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Latin America was a name coined by "Emperor of Mexico" Maximilian I in an effort to gain legitimacy, since his patron, Napoleon III, spoke French, a Latinate tongue like Spanish and Portuguese. Maximilian did not last, but the coinage of "Latin America" is one of the most successful of all time. Latin America is traditionally defined as the regions of the Americas where Spanish, the language of Spain, and Portuguese, the language of Portugal, were spoken -- in other words, every part of the Western Hemisphere, with the exception of Suriname and a few small islands that speak Dutch, that was not Anglo America. (English is a Germanic language.) Therefore, virtually all of the Western Hemisphere except the United States, Canada, and the non-Hispanophone countries of the Caribbean and South America have tended to come under the heading of Latin America. Other areas where languages derived from Latin, such as Papiamento and Creole, predominate are sometimes included and sometimes excluded from Latin America, depending on the speaker. See also: Latino, Hispanic, and Ibero-America Template:/box-footer Show new selections below (purge) Panorama of the Iguazú Falls, in the brasilian side. Walkways allow close views of the falls from both Brazil and Argentina. The falls, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, are located on the border of the Brazilian State of Paraná and the Argentine Province of Misiones. The Republic of Peru is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico civilization, one of the oldest in the world, and to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty, which included most of its South American colonies. After achieving independence in 1821, Peru has undergone periods of political unrest and fiscal crisis as well as periods of stability and economic upswing. Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. Its geography varies from the arid plains of the Pacific coast to the peaks of the Andes mountains and the tropical forests of the Amazon Basin. It is a developing country with a high Human Development Index score and a poverty level around 36%. Its main economic activities include agriculture, fishing, mining, and manufacturing of products such as textiles. The Peruvian population, estimated at 29.5 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Europeans, Africans, and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages. This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music. ... that an unrecognized state called The Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia was established in the 19th century by a French lawyer and adventurer named Orélie-Antoine de Tounens? ... that Guinea pigs are so important to Andean cuisine that a painting of the Last Supper in Cusco shows Jesus eating one? ... that Uruguay was the first winner of the FIFA World Cup, in 1930? Territories (in bold), dependencies, and subnational entities of a country not located primarily in Latin America are italicized. Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guadeloupe Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Martinique Mexico Montserrat Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Uruguay Venezuela Macchu Picchu, a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level. The ruins are an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. ▼ Latin America ► Central America ► Mesoamerica ► South America ► Caribbean ► CIA activities in the Americas ► Cooperatives in Latin America ► Latin American culture ► Latin American history ► Latin American countries ► Maps of the Americas ► Military history of Latin America ► Stock exchanges in Latin America ► Latin American studies ► Latin America templates Wikipedia's Portals All Portals Overview Glossaries Indexes Lists Outlines Categories Reference Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Nature People Philosophy Religion Society Technology Featured portals About portals