, nobody with a sane mind would refer to Europe as "The Europes". Thus Wikipaedia should, while mentioning the term "The Americas" and linking to the United States, call the American continent simply "America".
Greetings, 141.35.186.133 ( talk) 13:27, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
Some people, based in history, say America is one continent. Some others say it is two continents based on land masses (well, nobody call himself a Eurasian). In both cases, America goes from Kaffeklubben Island in the North to the islands of Southern Thule in the South. This cannot be defined as the “West Hemisphere”, because “West hemisphere” also includes part of Europe and Africa, and is based in a “euro-centric” conception. Some others say it is a country, a.k.a U.S.A., and then solve the semantic problem creating “the Americas” continent. This is may be right for English spoken citizens that represent 1/3 of “the Americas” population, but it is not an official name as "America". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 221.186.251.195 ( talk) 04:00, 14 May 2008 (UTC) UZ:ozbek —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.147.128.2 ( talk) 11:09, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
I couldn't agree more with the first comment. America is the name of the continent. Period. You can further subdivide it into two, or even more subcontinents (just as Europe). The important thing here is that The whole big mass of land in this part of the world should be called "America", despite the fact that a lot of people call it, in a wrong way, The Americas.
You just can't go against history. That would be like saying: "Well, the name Russia makes me get confused for some reason. Why don't I just start calling it something else?" Well, no, because its name doesn't depend on what you think. —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
189.146.129.27 (
talk)
02:17, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
In my opinion, either naming the entire landmass "America" or "The Americas" is correct. The most general problem arises when someone refers to a U.S. citizen as "an American", and in fact, believes that anyone from any other American country is not an American. This is a wrong assumption. Every person born either in Argentina, Brazil, The U.S. or Canada (to mention some) IS AN AMERICAN and this should not be misunderstood. The fact that there is no other way to refer to a U.S. citizen, other than "U.S. citizen" is a separate issue, and must not be an attempt to make the term "American" exclusive for U.S. citizens. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.208.159.17 ( talk) 13:45, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
This article should be called America which is the real name of the continent, changing the name of a continent just to not confuse somebody is ridiculous, if you have 2 cities named Miami you have to stick to their real anme and not change one to Miamis, there is no real support on the Americas name, the name of this article have to be changed to America, and a link to the america as a term for US citizen should be put, the fac is that this article is confusing people already by having the americas as tittle —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.10.249.194 ( talk) 07:30, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
Wasn't it true that the AMERICA name was given when Americo Vespucci was sailing around the South American coast? Then later this name was given to all the land found on this specific side of the Atlantic Ocean by the european monarchies. Then what are the U.S. citizens claiming for? They took a name given first to "South America".
So, before the europeans or settlers arrived to this continent, what was the ethnicity of the people in this land? Did they find different races here, so we can now make a cultural difference too? Every history book I read talks about "indians"(another wrong name...) and every picture I see of the natives, I can notice about their common racial origin, either they are from Alaska or Tierra del Fuego...
So, if for ethnicity at least on the original status, it is ONE land. This is the same reason why Europe is Europe and Africa is Africa.
Now, geographically speaking, before the Panama Channel, Central America was a very solid "barely small strip" land, unifying the two big land masses at north and south. If it was true that these are a completely different land masses, then why to make the Panama Channel?? It is true that they belong to different tectonic plates, but not for this reason half California doesn't belong to U.S. because of the San Andreas Fault...
So, come on!, don't be senseless!, AMERICA IS ONE ONLY CONTINENT (oh yes!, there are no 2 or such), and the plural is just a desambiguation invented by the U.S. in order to have some name to call themselves, as well as to make a difference from the southern countries.
This article should be called AMERICA only, referring to the whole continent.
Aeore (
talk)
10:46, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
Come on!... Those are a group of Islands and that's why they're called in plural. As I said, North, Central and South America are a complete unified continent, therefore one only land mass. With the exception of the Panama Channel, which is man handmade. I know, this is not just only a modern disambiguation but old, but also currently it's instiled and popularized among the U.S. society and abroad due to their intl influence. At first colonial incursions, America was this whole land, and this name along with "West Indies" represented the colonies for every european monarchy, either Spanish, British, French and etc. Then later on, because of these cultural/language differences this continent started to be "The Americas". That's the origin of it, including geographical occupations. Of course, then later there's the regional subdivision like North, South, Caribbean and Central America. But it's a just regional SUBDIVISION taught in Geography. But geologically speaking, original human group and the name of America appearing in every component of this land (Anglo America, Latin America, South America, Central America, etc.) It seems that what we have more than this name in common, which is actually what this discussion is about. This article should reflect what the land, the people and the meaning at all is, inside this huge ground, filled with many places, many climates, many cultures, many colors of what this continent is actually made of. Not forgetting about the facts of course, and to include all regions, otherwise this will keep incomplete. We are talking about the continent here, not about U.S. and what they believe. (Although this is the obstacle...) Just start getting out of that bubble in what you're trapped in, and be more self-minded instead of accepting what a few people used to think in the past. Open your eyes to the truth, be objective and EVOLVE... Aeore ( talk) 10:36, 6 September 2008 (UTC)
As I understand it's being taught in different ways around the world. For example, in Russia: North and South Americas are two continents, but America is the part of the world. Also, Europe and Asia are the parts of the world, and Eurasia is the continent. Strictly according to the definition that continent is a huge landmass surrounded by water. It does not matter if there some small land connections between the continents. In Western Europe it is taught as one continent of America, etc. I'd like to see here together with the detailed explanation how the matter is being tought around the world, the notation accepted by professional geographic community. Do any real geographers attend here?-- Minder10 ( talk) 05:56, 9 September 2008 (UTC)
It doesn't matter at all what a continent strictly is. What matters is that by the time the word "America" was created, it was conceived to describe both North America and South America. Or do you guys think that people back then debated on having separate names for them just because they lay on different tectonic plates? It can be true that North America and South America are not a continent (depends on how you define continent), but it doesn't matter. The main thing is that, regardless of what they are, the term America was created to refer to both masses, as can be seen and proved in countless ancient books and maps of the time of the colony. Of course there are very many differences between North and South America, culturally, ethnically, different languages; that`s why one can say Anglo America, Latin America, Central America, South America, Antilles, Ibero America, etc. You can arrange the countries in any form you like, and give the group the name you wish, but America shall be the name of the whole landmass. Take Asia for instance. Georgia is in Asia, as Nepal is. Both countries couldn't have less similarities. They may even lay on different plates, have different cultures, but both are part of Asia. Or Spain and Bangladesh. They are both in Eurasia, which just means that. It doesn`t mean or imply they could have anything else in common.
A woman from Jujuy, Argentina is as American as a child from Seattle, USA. One can be dark skinned, South American, speak Spanish, while the other is North American, white, protestant, speaks English. But, both are Americans. Greetings! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.70.78.156 ( talk) 21:47, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Central America is a fundamental part of the American Continent, and it NEEDS to be in this page. Central America makes North and South America one landmass. The Antilles deserve to be mentioned too as part of the continent, since they are an archipelago on the Caribbean sea, and can't be part of neither of the subcontinents. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.29.249.46 ( talk) 15:56, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
This article need lots of clean up. It needs a History section, a Physiography section and basically the rest of the sections need to be expanded. Compare to the Spanish version of this article [4] MarcoCROH ( talk) 20:44, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
The article states "only 4 percent of South Americans have no belief in a God", with no quote. According to the Pew Forum ( http://pewforum.org/world-affairs/countries/), the two South American countries they list, Chile and Brazil (the most populous country in South America with about 20% of the total population), have 8.3% and 7.4% "non-affiliated" respectively. Having lived in Argentina, I would venture that the numbers are even higher there.
