I think this boils down to "The United States of America" being the only country with America in the actual country name. Plus the overall influence of the USA,

I think this boils down to "The United States of America" being the only country with America in the actual country name. Plus the overall influence of the USA, etc. America, of course, can also refer to two entire continents but I don't know that I've ever met anyone who's primary identity refers to their continent. It would be very odd to me, at least, for an Argentinian (as one example) to refer to themselves as American. Same for someone from Thailand referring to themselves as Asian or someone from Nigeria saying African unless (of course) they were attempting to communicate with someone with very limited geographic knowledge (mostly Americans). I have many friends from Central and South America and prior to meeting them I would have dismissed something like the Narcissism of Small Differences[0]. Spend some time hanging out with Colombians, Venezuelans, Argentinians, Chileans, Uruguayans, Nicaraguans, etc in a tapestry like Miami and you learn quickly it is a very real thing - going back and forth about things like how to prepare and cook beans. At first it's very interesting to experience them (mostly playfully) poking at each other over things that most of the world doesn't notice and can't understand. However, if you know them well and they've been in the US a while when you describe the Narcissism of Small Differences they usually say something like "That's so true! I never knew it had an actual name". When they visit the small town I'm from in Wisconsin I have to tell them that to most of the locals they're "Mexican" and to try not to get offended even though there actually are significant differences between Mexico and South America countries. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_of_small_differences https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_of_small_difference...