Latin America is the name used to designate a very large territory whose countries are managed by the use of the Spanish or Portuguese language. Latin America includes most of the American continent, although we must leave out of this designation the countries in which these languages are not spoken, mainly the United States, Canada and some regions of the Caribbean. The surface of this territory exceeds 21 million square kilometers while its population (one of the most abundant on the planet) is 572 thousand inhabitants. The political organization of Latin America tells us about 20 countries (the most prominent being Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, Colombia, etc.) located in three regions: North America, Central America and South America. All of these countries are independent today although the wars of independence were in different periods, earlier in some cases and later in others.
It could be said that what unites the different countries or territories of Latin America is the fact that all of them have been conquered and colonized by two European countries that in their time were known to be imperial powers: Spain and Portugal (the latter being limited only to the current territory of Brazil). In this sense, a large part of the countries of Latin America share numerous elements that have to do with the Spanish heritage, such as language, the Catholic religion, some cultural traditions (such as the bullfights that continue to exist in some of them) , the urban grid location brought from Spain, etc. In many cases, it is considered that the great backwardness and other problems such as corruption or fiscal or administrative inefficiency suffered by Latin American countries is also a consequence of the largely ineffective and backward Spanish colonial legacy.
However, it is impossible to speak of Latin America as a unit and here is precisely its wealth. Being such a wide territory, we can find in it the most varied landscapes and climates ranging from mountain areas (one of the most important mountain ranges on the planet is there), passing through forests, jungles, deserts and wide coasts on the side. this. The temperate and tropical climates that abound in the Caribbean and northern South America contrast with the cold climates that are located in the south of the continent. But in addition, Latin America shows a very interesting variety of ethnic groups and cultural expressions that make it one of the most colorful and richest territories on the planet.
