> paz wrote > "We were taught in Latin America that America' was > the whole > bleeding thing from North To South."
--- Kate Bennett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > well it really is...i'd love to read what ggm has to > say about this! Gene mentioned Amerigo Vespucci, which is where the America part comes from. The United States of America isn't the only country in the western hemisphere that's made up of states. Mexico has states as well (Canada has provinces) I thought I had seen Brazil referred to as the United States of Brazil, but if you look at their gov't website, it says Republica Federativa do Brazil, which is more like Federated Republic of Brazil. Maybe I was thinking of another Latin American country. )Interesting sidenote - I started checking different S.A. countries, among the top things that come back from the search for each of these is "CIA - The World Factbook". Hmm.) It may seem arrogant for the USA to call itself what it did, but the name has been around for quite a while, country is in "America", and the states are united, so there you go. Sure, the westen hemisphere is all America (or the Americas), and there may be other united states, but when you say "the United States" or "America", everyone knows who you're talking about. ===== Catherine Toronto ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca
