LATIN AMERICA

the countries of South America and North America (including Central America and the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants speak a Romance language. Most frequently the term Latin America is restricted to countries whose inhabitants speak either Spanish or Portuguese, but the French-speaking areas of Haiti, French Guiana, and the French West Indies may also be included. Human beings first entered the Western Hemisphere at least 20,000 years ago, probably from Siberia by way of Alaska. They spread over North and Central America, reached South America by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and eventually reached the tip of South America. Their cultures ranged from simple hunting and gathering societies to sophisticated civilizations such as those of the Aztec of central Mexico and the Inca of the central Andes. For all the indigenous peoples, however, contact with Europeans brought conquest and devastating epidemics.