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West Indies

West Indies

The Caribbean, (Spanish: Caribe) or the West Indies, is a group of islands and countries which are in or border the Caribbean Sea which lies on the Caribbean Plate. The countries and islands of the Caribbean are located to the south and east of Mexico and to the north and west of Venezuela, South America. There are at least 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cayes in the region. They are organized into 25 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. The name "West Indies" originates from Christopher Columbus' idea that he had landed in the Indies (then meaning all of south and east Asia) when he had in fact reached the Americas. The name "Caribbean" is named after the Caribs, one of the dominant Amerindian groups in the region at the time of European contact. The Caribbean consists of the Greater and Lesser Antilles, and is often considered part of North America. At one time, there was a short-lived country called the Federation of the West Indies composed of the English-speaking Caribbean islands of the region. The Caribbean area is also famous for its sea pirates. See the article piracy in the Caribbean. The region known as "Caribbean" is usually restricted to the islands of the Caribbean Sea, although sometimes the continental American coastline is included.

Historical groupings

Main article: History of the Caribbean Most islands at some point were, or still are, colonies of European nations:
- British West Indies / Anglophone_Caribbean - Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands
- Danish West Indies - present-day United States Virgin Islands
- Dutch West Indies - present-day Netherlands Antilles and Aruba
- French West Indies - Haiti and the French overseas départements of Guadeloupe and Martinique
- Spain - Cuba, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico The British West Indies were formerly united by the United Kingdom into a West Indies Federation. The independent countries which were once a part of the B.W.I. still have a unified composite cricket team that successfully competes in test matches and one-day internationals. The West Indian cricket team includes the South American nation of Guyana, the only former British colony on that continent. In addition, these countries share the University of the West Indies as a regional entity. The university consists of three main campuses in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, a smaller campus in the Bahamas and Resident Tutors in other contributing territories.

Present-day island territories of the Caribbean

Bahamas] See also: Caribbean South America, Caribbean_basin
- (British dependency)
  - Anguillita Island
  - Dog Island
  - East Cay
  - Little Scrub Island
  - Prickly Pear Cays
  - Sandy Island
  - Scrub Island
  - Seal Island
  - Sombrero
  - West Cay
-
  - Antigua
  - Barbuda
  - Redonda
- (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
-
  - Barbados
  - Culpepper Island
  - Pelican Island (now absorbed into Barbados)
- (British dependency, shares the Virgin Islands with the U.S. Virgin Islands.)
  - Anegada
  - Beef Island
  - Bellamy Cay
  - Carvel Rock
  - Cockroach Island
  - Cooper Island
  - Dead Chest Cay
  - Diamond Cay
  - Dog Islands
  - Drowned Island
  - East Seal Dog Island
  - Eustatia Island
  - Fallen Jerusalem Island
  - Frenchmans Cay
  - Grouge Dog Island
  - Ginger Island
  - Great Camanoe
  - Great Dog Island
  - Great Thatch
  - Great Tobago Island
  - Green Cay
  - Guana Island
  - Jost Van Dyke
  - Key Cay
  - Little Anegada
  - Little Camanoe
  - Little Cay
  - Little Jost Van Dyke
  - Little Seal Dog Island
  - Little Thatch
  - Little Tobago
  - Little Wickmans Cay
  - Marina Cay
  - Mosquito Island
  - Nanny Cay
  - Necker Island
  - Norman Island
  - Old Jerusalem Island
  - Oyster Rock
  - Pelican Island
  - Peter Island
  - Prickly Pear Island
  - Saba Rock
  - Salt Cay
  - Sandy Cay
  - Scrub Island
  - Spanish Island
  - Tortola
  - Virgin Gorda
  - West Dog Island
- (British dependency)
  - Cayman Brac
  - Grand Cayman (with the capital George Town)
  - Little Cayman
-
  - Cuba
  - Isla de la Juventud
-
  - Bird Island (disputed territory with Venezuela located about 110 km (70 mi) west of the island of Dominica)
- (shares the Grenadines group with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
  - Carriacou
  - Grenada
  - Petit Martinique
  - Ronde Island
  - Petite Martinique
- (overseas department of France)
  - Basse-Terre
  - La Désirade
  - Grande-Terre
  - Marie-Galante
  - Iles de la Petite Terre
  - Saint-Barthélemy (also Saint Barts)
  - Saint-Martin (part of the island Saint Martin shared with the Netherlands Antilles; note the dash)
  - Iles des Saintes
    - Terre de Haut
    - Terre de Bas
- Hispaniola
  -
  -
-
- (overseas department of France)
- (British dependency)
- Navassa Island (U.S. insular area)
- (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
  - Bonaire
  - Curaçao
  - Saba
  - Sint Eustatius
  - Sint Maarten (part of the island Saint Martin shared with Guadeloupe)
- (U.S. commonwealth)
  - Culebra
  - Mona
  - Puerto Rico
  - Vieques
-
  - Nevis
  - Saint Kitts
-
- (shares the Grenadines group with Grenada)
  - Baliceaux Island
  - Bequia
  - Canouan Island
  - Mayreau
  - Mustique
  - Palm Island
  - Petit Mustique
  - Petit Saint Vincent
  - Saint Vincent
  - Tobago Cays
  - Union Island
  - Young Island
-
  - Tobago
    - Little Tobago
  - Trinidad
    - Chacachacare
    - Gaspar Grande
    - Huevos
    - Monos
- (U.S. territory, shares the Virgin Islands with the British Virgin Islands)
  - Birsk Island
  - Buck Island
  - Capella Island
  - Cas Cay
  - Cow And Calf Island
  - Dog Island
  - Dry Rock
  - Fish Cay
  - Flat Cay
  - Grass Cay
  - Great Saint James Island
  - Green Cay
  - Hassel Island
  - Inner Brass Island
  - Johnsons Reef
  - Leduck Island
  - Little Saint James Island
  - Lovango Cay
  - Ningo Island
  - Outer Brass Island
  - Packet Rock
  - Patricia Cay
  - Saba Island
  - Saint Croix
  - Saint John
  - Saint Thomas
  - South-West Rock
  - Stranglers Island
  - Thatch Cay
  - Turtledove Cay
  - Water Island
  - Welk Rock