I did not change the article because I don't have hard numbers, but the 4% quoted seems clearly wrong (too low). What should we do?
Thanks, —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alefu ( talk • contribs) 20:02, 27 February 2008 (UTC)
As a point of note, an atheist has a religious conviction (That there is no god(s) and that there is no possibility of god or gods) someone without any religious conviction what so ever would be an agnostic or possibly something else. True Atheists are alot rarer than most people think.( Morcus ( talk) 03:36, 14 February 2009 (UTC))
Whoffmannm is attempting to insert what seems largely a (not so great) translation of part of the Spanish wikipedia article on America. I'm taking it back out. It appears that the whole point of this lengthy passage is to come to an explanation as to why it is that Anglophones refer to the western hemisphere as "the Americas" instead of "America". This is purely original research as near as I can tell. The Spanish wikipedia article is not sourced for this argument (or indeed any of the translated text Whoffmannm is adding) and citing another WP article does not remotely qualify as a reliable source. CAVincent ( talk) 00:54, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
First of all I did not try to get around any rule, I simply forgot to log in. Second, what is POV? Please show where it is stated that the usage of versions of Wikipedia in other languages is forbidden. Nobody is arguing the fact that the entire approach to the explanation of the usage of the word “American” has its own article, I simply added a link to said site. The paragraph you erased does not contain false information whatsoever, so there is no reason to wipe it away. 84.21.34.232 ( talk) 11:00, 23 October 2008 (UTC) There! I am now logged in. Last comment was mine, too. Whoffmannm ( talk) 11:01, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Well this failure of POV or whatsoever could be more properly applied to your case, WilyD, given the fact that YOU opine that the naming discussion concerns only "a few Latin American anti-nationalists". Could that be any "less neutral point of view"? Let us analyze your "a few Latin American anti-nationalists" phrase stepwisely:
- "A few" you say? It is the majority of Latin Americans who claim the America is a name for the entire landmass.
- It is not only Latin Americans who think so. Actually it is the other way around. It is only the U.S. Americans who think it is not so. Check the "Real Academia Española" from Spain if not. Spain is not Latin America, just in case you don't know. I am not Latin American, either. Most of the people I know also do agree that America is the continet(s), not just ONE country within it.
- What do you mean "anti-nationalists"? Do you even know what that means?
The fact is, the point of view established as standard in the US regarding "America" is actually not the same as the one in the rest of the world.
This was user Whoffmannm. I don`t really know if I'm currently logged in or not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.70.78.156 ( talk) 21:28, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Well, WilyD, from what you have written one can say that you tend to assume that the way you think is always the right way. Sometimes you are indeed correct, but you say only the partial truth, and that's why there should always be someone double-checking your contributions to Wikipedia, just to prevent Neutral Point of View Failures. "The Americas" in English does denote the whole landmass, but the term "America", although less common, denotes that too, as it used to be when the term "America" was first coined. I am by no means anti-Anglophone, and I don't quite understand what makes you think that. I don't support any U.S. American Imperialism, if that is what you mean, because I truly do not see the United States as an Empire. I like the United States as a country, I have some very good friends who come from there. What I don't like is when people insist on pushing their ideas without taking into account the background and the history behind things. If you don't believe there are English speakers who would consider that "I am from America, I am an American" are ambiguous sentences, then you probably have not had enough contact with the world yet as to express your opinions on this matter. That is exactly what I was talking about in the previous paragraph: What bothers me is people who assume that what they have seen is the sole truth and try to push their ideas regardless of what the larger panorama looks like. Again you do the same mistake in your last sentence when stating that most Latin Americans use the Americas for the continent(s). Where do you get that from? Latin Americans would most likely refer to "América" as "North America and South America" IF not "America" at all. You can confirm that by reading a similar discussion on the Spanish version of this very same article. I regret not having further proof than that at the moment. I don't know where you get those ideas of me implying Latin Americans to be stupid or ignorant. On the contrary, from my very personal experience I have to say that among my American friends (yes, in the English Language the adjective "American" may refer to someone from either South of North America as well), I have found the ones from Latin American countries to be considerably more aware of culture and knowledge from countries other than their own as the ones from the USA or Canada. Greetings,
