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Movies from he US have been watched by people around the world for decades, at least since the 60's but even earlier if you consider cinemas. You hear in movies people call themselves "Americans" as if it meant nationality and that's how this notion primarily spread around the world.
Spanish-speaking America, on the other hand, never had the exposure the US had in the past so it was very unlikely that it could have spread the knowledge that America is a continent and not a country.
As an example, Don Francisco, the famous Chilean TV host has the tendency to say "Americano" instead of "Estadounidense" and that's because he lives in the US and this has influenced the way he refers to US citizens, however, in Chile, while some may ignore this, many don't receive this well.
The use of "American" to describe a US citizen predates film and this is also the case in many other languages, as well.
People are well aware that America is a continent (or two) and generally have no problem differentiating between the continent, and the US.
The use of "American" to describe a US citizen predates film and this is also the case in many other languages, as well.
People are well aware that America is a continent (or two) and generally have no problem differentiating between the continent, and the US.
As I explained, that's how the notion that "American is a nationality" spread around the world. This is equivalent to people calling Asians Chinese given that Chinese culture and Chinese people were practically the only exposure people experienced about the far East. Even though people have been more exposed to other Asian countries there are still people calling Japanese, Koreans or Monglians "Chinese".
Unless, they have been taught history of America as it happened, that is, from the Spanish and Portuguese sources I find it very unlikely that countries so disconnected with American history are aware that America is a continent. Even US citizens who are supposed to know about America being a continent ignore this fact of history and this is why we are having this discussion.
The fact is that people from countries so unrelated to America learn about the continent through US sources because the US is more influencial than the rest of America.
I have never seen anyone getting mad, if anything they roll their eyes and things like that I can only imagine what they must be thinking...
The way I see it Americans is simply a sloppy term, it is short and thus used a lot. The other American countries are so special and particular that they don't even have an interest in being confused with US-Americans. Brazilians don't care whether anyone considers them Americans, they are a world of their own.
In Portuguese the correct term for US Americans is (translated) "north Americans", which still kind of excludes Canadians and Mexicans. But we don't really distinguish between the US and Canada, it is pretty much the same thing to us. And Mexico, while theoretically part of North America, is not perceived that way. In our minds we basically distinguish between Latin America and the rest to the north of it.
One aspect of this topic is that in some regions of the world there is no distinction between North and South America, there is just one American continent, America, which extends from the northern border of Canada to the southern tip of Chile. So when the people of only one of the many American countries kind of reserve the name Americans for them, it is like saying Brazilians, Peruvians etc. are less American than US Americans, which of course is not the case at all. It's like hijacking the name of an entire continent for just one country. A bit like with the term Semitic which has become a kind of synonym to Jewish, excluding the vast majority of Semites, namely Arabs. Think of the term anti-Semitic.
The way I see it Americans is simply a sloppy term, it is short and thus used a lot. But we don't really distinguish between the US and Canada, it is pretty much the same thing to us..... In our minds we basically distinguish between Latin America and the rest to the north of it.
That makes sense..Most of the world doesn't really distinguish between central america and south American countries.. They're all pretty much the same thing.
^You are the first person I've encountered who makes this claim. Most people in Europe know why the US is referred to as America, know how to differentiate between the US and the Americas, etc. Maybe because you also think that the use of “American” as it stands is arrogant, you are more likely to get into a conversation about it and ultimately encounter people who agree, or get into conversations with people about the terminology. Most people globally aren't really that interested in the issue and would probably be more apt to ask you personal questions or start a conversation about life in America (this has been my experience).
As I explained, that's how the notion that "American is a nationality" spread around the world. This is equivalent to people calling Asians Chinese given that Chinese culture and Chinese people were practically the only exposure people experienced about the far East. Even though people have been more exposed to other Asian countries there are still people calling Japanese, Koreans or Monglians "Chinese"
Seemed common among Latin Americans I knew in the States to refer to Asian people as "Chinos" or "Chinas" regardless of ethnicity, but Americans would almost uniformly refer to them as Asians, or mire specifically, East Asians, Southeast Asians, South Asians, etc if they didn't know their ethnicity or because they were referring to the region. We have considerable numbers of people from these places so we are somewhat more cognizant of these things than other places with no Asians where it isn't a pressing issue.
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Unless, they have been taught history of America as it happened, that is, from the Spanish and Portuguese sources
So, the English and French sources don't matter?
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I find it very unlikely that countries so disconnected with American history are aware that America is a continent. Even US citizens who are supposed to know about America being a continent ignore this fact of history and this is why we are having this discussion.
They are generally aware that there is an American continent (or two), there is a country that is called "America" as well, and have no issue differentiating between the two.
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The fact is that people from countries so unrelated to America learn about the continent through US sources because the US is more influencial than the rest of America.
The US is the most influential of all nations in the Americas, certainly, but if its name or demonym was confusing to other nations and in other languages, why wouldn't they switch it to something else? This is just the way it's ended up.
It is just a linguistic thing, that's all there is to it. Analyzing the name as such helps: United States of America. That means people back then were aware that there is only one America, and that the USA are only a subset of states that happened to unite. In other words, all the other American countries are the Non-United States of America, one might say So theoretically Peru might choose to become a US state as well in the future, or Texas might decide to cease to be a US state and become an American country like all the others.
And because USA is just a description rather than a proper name, it is much harder to make an adjective and noun out of it. With the other American countries you have proper names where you just add -ian at the end, but since USA is not a real name, one can't say USAian or whatever. This is where human sloppiness and laziness come in. I speak various languages and in none of them is Americans the official term, it is always just colloquial, whereas the official terms (used on the news etc.) are for instance US-Amerikaner or US-Bürger in German, Estado-Unidenses in Portuguese, Estadounidenses in Spanish, etc.
A similar case would be the United Arab Emirates. but luckily they have the word Emirate in there, so the demonym is Emirian. But of course they are not a bit more Arab than Arabs from Saudi-Arabia or Oman.
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I can only imagine what they must be thinking... 