Continental countries with Caribbean coastlines and islands


-
  - Ambergris Caye
  - Belize City
  - Big Creek
  - Caye Caulker
  - Glover's Reef
  - Hicks Cays
  - Lighthouse Reef
  - South Water Caye
  - Turneffe Islands
-
  - San Andres and Providencia
-
-
-
-
-
  - Cortés department
  - Atlántida department
  - Gracias a Dios department
  - Islas de la Bahía Department
    - Puerto Cortés
    - Tela
    - La Ceiba
    - Trujillo
    - La Mosquitia
    - Puerto Lempira
    - Guanaja
    - Roatán
    - Útila
    - Cayos Cochinos
    - Swan Islands
-
  - Cancún
  - Isla Contoy
  - Isla Cozumel
  - Isla Mujeres
-
  - Corn Islands
  - Cayos Miskitos
-
  - San Blas Islands
  - Bocas del Toro
-
-
  - Isla Margarita
  - Los Monjes Archipelago
  - Las Aves Archipelago
  - Isla de Aves
  - Los Hermanos Island
  - Los Frailes Island
  - Los Roques Archipelago
  - La Sola Island
  - La Tortuga Island
  - La Orchila Island
  - Los Testigos Island
  - La Blanquilla Island
  - Isla de Patos The nations of Belize and Guyana, although on the mainland of Central America and South America respectively, were former British colonies and maintain many cultural ties to the Caribbean and are members of CARICOM. The Turneffe Islands (and many other islands and reefs) are part of Belize and lie in the Caribbean Sea.

Island territories near the Caribbean

Though not technically in the Caribbean Sea, the nearby Bahaman Archipelago is sometimes considered to be part of the Caribbean.
-
  - Abaco
  - Acklins Island
  - Andros
  - Bimini Islands
  - Cat Island
  - Crooked Island
  - Eleuthera
  - Grand Bahama
  - Great Abaco
  - Great Exuma
  - Great Inaco
  - Long Island
  - Mayaguana
  - New Providence
  - Ragged Island
  - San Salvador Island
- (British dependency)
  - Grand Turk
  - Middle Caicos
  - North Caicos
  - Parrot Cay
  - Pine Cay
  - Providenciales
  - Salt Cay
  - South Caicos

Indigenous Tribes


- Arawak
- Carib
- Ciboney
- Garifuna
- Lucayan
- Taino

See also


- African diaspora
- British Afro-Caribbean community
- Caribbean English
- CONCACAF
- Council on Hemispheric Affairs
- History of the Caribbean
- Indo-Caribbean
- Music of the Caribbean
- Politics of the Caribbean
- Tongue of the Ocean
- Tourism in Caribbean
- West Indies Federation

Regional Institutions

Here are some of the bodies that several islands share in collaboration:
- African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP)
- Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Trinidad and Tobago
- Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), Trinidad and Tobago [http://www.caic.org.tt/]
- Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Guyana
- Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Barbados
- Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), Barbados
- Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), Barbados and Jamaica
- Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), Puerto Rico [http://www.caribbeanhotels.org/]
- Caribbean Programme for Economic Competitiveness (CPEC), Saint Lucia [http://www.cpechrd.org/]
- Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), Belize [http://www.caricom-fisheries.com/]
- Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), Barbados and Dominican Republic [http://www.crnm.org/]
- Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Barbados
- Inter-American Economic Council (IAEC), Washington, D.C.
- Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC), Brazil and Uruguay
- Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Saint Lucia
- United Nations - Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Chile and Trinidad and Tobago Many of the nations in the Caribbean play international cricket as one team called the West Indies. Category:Americas ko:서인도 제도 ja:西インド諸島 simple:Caribbean

Spanish language

:This article is about the international language known as Spanish or Castilian. For other languages spoken in Spain see Languages of Spain. Spanish or Castilian (Spanish: español or castellano) is an Iberian Romance language, and the fourth most widely spoken language in the world according to some sources, while other sources list it as the second or third most spoken language. It is spoken as a first language by about 352 million people, or by 417 million including non-native speakers (according to 1999 estimates). Some assert that, after English, Spanish can now be considered the second most important language in the world (probably replacing even French), due to its increased usage in the United States, the high birth rate in most of the countries where it is official, the growing economies of the Spanish-speaking world, its enormous influence on the global music market, and simply due to the broad number of areas on the Earth's surface that the language is spoken in.

"Spanish" or "Castilian"

Spaniards tend to call this language español when contrasting it with languages of other states (for example: in a list with French and English), but call it castellano (Castilian, from the Castile region) when contrasting it with other languages of Spain (such as Galician, Basque, and Catalan). In some parts of Spain, mainly where the people speak Galician, Basque, and Catalan, it is considered offensive to call the language español, as that is what Francisco Franco called it during his reign. For the rest of the Spanish-speaking world, speakers of the language in some areas refer to it as español, and in others castellano is more common. Castellano is the name given to Spanish language in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay and Venezuela. Some philologists use Castilian only when speaking of the language spoken in Castile during the Middle Ages, stating that it is preferable to use Spanish for its modern form. Castilian can be also a subdialect of Spanish spoken in most parts of modern day Castile. It would have a series of characteristics and a specific pronunciation different to the one of Andalusia or Aragon for example, where they would speak different subdialects.

Classification and related languages

Spanish is a member of the Romance branch of Indo-European, descended largely from Latin and having much in common with its European geographical neighbors. Spanish is related to several languages in terms of phonology, grammar and orthography. Of these, Portuguese is perhaps one of the most similar in terms of major languages. However, Spanish is also closely related to Catalan, Asturian, Galician and several other Romance languages. Spanish has fewer similarities with French and Italian but shares strong ties due to Latin roots. Portuguese is orthographically similar in many ways to Spanish but it has a very distinctive phonology. A speaker of one of these languages may require some practice to effectively understand a speaker of the other (although generally it is easier for a Portuguese native speaker to understand Spanish than the other way around). Compare, for example: :Ela fecha sempre a janela antes de jantar. (Portuguese) :Ella cierra siempre la ventana antes de cenar. (Spanish) Some less common phrasings and word choices have closer cognates in Spanish because Portuguese has managed to retain a much larger vocabulary, with stronger Latin heritage: :Ela cerra sempre a janela antes de cear. (less common Portuguese) (Which translates as "She always closes the window before having dinner.") In some places, Spanish and Portuguese are spoken almost interchangeably. Portuguese speakers are generally able to read Spanish, and Spanish speakers are generally able to read Portuguese, even if they cannot understand the spoken language. In fact, the number of bilingual speakers in Brazil (where Portuguese is the official language) has greatly risen because nearly every nation bordering Brazil is Spanish speaking.

