Many languages are spoken in the Americas. Some are derived from European languages, such as American English or Spanish, whilst others are spoken by the indigenous peoples, or are a mixture of influences, like the Creoles.
The most widespread language in South America is Spanish, although the most populous country there, Brazil, speaks Portuguese. In North America English is more common, though Spanish comes very close behind.
The nature of the American population brings with it huge variety. The majority of Americans are descended from historically recent foreign immigrants, who brought their own languages to their new homes. There are known to be more than 300 languages spoken in the USA, though mostly by relatively small groups of people.
Find out a little more about the countries in the Americas and the flags used to represent them by playing this quiz.
The name 'Argentina' comes from the Latin for 'silver', and the country is thought to have been so named because of the legend telling of an abundance of the precious metal to be found in South America