MAPMAN.How often have you heard terms used to describe places that are not labeled on maps? Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, region of Asia (1990 est. pop. 442,500,000), c.1,740,000 sq mi (4,506,600 sq km), bounded roughly by the Indian subcontinent on the west, China on the north, and the Pacific Ocean on the east. , Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. , and, Sub-Saharan Africa are just a few of these unmarked places. ZackenSnake20, an anonymous e-mailer, wants to know about "loosely defined" regions. Geographers refer to these terms as regions. A region is a geographical area, sometimes loosely defined, that has a number of distinctive characteristics. These qualities can include both human and physical features. For instance, Latin America generally refers to all countries south of the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. that speak languages descended from Latin (mostly Spanish, but also Portuguese and French). However, Belize and Guyana are located south of the U.S., but their principal language is English, a Germanic language Noun 1. Germanic language - a branch of the Indo-European family of languages; members that are spoken currently fall into two major groups: Scandinavian and West Germanic Germanic . Do they belong to Latin America? The experts I asked about this problem told me that regional areas are "loosely defined"! Q What is the difference between Central America Central America, narrow, southernmost region (c.202,200 sq mi/523,698 sq km) of North America, linked to South America at Colombia. It separates the Caribbean from the Pacific. and Mexico? A At first glance, Mexico is a country and Central America is a geographic region. Most classroom encyclopedias define Central America as the narrow strip of land that begins at the southern boundary of Mexico and ends at the northwestern boundary of Colombia. The Pacific Ocean borders it on the southwest and the Caribbean Sea rolls along its shores on the northeast. The region includes the countries of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. There are some geographers who think that Central America begins at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Noun 1. Isthmus of Tehuantepec - the narrowest part of southern Mexico is an isthmus between the Bay of Campeche on the north coast and the Gulf of Tehuantepec on the south coast , Mexico. They believe the region should incorporate all the land that the ancient Maya settled more than 1,000 years ago. Their definition extends the region to include the five southernmost states of Mexico: Quintana Roo, Yucatan, Campeche, Tobasco, and Chiapas. |
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