History

The Spanish language developed from vulgar Latin, with influence from Celtiberian, Basque and Arabic, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula (see Iberian Romance languages). Typical features of Spanish diachronical phonology include lenition (Latin vita, Spanish vida), palatalization (Latin annum, Spanish año) and diphthongation (stem-changing) of short e and o from Vulgar Latin (Latin terra, Spanish tierra; Latin novus, Spanish nuevo). Similar phenomena can be found in most other Romance languages as well. During the Reconquista, this northern dialect was carried south, and indeed is still a minority language in northern Morocco. The first Latin to Spanish dictionary (Gramática de la Lengua Castellana) was written in Salamanca, Spain, in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija. When Isabella of Castile was presented with the book, she asked, What do I want a work like this for, if I already know the language?, to which he replied, Ma'am, the language is the instrument of the Empire. From the 16th century on, the language was brought to the Americas, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marianas, Palau and the Philippines by Spanish colonization. In the 20th century, Spanish was introduced in Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara. For details on borrowed words and other external influences in Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language.

Geographic distribution

Spanish is one of the official languages of the United Nations and the European Union. The majority of its speakers are confined to the Western Hemisphere, Europe and the Spanish territories in Africa (Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla). With approximately 106 million first-language and second-language speakers, Mexico boasts the largest population of Spanish-speakers in the world. The four next largest populations reside in Colombia (44 million), Spain (c. 44 million), Argentina (39 million) and the United States of America (U.S. residents age 5 and older who speak Spanish at home number 31 million) [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_lang=en&_ts=134303235020]. Spanish is the official and most important language in 20 countries: Argentina, Bolivia (co-official Quechua and Aymara), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea (co-official French), Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay (co-official Guaraní), Peru (co-official Quechua and Aymara), Puerto Rico (co-official English), Spain (co-official Catalan/Valencian, Galician and Basque), Uruguay, Venezuela, and Western Sahara (co-official Arabic). In Belize, Spanish holds no official recognition, however, it is the native tongue of about 50% of the population, and is spoken as a second language by another 20%. It is arguably the most important and widely-spoken on a popular level, but English remains the sole official language. In the United States, Spanish is spoken by three-quarters of its 41.3 million Hispanic population. It is also being learned and spoken by a small, though slowly growing, proportion of its non-Hispanic population for its increasing use in business, commerce, and both domestic and international politics. Spanish does hold co-official status in the state of New Mexico, and in the unincorporated U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. See Spanish in the United States for further information. In Brazil, Spanish has obtained an important status as a second language among young students and many skilled professionals. In recent years, with Brazil decreasing its reliance on trade with the USA and Europe and increasing trade and ties with its Spanish-speaking neighbours (especially as a member of the Mercosur trading bloc), much stress has been placed on bilingualism and Spanish proficiency in the country. On July 07 2005, the National Congress of Brazil gave final approval to a bill that makes Spanish a second language in the country’s public and private primary schools [http://www.mercopress.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=5996]. The close genetic relationship between the two languages, along with the fact that Spanish is the dominant and official language of almost every country that borders Brazil, adds to the popularity. Standard Spanish and Ladino (Judæo-Spanish spoken by Sephardic Jews) may also be spoken natively by some Spanish-descended Brazilians, immigrant workers from neighbouring Spanish-speaking countries and Brazilian Sephardim respectively, who have maintained it as their home language. Additionally, in Brazil's border states that have authority over their educational systems, Spanish has been taught for years. In many other border towns and villages (especially along the Uruguayo-Brazilian border) a mixed language commonly known as Portuñol is also spoken. In European countries other than Spain and Andorra (where it holds no official status), it may be spoken by some of their Spanish-speaking immigrant communities, primarily in the Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom where there is a strong community in London. There has been a sharp increase in the popularity of Spanish in the UK over the last few years. It is spoken by much of the population of Gibraltar, though English remains the only official language. Yanito, an English-Spanish mixed language is also spoken. Among the countries and territories in Oceania, Spanish is the seventh most spoken language in Australia. It is also spoken by the approximately 3,000 inhabitants of Easter Island, a territorial possession of Chile. The island nations of Guam, Palau, Northern Marianas, Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia all once had Spanish speakers, but Spanish has long since been forgotten, and now only exists as an influence on the local native languages. In Asia the Spanish language has long been in decline. Spanish ceased to be an official language of the Philippines in 1987, and it is now spoken by less than 0.01% of the population; 2,658 speakers (1990 Census). However, the sole existing Spanish-Asiatic creole language, Chabacano, is also spoken by an additional 0.4% of the Filipino population; 292,630 (1990 census). Most other Philippine languages contain generous quantities of Spanish loan words. Among other Asian countries, Spanish may also be spoken by pockets of ex-immigrant communities, such as Mexican-born ethnic Chinese deported to China or third and fourth generation ethnic Japanese Peruvians returning to their ancestral homeland of Japan. Spanish is also spoken by segments of the populations in Aruba, Canada, Curaçao, Israel (both standard Spanish and Ladino), northern Morocco (both standard Spanish and Ladino), Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey (Ladino), and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Antarctica, the territorial claims and permanent bases made by Argentina, Chile, Peru and Spain also place Spanish as the official and working language of these enclaves.

Variations

There are important variations among the various regions of Spain and Spanish-speaking America. In Spain the North Castilian dialect pronunciation is commonly taken as the national standard (although the characteristic weak pronouns usage or laísmo of this dialect is deprecated). Spanish has three second-person singular pronouns: tú, usted, and in some parts of Latin America, vos (the use of this form is called voseo). Generally speaking, tú and vos are informal and used with friends (though in Spain vos is considered a highly exalted archaism that is now confined to liturgy). Usted is universally regarded as the formal form, and is used as a mark of respect, as when addressing one's elders or strangers. The pronoun vosotros is the plural form of tú in most of Spain, although in the Americas (and some particular southern-Spain cities such as Cádiz) it is replaced with ustedes. It is remarkable that the informal use of ustedes in southern Spain does not keep the proper pronoun-verb agreement: while the formal form of "you go" would be ustedes van, in Cádiz the informal form would be constructed as ustedes vais, making use of the second person of the plural instead of the third (which constitutes the formal construction). Vos is used extensively as the primary spoken form of the second-person singular pronoun in various countries around Latin America, including Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Uruguay. In Argentina, Uruguay, and increasingly in Paraguay, is it also the standard form used in the media, whereas media in other voseante countries continue to use usted or tú. Vos may also be present in other countries as a limited regionalism. Its use, depending on country and region, can be considered the accepted standard or reproached as sub-standard and considered as speech of the ignorant and uneducated. The interpersonal situations in which the employment of vos is acceptable may also differ considerably between regions. Spanish forms also differ regarding second-person plural pronouns. The Spanish dialects of Latin America have only one form of the second-person plural; ustedes (formal/familiar). Meanwhile, in Spain there are two; ustedes (formal) and vosotros (familiar/informal). The RAE (Real Academia Española), in association with twenty-one other national language academies, exercises a controlling influence through its publication of dictionaries and widely respected grammar guides and style guides. In part due to this influence, and also because of other socio-historical reasons, a neutral standardized form of the language (Standard Spanish) is widely acknowledged for use in literature, academic contexts and the media.

