Latin America consists of 33 nations across North and South America united primarily by the Spanish and Portuguese languages as well as Roman Catholicism. It has a population of over 550 million, most of whom live in large coastal cities like Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, and Bogota. In the 1500s, Spain and Portugal colonized most of Latin America, though independence came for most nations by the mid-1800s. The region has a diverse economy focused on commodities like oil, coffee, bananas, and sugarcane as well as tourism, and faces issues like drug cartels, population growth, and women's rights.