The Americas consist of the continents of North and South America with their associated islands and regions.

With a population of about 900 million (14% of the total human population), they cover 8.3% of the earth's total surface area or 28.4% of its total land area.

Although there is some dispute as to how the Americas came by their name, it is popularly accepted that they were named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who suggested that the Americas were not part of the East Indies, as Columbus had thought, but a new world, previously undiscovered by Europeans.

Before contact with Europeans, the Indigenous peoples of the north were divided into many different groupings, from small bands of a few families to large empires.

In South America, many important cultural advances were made. For example, the Maya civilisation developed a writing system, built huge pyramids, had a complex calendar and developed the concept of zero – 500 years before anyone in the Old World.

Upon the arrival of the Europeans in the 'New World', Indigenous peoples found their culture drastically impacted.

Among the many 'Americans' now living in Australia, there is strong physical evidence of mixed ethnicity, with apparent Spanish, Indian and African influences as well as Chinese and Portuguese. See Maria del Pilar Cossio-Alvarado from Peru on page 165 and Diana de la Caridad Alvarez from Cuba on page 155.

There are numerous islands off the coasts of this continent, the largest being Greenland, which, though geographically part of North America, is a Danish self-governing province. Unfortunately, no Australian resident from Greenland could be located for this project.

Bermuda is not geographically part of the Americas but is, regarded as part of North America because of its historical, political and cultural ties to Virginia. See Bill McBeath from Bermuda on page 164.

The prevalent languages in North America are English, Spanish, and French. Latin America refers to the other areas of the Americas, generally south of the USA, where Romance languages derived from Latin predominate. These areas include Central America, Mexico, much of the Caribbean and most of South America.

French-speaking places include the French West Indies, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon as well as the North American state of Louisiana, where French is also an official language.

Socially and culturally, as a result of both countries being former British colonies, Canada and North America share similar traditions. See Dawn Simpson, originally from Chicago, on page 168, and David Simpson, originally from Montreal, on page 169.

But as one of the featured South American subjects said as we began a photographic session: 'The Americas is so much more than just the United States of America!'

Interestingly, when we were talking with people who had come here as refugees, most had initially been offered places in Australia, Canada or the United States and many say that they had found it difficult to differentiate between the three countries.

Manfred Gottschalk / Lonely Planet Images