Grammar

Spanish is a relatively inflected language, with a two-gender system and about fifty conjugated forms per verb, but small noun declension and limited pronominal declension. (For a detailed overview of verbs, see Spanish verbs and Spanish irregular verbs.) As for syntax, the unmarked sentence word order is Subject Verb Object, though variations are common. Spanish is right-branching, using prepositions, and with adjectives generally coming after nouns. Spanish is also pro-drop (allows the deletion of pronouns when pragmatically unnecessary) and verb-framed.

Sounds

The consonantal system of Castilian Spanish, by the 16th century, underwent the following important changes that differentiated it from some nearby Romance languages, such as Portuguese and Catalan:
- The initial , that had evolved into a vacillating , was lost in most words (although this etymological h- has been preserved in spelling).
- The voiced labiodental fricative (that was written u or v) merged with the bilabial oclusive (written b). Orthographically, b and v do not correspond to different phonemes in contemporary Spanish, excepting some areas in Spain, particularly the ones influenced by Catalan/Valencian and some Andalusia.
- The voiced alveolar fricative (that was written s between vowels) merged with the voiceless (that was written s, or ss between vowels).
- The voiced alveolar affricate (that was written z) merged with the voiceless (that was written ç, ce, ci), and then evolved into the interdental , now written z, ce, ci. But in Andalucia, the Canary Islands and the Americas these sounds merged with as well. Notice that the ç or c with cedilla was in its origin a Spanish letter, although is no longer used.
- The voiced postalveolar fricative (that was written j, ge, gi) merged with the voiceless (that was written x, as in Quixote), and then evolved by the 17th century into the modern velar sound , now written j, ge, gi. The consonantal system of Medieval Spanish has been better preserved in Ladino, the language spoken by the descendants of the Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain in the 15th century.

Lexical stress

Spanish has a phonemic stress system — the place where stress will fall cannot be predicted by other features of the word, and two words can differ by just a change in stress. For example, the word camino (with penultimate stress) means "road" or "I walk" whereas caminó (with final stress) means "he/she/it walked". Also, since Spanish pronounces all syllables at a more or less constant tempo, it is said to be a syllable-timed language.

Writing system

The pronunciation of any Spanish word can be perfectly predicted from its written form. Spanish is written using the Latin alphabet, with the addition of ñ (eñe). Ch and ll also have their own places in the alphabet (a, b, c, ch, d, ..., l, ll, m, n, ñ, ...). Since 1990, however, words containing the letters ch and ll have been alphabetized as though spelled with the separate letters c - h and l - l. The letter u sometimes carries diaeresis (ü) after the letter g, and the stressed vowel carries an acute accent (á) in many words. Exclamatory and interrogative clauses begin with inverted question and exclamation marks.

Examples of Spanish

Note, the third column uses the International Phonetic Alphabet, the standard for linguists, to transcribe the sounds. There are several examples of travellers' vocabulary and one literary reference. You can listen to these words being read out. Both the transcription and the recording represent standard Castilian pronunciation. El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (opening sentence).

See also


- Real Academia Española
- Common phrases in Spanish
- List of English words of Spanish origin
- Names given to the Spanish language
- Spanish proverbs
- Spanish language poets
- Spanish Creole
- Portuñol
- Papiamento, Chavacano language, Spanglish, Yanito, Palenquero
- Rock en español
- Latin Union
- Islenos

Local varieties


- Argentine Spanish
- Colombian Spanish
- Cuban Spanish
- Mexican Spanish
- Panamanian Spanish
- Puerto Rican Spanish
- Rioplatense Spanish
- Spanish in the United States
- Spanish in the Philippines
- Venezuelan Spanish
- Central American Spanish

External links

About the Spanish language


-
- [http://www.rae.es Official page of the RAE] (in Spanish)
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=spa Ethnologue report for Spanish]
- [http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/i.e.mackenzie/index.html Spanish Language & Linguistics Website]
- [http://assets.cambridge.org/0521805872/sample/0521805872WS.pdf PDF: A history of the Spanish language]
- [http://www.sispain.org/english/language/worldwid.html Numbers of speakers by countries]
- [http://www.vistawide.com/spanish/why_spanish.htm Why learn Spanish?] 10 reasons for learning Spanish
- [http://spanish.about.com Spanish Language] Collection of lessons and other resources
- [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/2444/splatin.html Spanish evolution from Latin]
- [http://www.trustedtranslations.com/spanish_language.asp Spanish Language Characteristics] Some characteristics of Spanish Language

Dictionaries


- [http://buscon.rae.es/diccionario/drae.htm DRAE, Dictionary of the RAE] (Spanish-spanish)
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Spanish-english/ Spanish — English Dictionary]: from Webster's Rosetta Edition.
- [http://www.diccionarios.com Diccionarios.com]
- [http://www.my-spanish-dictionary.com/ An English-Spanish Dictionary]
- [http://www.tododiccionarios.com/ Tododiccionarios.com] a directory of reference works in English or Spanish, classified by subject, with several thousand links.
- [http://spanishdict.com/ Spanishdict.com] Another Spanish-English dictionary.
- [http://wordreference.com/ Wordreference.com] Comprehensive Spanish-English-Spanish dictionary.
- [http://www.tomisimo.org/ Tomísimo.org] A Spanish-English dictionary.

Grammatical help


- [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Spanish Spanish grammar Wikibook]
- [http://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm Spanish Grammar Tutorial - with quizzes, tests, and oral activities]
- [http://tchaidze.com/spangram/tenses.html#correspondence Usage of Tenses]
- [http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/courses/accents.htm Use of written accent marks in Spanish]
- [http://verbs.obrist.org Spanish Verb Forms] — Search and conjugate Spanish verbs.
- [http://www.helloworld.com.es/english/quick%20reference/grammar.htm Grammar and more] Examples, Uses, Explanations of Grammar Points and a Free Personal Spanish Verb Conjugator