Whoffmannm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.70.78.156 ( talk) 22:35, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Nobody is insulting Canadians or native English speakers here. I simply expressed a very personal experience as a result of having interacted with a reduced number of Canadians. Being a mere opinion, it can not be extrapolated to the whole country. For instance, I once attended a gathering of people from all over the world, where some Canadians, Latin Americans among other were present. I remember the Canadians had the hardest time telling most capital of European countries or which language was spoken in which country. This does not mean that every Canadian is like that. I respect Canada for being the country where I learned English. If Mr. A says Milan is a city in France and Mr. B says it is in Italy, and then I say Mr. B’s answer was better than that of Mr. A, I am not insulting Mr. A. I am just reporting what I am perceiving. It does not mean that I think Mr. B’s family is better educated than Mr. A’s. I don’t know whether Spanish wikipedia has people insulting each other. You should know better since you seem to have been here longer than I have. -- Whoffmannm ( talk) 08:24, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
Using “America” to denote the entire landmass is no sign at all of supporting any imperialism. The term “America”, you like it or not, was originally used to denote the whole landmass in general, and the Caribbean Islands and some inner explored territories mostly (but not only) in Central and South America. The usage of “America” to denote exclusively the United States of America can not have begun earlier than late in the 18th century; that is, a couple of centuries after the word was coined in the first place. Hence, using “America” for the whole landmass is a sign of using the words in the sense they were originally meant to be used. Not acknowleding that fact and thinking it has to do with some sort of imperialism is a sign of lack of history awareness and poor culture. A Latin American (or a Chinese or whoever) could say “The Americas” or “America” to refer to the same thing when speaking English. It will depend on whom he is talking with to determine how well he is understood. Of course there are places on Earth where “America” will first and (probably only) be related to the USA, but that doesn’t mean that that is the only possibility. To write an encyclopaedia for the world, the point of view of the entire globe has to be taken into account, and not try to impose personal conceptions. For further discussion on this topic, I would recommend to create a new entry, since we are no longer discussing the usage of the spanish wikipedia. -- Whoffmannm ( talk) 08:24, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
If you think using "America" for the entire continent(s) is a viewpoint of a minority, you should source it. Otherwise, it is merely an opinion of one individual. Whoffmannm ( talk) 20:52, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
Well then be honest and accept it is not a viewpoint of a minority. As I said, this is an article for the world, so you shouldn't just assume that the way things are in your neighborhood are the standard everywhere else. Researching won't harm, believe me. Keep in mind, for instance, that there are more English speakers (of course considering fluent speakers only) in Latin America (let alone continental Europe) than in Canada alone. The English language is not regulated by any official entity, and the sole fact of you being a Native speaker does not give you more right of "owning the language". Whoffmannm ( talk) 22:16, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
We were always taught that it was called "the Americas" because there were two of them. The continents of North and South America. collectively know as the Americas. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 15:04, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
In your country you were taught it was "the Americas", but it doesn't imply that in the whole world they have been making that mistake. Please do some researching and you will find out that when the term "America" was first coined, it was meant to represent the whole landmass. By the time the first conquerors arrived in the New World", they did not distinguish two continents, but gave the whole mass the name "America".
