North America and Central America

The native population of North America is the Native Americans, so named because the explorer Columbus and his surroundings believed to have come to the easternmost parts of India. The North American Indians have been called “redskins”, not because their skin color is red – it is rather light brown – but because the coastal Indians that the first Europeans met painted red. Today, redskins are a derogatory word. The physical characteristics of the Indians testify to their Asian origin. The Inuit (Eskimos) are genetically closely related to the chicks in eastern Siberia. Both Indians and Inuit have undergone changes that entail adaptations to changing climate zones and topographical conditions.

In pre-Columbian times, Native American cultures were distributed according to ecological possibilities. Farthest in the north and south were hunter cultures such as caribou hunters in Canada’s interior, salmon fishermen on the northwest coast, buffalo hunters on the prairie, bear and moose hunters in the eastern forest areas and deer hunters in the southwest and southeast. In more temperate and subtropical zones, both collector and agricultural crops, such as maize growers east of Mississippi and Mexico, appeared. At the time of the beginning of our era, high crops arose among the corn growers in Mexico, Central America and the Andes, which were crushed by the Spaniards in the early 16th century.

Through the invasion of whites from the beginning of the 16th century and through the wars and epidemics that followed in its tow, the Indians gradually withdrew from the areas sought by the Europeans and in many places fell sharply in number. In North America, approximately 1 million Native Americans live in the reserves established during the 19th century. Although now increasing in number, Anglo-America is dominated by the descendants of British colonizers, later European immigrants and descendants of the African slaves introduced during the colonial era. In eastern Canada, there is also a large French population, descended from the colonizers of the 17th and 18th centuries. Increasing immigration of Mexicans seems to be about to change the population situation in the southwest US. Above all, the population situation has changed in California, where Mexican residents, chicanos, is about to become the largest population group. In Mexico, the inhabitants are mostly miseries, i.e. descendants of whites (in this case Spaniards) and Native Americans. Based on data from Countryaah, the population of Central America consists of up to 50 percent of Native Americans. The rest are white, masturbate and mulatto. In the Caribbean, the Native American population has almost completely eradicated, and whites (i.e. descendants of colonial Spaniards) and Africans (slave descendants) have taken their place.

Central America

Official languages are Spanish except in Belize, where it is English. Of minority languages, especially German has some prevalence in Belize, Mexico and Costa Rica. Widespread is also West Caribbean Creole English, which includes approx. 30 Creole languages spoken in Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Belize and Costa Rica. In addition, as an immigrant language, Chinese is spoken in Panama and Costa Rica. In addition, a large number of Native American languages.

Wildlife

The nectaric region has a fauna similar to that of Eurasia, but is much richer. In particular, crawfish and starless amphibians are numerous. This is partly due to the fact that the north-south oriented mountain ranges have not prevented the animals’ retreat from expanding inland ice, unlike the transverse Eurasian mountains. Some South American features are also available. North America (north of Mexico) houses up to 400 mammals, 835 birds (of which 650 breed), 285 crustaceans and 195 mammals. Pronghorn, three gnagarfamiljer (ekorrbävrar, gophers and kindpåsspringmöss), heloderma, grävnosödlor (genus Anie’lla) and some fish families (including arctic foxes, dwarf moths, cave fish, and sunfish) are endemic.

The fauna of the North American tundra and taig is very similar to that found in Eurasia. The tundra includes muskox, caribou (the North American subspecies of reindeer) and polarhare and mountain fox. Here and in the taiga there are also snowshoes, which is the most important prey for Canadian fluff. There are also North American tree bears (Erethizon dorsatum), North American beaver, white-headed sea eagle (United States national bird) and several species of yarns. Several species of Pacific salmon migrate into the rivers to play each year, which leads to Grizzly bears and white-headed sea eagles can sometimes be collected locally in large numbers. The coastal rainforest along southern Alaska and British Columbia is home to, for example, squirrels and the increasingly rare spotted owl (Striʹx occidentaʹlis). In the Rocky Mountains you will find, among other things, the snow, thicket sheep, black bear, cougar and pipe sharks. In the eastern deciduous forest area, white-tailed deer, North American opossum (pointy rat), raccoon, mink, turkey, many woodsmen and monarchs are widespread.

The large prairie along central North America is practically fully cultivated today. The huge bison herds of bison have been decimated into small flocks within scattered reserves. Still, however, there are prairie wolves, skunks, the peculiar fork antelope, prairie dogs (increasingly rare), ground squirrels, cheetah rats, prairie owl, tooth quail and prairie hens. Californiakondor, North America’s largest terrestrial bird, stood when the extinction limit but breeding programs have become so successful that the species now exists freely in Arizona, Utah (including in the Grand Canyon), California and Baja California.

The deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico harbors åsneharar, many rodents (eg kangaroo rat), ring-tailed cat, fox, rooster cuckoos (long-legged, ground-living ödlejägare), rattlesnakes and the poisonous Gila monster.

The cold currents off the west coast of North America mean that wildlife is rich with, among other things, two species of sea lion, northern sea elephant (Mirounga angustirostris) and sea otter. Here, white shark and killer whale also regularly patrol, and during the winter months gray whales stay in the area around the California peninsula.

Around the Florida peninsula in the southeast, there are tropical features of the fauna, such as a lizard crocodile, Mississippi alligator, lamantine (a sea cow) and many marshland birds. There is also a subspecies of cougar (here called the Florida panther), now very rare.