Tutorials


- [http://www.declan-software.com/spanish Spanish vocabulary learning software with audio]
- [http://spanish.mypage.org Spanish for beginners and travelers]
- [http://learno.com/spanish/index.html Free Learno.com online Spanish tutorial]
- [http://www.listenandlearn.org Practice Spanish Online with Audio Stories]
- [http://www.studyspanish.com/ StudySpanish.com] Popular website for beginners
- [http://www.angelfire.com/ego/pdf/ng/argentina/arsp.html Rioplatense Spanish] Spanish from the River Plate basin
- [http://www.spanish-kit.net Spanish-kit.net] Free Downloadable Spanish grammars, and vocabulary learning tools.
- [http://www.fridaspanish.com Fridaspanish.com Learn Spanish] Mexican Spanish
- [http://www.ielanguages.com/spanish.html Free Spanish Language Tutorial at ielanguages.com]
- [http://www.quiz-tree.com/Spanish_Language_main.html Free Spanish quizzes with audio by a native speaker]
- [http://www.spanicity.com/ SpaniCity] Free Spanish lessons, sounds, grammar and dictionary
- [http://www.loecsen.com/travel/discover_pop.php?lang=en&to_lang=14&learn-Spanish/ Learn and listen to useful expressions in Spanish] Each expression is presented with an audio recording and an illustration
- Spanish phrasebook on Wikitravel

Resources


- [http://www.spanishblogger.com Spanish Blogs & Weblog Directory]
- Category:Languages of Spain Category:Languages of Argentina Category:Languages of Belize Category:Languages of Bolivia Category:Languages of Chile Category:Languages of Colombia Category:Languages of Costa Rica Category:Languages of Ecuador Category:Languages of El Salvador Category:Languages of Guatemala Category:Languages of Honduras Category:Languages of Mexico Category:Languages of Nicaragua Category:Languages of Panama Category:Languages of Paraguay Category:Languages of Peru Category:Languages of Uruguay Category:Languages of Venezuela ja:スペイン語 ko:에스파냐어 simple:Spanish language th:ภาษาสเปน

Island

in New York, USA]] An island or isle is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water. Very small islands are called islets. Although seldom adhered to, it is also proper to call an emergent land feature on an atoll an islet, since an atoll is a type of island. A key or cay is also another name for a relatively small island. Groups of related islands are called archipelagos. There are three main types of islands: continental islands, river islands, and volcanic islands. There are also some artificial islands. The word island derives ultimately from the Old English word igland. It was originally spelled phonetically: iland. The letter "s" was added out of the mistaken belief that it derived from isle (< Old French < Latin insula) + land, where no such etymological relationship existed.

Continental islands

Continental islands are bodies of land that are connected by the continental shelf to a continent. That is, these islands are part of an adjacent continent and are located on the continental shelf of that continent. Examples include Greenland and Sable Island off North America, Barbados and Trinidad off South America, Sicily off Europe, Sumatra and Java off Asia, New Guinea and Tasmania off Australia. A special type of continental island is the microcontinental island, which results when a continent is rifted. The best example is Madagascar off Africa. The Kerguelen Islands and some of the Seychelles are also examples. Another subtype is the barrier island: accumulations of sand on the continental shelf.

River islands

River islands occur in river deltas and in large rivers. They are caused by deposition of sediment at points in the flow where the current loses some of its carrying capacity. In essence, they are river bars, isolated in the stream. While some are ephemeral, and may disappear if the river's water volume or speed changes, others are stable and long-lived.

Volcanic islands

Volcanic islands are built by volcanoes. Mid-ocean examples are not geologically part of any continent. One type of volcanic island is found in a volcanic island arc. These islands arise from volcanoes where the subduction of one plate under another is occurring. Examples include the Mariana Islands, the Aleutian Islands, and most of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean. Some of the Lesser Antilles and the South Sandwich Islands are the only Atlantic Ocean examples. Another type of volcanic island occurs where an oceanic rift reaches the surface. There are two examples: Iceland, which is the world's largest volcanic island, and Jan Mayen—both are in the Atlantic. The last type of volcanic island are those formed over volcanic hotspots. A hot spot is more or less stationary relative to the moving tectonic plate above it, so a chain of islands results as the plate drifts. Over long periods of time, this type of island is eventually eroded down and "drowned" by isostatic adjustment, becoming a seamount. Plate movement across a hot-spot produces a line of islands oriented in the direction of the plate movement. An example is the Hawaiian Islands, from Hawaii to Kure, which then extends beneath the sea surface in a more northerly direction as the Emperor Seamounts. Another chain with similar orientation is the Tuamotu Archipelago; its older, northerly trend is the Line Islands. The southernmost chain is the Austral Islands, with its northerly trending part the atolls in the nation of Tuvalu. Tristan da Cunha is an example of a hotspot volcano in the Atlantic Ocean. An atoll is an island formed from a coral reef that has grown on an eroded and submerged volcanic island. The reef rises above the surface of the water and forms a new island. Atolls are typically ring-shaped with a central, shallow lagoon. Examples include the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and Bora Bora in the Pacific.

See also


- List of islands
- List of islands by area
- List of islands by population
- Reef
- Desert island
- Tidal island
- List of artificial islands
- List of divided islands
- Skerry

External links


- [http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part8.htm Definition of island] from United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Category:Islands Category:Landforms zh-min-nan:Tó-sū ko:섬 ms:Pulau ja:島 simple:Island th:เกาะ

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a tropical body of water adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean and southeast of the Gulf of Mexico. It covers most of the Caribbean Plate and is bounded on the south by Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama, to the west by Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, to the north by the Greater Antilles islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles. The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest salt water seas and has an area of about 2,754,000 km² (1,063,000 square miles). The sea's deepest point is the Cayman Trench, between Cuba and Jamaica, at 7,686 m (25,220 feet) below sea level. The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, especially the numerous islands, is known as the Caribbean.

See also


- Antilles
- Caribbean South America Category:Seas Category:Caribbean ko:카리브 해 ja:カリブ海 zh-min-nan:Carib-hái

Mexico

The United Mexican States or Mexico (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos or México; regarding the use of the variant spelling Méjico, see section The name below) is a country located in North America, bordered by the United States to the north, and Belize and Guatemala to the southeast. It is the northernmost and westernmost country in Latin America, and also the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world.

