SPANISH-SPEAKING SOUTH AMERICA

ANDES MOUNTAINS  Part of a chain of mountains that run through North, Central and South America  Rocky Mountains, Sierra Madres, and Andes Mountains  Cordillera: a system or group of parallel mountain ranges  Act as a barrier to movement into the interior  More settlement has occurred along the eastern and northern coasts in South America  Even so, the Andes were the home to some of the most important civilizations in the hemisphere  Inca in Peru

HIGHLANDS  Parts of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Brazil  Made up of mountainous or hilly sections of a country  Guiana Highlands: northeast section of South America  Brazilian Highlands: east coast of Brazil

PLAINS  Llanos: located in Colombia and Venezuela  Grassy, treeless areas used for livestock grazing and farming  Cerrado: located in interior of Brazil  Savannas with flat terrain and moderate rainfall that make them suitable for farming  Pampas: located in northern Argentina and Uruguay  Min products of pampas are cattle and wheat  Gaucho culture developed in this region

ORINOCO RIVER  Winds through northern part of continent, mainly in Venezuela  Flows more than 1,500 miles to the Atlantic  Part of the border between Colombia and Venezuela

AMAZON RIVER  Flows 4,000 from west to east, to the Atlantic Ocean  Fed by over 1,000 tributaries, some of which are large rivers in themselves  Carries more water to the ocean than any other river in the world

PARANÁ RIVER  Origins in highlands of southern Brazil  Flows 3,000 miles south and west through Paraguay and Argentina, then turns east

RESOURCES OF SOUTH AMERICA  Among the world’s leaders in mining raw materials: Silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc  These are mainly exported to other countries to make goods  Colombia and Venezuela: oil reserves  Brazil: hydroelectric power, oil, natural gas  Peru: fishing industry  South America produces most of the world’s coffee  Brazil alone produces 1/3 of the world’s coffee per year

CLIMATE OF SOUTH AMERICA  Rainforests: dense forests made up of different species of trees that form a unique ecosystem.  Climate is hot and rainy year round  Largest: Amazon Rainforest, covers 2 million square miles of South America, mostly in Brazil.  Tropical Wet and Dry: Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina  Semiarid: Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina  Desert: Peru, Chile (Atacama), Argentina (Patagonia)  Humid Subtropical: Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina  Mediterranean: Chile  Marine West Coast: Chile and Argentina  Highlands: Found in the mountains

SLASH AND BURN FARMING  Farmers cut trees, brush, and grasses and burn the debris to clear the field.  Use the ashes as fertilizer.  Farmers plant crops for a year or two  Fields often remain barren or are reclaimed by brush, grass, trees, and shrubs

TERRACED FARMING  An ancient technique for growing crops on hillsides or mountain slopes  Farmers cut step-like horizontal field into hillsides, which allows steep land to be cultivated for crops  Used by Inca in Peru, and Aztecs in Mexico

URBANIZATION: THE MOVE TO CITIES  Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile are the most highly urbanized countries in South America  Push and pull factors are at work in moving peasants off the land and into cities  Rapidly Growing Cities:  Sao Paulo, Brazil  Rio de Janeiro  Buenos Aires, Argentina  Lima, Peru  Bogotá, Colombia  Santiago, Chile

THE INCA  Built a civilization that extended 2,500 miles from Ecuador to Argentina  Along western coast of South America in Andes Mountains  Francisco Pizarro invaded Incan Empire, killing many warriors and taking the emperor prisoner.  Spanish forced natives to work in mines and on farms  Quechua language of the Incas was overshadowed by Spanish, and native religion was replaced by Catholicism

INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS  Inspired by the American and French Revolutions, South American countries fought for their independence in the first half of the 19 th century.  Two great leaders: Simon Bolivar (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia) and Jose de San Martin (Argentina, Chile, and Peru)  Argentina and Chile were the first to declare independence, because they are the farthest from Lima  Geography contributed to the failure of countries trying to unite for a common good  South America is largely populated around its edges – mountains and rain forests limit interactions  Contributed to political instability and underdevelopment

GOVERNMENTS OF SOUTH AMERICA  Oligarchy and military rule have characterized the government of many South American countries  Authoritarian rule has delayed democracy in the continent  Strong militaries, underdeveloped economies, and social class divisions still exist today

BRAZIL

NATIVES AND PORTUGUESE CONQUEST  Treaty of Tordesillas: Spain and Portugal agreed to divide the continent of South America  Portugal gained control over land that is present-day Brazil  Brazil originally home to 1-5 million natives when the first colonists arrived in 1500s.  Hoped to find gold and silver; cleared huge areas of forest to create sugar plantations.  Forced natives to work on plantations, when they died they were replaced with African slaves  Brazil was generally settled along coast because of forest in the interior of country  Brazil declared independence from Portugal in 1822, when thousands of Brazilians signed a petition, asking for Dom Pedro to rule Brazil as an independent nation

A NATIONAL CULTURE  Culture of Brazil is a mixture of native, African and Portuguese influences  Now only about 200,000 native people live in the depths of the Amazon rain forest  Brazil has become home to many immigrants from all over the world  Has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan ∙Language: Portuguese ∙Religion: Catholicism – Brazil has largest Catholic religion in the world. 20% Protestant, and some practice religions that mix Catholic and African beliefs ∙Brasilia: Capital of Brazil was moved inland to draw people into the interior of the country

AN ECONOMIC GIANT  Natural resources has helped make Brazil an industrial power: iron, bauxite, tin, manganese, gold, silver, titanium, chromite, tungsten, and quartz  Hydroelectric power: thousands of rivers flow through Brazil; power plants located along these rivers produce electricity  One of the most industrialized South American countries, with one of the largest steel plants in the region. Also, a leading manufacturer of automobiles Vast gap between the rich and poor Rapid urbanization: 22% lived in cities in 1960, by % lived in cities Move to the interior: 80% live within 200 miles of the sea; government encourages people to move to the interior to develop the natural resources and commercial agriculture on cerrado

BRAZILIAN LIFE TODAY  Carnival:  Dance to samba music – a Brazilian dance with African influences  Capoeira: martial art and dance developed in Brazil   Brasilia is political capital, Sao Paulo is economic heart and largest city, and Rio de Janeiro is the cultural center