WilyD, please refrain from trying to impose your personal believes that "America" is an archaic way of refering to the entire landmass. Please be honest and do not come here and tell us that you yourself are a more reliable source than Britannica and Encarta encyclopedias. We are trying to build up a serious article here and by the ways you express yourself (using the sh*t word two times in this section alone), and insulting other users you are nothing but losing credibility. One should take into account that a certain level of education and respect is required to participate. Whoffmannm ( talk) 18:32, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
CAVincent: Respect has been granted thoroughly in all my entries. I have not been treating anybody is if they had failed anything. Please refrain from generalizing what has been said here and extrapolating your assumptions of what is meant to a larger group of people. Whoffmannm ( talk) 20:19, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
Well, it does come as a surprise to me since I am used to dealing with highly educated and civilized individuals who respectfully express their points of view rather than insulting and using censurable words. If you consider your education level sufficient, you should once and for all revise all what has been written here, consult the verifiable sources, realize that the world is larger than four blocks around your house, and you will come to see that, although "The Americas" is a valid term, "America" is also largely used worldwide to refer to the same thing. It is not a false statement; I know it for I have researched it. Whoffmannm ( talk) 21:56, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
The first part of my comment above is no attack to another user. Be impartial und you will see who is attacking whom. There is nothing to hide, it is all written here. Scan for a while and find, for instance, who calls "disturber" to whom and who expresses himself with censurable words. Whoffmannm ( talk) 20:19, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
America can be used to refer to the whole continent(s) or, commonly yet technically not correctly, to the United States of America. That is being honest and accurate. Whoffmannm ( talk) 18:37, 6 November 2008 (UTC) which seems to indicate that Whoffmannm also thinks the common usage of America is to refer to the US. Finding what might be the technically correct name may be easier, there is Pan American Health Organization but even they use the term "Americas". I found Free Trade Area of the Americas interesting, especially given the translations but that may be just because it came from the English first. Then we have the Organization of American States, who in their charter use America to refer to both continents and appear to use it that way throughout their site. Of course they also run the Summit of the Americas. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 13:30, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
Here are some news sources from the UK, Canada, and Australia to some of the common usage outside the U.S. that use Americas for both North and South America and America in reference to the U.S.: BBC News (UK): (World News America) [6] (news about the United States) BBC News Americas [7] (news about both North and South America) Even the BBC store has 2 separate websites: BBC America [8] (for U.S.) and BBC Canada [9]
CBC news (Canada): “America votes” [10] “Race in America” [11](describing U.S. elections, uses the word ‘’America’’ in reference to the U.S.). “The Americas” [12] (referring to both the continents)
ABC News (Australia): “in the Americas” [13] [14] [15] “America” (referring to the U.S.) [16] [17] [18] [19] Kman543210 ( talk) 09:25, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
I object to the title of "The Americas", which, in effect reserves the term "America" for USA. Whether we live in Toledo, Canada, Mexico, or Chili, we are ALL Americans, and EACH of us is entitled to be called an American.
We would like to restore the dignity of the word, "American", and undo the harm caused by its use by previous "United Stations", and their incessant war-mongering and attempts to dominate the world! We do NOT want to be associated with your agenda!!!
GIVE US BACK the word, "American", and call yourselves "United Stations", to make clear your DIFFERENCES from the rest of the Western Hemisphere!
The Iraq war has been a hoax, which has led your country into virtual bankruptcy (let alone the lives of 4,000 United Stations and 100,000 Iraqis). It is a unilateral, undeclared war, all in pursuit of OIL, but in the name of DEMOCRACY. As long as you continue to finance this so-called war (a war is usually declared, and the premises defined), which is really an occupation and invasion, and you are fighting on borrowed money...YOU WILL PAY THE PRICE!!!
DOES OIL MATTER MORE THAN HUMAN LIVES???
The rest of America, (the other 76%) would prefer to distance ourselves from you. PLEASE, DON'T USE THE NAME OF OUR HEMISPHERE TO SUGGEST THAT WE AGREE WITH YOU!
Why are you hated by the world? Why did 9/11 ever occur? You want to be loved by the world, but to totally control it!!!
These are the first days of the Decline of the Empire of The United States of America. Your economy has been based on credit, but you have reached your credit limit! What else is there, but bankruptcy?
From a caring Canadian friend, who hopes against odds to steer you onto a realistic and humane path, in which you are not self-perceived gods, but equals, caring more about human lives than oil!
PS: Does your dignity suffer when referred to as "equals"? Get real, and consider it a far-reaching compiment!!! Unfortunately, the rest of the world perceives you as antagonists, and NOT as friends!
Anyone who agrees completely or in part with the views I have expressed, PLEASE make you views known to Wikipedia, by adding a comment! If, by concensus, we win, the Article Name will be changed, and so will countless readers. Prof.rick ( talk) 10:04, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
no man, Americas = north america and south america
two of them
hence the 's' on the end —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.74.25.153 ( talk) 00:45, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
There is one America...the western hemisphere. This title is misleading, and reveals a pro-USA bias. If the title is not changed to "America", I will surely think less of Wikipedia, for a slanted USA bias. GET REAL! You are 24% of America!!! Prof.rick ( talk) 10:21, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
America can be used to refer to the whole continent(s) or, commonly yet technically not correctly, to the United States of America. That is being honest and accurate. Whoffmannm ( talk) 18:37, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
The Western Hemispere and the Americas aren't the same thing! I came here to bring this up as the article uses that assumption and I'm about to remove it. The western hemisphere is everything west of the greenwhich meanline which includes most of the UK, all of the Republic of Ireland, all of portugal, part of spain and part of France as well as swathes of Africa and many other places not in the Americas (Which for the record predate the US by hundrendeds of year, I remeber seeing the term in history sources at school regarding the (English) civil war.)( Morcus ( talk) 03:42, 14 February 2009 (UTC))
WHY has Wikipedia blocked all editors from changing the title, from the obviously biased "Americas" to the objective "America"? C'mon, Wikipiedia editors, from all over the globe...SPEAK UP! Are you going to allow 24% of America (the war-monger, USA) to control OUR encyclopedia? Prof.rick ( talk) 10:29, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
Once again, WilyD do not keep on pushing your very own personal ideas that only "a few Latin American internet activists" want to turn control to the United States. Neither the user who opened this section nor I are Latin Americans, so there you have a small proof that not only "a few Latin Americans" think that way. Please go read a lot before coming here and writing nonsense. Using “America” to denote the entire landmass is no sign at all of supporting any imperialism. The term “America”, you like it or not, was originally used to denote the whole landmass in general, and the Caribbean Islands and some inner explored territories mostly (but not only) in Central and South America. The usage of “America” to denote exclusively the United States of America can not have begun earlier than late in the 18th century; that is, a couple of centuries after the word was coined in the first place. Hence, using “America” for the whole landmass is a sign of using the words in the sense they were originally meant to be used. Not acknowleding that fact and thinking it has to do with some sort of imperialism is a sign of lack of history awareness and poor culture. A Latin American (or a Chinese or whoever) could say “The Americas” or “America” to refer to the same thing when speaking English. It will depend on whom he is talking with to determine how well he is understood. Of course there are places on Earth where “America” will first and (probably only) be related to the USA, but that doesn’t mean that that is the only possibility. To write an encyclopaedia for the world, the point of view of the entire globe has to be taken into account, and not try to impose personal conceptions. Whoffmannm ( talk) 18:45, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
Hello Kman,
I have reverted your last edit due to the inappopriate nature of the edit summary, and to your glaringly obvious failure to read the entire lead, and check out the citations. Once you do so, you will recognize my edit reflects world views, facts, and not just those of USA. It is unbiased. But through a USA bias you have failed to maintain a neutral point of view.
I was kind enough to place "Americas" before "America" in my edit. Would you prefer the honesty of reversing the order? Unfortunately, most of the world has little respect for USA. PLEASE, don't aggravate the other 76% of America by claiming that YOU or the US is America!!!
