1. Chapter 13 Countries of South America

3. Countries of South America
They are grouped into 3 regions:
The Northern Tropics
Surname
Guyana
French Guiana
Venezuela
Columbia
The Andean Countries
Ecuador
Peru
Bolivia
Chile
The Southern Grassland Countries
Paraguay
Uruguay
Argentina

4. The Northern Tropics – The Guianas
Made up of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana
Tropical wet climate
They share rain forest and narrow coastal plain
Different human geography then the rest of South America
Guyana – official language is English
Suriname – official language is Dutch
French Guiana – official language is French

5. The Guianas The ethnic composition varies between the three countries
Guyana –
The two major ethnic groups are African (descendent from slavery) and Asian (descendent from workers coming from China, India and Southeast Asia to work on plantations).
Suriname –
Over 50 percent of the population is descendent from Asian workers. 10% from African descent, and 30% are mulattoes (mixed African and other ancestry). The remaining population are indigenous
French Guiana –
Similar population to Suriname, but mulattoes are the larges ethnic group. There is also a higher population of European in French Guiana
The economies of the three countries are similar
Share natural resources
Fishing for shrimp and other fish
Farmers grow sugar cane and rice
Miners extract bauxite – Guyana is one of the world’s larges exporters of bauxite

6. Venezuela Official language is Spanish
Ethnicity is mestizo or European descent
The northwest corner of Venezuela has the Andes mountains
A lower range of mountains stretch across the rest of northern Venezuela
Most of the people live in fertile mountain valleys
Venezuela’s large cities have ranchos (small shacks) where almost 1/3 of the people live
The southeastern part of Venezuela is the Guiana Highlands
It covers nearly half of the country
Here is where the world's highest waterfall (Angel Falls) is located (3200 feet)
Between the two highland regions there is a large river called the Orinoco
Along both sides of the river are wide tropical grasslands called the Llanos
During the rainy season there is flooding and the rest of the year it is hot and dry

7. Venezuela
The climate in Venezuela varies depending on the elevation (even though it is close to the equator)
Farmers grow different crops at different elevations
Coffee trees are suited for growing in the tierra templada climate zone (page 250)
Oil is what brings Venezuela its wealth
Four beds of “liquid gold”
Each year they pump about 700 million barrels of oil out of the ground (in the top 10 oil producers in the world)
Because Venezuela’s oil reserves are finite (won’t last forever), they have invested in a large share of its oil profits in other industries
Developing bauxite and iron mines
Building power plants
Setting up factories
This is all set up so there are jobs when the oil wells run dry

8. Colombia Borders the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea
Has three physical regions: lowlands, mountains, and Llanos (grassy plains)
75% of the population live between the cordilleras of the Andes
Bogota, the capital, is on a high plateau of the Andes
Colombia’s largest crop is coffee
The farmland is mostly owned by wealthy families who rent the land to tenant farmers
Small farmers (campesinos) are barely able to grow enough food for their families because they try to grow coffee
The country is at risk if the demand for coffee drops or if the coffee trees are destroyed
Officials have encouraged the export of other products

9. Colombia Drug Trade Social Challenges Coffee is the major legal crop
Marijuana and cocaine are made from the leaves of the coca plant
It is illegally exported from Colombia
It is estimated that smuggling illegal drugs brings twice as much money into Colombia a coffee does
Those who control the drug trade have lots of power
The government of Colombia and the U.S. are working together to stop the drug trade and the violence associated with it.
Social Challenges
Rough political history
Gained independence from Spain in 1824
Disputes between the two major political parties has had violent results
In the 1950’s about 200,000 people ere killed in a civil war
Since 1958 the two parties have attempted to work together to develop the economy

10. The Andean Countries
The Andes stretch for 4500 miles, from the Caribbean Sea to the southern tip of South America
In some places the mountain range is nearly 500 miles wide
The Andes have three distinct environments
Coastal Plain
Stretches the entire Pacific coast
As thin as a foot and as thick as 100 miles wide
Some areas are so dry, but it perfectly preserves things like textiles woven 100’s of years ago or even human mummies
Highlands
The plateaus reach as high as feet - they are called altiplano or paramos depending on the country you are in
At the highest the climate and vegetation is known as the Alpine Tundra
Tropical Forests
Inland, on the eastern slopes are the tropical forests
These forested regions are called the selva
The Amazon River basin begins in the selva
Not many people live in this area

11. The Andean Countries
The Andes offer areas of rich natural resources, the soil is suited for growing a variety of crops depending on the elevation
Vertical Trade: people in the area live by vertical trade. People from villages at different elevations meet to trade their crops. Because people grow crops suited for their climate zone, at the market they can trade “up” or “down”
The population of the area still has between 25-55% of the original Natives
Some of these groups lived for centuries as high has feet
These people have developed larger hearts and lungs
This allows them to work and live on thin oxygen

12. Ecuador
Name comes from Equator, because the Equator cuts across the country
About ¼ of the population is Indigenous and speak Quechua
These people subsistence farm
10% of the population are European decent – but have the most influence and wealth in the country
About 50% of the population are mestizo, who speak Spanish and live in highland cities and towns
The population is evenly distributed between the highlands and the coastal lowlands = but the tropical forest region to the east of the mountains is sparsely populated
In the 60’s they discovered oil in the selva lowlands
Petroleum is Ecuador's chief export
¾ of the production is controlled by a state-owned oil company

13. Peru
Peru was the heart of the huge Inca Empire – that fell to the Spanish in the early 1500’s
About 45% of the population is indigenous and speak Quechua or Aymara
Most live by subsistence farming or herding llamas and alpacas
There are many native ruins left from the Inca Empire
Most other Peruvians are mestizo and live in urban areas
Most work in low wage jobs for factories that produce fish meal for animal feed or on plantations
Poverty is widespread in Peru
There is a small portion of the population that are European descent, but control most of the country's wealth and are the leaders in the government
There are many Asian immigrants that moved to Peru
In the 90’s the President was a Peruvian of Japanese ancestry (Alberto Fujimori )

14. Bolivia Bolivia is landlocked, and does not have any coastal ports
Lake Titicaca is the world’s highest navigable lake
Recently, a large temple was discovered submerged in the lake, adding to its mystery and fascination.
According to Incan history, after a great flood, the god Viracocha arose from Lake Titicaca to create the world. He commanded the sun (Inti), moon (Mama Kilya) and stars to rise, then went to Tiahuanaco to create the first human beings, Mallku Kapac and Mama Ocllo. These first humans, the "Inca Adam and Eve," were formed from stone and brought to life by Viracocha, who commanded them to go out and populate the world. Thus Lake Titicaca is the birthplace of the Incas, whose spirits return to their origin in the lake upon death.
Bolivia has many minerals including tin, they are the have Western Hemisphere's largest tin reserve
The best ores have been removed
Most of the people are indigenous and subsistence farm in the highlands
Bolivia’s climate varies with the altitude from humid and tropical to cold and semiarid

15. Chile Chile means “end of the land”
The country is about 2700 miles long, but only about 100 miles wide
2/3 of the people are mestizo
Nearly ¼ of the people are European descent (mostly Spanish, British and German)
Very few indigenous people
The Atacama Desert is in the north and uninhabited
¾ of the people in the area live in the Central Valley
It is a region of fertile river basins – between the Andes and the coastal ranges
Chile’s summer season comes during the Northern Hemisphere’s winter – the products find good markets in the U.S. and Europe during this time
Santiago – the capital – has a very high unemployment and many crowded communities
Many people in Chile live below the poverty line

16. Southern Grassland Countries
The countries boundaries in this area are formed by the Rio de la Plata system
The Plata is an Estuary – a broad river mouth formed where a flooded river valley meets the sea
The four rivers in the system are: the Uruguay, the Pilcomayo, the Paraguay, and the Parana
This system allows an inexpensive way for people to ship goods
The Andes are in the western part of Argentina
They include the four highest mountains in the Western Hemisphere on of which is Mount Aconcagua (22831 feet)
Gradually they give way to the piedmont (or foothills) region
The tropical lowlands is called the Gran Chaco is a hot interior lowland region of savanna and dense shrub that covers part of Paraguay and Argentina
The pampas of Argentina Uruguay stretch for hundreds of miles. This area used to be a grazing area for cows, now it produces 80% of Argentina’s grain and 70% of the meat
The Patagonia area is desolate, dry, cold and foggy.
It is well suited for raising sheep and has rich deposits of oil and bauxite

17. Paraguay
Paraguay is landlocked, but the Plata river system provides an outlet to the sea
Almost all of the population lives in the highlands
Half of the people live in urban areas
Most are mestizos who speak Guarani (local Indigenous language) as well as Spanish
The economy is based on agriculture
Paraguay was ruled by military dictator until 1989
He was replaced by a new military leader who tried to be more responsive to peoples needs
In the 1990’s the people held their first democratic elections

18. Uruguay From the Indian word “river of painted bird”
The name comes from the tropical birds in the area
Much of the area is rolling grasslands the country’s economy is based on raising livestock, processing meat, and making products such as wool and leather
75% of the land is devoted to livestock grazing and 10% to raising grains to feed cattle and sheep
Uruguay does not produce fuel and very little consumer goods
They have to import all of those items, which is very expensive
Most are European descent a (Italian and Spanish)
There is a large middle class in the country and there are very few slums
Uruguay has a unstable political history
In 1973, the military took power for 12 years
Since 1985 there has been free elections
People have demonstrations to show their desire for freedom of press and other rights

19. Argentina
Most of Argentina’s population is European descent (Italian and Spanish)
More than 80% of the people live in cities
Buenos Aires is Latin America’s wealthiest city and Argentina is the wealthiest nation
The wealth is unevenly distributed
Because the city is busy and filled with many factories and business, the air pollution is very bad
The city has many poor people
Argentina from the 1940’s-1983 was rule by military dictators
Best known was Juan Domingo Peron – president from
He wanted to develop Argentina’s industry and distribute the wealth more evenly
His wife was seen as a heroine for the poor (Eva)
Most of the other dictators used the government power to help the wealthy
All censored the newspapers and closed universities and even imprisoned opponents
Conditions were very bad in the 1970’s – people were kidnapped by the military and never seen again – this period was called “the dirty wars”
Every Thursday a group of women would march in front of the presidential palace and carry picture of missing family members
In 1981 Argentina lost a war with Great Britain over the Falkland Island
The military agreed to allow open elections
Since then the government has tried to cut spending and improve the country

20. Practice Counties in South America …

21. Places to know for the test….
Andes Mountain Range
Straight of Magellan
Rio de la Plata
Guiana Highlands
Llanos
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean