North and South America; Also called: the Americas.
Western hemisphere of the Earth, containing the continents of North America and South America, with Central America in between. This great landmass extends from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from beyond 75ş N to past 55ş S. The area is about 42,000,000 sq km/16,000,000 sq mi, and the estimated population is over 500 million. Politically, it consists of 36 nations and US, British, French, and Dutch dependencies.
The name America is derived from Amerigo Vespucci, the Florentine navigator who was falsely supposed to have been the first European to reach the American mainland 1497. The name is also popularly used to refer to the United States of America, a usage which many Canadians, South Americans, and other non-US Americans dislike.