History

Main article: History of Mexico

Pre-Hispanic Times

Hunter-Gatherer peoples are thought to have discovered and inhabited Mexico more than 28,000 years ago. Ancient Mexicans began to selectively breed corn plants around 8,000 B.C. Evidence shows the explosion of pottery works by 2300 B.C. and the beginning of intensive farming between 1800 and 1500 BC. For more than 3,000 years, Mexico was the site of several Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Aztec, the Olmec, Teotihuacan, the Toltec, Mixtec, Zapotec and the Mayan. These indigenous civilizations are credited with many inventions: pyramid-temples, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, writing, highly-accurate calendars, fine arts, intensive agriculture, engineering, an abacus, a complex theology, and the wheel. Archaic inscriptions on rocks and rock walls all over northern Mexico (especially in the state of Nuevo León) demonstrate an early propensity for counting in Mexico. These very early and ancient count-markings were associated with astronomical events and underscore the influence that astronomical activities had upon Mexican natives, even before they possessed civilization. In fact, the later Mexican civilizations would all carefully build their cities and ceremonial centers according to specific astronomical events. At different points in time, three different Mexican cities were the largest cities in the world: Teotihuacan, Tenochtitlan, and Cholula. These cities, among several others, blossomed as centers of commerce, ideas, ceremonies, and theology. In turn, they radiated influence outwards onto neighboring cultures. Cholula] Cholula] While many city-states, kingdoms, and empires competed with one another for power and prestige, Mexico had four major, unifying civilizations: The Olmec, Teotihuacan, Toltec, and the Mexica. These four civilizations extended their reach across Mexico and beyond like no others. They consolidated power and distributed influence in matters of trade, art, politics, technology, and theology. Other regional power players made economic and political alliances with these four civilizations over the span of 4,000 years. Many made war with them, but almost all found themselves within these four spheres of influence. Latecomers to Mexico's central plateau, the Mexica, or Aztecs, as they were sometimes called in memory of Aztlán, the starting point of their tribes wanderings, never thought of themselves as anything but heirs of the brilliant civilizations that had preceded them. For them, highly-civilized arts, sculpture, architecture, engraving, feather-mosiac work, and the invention of the calendar were due to the former inhabitants of Tula, the Toltecs, who reached the height of their civilization in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The Mexica, one of the Aztec groups, were the first people in the world to practice mandatory education for all people, regardless of gender, rank, or station. There were two types of schools: the telpochcalli, for practical and military studies, and the calmecac, for advanced learning in writing, astronomy, statesmanship, theology, and other areas. The Aztecs' religious beliefs were based on a fear that the universe would cease functioning without a constant offering of human sacrifice. This belief was common throughout nahuatl people. As a result, Aztec warfare was conducted with an aim to only injure the enemy, so that he could later be sacrificed, and weapons were constructed with this in mind. This penchant for human sacrifice proved to be the undoing of the Aztecs, for when they confronted the Spaniards, who fought to the death, their less effective weapons made resistance difficult. In order to acquire captives in time of peace, the Aztec resorted to ritual warfare, or flower war. Tlaxcalteca and other nahuatl nations were forced into such wars, so they joined the Spaniard forces against the Aztec. The small Spanish force was reinforced with thousands of indian allies, who were schooled on European warfare.

The Spanish Era

The arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century and their defeat of the Mexica in 1521 marked the beginning of the 300 year-long colonial period of Mexico as New Spain. After the fall of Tenochtitlan, it would take decades of continuous war to pacify Mesoamerica. Particularly fierce were the "Chichimeca wars" in the north of Mexico (1576-1606). The colonists brought with them the Catholic faith, to which the population seemingly converted rapidly, but soon they found the natives had adopted "the god of the heavens", as they called it, as just one of their gods. While it was an important god, because it was the god of the conquerors,they did not see why they had to abandon their old beliefs. As a result, a second wave of missionaries began a process attempting to completely erase the old beliefs, and thus wiped out many aspects of Mesoamerican culture. Hundreds of thousands of codices were destroyed, priests and teachers were persecuted, and the temples and statues of the gods were destroyed. The Mesoamerican education system was set aside and replaced by church education; even some foods associated with religion, like amaranto, were forbidden. Eventually, the natives were declared minors, and forbidden to read and write, so they would always need a white man in charge of them to be responsible of their indoctrination. Although officially they could not become slaves, the system, known as encomienda, came to signify the oppression and exploitation of natives, although its originators did not set out with such intent. Due to some horrifying instances of abuse against the indigenous peoples, Bishop Bartolome de las Casas suggested bringing black slaves to replace them. Bartolome later repented when he saw the treatment given to the black slaves. Unlike most English-speaking colonists of North America, Spanish colonists married the natives, and were even encouraged to do so by Queen Isabella during the earliest days of colonization (in Cuba, specifically). The first Spanish colonists were mainly male, so they took native women, and sometimes black women, although rarely. After the native population was decimated by epidemics and forced labor, black slaves were imported, and for a time they even outnumbered the white population. However, they eventually mixed with the population. There are still a few black communities (see Afro-Mexican), but few modern Mexicans are aware of this. As a result of these unions, as well as concubinage, a vast class of people known as "Mestizos" and mulatos came into being, of Amerindian, black, and Spanish descent. But even if mixes were allowed, the white population tried to keep their status. A system was created to keep each mix in a different social level. This was "El sistema de castas" (the caste system). Each different mix had a name and a different privileges or prohibitions. There were even two different kind of whites, those born in Spain, or "peninsulares", and in a lower level, those born in America or "criollos". Mestizos and mulatos were next, and then the other mixes. In this system, Native Americans had the lower status, even lower than free black people. The Spanish "peninsulares" tried by all means to keep their status, even if they took native women. Those who could afford also tried to have a Spanish wife, who was sent to Spain to give birth, thus preventing their children became criollos. Mestizos and criollos were not allowed in the upper levels of the government, and eventually they joined forces for the independence of México. With independence, the caste system and slavery were abolished. Mestizos, while they no longer have a separate legal status from other groups, comprise approximately 60% of the population. In modern México, mestizo has became more a cultural term, since a Native American that abandons his traditional ways is considered a mestizo, also most Afromexicans prefer to be considered mestizo, since they feel more identified with this group. During the following centuries, under Spanish rule, a new culture developed that combined the customs and traditions of the indigenous peoples with that of Catholic Spain. Numerous churches and other buildings were constructed in the Spanish style, and cities were named after various saints and objects of veneration, such as "San Luis Potosí" (after St. Louis) and "Vera Cruz" ("True Cross"). Spanish settlers brought with them smallpox, typhus, and other diseases. Most of the settlers had developed an immunity from childhood, but the indigenous peoples had not. There were three separate epidemics that decimated the population: Smallpox (1520-1521), measles ( 1545-1548) and typhus (1576-1581). Of the estimated 15 to 20 million of the original prehispanic population, less than two million survived. The New Spain of the end of XVI century was an underpopulated country with abandoned cities, which would be the main cause of collapse of the Mesoamerican cultures.

Mexican Independence

On September 16, 1810, independence from Spain was declared by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Catholic priest in the small town of Dolores, causing a long war that eventually led to independence in 1821 and the creation of the First Mexican Empire. After independence, Spanish possessions in Central America which also proclaimed independence were all incorporated into Mexico from 1822 to 1823, with the exception of Chiapas. Soon after achieving its independence from Spain, the Mexican government, in an effort to populate its sparsely-settled hinterlands, awarded land grants in a remote area of the northernmost state of Coahuila y Tejas to hundreds of immigrant families from the United States, on the condition that the settlers convert to Catholicism and assume Mexican citizenship. It also forbade the importation of slaves, a condition that, like the others, was largely ignored. The Empire soon fell to rogue republican forces led by Antonio López de Santa Anna. The first Republic was formed with Guadalupe Victoria as its first president, followed in office by Santa Anna. As president, in 1834 Santa Anna abrogated the federal constitution, causing insurgencies in the southern state of Yucatán and the northernmost portion of the northern state of Coahuila y Tejas. Both areas sought independence from the Mexican government. While negotiations eventually brought Yucatán to again recognize Mexican sovereignty, Santa Anna's army turned to the northern rebellion. The inhabitants of Tejas, calling themselves Texans and led mainly by relatively recently-arrived English-speaking settlers, declared independence from Mexico at Washington-on-the-Brazos, giving birth to the Republic of Texas. Texas won its independence in 1836, further reducing the territory of the fledgling republic. In the 1840s, Mexico was invaded and defeated by the United States, which demanded and received roughly one-half of the country's remaining territory, from which were formed the modern states of California, Nevada, and Utah, and most of Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado (see Mexican-American War). In the 1860s, the country again suffered a military occupation, this time by France, seeking to establish the Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria as Emperor of Mexico, with support from the Roman Catholic clergy and conservative criolloss. The Second Mexican Empire was then overthrown by the Zapotec Benito Juárez, with diplomatic and logistical support from the United States and the military expertise of General Porfirio Díaz. General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated the French Army (arguably the most powerful in the world at the time) at the city of Puebla on May 5, 1862, celebrated as Cinco de Mayo ever since. However, after his death, the city was lost in early 1863, following a renewed French attack which penetrated as far as Mexico City, forcing Juárez to organize an itinerant government. 1863 to 1867. In mid-1867, following repeated losses in battle to the Republican Army, Maximilian was captured and murdered by Juárez's soldiers, along with his last loyal generals, in Querétaro. From then on, Juárez remained in office until his death in 1872. After Juárez's death, Mexico experienced economic growth under the conservative and pro-European rule of Porfirio Díaz. Foreign investment allowed the development of the oil industry and the construction of a railroad system across the country. This period of relative peace and prosperity is known as the "Porfiriato". His mandate, however, was mostly undemocratic and benefited the middle and upper classes, while the Amerindian indigenous population continued to live in precarious conditions. Growing social inequalities, restricted freedom of the press, and his insistence to be reelected for a fifth term led to massive protests. His fraudulent victory in the 1910 elections sparked the Mexican Revolution. Revolutionary forces defeated the federal army, but were left with internal struggles, leaving the country in conflict for two more decades. The creation of the National Revolutionary Party (which later became the Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI), in 1929 ended the struggles, uniting all generals and combatants of the revolution. During the next four decades, Mexico experienced impressive economic growth, and historians call this period "El Milagro Mexicano", the Mexican Miracle. This was in spite of falling foreign confidence in investment, first through the assumption of mineral rights and subsequent nationalisation of the oil industry into Pemex during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas del Río. However the management of the economy collapsed several times afterwards. Accused many times of fraud, the PRI's candidates held almost all public offices until the end of the 20th century. It was not until the 1980s that the PRI lost the first state governorship, an event that marked the beginning of the party's loss of hegemony. Through the electoral reforms started by president Carlos Salinas de Gortari and consolidated by president Ernesto Zedillo, by the mid 1990s the PRI had lost its majority in Congress. In 2000, after seventy years, the PRI lost a presidential elections to a candidate of the National Action Party (PAN), Vicente Fox. On September 19, 1985, an earthquake measuring approximately 8.0 on the Richter scale struck Michoacán and inflicted severe damage on Mexico City. Estimates of the number of dead range from 6,500 to 30,000. (See Great Mexican Earthquake.) On January 1 1994, Mexico became a full member of the North American Free Trade Agreement, joining the United States of America and Canada in a large economic bloc with two counties vastly more prosperous. On March 23, 2005, the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America was signed by the elected leaders of those countries.

Government and politics

Main articles: Government of Mexico, Politics of Mexico Politics of Mexico The 1917 Constitution provides for a federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Historically, the executive is the dominant branch, with power vested in the president, who promulgates and executes the laws of the Congress. Congress has played an increasingly important role since 1997, when opposition parties first formed a majority in the legislature. The president also legislates by executive decree in certain economic and financial fields, using powers delegated from Congress. The president is elected by universal adult suffrage for a six-year term and may not hold office a second time. There is no vice-president; in the event of the removal or death of the president, a provisional "emergency" president is elected by Congress, whose first task is to summon the Congress for a session to choose an interim president; the first task of that interim president is to call for elections within the next 18 months. However, in the event of a very short unavailability of the president (e.g. in the case of minor surgery) the executive power is handed to the president of the Supreme Court, who at the same time relinquishes temporarily his role as such. On July 2, 2000, Vicente Fox of the opposition "Alliance for Change" coalition, headed by the National Action Party (PAN), was elected president. Fox began his six-year term on December 1, 2000. His victory ended the Institutional Revolutionary Party's (PRI) 71-year hold on the presidency. The three most important political parties in Mexico are the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the National Action Party (PAN), and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

Political divisions

:Main article: States of Mexico :See also: Mexican state name etymologies. Mexico is divided into 31 states (estados) and a federal district. Each state has its own constitution and its citizens elect a governor as well as representatives to their respective state congresses. governor
The Federal District is a special political division in Mexico, where the national capital, Mexico City, is located. It enjoys more limited local rule than the nation's "free and sovereign states": only since 1997 have its citizens been able to elect a Head of Government, whose powers are still more curtailed than those of a state governor. Much of the capital city's metropolitan area overflows the limits of the Federal District.

