First, it is important to know that both belong to the same continent (America). The cultural, political, economic and social differences that exist between the population of the Northeast and the rest of the American continent cause it to be divided into two large regions called Anglo-Saxon America and Latin America.
What countries make them up?
- Anglo-Saxon America: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, United States, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadians, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.
- Latin America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Let's start talking about some of their differences.
- Anglo-Saxon America is made up of countries and dependencies whose main language is English and which adopted the culture of the former British and French colonies in America. On the other hand, in Latin America, the Spanish and Portuguese languages predominate, because it is made up of countries that were Spanish and Portuguese colonies.
- A fundamental difference is that Latin America is made up of underdeveloped countries while Anglo-Saxon America is made up of developed countries.
- While Anglo-Saxon America embraces the culture of Northern Europe with a Protestant religion, Latin America has a strong Hispanic and Mediterranean heritage, with a Catholic religion and its mixed and mestizo racial society.
- Anglo America has reached a high level of industrial development in the United States and Canada, while the rest of its island territories have an economy dependent on tourism. For its part, Latin America has a more fragile economy, characterized by the export of raw materials and has high rates of poverty and inequality.
- In Latin America, the original pre-Columbian heritage survives, autonomously or integrated into Spanish culture through gastronomy, languages, traditions and folklore. In Anglo-America, few aboriginal peoples survive and they are not very integrated into the dominant culture. In its place there is a significant black culture imported from Africa.
- The Hispanic culture is more open and more social, while the Anglo-Saxon culture is more individual and closed.
- Family and personal ties are highly valued in Hispanic culture. Although in Anglo-Saxon culture these concepts are also very important, their goal is stability.
- Hispanics in general, their goal in life is to live well and have a good time with friends and family. The Anglo-Saxons are more materialistic, so their objective would focus more on luxury and comfort, for this reason they tend to be more hard-working and ambitious.
- And another curious thing, Hispanics tend to be quite gossipy, something that Anglo-Saxons obviously don't like at all, because they respect privacy.
What unites these "two Americas" is history. Both are deeply influenced by each other. Roberto Fernandez, a Cuban intellectual, affirms that it is absurd to study the history of our (Latin American) countries without making reference to Western (Anglo-American) history. This is why, despite the cultural differences that separate us, relating to and empathizing with these cultures allows us to better understand our history and also realize how diverse the world is.
References
https://www.abc.com.py/articulos/america-latina-y-america-anglosajona-942699.html
https://concepto.de/america-anglosajona/
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