Latin America

Latin America covers approximately 21 million square kilometers, has a population of more than 570 million people, and consists of more than 30 countries and assorted territorial units. It is also home to some of the fastest growing and most innovative religious movements of modern times. An inheritance of Iberian conquest, Latin America's main languages are Spanish and Portuguese, while the presence of French, English, and Dutch likewise has colonial origins. The most widely spoken of the continent's numerous preconquest languages and dialects are Aymara, Guaraní, and Quechua. A relative mixture of colonial, indigenous, and African ingredients, Creole languages serve various inhabitants of the Latin Caribbean. As is to be expected from a continent born of social-cultural miscegenation, mixed-race inhabitants form the largest racial constituency, ...