Major cities

The following is a list of the biggest Metropolitan Areas of Mexico in order of population: #Mexico City, Distrito Federal (22.0 million) #Guadalajara, Jalisco (4.7 million) #Monterrey, Nuevo León (3.6 million) #Puebla, Puebla (2.6 million) #Tijuana, Baja California (1.5 million) #León, Guanajuato (1.2 million) #Toluca, México (1.2 million) #Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua (1.1 million) #Torreón, Coahuila (1.1 million) #San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí (0.8 million) #Mérida, Yucatán (0.8 million) #Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro (0.8 million) #Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes (0.7 million) #Cuernavaca, Morelos (0.7 million) #Chihuahua, Chihuahua (0.7 million) :Population figures according to INEGI (National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information) 2000

Geography

Chihuahua, Chihuahua]] Main article: Geography of Mexico Situated in the southwestern part of mainland North America and roughly triangular in shape, Mexico stretches more than 3000 km from northwest to southeast. Its width is varied, from more than 2000 km in the north and less than 220 km at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the south. Mexico is bordered by the United States to the north, and Belize and Guatemala to the southeast. Mexico is about one-fourth the size of the United States. Baja California in the west is a 1,250-km peninsula and forms the Gulf of California. In the east are the Gulf of Mexico and the Bay of Campeche, which is formed by Mexico's other peninsula, the Yucatán. The center of Mexico is a great, high plateau, open to the north, with mountain chains on the east and west and with ocean-front lowlands lying outside of them. (See list of mountains in Mexico). list of mountains in Mexico The terrain and climate vary from rocky deserts in the north to tropical rain forest in the south. Mexico's major rivers include the Río Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande) and the Usumacinta on its northern and southern borders, respectively, together with the Grijalva, Balsas, Pánuco, and Yaqui in the interior.

Economy

Yaqui.]] Main article: Economy of Mexico According to the World Bank, Mexico is the 12th nation in the world in regard to GDP and the highest per capita income in that region; and is firmly established as an upper middle-income country. Since the economic debacle of 1994–1995 the country has made an impressive economic recovery. According to the director for Colombia and Mexico of the World Bank, the population below the poverty level has decreased from 24.2% to 17.6% in the general population and from 42% to 27.9% in rural areas [http://estadis.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/301198.html]. Mexico has a free-market economy with a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. The number of state-owned enterprises in Mexico has fallen from more than 1,000 in 1982 to fewer than 200 in 1999. The administration of President Ernesto Zedillo (1994–2000) continued a policy of privatizing and expanding competition in sea ports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity, natural gas distribution, and airports which was initiated by his predecessors Miguel de la Madrid and Carlos Salinas. A strong export sector helped to cushion the economy's decline in 1995 and led the recovery in 1996–1999. Private consumption became the leading driver of growth, accompanied by increased employment and higher wages. Mexico still needs to overcome many structural problems as it strives to modernize its economy and raise living standards. Income distribution is very unequal, with the top 20% of income earners accounting for 55% of income. Following 6.9% growth in 2000, real GDP fell 0.3% in 2001, with the US slowdown the principal cause. Positive developments in 2001 included a drop in inflation to 6.5%, a sharp fall in interest rates, and a strong peso that appreciated 5% against the US dollar. Trade with the US and Canada has tripled since NAFTA was implemented in 1994. Mexico has opened its markets to free trade as no other country in the world, having lifted its trade barriers with more than 40 countries in 12 Free Trade Agreements, including Japan and the European Union. However more than 85% of the trade is still done with the United States. Government authorities expect that by putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements with different countries Mexico will lessen its dependence on the US. The government is seeking to sign an additional agreement with Mercosur.

Demographics

Mercosur Mercosur]] Mercosur Main article: Demographics of Mexico With an estimated 2005 population of about [http://estadis.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/127113.html 106.5 million], Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world. Mexico is ethnically and culturally diverse. According to the CIA World Factbook, about 60% of the population is mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white), another 30% is Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian, and 9% is white (or of European descent). The remaining 1% includes Afro-Mexicans and others. Mexico is also home for many other Latin American groups: mostly Argentines, but also Brazilians, Cubans, Nicaraguans,Colombians and Venezuelans. The PRI governments in power for most of the 20th century had a policy of granting asylum to fellow Latin Americans fleeing political persecution in their home countries. Mexico also has a sizeable population of Asians numbering around 200,000, many of them being Chinese and Japanese. There are also a small amount of Lebanese. According to the Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas ("The National Council for the Development of Indigenous People") the Amerindian population in Mexico is approximately [http://estadis.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/127113.html 12.7 million]. However, the Mexican government does not collect racial information during censuses. In 2004, the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatic had estimated this figure to be 12,089,094 of indigenous people of which, more than one million do not speak Spanish and almost five million are bilingual ([http://www.inegi.gob.mx/prod_serv/contenidos/espanol/bvinegi/productos/integracion/sociodemografico/mujeresyhombres/2004/myh_2004.pdf INEGI, 2004]). Judging by the proportion of people speaking indigenous languages the states with a higher proportion of indigenous people are Yucatán (37.3%), Oaxaca (37.1%), Chiapas (24.6%) and Quintana Roo (23%). The states of Aguascalientes (0.2% ), Coahuila (0.2%), Zacatecas (0.2%) and Nuevo León (0.5%) have the lowest proportion of speakers of indigenous languages ([INEGI, 2004]). Mexico is the country where the greatest number of U.S citizens live outside the United States. This may be due to the growing economic and business interdependence of the two countries under NAFTA, and also that Mexico is considered an excellent choice for retirees. A clear example of the latter phenomenon is provided by San Miguel de Allende and many towns along the Baja California peninsula and around Guadalajara, Jalisco. The official figures for foreign-born citizens in Mexico are 493,000 (since 2004), with a majority (86.9%) of these born in the US (with the exception of Chiapas, where the majority of immigrants are from Central America). The five states with more immigrants are Baja California (12.1% of total immigrants), Federal District (11.4%), Jalisco (9.9%), Chihuahua (9%) and Tamaulipas (7.3). More than 54.6% of the immigrant population are 15 years old or younger, while 9% are 50 or older. 4.2% of male immigrants and 3.8% of female immigrants did not have formal education while 20.2% of male immigrants and 17.7% of female immigrants had a college degree [INEGI, 2004. Life expectancy in Mexico increased from 34.7 for men and 33 years for women in 1930 to 72.1 for men and 77.1 years for women in 2002. The states with the highest life expectancy are Baja California (75.9 years) and Nuevo Leon (75.6 years). The Federal District has a life expectancy of the same level as Baja California. The lowest levels are found in Chiapas (72.9), Oaxaca (73.2) and Guerrero (73.2 years), although the first two have had the highest increase (19.9 and 22.3% respectively). The mortality rate in 1970 was 9.7/1000 people and by 2001 the rate had dropped to 4.9/1000 for men and 3.8/1000 for women. The most common reasons for death in 2001 were heart problems (14.6% for men 17.6% for women) and Cancer (11% for men and 15.8% for women).

Religion

Guadalajara, Jalisco] Mexico is predominantly Roman Catholic (about 89% of the population), with 6% adhering to various Protestant faiths (mostly Pentecostal), and the remaining 5% of the population adhering to other religions or professing no religion. Some of the country's Catholics (notably those of indigenous background) syncretize Catholicism with various elements of Aztec or Mayan religions. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (