Latin America and the Caribbean

Countries of Mexico and Central America  Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama

Countries of South America  Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay

Countries of the Caribbean  Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico (US)

Physical Features  Major Mountain ranges  Andes Mountains  Sierra Madre Mountains-- Oriental and Occidental  Rainforests  Coastal Desert--Atacama Desert  Amazon River Basin

 Tropical Grasslands--Pampas, Llanos  Archipelagoes groups of related islands  Reversed seasons south of the Equator  Volcanoes and Earthquakes

 Vertical Zonation of Climates in Mexico  Tierra Templada-temperate  Tierra Fria-cold  Tierra Caliente-hot

Economic Characteristics  diverse economies  subsistence farming  plantation agriculture  slash and burn agriculture  cash crops and food crops  haciendas  cattle ranches and gauchos

 deforestation  destruction of the rainforests  oil resources--Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico  Heavy smog and pollution-- Mexico City

 disparity of income distribution  NAFTA member  diverse mineral resources  copper in Chile  iron ore in Venezuela and Brazil

Cultural Characteristics  Indian civilizations--Aztec, Inca  African traditions--slaves  influences of European colonization--Spanish  predominance of the Roman Catholic religion  rigid social structure—no movement

 Mestizos-European and Native  location of settlements--coastal in South America  Megacities with large squatter settlements  rapid population growth  out-migration

Cultural heritage  music--African influences, calypso, steel drum bands, reggae  traditional dances  Spanish and Portuguese languages

Cultural landscape  pyramids and cathedrals  haciendas and ejidos (communal land)  ruins at Machu Picchu  ruins at Tikal

Latin America From Mexico to Chile and Argentina

Mountain Ranges  Andes  2 nd highest range in the world.  Run from Chile to Panama  Sierra Madres  In Mexico  3 different areas  ORIENTAL  OCCIDENTAL  DEL SUR

Latin America in Pictures

Squatter City in Brazil

Native American heritage

Mayan

Inca

Inca Chieftain

Steel Drums

Steel Drum Band

Cathedral in Mexico

Macchu Picchu in Peru

Macchu Picchu is an ancient city that the Inca claimed was the center of the earth.

Tikal in Guatemala

 ancient Mayan city  ceremonial and civic center  Tikal is the "New York City" of the Maya, its skyscraper-like pyramids soaring up out of the jungle canopy.

Gauchos in Argentina

ANDES

Peaks in the ANDES

Looking up

Inca city of Machu Pichu

Sierra Madres

Sierra rocky cliffs

Green slopes

Looking across the range

Amazon River Basin  Over 1000 tributaries feed the Amazon River.  Drains an area almost the size of the USA.  Amazon 2 nd largest river in the world.  Drains 60 times more water then the Nile.

Amazon River Basin (dark green)

Amazon flowing through the rainforest.

Grasslands  Pampas  In Argentina  Used for grazing and farming  Llanos  In Venezuela  Used for grazing and farming

Cattle on the Pampas

Shade trees on the llanos

A small pond on the llanos

Rainforests  Rainforests cover much of Latin America.  Rain forests are near the equator.  Amazon rainforest covers almost 2 million acres.

Water fall in the forest

Deserts  Atacama Desert  Driest desert in the World.  Sheltered from the rainforest by the Andes

Atacama

Archipelagoes (groups of islands)  Bahamas  Hundreds of islands off the tip of Florida and to the North of Cuba  Greater Antilles  Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola

 Lesser Antilles  Smaller islands to the South of Puerto Rico

Bahamas

Bahamas from space

The Beach

Warm Blue Water