Eli5: why there are so many languages in Europe? But in America there are less languages?

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I mean, for example south and Central America only have like 2 or 3 languages, and is like the same territory of Europe, but in Europe in a “small” area are more than 6 languages (Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian). Focus more in explaining why in Europe are so many languages in such a “small” territory?

Edit 1: yeah I know América has a lot of different indigenous languages and dialects, also Europe. I’m focusing on the principal languages

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I feel like you’re underestimating the linguistic diversity of the Americas. All the European languages fall into one of five language families (Indo-European, Uralic, Turkic, Basque, and Afro-Asiatic). My state of Oregon, which is slightly larger than the UK, is thought to have hosted as many as twelve language families before colonizers wiped many of them out.

Today, the main languages of the Americas are Spanish, English, and Fr*nch, and that’s because the Americas were colonized largely by people from… Spain, England, and Fr*nce. I know the Dutch tried to get some skin in the game early on but they got BTFO and had to sell everything to the British.

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