Wikipedia gives us room for discussion. Let's use it intelligently and constructively. Prof.rick ( talk) 11:43, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
Is Africa a country or a continet? i mean if people from the USA call the US America because you guys have it on the name, would that make the south africans the only africans? would that make south africa Africa only? and should the rest be call Africas? —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
190.182.56.52 (
talk)
22:37, 16 January 2009 (UTC)
Africa is essentially a single Island/continent whilst the Americas are many significant island groups and two continents. South Africans are refered to sometimes as Afrikanes or something similar but it English African always has a continental or racial sence.( 86.31.187.54 ( talk) 17:55, 17 February 2009 (UTC))
I think this is more than a little misleading -- the terms The Indies and India meant something quite different in Columbus' time (the Dutch East India Company, for example, operated as far east as modern-day Indonesia), so while he thought he was in what he called India, he probably did not think that he was in what we call India.
To use India in this article is (to my mind) anachronistic. The only suitable modern equivalent would have to be Asia. Prof Wrong ( talk) 14:24, 8 November 2008 (UTC)
Hello I saw something on a TV program called QI the other night which stated that America was in fact not actually named after amerigo Vespucci or whatever his name was but by some one else, the researchers on this show basically find and put to rest rumours, old wives tales and commonly accepted knowledge that is false, they would not be wrong about this they have studied for years on this sort of stuff, has anyone else heard about this, but also does anybody else know who it was named after, it was mentioned on the show but I forgot the name, sorry.. 86.134.253.171 ( talk) 19:49, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Yes I'm pretty sure that was the guy they mentioned on the show because they said he was from the UK somewhere. 86.134.253.171 ( talk) 11:55, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
Mexico City is ranked as the most populous city in the Americas in this article even though its own page lists its population as 8,836,045, which is fewer than São Paulo's at 11,150,249. Is this an error or am I missing something? -- DeanoNightRider ( talk) 04:52, 3 January 2009 (UTC)
Hi guys. Seems this page is seized by Americans (that is by U.S. people impersonating as NPOViewers, or worse yet, as owners of the global truth). I guess Jimbo Wales should take a look at this talk page. For the rest of us, Americans, lets just ignore this page and move on with our lives.-- 201.116.149.85 ( talk) 17:34, 16 January 2009 (UTC)
America is the Americas, and not USA only; this is etnocentrism!!
south-americans are americans, north-americans too; the people of USA in Brazil is "estadunidense" and not "american"(people of the Americas) - the terms "America" and "american" no are corrects to denominated USA and the "state-unitedians" or "united-stateans"("americans")!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.71.77.13 ( talk) 07:52, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
I believe the english term you were looking for is Usonion (I'm not entirely sure if thats the correct spelling) which is hardly used and normally only to make the point I believe you were trying to make. Your only likely to find it in a dictionary if you have a complete dictionary but it is the only english word (to my knowledge) that unambiguasly refers to a person from the USA. That said I believe the Americas to be the correct title and that use of the singular is confusing because it is normally used in English to mean the US and the same with American. I also don't see how relevant self referal of peoples across huge landmasses is to the common english name of said landmass.( Morcus ( talk) 03:54, 14 February 2009 (UTC))
Can someone take the NPOV dispute label off of this article for pity's sake? The article is an accurate representation of the use of the term in the English language, and this is the English language version of Wikipedia. The arguments that are being advanced regarding 'America' as a single continent are based on conventions that are not common to English speakers and should be advanced in some other version of Wikipedia. Feel free to do so there. In the meantime, the fact that you have cultural or political objections to the way that a word is commonly used is not a justification for altering what is supposed to be a reference work. It is obvious that historical revisionism needs to be guarded against in writing a NPOV encyclopedia, and I would appreciate it if everyone would recognize that linguistic revisionism is no less objectionable.
OckRaz ( talk) 18:06, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
My friend, America IS A SINGLE CONTINENT by Geographic convention...Technically speaking North, Central and South America are all part of the same continent... You are the one with the political bias here. —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
189.79.224.98 (
talk)
23:35, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
Update - I think I will have to apologize - Technically the Americas should really be divided in North and South America - But in latin countries america is taught as a single continent - The Olympic Flag seems to reproduce this view. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.79.224.98 ( talk) 23:43, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
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