Talk:Location of Mexico

I need help with this. The Spanish version of Encarta says:


 * Norteamérica o América del Norte, subcontinente que abarca Canadá, los Estados Unidos de América y parte del territorio de México.

Does this mean that North America contains part of the territory of Mexico? --Wing Nut 09:08, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Yes, but...

 * a Mexican would answer "No" to the question, ¿Es usted norteamericano?

Careful with that. "Norteamericano" works differently when applied to people and countries. Ask the same Mexican ¿Pierre Trudeau era norteamericano? and you'll get no, era canadiense -- or, if you're really lucky, an invitation to explain whether you were talking about the country or the continent. Then ask him about the nations of Mexico and Canada: ¿son países norteamericanos? You'll get affirmatives. The demonym norteamericano -- which is used to resolve the American / americano problem when talking about people from the USA (and, as such, is a lot less frequent in Mexico and in Central America than in other Spanish-speaking countries) -- doesn't map exactly onto the geographical adjective. Bolivian Unicyclist 14:39, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Extreme exaggeration
I've just replaced "...nearly all English speakers..." with "...some English speakers...". For a start, the point being made is unverified (and I think it's unverifiable.) But also, as a UK-based speaker of British English, I wouldn't dream of saying there was no such thing as central America. I think the original author may have been trying to make a point about the continents (of which there are only north and south) but that's not what they actually wrote. Perhaps somebody would like to add something about the definitions of continents, as distinct from United Nations distinctions, which are given. – Kieran T  ( talk  18:12, 5 July 2006 (UTC)