Anglo-America

Anglo-America is a region in the Americas in which English is a main language,^[1] or one which has significant British historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural links. Anglo-America is distinct from Latin America, a region of the Americas where Romance languages (namely, Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French) are prevalent.^[1]

Geographic region

Anglo-America includes the United States (Hawaii excluded) and Canada in North America, and the term is frequently used in reference to the two countries together.^[2] Despite having a French-speaking majority, Quebec is often considered part of Anglo-America due to cultural, economic, geographical, historical, and political considerations. Other areas composing the Anglophone Caribbean include territories of the British West Indies, Belize, Bermuda, and Guyana.

Anglo-American

The adjective Anglo-American is used in the following ways:

• 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 Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan have used 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."

Anglo-American ethnic group

As a noun, Anglo-American can refer to an English-speaking European American and/or an English Canadian, sometimes shortened to Anglo.^[4][5] This usage originated 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 German Americans (the largest self-reported ancestry group in the United States Census), Irish Americans, English Americans, Italian Americans, Swedish Americans, and other European descent peoples, comprising the majority of English-speaking Europeans in the United States and English Canada. Anglo-Americans, like other English speakers, are traditionally Protestant with a large Roman Catholic minority. The term Anglo in reference to European English-speaking Americans is sometimes but rarely viewed as an insult much the same as the term Hispanic to the natives of the Americas.

In many spheres, Anglo has come to denote all English-speaking people and their descendants, regardless of prior ethnic background, much like Hispanic refers to people of any race. Therefore, a person of Chinese descent who adopts the U.S. or English Canadian American culture would have English-speaking Anglo children (in contrast to Spanish-speaking Chinese descent people who would be Hispanic). Anglo-American can refer to all those that came from countries that traditionally spoke English as a main language, as well as all those whose families have become mainstream English-speaking people in the United States and English Canada.

Immigration

People from all over the world have immigrated to Anglo-America to have a better quality of life, find better employment, and escape famine, poverty, and conflict. Many ethnic groups, such as East Europeans, East Asians, Indians, Africans, Latin Americans, and Middle Easterners all live in Anglo-America today.

See also

• Afro-Anglo American
• Anglophone Caribbean
• British America
• British North America

Anglosphere:

• Anglosphere
• English-speaking world
• Anglo-African
• Anglophone

General:

• Anglo
• Americas (terminology)
• Northern America

Languages:

• French America
• Hispanic America
• Latin America
• Portuguese America

Lists:

• List of North American countries by GDP (nominal)
• List of North American countries by GDP per capita
• List of North American countries by GDP (PPP)

References