What Makes North America a Region?
This world region is relatively easy to define. It consists of Canada and the United States, and they are linked because of their geographic proximity, similar history, and many common cultural, economic, and political features. The nature of the relationship between these two countries will be discussed in numerous places throughout the chapter.
Terms in This Chapter
The term North America is used to refer to both countries. Even though it is common on both sides of the border to call the people of Canada “Canadians” and people in the United States “Americans,” this text will use the term United States, or U.S., rather than “America,” for the United States. Other terms relate to the growing cultural diversity in this region. The text uses the term Hispanic to refer to all Spanish-speaking people from Middle and South America, although their ancestors may have been African, Asian, or Native American. When writing about the Southwest, where Latino is the preferred term, it is used instead of Hispanic.
Hispanic (Latino) a term used to refer to all Spanish-speaking people from Middle and South America, although their ancestors may have been black, white, Asian, or Native American