The American continent consists of two large continents - North and South America. On the territory of the first there are 23 independent large and tiny states, and the second includes 15 countries. Indigenous people here are Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts and some others. After the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492, its active colonization began. As a consequence of this, the entire continent of America, the population now has European roots. It should be noted that, according to historical data, the Vikings first visited here about one thousand years ago. However, their expeditions were rare, so they did not significantly affect the population.
The ethnic composition of North American residents
As of today, on the mainland of North America, the population is mainly the descendants of the British, French, and also Spaniards who moved here during the years of colonization. In this regard, most of the residents of local countries use the corresponding languages. An exception can be considered some Indian peoples, mainly living in Mexico. They managed to keep their native language to this day. About twenty million Americans are blacks. Their ancestors were brought here by the colonialists here from Africa in order to ensure slave labor on local plantations. Now they are officially considered part of the American nation and mainly live in the United States, as well as in the countries of the Caribbean, where there are also a large number of mulattos and mestizos.
The number and density of the population
The population of North America exceeds 528 million inhabitants. Most of them are concentrated in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In the first two countries descendants of immigrants from France and England prevail, and in the third - from Spain. The first civilized states here were created by the Mayan and Aztec tribes . An interesting feature that characterizes the continent of North America - the population here is distributed extremely unevenly. Its highest density is observed on the Caribbean islands and in the southern part. Here it is more than two hundred people per square kilometer. In addition, this figure is quite high in the eastern part of the mainland and in the United States.
The ethnic composition of the inhabitants of South America
Mainly on mainland South America, the population is represented by three large races - Caucasoid, Equatorial and Mongoloid. Its ethnic composition is largely associated with some features in the historical development of the region. Currently, representatives of almost 250 nationalities live here, most of which, unlike the North American ones, were formed relatively recently. Indigenous Indians, European immigrants, as well as African slaves took part in their formation.
Now the population of South America is largely composed of Creoles - descendants of the conquerors from Spain and Portugal, who were born on this continent. If we proceed from such a parameter as numbers, then there are mestizos and mulattos. Most of the states located here have a rather complicated composition of inhabitants, proceeding from an ethnic point of view. For example, in Brazil there are about eighty tribes (excluding the smallest), in Argentina - about fifty, in Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Colombia and Bolivia - more than twenty in each country.
South American population and density
According to the latest official figures, the population of South America exceeds the mark of 382 million people. Its average density in the continent is in the range of ten to thirty inhabitants per square kilometer. This figure is lower only in Bolivia, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana. In South America, many researchers distinguish two main types of settlement - domestic and oceanic. The first of them is characteristic mainly of the Andean states (for example, Bolivia, which is the highest mountain country on our planet), and the second - to countries whose development occurs under the influence of colonization by Europeans (Argentina, Brazil).
Languages in South America
The population of South America in most countries speaks Spanish. It is official in many local states. It should be noted that it has a huge amount of borrowings from English, French, Italian and German. The second place on the mainland belongs to the Portuguese language. The largest country in which it is recognized as official is Brazil. Among the English-speaking territories can be noted Guyana, which was once a British colony. In Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru, the second official languages are Native American languages - Aztec, Guarani and Quechua.