Thursday, May 1, 2008

Anglo America
Anglo-America is a term used to describe those parts of the Americas in which English is the main language, or having significant historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural links to England/United Kingdom or the British Isles in general. Alternatively, Anglo-America is the American portion of the Anglosphere. Anglo-America is distinct from Latin America, a region of the Americas where Romance languages derived from Latin (namely, French, Spanish and Portuguese) are prevalent.
Anglo-America includes the United States and Canada in North America, and the term is frequently used in reference to the two countries together. In Middle and South America, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, and several other Caribbean territories may also be included, as is Bermuda (a British possession 1000 kilometres east of the American mainland); when referring to this broader group, the term Anglophone America is sometimes used. Suriname is not a part of Anglo-America because Dutch is the official language there, like in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. English is also the official language of the Falkland Islands.
The adjective Anglo-American is used in the following ways:
As a noun, Anglo-American can refer to an English speaking European American, sometimes shortened to Anglo. This usage occurs most frequently in the discussion of the history of English-speaking people of the United States and the Spanish-speaking people residing in the western U.S. during the Mexican-American War. This usage generally ignores the distinctions between English Americans, German Americans, Irish Americans, and other northern European descent peoples, comprising the majority of English-speaking Europeans in the United States.

to denote the cultural sphere shared by the United Kingdom, the United States, and sometimes English Canada. For example, "Anglo-American culture is different from French culture." Political leaders including Sir Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan have utilized the term to discuss the "special relationship" between the United States and the United Kingdom.
to describe relations between the United Kingdom on one hand and the Americas, in particular the United States, on the other. For example, "Anglo-American relations were tense before the War of 1812." Sources